This was the best tonkotsu ramen we tasted in all of Kyushu - and we got to spend three days working in it! The family-run ramen shop 🍜 in the town of Kajiki in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan, only opens for 3 hours each day, but their ramen usually sells out in just over 2 hours!
On our journey deep into Papua's forests, where about 300 indigenous tribes live, we met 73-year-old Yudas in a village perched in Baliem Valley, and heard about how he participated in a tribe killing to avenge his late brother.
Death — more than any other occasion in an individual's life — is celebrated with lavish expense in Toraja. Families place the bodies of their dead relatives in their family homes for many years until they have saved up enough for their funeral ceremonies.
We heard about a rare music art form in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, called “musik bambu”, where an entire “brass” band plays on orchestral instruments made totally from bamboo! After searching near Tomohon town for this bamboo orchestra, we were surprised to stumble upon Trivelino, who is BOTH the maker of the instruments, as well as a bamboo musician!
In the jungles of Indonesia, we found a man who can make wine from trees! It involves climbing 30-feet high trees every day using just a bamboo pole!
We met the remarkable whale shark in Gorontalo, Indonesia, on our month-long journey through Sulawesi. These gentle giants are frequent visitors to a small seaside village called Botubarani, which has since become a tourism sensation. We learnt about how tourism is harming some of them as increasing tourist activity and feeding threaten their habitat and natural way of life.
We met a couple who has a unique ability to befriend wild animals that have come to frequent their home! While we were there, we saw a wild babirusa (which they’ve affectionately named Coco) emerge from the jungle to spend time with Ating, Meidy and their animals.
On our journey in North Sulawesi, we set out in search of the infamous Tomohon Extreme Market, where we met vendors hawking various exotic meats such as bats, rats, pythons and more! We also got the opportunity to join a family on their nighttime hunt for bats and rats, and enjoyed the catch prepared in authentic Indonesian style.
We followed two women divers - outliers in the Bajau community of sea gypsies in Sulawesi, Indonesia - on their octopus fishing trips, which are increasingly being disrupted by climate change.
We travelled to a remote island chain in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and spent some time in a sea gypsy village, where we joined the Bajaus for an exciting midnight spearfishing trip!