Indonesia

This Week in Photos

Lake Toba at twilight, the view from our waterfront cottage. The flies here grow to the size of small rodents. Flowers? Scarecrow. It’s difficult to tell by looking at the photo — and my trigger finger was a moment too late to catch…
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This Week in Photos

A skyscraper rising in Nagoya, the Japanese-settled port city on Batam Island, Indonesia. Some spider, remarkable only because it was the largest I’d ever seen. We spotted it in between two branches in a tree from across the fairway we were cutting through.…
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Waterfront City (Flight)

A sign points to the Batam Flying Club at Waterfront City, a failed megaproject on Batam Island, Indonesia. Anticipating an influx of Singaporeans travelling to the island for weekend getaways, the Indonesian government built a resort complex comprising — among other things — a…
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Waterfront City (Snow)

A jet soars above the hulking steel carcass of Snow World. Construction on this indoor skiing resort began in the late-90’s and was suspended after two years. In 2006 fires broke out and gutted the complex, burning down walls and charring the sheet metal…
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This Week in Photos

Rickshaw drivers watch taxis pass by. With so many green-and-yellow cabs on the roads of Chengdu, the slower, pricier rickshaws seem to be dying a slow death. Hens going to market. Pigeons at market. An advertisement for a popular Chinese ice cream…
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