On a Sunday afternoon three weeks after I arrived in Bangalore, I found myself sitting in a tea house, feeling that, for the first time since I landed in India, I did not want to order masala cha...
https://thedustysneakers.com/2017/03/26/a-tale-of-two-sundays/
If I was already blushing like a sakura when I untied my yukata, I am sure my face was as red as a freshly sliced tuna sashimi when I turned around and faced the breasts of a stranger. They wer...
Jika bukan karena toko buku, Dominic Jason Ward mungkin menghabiskan hari tuanya di pantai-pantai tropis dengan botol bir di tangan dan Bob Marley yang diputar tanpa henti saat matahari terbit, m...
https://thedustysneakers.com/2016/08/31/gaijin-penjual-buku-terakhir/
Dear Toru, I didn’t think of beauty when I first saw sakura in full bloom. I thought of you instead. We were shivering in our sweaters, unprepared for the biting cold of early spring in Tokyo a...
Kartu-kartu nama itu ia tumpahkan di meja lipat di depan bangku kereta. Perlahan si ibu tua memilah dan mengelompokkannya; kartu potongan harga, kartu anggota toko kelontong, kartu anggota klab s...
https://thedustysneakers.com/2016/04/06/dari-sisi-ibu-yang-memilah-kartu/
What happens after a bookshop closed it door for the last time? Were there eulogies and marches, or did it disappear without a sound? Are they well remembered, are they loved? Did they matter at ...
https://thedustysneakers.com/2016/01/31/yodakin-the-bookshop-that-is-no-more/
Saya bertemu Barbara Hagan di kedai kopi di dekat salah satu sisi kanal yang mengelilingi pusat kota Chiang Mai. Usianya 67 tahun, wajahnya pucat keriput, dan beberapa kali ia mengeluh pinggangny...
I am drawn to street art, enough to actually take a walk under the bridges and tunnels of Jakarta for a slow, close look at them a few years ago. I understand the resistance, the public discourse...
https://thedustysneakers.com/2015/02/27/the-walls-of-georgetown/
Upon landing in Bangalore, I could only thought of bookshops. There is of course my beloved Blossoms, which I eagerly introduced to my travel companion. He was as excited as I was when I first di...
https://thedustysneakers.com/2014/07/29/the-city-and-the-bookshop-below/
Being Indonesian, most of the people I know talked about Singapore as a luxurious weekend getaway of shopping spree, and as a Jakartan, I thought I’ve had enough of skyscrapers and malls. So I...
https://thedustysneakers.com/2014/07/14/singaporebotanicgardens/