It was breakfast time and I was sticking to the principle of trying to experience the local culture as realistically as possible. Padang is one of Sumatra’s largest cities and it is the jump-off point for most surfers who travel to that magical chain of islands nearby called the Mentawais. I was killing time in [...]

The bus driver slammed on brakes and we came to a screeching halt by the side of the road, setting off a cacophony of squawking chickens, bleating goats and swearing passengers. I craned my neck to see what had happened, but the only reason for stopping was that our driver had spotted more people who [...]

A trapper was in the middle of nowhere and stumbled upon a general store and went in.  As the trapper was looking around, the storekeeper said, “I’m havin’ a party tonight, and your invited!”. “Well that’s mighty nice of you.  Thank you”, replied the trapper. “But I gotta warn ya, there’s gonna be drinkin’”, said [...]

There’s this old priest who got sick of all the people in his parish who kept confessing to adultery. One Sunday, in the pulpit, he said, “If I hear that word one more time, I’ll quit!” Everyone liked him, so they came up with a code word. Someone who had committed adultery would say they [...]

  I love ice-fishing because it’s so quiet and peaceful.  I went out last winter on a fairly warm day, set up my tip-ups and curled up in my sled.  After about an hour I saw my buddy coming out.  He set up his traps, took out his radio and turned on a talk show.  [...]

Three weeks until our first baby. Yay!  Three weeks to go.  Three weeks to organize, three weeks to relax and three weeks to enjoy my last three weeks of quietness… I decided to invite my parents in law to stay as it was my husband’s birthday. What a good wife I was! Looking and feeling [...]

“A tea and a cigarette” said Amit in a low voice. The vendor looked at him and understood everything. It’s hard to accept sometimes but its true that your ‘chaiwala’ knows you better. “Go, sit alone for a while and think what you need to do, to do better” Those were the words of his [...]

I write therefore I am. Heard that somewhere before. But hey, I’m not supposed to know that. I am a dog. I feel the need to publish more, to advertise myself. Be known, get famous. Dogs do get famous. It’s really difficult to be an intelligent canine. Humankind don’t have any idea how my thought [...]

The college professor had just finished explaining an important research project to his class. He emphasized that this paper was an absolute requirement for passing his class, and that there would be only two acceptable excuses for being late. Those were a medically certifiable illness or a death in the student’s immediate family. A ‘smart’ [...]

A CEO throwing a party takes his executives on a tour of his opulent mansion. In the back of the property, the CEO has the largest swimming pool any of them has ever seen. The huge pool, however, is filled with hungry alligators. The CEO says to his executives “I think an executive should be [...]