January 19-26, 2013,

Indonesia: Once again, I had to cover one disaster after another, from those natural ones to the man-made. Jakarta was under the flood water, dozens of people died and hundreds of thousands became homeless.
There was hardly any help offered to them by the government, and the elites, once again, managed to grab everything they could, bribing media to portray them as good Samaritans.

I also flew to Sumatra and visited remote village - Balinuraga - where, last year, a crowd consisting of around 15.000 men, killed several people and destroyed 500 houses. I had one day to rest and we decided to visit elephant sanctuary, just to discover gruesome way elephants are treated there; chained to each other and beaten with sticks armed with sharp metal edges!

January 13-19, 2013:

Sandakan, Borneo, Malaysia. It is hot, humid, green and blue - it is Borneo. I came here to write and to meet MNLF Commander "Bambi" for several interviews. Sandakan is where the Malaysian, Philippines and Indonesian cultures meet.

January 12, 2013,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Showing my film about Somali refugees in Northern Kenya, "One Flew Over Dadaab", at Pusat Rakyat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

January 10-12

Shanghai, China: 2 days with my best friend, Chinese pianist Yuan Sheng. Great food and political talk, beer, Southern Chinese opera and endless hours absorbing contemporary art at 523 Art District.

January 3, 2013:

Nara.

This ancient capital of Japan hosts several world heritage sites, as well as first class museums, and tea rooms. Deer is roaming freely all around the city, which is surrounded by deep forests

January 3, 2013.

Yasukuni is the most controversial place of warship in the entire Japan. This is where the soldiers fallen in WWII are commemorated, to the fury of Korean, Chinese and Philippine people - victims of the war. But
Yasukuni can be also comical: bad taste is commonly displayed here, including cheap nationalism and militarism. But it is also one of the very few places in otherwise complacent Japan, where anti-US sentiments are commonly displayed. Like when some old women sing traditional 'enka' songs, some with explicit
lyrics attacking US war against Japan.