As I sit here in my empty apartment a weird feeling settles over me, it feels like insecurity mixed with sadness and excitement – we are moving home, city and country. Everything I own is packed and carted away and each room echoes with the nostalgia of a hollow drum played to an empty village [...]

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With all the talk of equipment bans, golf balls that fly too far, and the various rule changes, it has occurred to me that golf is simply too difficult a game! With 34 rules, 100 sections and subsections and over 2,000 explanatory decisions, golf is the most complicated and “unfair” game in of all sport. [...]

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No, that isn’t a spelling error, but you’ll have to read on to find out why. I first started wearing glasses when I was seven years old pupil at Charlton Manor Primary School in southeast London. These were provided by the then fairly new National Health Service, along with a third of a pint of [...]

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It’s only a few weeks to the European Champions League Final, May 25th, and though it will take place far way, in London, England, and will involve no players from Southeast Asia, let alone Indonesia, the drumbeat to the match will be clearly visible here. As the date nears, expect to see growing number of [...]

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Its origins can be traced back to a game called Poona, British soldiers felt it was fun when they played it in India, So the blokes decided to bring it back to the land of Big Ben, Where it was played for many years by children, women and men. In 1873, the Duke of Beaufort [...]

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The sound of the referee’s whistle pierces the humid afternoon. Players bolt into action vying for the soccer ball. There is a solid thud as a player’s cleat makes contact with the ball. The ball sails across the green field and is trapped by an oncoming player. In a shuffle of feet from the opposition, [...]

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In last month’s installment of the Expat Golfer we focused on putting, the physical aspects of putting, the grip and putting stroke. This month I would like to explore the mental side of this very delicate activity, addressing ways to quiet the mind. Please bear in mind; however, there are no absolutes in putting technique. [...]

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If you’re a certified Scuba diver, you know this scene too well; floating around beside a beautiful underwater wall abundant with vibrant coral, getting up-close and personal with a timid pygmy seahorse, or holding on and feeling the force of a strong current blasting over your face as you watch sharks and schools of barracuda [...]

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Ubiquitous, cheap, filling, and, most importantly, delicious. Street food and Indonesia are often seen as one and the same. They are outside the shopping malls of Jakarta, providing a cheap alternative to western-priced fare inside for mall staff, tucked into alleys in Denpasar, in specially designated areas in Solo, always within a few minutes walk [...]

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What if having more actually meant enjoying less? Welcome to the age of ‘Affluenza’ or gluttony, this disease is marked by patients doggedly pursuing more, more and more leading to symptoms such as excessiveness, anxiety and waste (not to mention debt)…. Though ‘Affluenza’ is a supposed condition (coined by Hamilton & Denniss in a book [...]

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If the outsides are a reflection of what’s going on inside, what does your environment/space say about you? Our actions, no matter how ‘negligible’ they seem, shape our environment and in response, the environment, natural or man-made, shapes us affecting our physical and emotional wellbeing. How do you shape your environment/space? And how does the [...]

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I believe in Cause-ology. Cause-ology dictates that the easiest way of predicting the future is to get out of bed in the morning and create it. Coaches call this living at ‘Cause’. Living at ‘Cause’ means holding true to the belief that behaviour, actions and responses influence your outcomes/results, these outcomes create your reality and [...]

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I remember friends and family with small children regularly consulting their well worn copy of Baby and Child Care by Dr Benjamin Spock, first published in 1946 and selling over 50 million copies. A similar book was first published in 1911 called Wenken en Raadgevingen Betreffende het Gebruik van Indische Planten, Vruchten, enz. (Tips and [...]

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Despite the hype about New Year being a time to celebrate there is something about the end of a year that causes us to pause, sit back and reflect. Perhaps it’s a realization that the clock is ticking, or maybe it is an instinct to leave your mark in the world. Irrespective we often look [...]

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