The World’s Most Expensive Coffee

by Steven

During my trip to Indonesia, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with one thing:  kopi luwak.  For those of you that don’t know what it is, this is dubbed as the world’s most expensive coffee…. and it’s basically harvested from the poop of a particular kind of civet (a type of mammal).  Yes, I did say “poop.”  Asian palm civets eat coffee cherries for their fruit pulp.

Signs of Pride in Jakarta

by Steven

a circuit party in Nirvana of Jakarta

I may have to recant some of what I wrote about Indonesia on my post about Lady Gaga being censored in Malaysia.  Yours truly is currently on a 2 week hiatus in Jakarta, Indonesia.  It’s been 8 years since my last visit and I’ve been noticing quite a few changes in this densely populated city I call my birthplace.  Aside from the noticeably worse traffic, I’m sensing a positive change especially in the lives of LGBT people. 

Censoring Gaga

by Steven

Lady Gaga seems to be a favorite topic of mine.  This entry will be the third post from me concerning her.  Because she’s such a champion for gay rights, how can I not talk about her?  Well it seems in Malaysia radio stations are censoring her single Born This Way by garbling: “No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I’m on the right track, baby.”  This action is taken as a precaution to avoid fines and penalties imposed by the government for playing songs that violate “good taste or decency or are offensive to public feeling.” 

The Children of Srikandi

by Quentin

I just discovered this first film about queer women in Indonesia from a friend’s post on Facebook. According to a webpage, it’s “the first film about the world and experiences of queer women in Indonesia. In this interlace short films, nine female filmmakers show us about what it means to be a queer woman in the country with the world largest Muslim population.” The titular character Srikandi is a character in the Mahabharata, the classic Hindu epic, that is frequently used in Indonesian shadow puppet theater. In one version, Srikandi is the female warrior who becomes a man to marry a woman and bear kids by changing gender identity and sexual orientation. The legend reminds me of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.