Tag Archives: indonesia

ERIN GO BALI by Peter Nolan Smith

March 17, 2023 – 6:58 am

My first trip to Bali was in 1990. Most tourists gravitated to Kuta Beach for sea, sun, and fun. Being a pseudo-intellectual I opted for Ubud, an idyllic village of Legong dancers, ornate temples, and quiet evenings, where I rented a small house overlooking an idyllic stream. My house servant served breakfast in the morning. […]

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GHOST OF THE STUMP by Peter Nolan Smith

August 22, 2022 – 5:55 am

In the early 90s diamonds were priced to the advantage of the dealers on 47th Street. 50% profit was normal for most stones and my boss Manny gave his sales staff commission based on 5% of the gross. In February of 1991 I had the luck to hook a middle-aged woman looking to buy a […]

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SLICED BREAD by Peter Nolan Smith

February 6, 2022 – 12:55 am

Sliced bread was invented in 1923 by a Davenport, Iowa inventor and the phrase ‘the greatest thing since sliced bread’ entered American legend shortly thereafter. Sliced bread was banned for wartime consumption in 1943, proving even the greatest thing in the world isn’t above the law in the USA. The ban was quickly rescinded by […]

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Halfway Around the World

February 5, 2022 – 6:11 pm

The first recorded circumnavigation of the world was completed by Magellan’s fleet in 1522. The Portuguese explorer’s trip ended in a bloody beach battle in the Philippines. Of the five ships and 237 men only 18 survived this epic journey thank to the captaincy of Juan Sebastián Elcano. His name is forgotten by the masses, […]

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MACAM KUMBANG by Peter Nolan Smith

June 24, 2018 – 12:14 pm

In 1990 I got off the train from Surabaya a little past dawn and headed over to the port of Jakarta. An inter-island ship was departing to Sumatra at noon and I looked forward to a cruise through the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean. As I neared the dock, a man of indeterminable race […]

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