The Lost Boy in BangkokThe Lost Boy in BangkokOne lost boy wandering aimlessly, fighting the tanks, looking at the ladyboys, running round the city. This is a 24-year-old expat's take of life in the City of Angels, with more than a few sinners. 
Articles
Draft media laws
2009-03-26 06:59:00 I did a radio piece for ABC Radio Australia this week. It was played on Connect Asia yesterday morning. Here is the link to the story. Take a listen and please reassure me that I haven’t lost my British accent altogether. More About: News , Media , Laws , Draft
Gay Timor
2009-03-25 12:39:00 Gay Timor is most probably Timor-Leste’s first-ever attempt at representing the country’s gay community on the Internet. The self-proclaimed “blog for Timorese gay guys” only has four posts up so far. One of those posts is a list of “Gay Place in Dili for Cruising”. The top 10 spots are: 1. Beach front, Palacio do Governo (Government Palace) 2. In front of National University (UNTL) 3. Park in front of Hotel Dili and World Bank Office 4. Beach front, Hotel Turismo 5. Dili Trade Centre during opening hours 6. Amigos Club on Fridays and Saturdays 7. Exotica, on Friday 8. Atlantico on Saturdays 9. Casa Minha on Fridays 10. Motion on Thursdays I’m curious to see how, if at all, the blog develops. I’m told that there used to be an exclusive gay club in Dili. Regardless of how Gay Timor goes, I think this is certainly an interesting subject-matter and one that I’ve seen very few reports and papers about.
Should Thailand?s dodgy dealers be named and shamed?
2009-03-23 04:05:00 At what point are you supposed to stop being reasonable and make a stand against publishers who fail to pay journalists for commissioned work? This happens too often in Thailand . Every time I speak with journalists working for Thailand-based publications I hear stories about people not being paid, especially in Phuket. Some publishers are just inexcusably ... More About: Media
About the GNR
2009-03-20 05:48:00 If you can read Tetun, you might find this story interesting. I can’t read Tetun very well, but there is a mention there about the Dili carnival, among other things. I was also at the carnival. I have spoken to the Brazilian who was removed from the event by the GNR and I have heard his ...
Why everyone in Timor-Leste should use Twitter
2009-03-17 08:46:00 I don’t know how many people living in Timor-Leste read my blog, but I would hope that there are at least a handful. For those who don’t know, Twitter is a way of communicating short messages, similar to SMS text messages, with a group of contacts. Millions of people around the world use Twitter as a way of getting updates from people, as well as from news services and organizations. Most foreigners here in Timor-Leste have access to the Internet and there are a variety of ways that people can access Twitter, including with a cellphone or a Firefox addon. People in Timor-Leste should use Twitter because it’s a way of sharing security updates. It’s also a way that people can link to news stories or blog posts or other online information that people might find interesting. Apart from word of mouth, I find that the Internet is one of the most valuable resources for getting information about Timor-Leste. Let’s say that one day there is rock-throwing going on in Comoro. If some...
Pete Doherty?s new album
2009-03-16 05:56:00 The boy done good. Grace/Wasteland is out today. Palace of Bone: More About: Pete Doherty , Random , Album , Pete
Here comes the rain
2009-03-15 09:16:00 As I write this, I?m trapped inside the Eastern Burger restaurant in Dili. It just started raining and the road has become a river. I want to leave the restaurant, but I also don?t want to get soaked through as I have a few hundred meters to walk to the ICFJ office. It?s a good time ... More About: Rain
Timor Today
2009-03-14 04:39:00 TiomrToday .com was launched yesterday at the ICFJ office. Timor Today is basically a news service that will be used to feature video, radio, text and photography from local journalists. It?s something new for Timor-Leste because it puts the focus on the local media in all its various forms. My involvement with Timor Today was to register ...
Lack of sleep
2009-03-12 22:48:00 It’s been a busy couple of weeks of me. The past few days have been spent partly working on a new website called Timor Today. It’s going to launch later today and I think it will be something really useful for the future of the media in Timor. The only issue with it at the ... More About: Sleep , Lack
Are you being observed?
2009-03-10 02:35:00 Last year, a newspaper in Timor-Leste broke a story about Justice Minister Lucia Lobato. The story is well documented and you can read about it here and here and here. The evidence of the story came in the form of SMS text messages. There is a .PDF document that contains the content from several hundred ...
Reasons to visit Timor-Leste
2009-03-07 06:44:00 I don’t think many people consider visiting Timor-Leste. I feel privileged for being here, but at the same time it’s sad that so few of my friends share my enthusiasm about the place. I think it takes a certain type of person to really enjoy him- or herself in Timor-Leste. I know that a lot of ... More About: Reasons , Visit
A story for Thursday
2009-03-05 09:29:00 Here is my latest story from Timor-Leste. It’s called Villagers seek peace through traditional rituals. More About: News , Story , Thursday
Welcome to the Hotel Timor
2009-03-02 05:32:00 The lobby bar at Hotel Timor in Dili is a strange place. For whatever reason, it?s full of people from morning until night. It?s the place where everybody goes to have meetings. At any one time you could walk in and sit down next to the UN, UNPOL, the GNR, IOM and so on. I?m certain ...
Viqueque
2009-03-01 09:25:00 I have just returned from a trip to Viqueque and Baucau. It was a fun trip, similar to my outing to Ainaro a few months ago. What was interesting this time was the government presence at what was essentially a traditional Timorese ceremony organized to symbolize the bringing about of peace in Viqueque, a district ...
Weekend away
2009-02-26 10:34:00 I’m going to Baucau and Viqueque over the weekend. I leave tomorrow and will return on Sunday. I’m relieved to be getting out of Dili again. It’s always refreshing to escape the little city and see a bit of the countryside. Hopefully I will have some interesting tales to tell on Monday. More About: Weekend
Calexico ? Quattro
2009-02-26 03:08:00 This is a song that should brighten your day. It’s by a Tucson band called Calexico . More About: Music , Quattro
Dili carnival in pictures
2009-02-22 06:28:00 The Dili carnival happened on Saturday. Several hundred people showed up despite the rain. Everything was going smoothly until an incident involving a Brazilian national and the Guarda Nacional Republicana of Portugal. I will have more on that later. For now, enjoy the good stuff. More About: Pictures , Carnival
Baucau story
2009-02-21 03:42:00 I have another story up on the IRIN news website. It’s called Women get WISE to self-employment. Although it’s only a short story, writing it involved a lot of interviews in Baucau. I had great fun compiling the story and seeing something that is having a positive impact on people’s lives. More About: News , Story
Dreaming of you
2009-02-19 07:39:00 As I mentioned yesterday, I?ve stopped smoking. You can?t imagine how hard this is in a country like Timor where everyone smokes. I?ve taken to chewing toothpicks after seeing such a tactic work for a buddy of mine whom I used to work with. I?m now four days into this and the dreams about smoking ... More About: Random , Dreaming , Dreaming of You
Thank you for not smoking
2009-02-18 02:48:00 Since I’ve been in Timor, I’ve become about as addicted to smoking as I’ve ever been. I haven’t smoked for more than 72 hours now. I’m unsure if I’m quitting or just taking a break. Either way, I am feeling extremely edgy and jittery. Supposedly the nicotine is out of my system and all that’s ... More About: Random , Smoking
On a road to nowhere
2009-02-17 06:34:00 I went out on Saturday night with some of my Timorese friends. It was the first time I?d been in a car with my local friends. In general, people in Timor are terrible drivers. I?m not just referring to the Timorese ? everyone drives like a fool. While we out on Saturday, I saw the vehicles ... More About: Road
Still protesting
2009-02-14 10:44:00 I must admit, I’ve lost track of what is going on in Thailand. I’ve been paying more attention to events in Timor-Leste. There are far more interesting things going on than the colors of people’s shirts. I was surprised — actually bemused — to read this on the Bangkok Post website: Supporters of the United Front ... More About: Bizarre
Other people?s Bangkoks
2009-02-14 08:19:00 I was at a friend?s house the other day and I was listening to a conversation between a couple of people at our table. One of these guys was preparing to leave Timor to go to Thailand, while the other had been on an exchange and, I think, spent about a year in LOS, ... More About: People
My first earthquake
2009-02-11 08:16:00 I experienced my first earthquake recently. Well, it was actually my second in the same week. However, I wouldn?t have known the first one happened had my housemate not told me she thought the house was shaking. The second one I definitely felt though. It was during the afternoon of Wedneday, January 26, and I was ... More About: Earthquake
The price of life
2009-02-09 07:58:00 I?ve been getting angry with taxi drivers recently. Before my time in Dili, it used to be that you paid a dollar for any taxi journey around the city. Some taxi drivers still live by this unwritten rule, whereas others have started jacking up their prices. When I ask Timorese people about taxis, they tell ... More About: Life , Price
Story about trafficking in persons
2009-02-07 01:52:00 I have a story about human trafficking in Timor on IRIN news. It was a fun, interesting story to write. Take a look if you have a few minutes to spare. There’s also a very similar story on The Australian website that uses some of my quotes and most of my research. More About: News , Story
MMO blogs are rubbish
2009-02-01 09:14:00 A little while ago I sent up a make money online (MMO) blog called World of Angel. (MMO blogs are written on the subject of how to make money with a blog.) It was my ?big idea? and was supposedly going to make me rich. It didn?t because make money online blogs are just about ... More About: Blogs , Rubbish
Morrissey ? Years of Refusal
2009-01-31 07:19:00 Oh my goodness. There aren’t many things I get this excited about. I don’t make a song and dance about it, but I’m a huge Morrissey fan. The new Morrissey album is slated for release in February. I enjoyed Morrissey’s last album Ringleader of the Tormentors, although I don’t think it was a patch on ... More About: Music , Years
Our house in Dili
2009-01-31 04:18:00 When I was away in December, one question that kept cropping up was what kind of accommodation I live in. People were surprised to hear that I don?t live in a treehouse, although living in a treehouse would be marvelous. My house in Dili just a normal house. I say ?my house?, but I don?t own ... More About: House , The Boy
Making Squidoos
More articles from this author:2009-01-30 08:48:00 I?ve been experimenting with creating Squidoo lenses recently. The theory is that Squidoo lenses can help you build links and traffic for your blog or website. I?ve yet to see any positive results from the Squidoos I?ve created, but some people swear by these things so there must be something in it. A Squidoo lens is ... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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