Indonesia
College campus turns into a space for cosplayers, anime enthusiasts, and Japanese food fans.
Don’t get us wrong, Starbucks Japan has great merchandise, but have you seen Starbucks Singapore?!
If you’re going to be part of the problem, you’re going to have to be part of the clean-up too.
“A little” shanking is requested, but that’s not the only weird thing about the baffling bits of Japanese flavor text.
A Japanese train conductor’s final announcement aboard a train about to be transferred to Jakarta, Indonesia hit some passengers right in the feels.
One of the great things about travel is that sometimes the best laid plans completely fall apart and then you discover something unexpected and even more amazing than the thing or place you originally intended to visit.
That was the case on a recent trip to Indonesia when our plans to go to the Banda Islands, some of the famed spice islands, fell through and instead we found ourselves sleeping above a coral reef, hanging out with sea turtles and stuffing ourselves silly on fish and spicy chollo chollo in the tiny town of Sawai.
Penjor were pretty much the first thing I noticed about Bali. As soon as we left the airport, they began towering over our car from both sides of the street: long-necked, graceful swoops of bamboo arching and bobbing over the road, their strips of paper and coconut leaves fluttering in the air.
But what were these charming decorations? What was their significance? That took a little longer to find out. And to be honest, I’m still not sure I know.
Human beings are endlessly inventive when it comes to food. From curried cicadas to snake soup to lemon and mint Pepsi, we never stop inventing new ways to follow the evolutionary imperative to stuff our faces with calories. And while I’m generally a cultural relativist when it comes to “weird” foods, sometimes there is a concept so out-there, you can’t help but say it’s bizarre.
Like kopi luwak, coffee made from beans that have been through the poop shoot of a tree cat. We’ve all heard of it, and it sounds revolting, but have any of us ever actually tried it? Why, yes, actually…
While Islam is practiced worldwide, many of us tend to only think of the Muslims in the Middle East, looking past those in Southeast Asia. However, with over 87% of its people identifying as Muslim, Indonesia actually has the largest population of Muslims in the world.
The young adult Muslim culture in Indonesia is not that much different from youth culture anywhere else in the world these days: everyone has smartphones and, like them or not, selfies are the norm. A previously celebrated young Muslim cleric, however, has recently proclaimed that the act of taking a selfie is a sin – a claim which many young Muslims in Indonesia have taken great offense to.
How did they respond to the condemnation of their smartphone snaps? By taking even more selfies than ever before.
Since the end of May a special investigative team was dispatched to Oenunto Village in Indonesia at the request of the Chief Medical Officer of nearby Kupang City. Their mission was to figure out what really happened after hearing about a woman who gave birth to her third child: a healthy, bouncing baby gecko.
Last week on September 14, Jakarta’s police managed to catch up with an AWOL fender-bender felon. This particular culprit was a bit too high profile to fly under the radar for long, especially considering the panoramic mapping equipment attached to his car!
Starbucks is well-known for taking up residence in some unusual places. They’ve had a pop-up store in Tokyo and they even have a historical western-style house house in Kobe. But in the beautiful mountain village of Ubud, Bali, there’s a more subdued Starbucks. Set up in an old storehouse, and blending perfectly with the environment, you wouldn’t instantly think this was part of a global coffee franchise.
We went to check out this unique coffeehouse and found it to be incredibly beautiful and serene. Out of all the Starbucks stores we’ve visited across the world, this is by far the one we recommend the most. With an exceptionally unique atmosphere, we bring you four reasons why this may very well be the best Starbucks in the world.
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Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
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Beautiful Ghibli sealing wax kits let you create accessories and elegant letter decorations【Pics】
Monthly
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Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour Totoro- Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
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More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutions
Yearly
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Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
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Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Harajuku Station’s beautiful old wooden building is set to return, with a new complex around it
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
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New limited-edition Starbucks Japan drinks are for true coffee lovers!【Taste Test】
Where Santa Claus buys his burgers: the world’s northernmost McDonald’s
Akihabara pop-up shop sells goods made by Japanese prison inmates
North Japan prefecture creates guide to help new foreign workers understand local language quirks
Japanese driver in traffic jam gets the worst possible vehicle stuck behind him【Video】
These (anime) eyes have seen a lot of love, but they’ve never looked as good as this
Pokémon Sleep camping suite and guestrooms coming to Tokyo Hyatt along with giant Snorlax burgers
Wendy’s releases a Pretzel Roast Beef Burger aimed at foreign tourists in Japan
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