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

One great way to spruce up a room in your house is to add a mirror. It immediate adds a focal point of interest to the décor. And the reflection in the mirror gives a feeling of greater spaciousness. At Armada, we have a wide variety of mirrors. Many of these feature lovely old carvings from demolished houses and dismantled … Read More

A range of stools, benches and coffee tables from recycled teak ! Recycling these days is a keyword – we all want to reduce our footprint on this planet and try and leave it a better place for our children and grandchildren. At Armada, we sort of specialize in this art. Taking old, wrecked cupboards and tables, benches and mirrors, … Read More

Some wonderful new stuff we discovered and some are old favorites; many are one of special pieces !

One of the most interesting here in Indonesia ! a. Some carvings we make into stunning mirrors Amongst the many talents here in Indonesia, wood carving is one of the most interesting. Timber is plentiful, and in days of yore, time was not problem either. So people used their spare time decorated their houses and their furniture with carvings. b. … Read More

These little terracotta items are superb fillers for your container ! In these difficult days of excessively high shipping rates, it is important to get as much value in a container as possible. One of the best ways is to ensure that every tiny space is crammed full with items. From the bonepiles of Kasongan pottery village in Yogyakarta, we … Read More

Special discounted prices ! Disaster often happens in business. But with a little ingenuity, that catastrophy can sometimes be turned into a triumph. Recently a large retailing chain of giftshops called Ishka went bankrupt in Australia. One of their major suppliers, a good friend of ours based in Yogya, was left with 5 containers of stock. She could no longer … Read More