Linda Thohir

Nasi padang is undeniably Indonesia’s most famous food. Originally introduced out of Padang in West Sumatra by the Minangkabau people, it’s more than just a meal – it's a cultural experience that sums up the richly diverse flavours and traditions of Indonesian cuisine.

The giant Palindo stone statue towers above me, its eyes wild, its body leaning to one side as if warning me not to pass.

I can’t remember the first time I heard about the Borobudur Lantern Festival. But this sacred ritual with a majestic view of the ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist temple has long fascinated me.

When I was in middle school in the early 1980s, a new Rp5,000 note was released. On it was a picture of the peculiar-looking traditional ancestral houses of the Torajan people in South Sulawesi.