With Covid restrictions now easing around the world, people at last have the power to move around. Many are enjoying life outside of their homes – visiting pubs, eating out at restaurants, watching shows at the cinema or theater. When they were confined to their houses, people spent on home improvements, a new TV or computer, on the garden. But … Read More

At Armada Orient, we get some interesting projects. One such job was to manufacture house components, furnishings and decorations for a new house in Strathalbyn, a pretty little rural village an hour outside Adelaide in South Australia. Our friend Sam had a good idea of what he wanted. A tradesman (tiler) by profession, he was well acquainted with most aspects … Read More

Things here in Indonesia are changing rapidly, 20 years ago, most people rode pushbikes, or walked. Or if they’d a lot of things to carry back from the market, they might hire a becak pedicab or take a horse drawn carriage. Nowadays, most of these modes have largely disappeared. Solo city now has a sophisticated public transport system, with air … Read More

Think of the tropics. Those long steamy days, the sun beating down relentlessly. All you want is a shady, cool place to sit with an ice cold gin and tonic. Louvre shutters always remind me of the tropics. They allow the breeze to flow, and filter out the harsh sunlight. They protect from the torrential rains, and give some privacy. … Read More

About 30 km south of Solo lies the small town of Pedan. Like many places in Indonesia, this small sub-regency is famous for a speciality. In Pedan’s case it is hand woven fabric, in Indonesia called tenun. In the olden days the back alleys of this pleasant town were alive with the clack clack clack of the flying shuttles and … Read More