"Selamat Datang, Bienvenue, Willkommen, Bienvenido" kawanua's Profile

Welcome and thanks for stopping by...

I grew up in Indonesia in a small town called Manado. Well, Manado is not small anymore, but it was pretty small back then. The name kawanua refers to the people who live around Manado and the surrounding Minahasa districts.

As a kid I dreamed about going to other countries but didn't get a chance until I finished high school. My father used to keep a world atlas on his desk, and that got me interested in seeing other places. To this day I still look at maps almost daily (I work in the GPS navigation industry).

I've since left Indonesia and now live in a suburb of Kansas City.

Two-hour drivetime zone from Chicagoland

1. VirtualTourist.com, obviously :-)

2. GPS navigation system
I got a hold of a GPS car navigation system in the early 90s. The system was pretty primitive back then compare to what's available now, but at least it could tell me where I was all the time. Travel has never been the same anymore.

3. Google Earth, which comes with Wikipedia, Street View, Panoramio and others. The same features are available via Google Maps although Google Earth lets you cache some of the data/images for offline use. Privacy concern aside, it's one of the best free applications on the planet for any traveler!

4. Microsoft Map Point
It has a feature called Drivetime Zone which displays how far someone can drive within a certain amount of time (say 2 hours) from a given location. I've used this many many times for weekend or day trips.

Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta, a UNESCO site

1. UNESCO World Heritage Sites. My personal list is here.

2. Places of worship: churches, temples, mosques, monasteries, even caves... Any spiritual place.

3. Body of water (i.e. rivers, lakes, oceans) with a water sport facility nearby.

4. Cities with good Indonesian restaurants.

@ Dresden's Green Vault

I'm slowly building up my VT pages and hope to add many more tips in the future. If you have any question about the places that I've visited, feel free to drop me a line. I'd be more than happy to answer them.
I like spicy Indonesian food and would love to hear any recommendation for places to get a good spicy food.

And may the Force be with you in all your travels and adventures...