Ternate, Cavite and Ternate, North Maluku: A Migration Story and a Creole Language

For a long time, we have often wondered if Ternate town in Cavite, Philippines is remotely related to a city of the same name in North Maluku in Indonesia. The Maluku Islands are also known in English as the Moluccas and, back during the 16th century onwards, as the Spice Islands – an obvious reference to the region as a center of the spice trade. Ternate in North Maluku is particularly famous for its aromatic cloves.

Sating on Thai Cuisine

Thailand used to be one of our most-visited Asian countries during the late 1990s to early 2000s, traveling there a number of times each year as part of our former work. One of the things we appreciate about the country is its cuisine. It’s one of the major reasons why we always look forward to a visit to the Land of Smiles.

Our Vietnamese Food Encounters

These days you don’t have to travel to Vietnam to enjoy authentic Vietnamese food. Vietnamese immigrants have opened restaurants and food stalls in various parts of the world to cater to lovers of Vietnamese cuisine. However, our many visits to Vietnam dating to as far back as 22 years ago allowed us to appreciate its culture and most specially its food more.

The Temple of Literature, Hanoi

The Ho Chi Minh Complex in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh District or French Quarter was an easy commute from our hotel at the Old Quarter but we were in for a mild surprise that Saturday morning. As we stepped out of our taxi and shuffled over to the entrance of the complex housing Ho Chi Minh’s...

A Day in Ha Long Bay

Soaking in the crowded but buoyant street scene of Hanoi’s Old Quarter was quite an experience but this Friday morning promised a radically different encounter. Cruising on the main highway east of Hanoi, we passed vast expanses of green rice fields on the way to Quang Ninh Province and the resort city of Ha Long....

Hanoi’s Old Quarter 2: Hoa Lo Prison and an Old House

Hanoi is a wonderful blend of the past and present. Inhabited since 3000 B.C. it had seen its share of violent history including Chinese domination in more than a thousand years, an attempted Mongol invasion, French colonialization and American bombing raids during the Vietnam War.  Walking down streets and alleyways dating back to the 13th...

Hanoi’s Old Quarter 1: Around Hoàn Kiếm Lake

Having lived in a big city for decades we’ve longed for a quieter, less polluted and greener environment for quite some time now. However there’s something attractive about the chaos and busyness of a crowded and chaotic setting like Hanoi, Vietnam and its historic Old Quarter. Crossing the streets with hundreds of motorbikes zipping past...

The World’s Most Famous Mausoleum

The morning was bright and sunny as we drove past rolling farmlands and quiet towns on the excellent national highway. We were in India on the way to a meeting at Katmandu in Nepal and had made a stopover at New Delhi. Our connecting flight was a few days away so our Indian director and friend...

Two Months in Phnom Penh

We stepped out of Pochentong Airport and walked the hot and dusty distance to our waiting host and his car. Soon we were driving through a city that would be our home for the next two months. As we sat, silently gazing out of the car windows, we realized we were in a different world....

Peshawar: Memories of a Frontier Town

The first time I flew into this city it was like entering a place straight out of the Middle Ages. On my flight from Karachi to Peshawar I rode a Russian-made and crewed airliner along with many Pashtuns in their native shalwar kameez, some of them carrying bundles of clothes on sticks in lieu of...

Pakistan: Remembering the Khyber Pass

We drove for what seemed like an eternity along a winding road past mud brick houses on a bleak landscape, British Indian Army regimental insignias on roadside cliffs, hillside forts and dusty Pakistani Army outposts. At many a hairpin turn, Khyber levies with their ominous Kalashnikovs stood watch. Positioned there to provide security for travelers...