Day: October 31, 2015

Interviewing Peter van Dongen, creator of graphic novel “Rampokan Jawa” after a session at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2015, while he was drawing my friend Dina’s face. The award-winning novel has been translated into several languages, and he is currently making another novel about Indonesia. Rampokan was based on his mother’s story when she grew up in Indonesia. A lot of the settings take place in 1940s. “What’s your fave city or town in Indonesia?” I asked. “I always have a feeling for Jakarta,” he said, while continuing his doodling and looking up once awhile to maintain eye contact with me. Hope to see you again in near future, Peter, either in Bali or Jakarta. #uwrf15 #ubud #bali – at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival

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JBC Meets Peter van Dongen

Book signing of Rampokan with Peter van Dongen. Jakarta Book Club would be so delighted if he will come back and visit us in Jakarta when his new graphic novel is out! Dina bought his novel and got her face drawn within 3 minutes of sketching. Good luck with your books, Peter! #uwrf15 #ubud #bali – at Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2015

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Feeling Strange in Expat-Hub Ubud, Bali

Last night at Yoga Barn. Felt like I was stranded in a Survivor setting. Lol. Less than 10% of the students are Indonesians/ Asians. The rest just practiced with bra and training pants and guys were just bare-chested during the entire class. Ubud feels like another country, a separate island where I, too, become a foreigner. People who live here come from different parts of the world and they tend to stay in the area as residents. #ubud #bali

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