Cold Storage is a 2019 science fiction novel written by one of the top screen writers of all time.
After decades underground in a forgotten sub-basement, a highly mutative organism – capable of extinction-level destruction – has found its way out.
Only Pentagon bioterror operative Roberto Diaz can stop it. With the help of two unwitting security guards, he has one night to quarantine this horror, before it destroys all of humanity.
Loser Teacake is hilarious.
It’s one of those end-of-the-world thrillers. Not too believable — but would make a good Hollywood film.
I did enjoy the humour. Some of the dialogue could be kept for the movie.
If you liked the rest, you’ll probably like this one.
I do enjoy the many little scientific nuggets included.
But Brown is an infamously terrible writer:
At this stage, everything that needs to be said about Brown’s sentence-by-sentence ineptitude as a prose writer has been said.
Fear not: he’s still hopeless. It may be counted as a metafictional joke that in a novel where a favoured adjective like “elegant” can appear in two consecutive sentences, where bells are said to “blare” …
This is, in other words, a Dan Brown novel. It’s weapons-grade bollocks from beginning to end, none of it makes a lick of sense, and you’ll roar through it with entire enjoyment if you like this sort of thing. …
The Associated Press review described the novel as a 650-page thriller featuring Langdon on a dangerous quest through Prague, where he is caught up in an international race to unlock the mystery of what happens after death.
Brown once again blends suspense, philosophical themes, travelogues, codes, puzzles, and secret societies …
Too long. Tom Hanks must be exhausted.
Killers stop to join in long, philosophical discussions.
I just travelled Indonesia for a month. Most of the popular attractions.
It’s not a good fit for this old backpacker.
Aside from major city train / bus service, tourists end up taking a lot of personal vehicles. Bad for the environment. Terrible for traffic jams.
Ride sharing apps like Grab and GoJek are essential as there are no alternatives in much of the nation.
Indonesia is ideal for young invincible backpackers who love to ride scooters through dangerous traffic. While chain smoking. Adrenaline junkies.
Instead of touring, I’d recommend picking one spot you like. Rent a place for a month. Concentrate on a few things: scuba, snorkelling, health & fitness, yoga, surfing, writing, reading, partying, …. Whatever you’ve always want more time for.
Don’t travel very far.
I’d like a month in the Gili Islands, for example.
The culture tourists face is (mostly) men, (mostly) chain smoking.
Every young guy in Indonesia dreams of getting a scooter. And then enough money for fuel and cigarettes.
This MIGHT be an A.I. generated image. 😀
While it’s easy and quick to move between Bali, Lombok and the Gilis, island-hopping elsewhere often involves a flight, bad bus, or lengthy boat journey.
To be fair, there ARE a number of island chains where you can jump between islands on a short speedboat or long-tail-boat ride. The Banda Islands and Kei Islands in southern Maluku are compact and a breeze to travel among, while it’s also easy to move around the Karimunjawa Islands off Java, the Togean Islands off Sulawesi, the Banyak Islands off Sumatra and Raja Ampat off Papua.
That said — I’ll be returning to Jakarta soon for the World Gymnastics Championships.
She currently lives in Jakarta with her husband, who is English, and their two daughters.
In 2021, Sutanto published her hit novel, Dial A for Aunties. I enjoyed it.
Wedding is the 2nd book in the series.
Quit somewhere in the middle where nothing actually seems to be happening. This book didn’t work for me.
It’s supposed to be a cozy murder mystery — but I’d call it more of a light comedy.
Our heroine, Meddy Chan, is getting married.
… she can’t wait to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan. Instead of having Ma and the aunts cater to her wedding, Meddy wants them to enjoy the day as guests.
As a compromise, they find the perfect wedding vendors: a Chinese-Indonesian family-run company just like theirs. …
… family aren’t just like her own, they are The Family—actual mafia, and they’re using Meddy’s wedding as a chance to conduct shady business.
Her aunties and mother won’t let Meddy’s wedding ceremony become a murder scene—over their dead bodies—and will do whatever it takes to save her special day, even if it means taking on the mafia.
15,000 kilometers – by rail, road, on foot and under sail – through 50 Indonesian islands.
From tracking tigers (and the mythical ‘short man’) in the Sumatra jungle to the mystical Dayak tribe that lives near the geographical center of Borneo, this book touches on some of Indonesia’s most intriguing secrets.
The author meets Tana Toraja’s ‘living dead’, the Bugis people (once known as the Bogeymen) who build and sail the spectacular Sulawesi schooners and the villagers who are literally besieged by dragons in the Komodo archipelago.
He surfs the legendary reefs of G-Land, Nias and Occy’s Left (and pioneers a previously un-surfed wave in the remote Alor Archipelago).
He road-trips across Sulawesi and Flores and sails in the wake of Alfred Russel Wallace around Spice Islands that have remained largely unchanged for centuries.
“. . . a soldier of fortune or Legionnaire of the travel writing business!”—Korean Airlines magazine
With the main prasada tower soaring up to 47 metres high, a vast walled temple complex consists of 240 structures is today mostly in ruins. Only a few of those have been restored.
One big difference from Borobudur is that you can enter some of the temples here.
Very few tourists leave the main temple area. The rest I had almost to myself.
Somehow the jumble of original stone suits the confusing Hindu storylines of this vast site.
The temples were mysteriously abandoned near the half of the 10th century.
In 1918, the Dutch colonial government began the reconstruction of the compound; however, proper restoration only commenced in 1930.
I’m quite certain it will never be completely restored.
For 30 years I’ve been trying to get to Indonesia to see impressive Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
I’d rank Borobudur alongside the Pyramids of Egypt, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Bagan in Myanmar, Petra, and the Pyramids of Mexico & Central America.
Running out of time on my 30 day visa to the nation, I splurged on a 13 hour private guided tour which included this highlight.
My guide got me #1 in line to visit Borobudur! I finally finished 1st in something! 😀
If alone, I could have rushed up to the top like a winner.
HOWEVER, everyone is guided in groups here. My guide was excellent.
Everyone must wear gifted sandals. They seriously do not work for people with bunions.
The site has been vastly improved in recent years. There’s some lovely landscaping, including many lotus flowers, a symbol in Buddhism.
There are 2 kinds of tickets: structure and ground. The ground tickets only allow wandering outside the Temple. Structure ticket holders get to climb the temple. Numbers are limited each day.
Of course everyone is keen to get the tour over with so they can scramble for photos. Me included. 😀
Though much of the stone had been vandalized and looted over the decades, there are still many impressive carved stories.
Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth.
