“God wills, man dreams, the work is born.” -Fernando Pessoa Pessoa is recognized as one of Portugal’s most influential poets. The line above is often quoted as having been inspired by the long and storied history of the country as it lead the way to the discovery of the rest of the world, a fact…
What Is A Status Match Program?
Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) are brand loyal. As a result they are more likely to put the time and effort into a reward program and to stick with their brand as a result. I know we do. These days so many organizations offer loyalty reward programs, from your local grocery store to…
What Not To Do In Singapore
Singapore is an an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. With a population of 6.04 million people, English as their language of commerce, and an economy that ranks high in the world, it is a sumptuous and welcoming country with a robust tourist trade. The weather is sunny and warm, the landscape lush and…
The Fascinating Culture of Lombok
Midway into our cruise, we participated in an excursion that remains our favourite. It did not offer the iconic landmarks or symbols of this diverse society or definitively explain its history and culture as most of our other excursions did. What it did was allow us to really interact with the people of this island….
The Reality of Shore Excursions
We choose a cruise as the best way for us to explore Indonesia. It wasn’t our only option but we had never been to this part of Asia before, our time was limited and our wish list of what we wanted to explore was extensive, especially for Ken. He has been fascinated by the geography,…
Icons of Indonesia
Before setting off on our Indonesian adventure I did a fair amount of research, as I usually do, about our destination. Ken however, relied on his existing knowledge of the region and helped direct our choices to ensure that we hit all of the important sites. Following are two of his favourites. The most visited…
Bali Heritage
We spent a mere two days on the island of Bali in December. Although the lure of beautiful beaches and calm resorts was strong, we chose instead to discover more about the history of this island during two full-day excursions. Our first day explored the eastern side of the island from the port of Denpasar,…
Jakarta, A City of Millions
Located on the island of Java, Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia. In 2025 the population was estimated at 11,634,100. I’m sure we met most of them on the road during our tour. We arrived in the crowded, dirty, wet and impoverished port. By our standards the area surrounding it would be considered slums….
Chasing Komodo Dragons
We have all seen pictures of Komodo dragons. They are the stuff of legends – dinosaurs that still walk among us! When we had the opportunity to visit Komodo National Park, and perhaps see a dragon or two in person, we leapt at the chance. The only way to access the park is on a…