Owner Barbara and her Balinese husband, Wayan, started their business only a year or two ago on their return from Holland. Surveying the job prospects in Bali was a dismal exercise and they hit upon the brilliant idea of starting their own venture. With her good taste and Wayan's practical skills, they started to experiment with tile designs from their makeshift home in Sideman, until they came up with the perfect formulae - the right quality of ingredients and imported Dutch pigments for making the exquisite colours...more

I pulled an old photo album out the other day to have a snoop at some of my treasured memories of surfing in West Java back in 2001/2002 – a period of time spent living in the south of Jakarta and an era of weekly pilgrimages down to Pelabuhan Ratu to do my best at learning how to surf. The earliest photographic evidence of my dabblings in the sport documented my preferred learner's piece of kit...more

Right in the midst of food street or JL Laksmana stands Kaizan - a restaurant that I have been interested to try for some time. So recently a small group of three serious food researchers arrived for dinner. What a surprise. Here in the midst of restaurant paradise is a place that is so unusual and so special...more