Convict Escort

It is surreal
being around when
police load a bunch

of criminals in a
police vehicle
for transport to

another prison.
I took this while I was
walking Penang’s streets.

Batak Execution Ground

It’s strange being in a
place where people
were executed

back in the old days,
and not feel that
it is haunted.

Maybe it is because
I went there when
it was daytime,

and it would probably
be eerie if I
visited at night.

Samosir Island

With views so beautiful
a land so fertile,
and a climate so mild,

I’m sure the farmers
here are envied by many
counterparts elsewhere.

Motorcycle Man and an Infant

I’m not sure why this
guy was so eager to
be photographed

holding an infant
while on his
motorbike like that?

(NOTE: The girl in question is the one to the left in the photo)

Swiss Miss!

I blew a chance
to stay in touch
with a Swiss Miss,

travelling around the
world with her parents.
Perhaps I got too

thrown off by the fact
her parents were around.
If I see her again,

I won’t throw out
that chance to know her
because it may become something.

Sleeping Cat… Aspiring Monk

Sounds like this cat
sleeping near some
miniature Buddha statues

is dreaming of
becoming a monk
in its next lifetime.

Bromo Fog

I love how the fog
settles over Bromo crater
like still water.

It more than made up
for the disappointment
of having the sunrise

overshadowed
by nearly incessant
cloudy weather.

Eggplants

It was only around
Lake Toba that
I learned how

eggplants come out
of flowers. Strange it took
me that long to find out.

Lake Toba

This is my first
view of the famous
Lake Toba.

I can’t imagine
how it looked
like prior to

the horrendous
supervolcano
eruption of

75,000 years
ago that nearly
wiped out humanity.

Wrong Side of the Tracks

I tried in vain to
imagine what the
place looked like before

the Sidoarjo
mud volcano first
erupted in ’06.

While houses on the
other side of the tracks
still mostly stand,

the ones on the side
of the volcano
got buried in the mud.

Talk about the phrase
“wrong side of the tracks”
getting a whole new meaning!