• Javanese dance flourishes in Indonesian theater

    Wayang Orang dancers prepare for their show at the Bharata Theatre in Jakarta May 5, 2012.

    photos by Beawiharta / Reuters

    Wayang Orang, or Human Theater, is a type of traditional Javanese dance. A revival of immemorial culture allows the Bharata Theatre to show Jakarta an art once restricted to aristocrats. Wayang Orang is influenced by Hinduism and can involve more than 100 people as dancers and musicians.

    Wayang Orang dancers sit backstage and wait to perform

    A Wayang Orang dancer smokes before a show.

    Spectators watch a Wayang Orang performance at the Bharata Theatre.

    Wayang Orang dancers perform at the Bharata Theatre in Jakarta on May 5, 2012.

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  • Adek Berry / AFP - Getty Images

    An Indonesian man prays during a visit at the site of Megalithic Gunung Padang on July 6 in Cianjur, West Java. The site of Megalithic Gunung Padang is the largest megalithic site in South-Eastern Asia, consist of five terraces, located on a hill of about 2,900 feet above sea level, in Karyamukti village about 30 miles from Cianjur city.

    Indonesian man finds place to pray in West Java

    According to Wikipedia, local people consider Gunung Padang a sacred place and believe it came about as a result of King Siliwangi's attempts to build a palace in a single night.

    More Asia-Pacific news here.

  • Indonesia's Mount Bromo continues to erupt

    By Mish Whalen

    According to the AP, Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java, has seen a rise in volcanic activity in the past few days as consecutive eruptions spew thick grey plumes into the air. The authorities have set Mount Bromo's status at 'standby', not allowing people to get any closer than about a mile. The 2,329-meter peak is a popular tourist destination. The Mount Bromo explosion in 2004 killed two people, and injured five others. Indonesia has about 500 volcanoes, nearly 130 of them active and 68 classified as dangerous. See more photos of the volcano erupting from Dec. 2010. 

    Trisnadi / AP

    In this photo made with a slow shutter speed, Mount Bromo is seen spitting volcanic materials, as seen from Cemara Lawang village, East Java, Indonesia, on Friday, March 11, 2011.

    Trisnadi / AP

    A villager carries her child as Mount Bromo is seen spewing volcanic materials as it erupts in Cemara Lawang village, East Java, Indonesia, on Friday, March 11, 2011.

    Fully Handoko / EPA

    Molten magma spews from the top of the mountain during an eruption of Mount Bromo near Ngadisari Village, Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia on March 11, 2011.

  • Roasting the most expensive coffee in the world, from cat poop

    By Jonathan Woods, msnbc.com

    According to Wikipedia, Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract.

    A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world.

    Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, and also in the Philippines (where the product is called motit coffee in the Cordillera and kape alamid in Tagalog areas) and also in East Timor (where it is called kafé-laku). Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its name in Vietnam, where popular, chemically simulated versions are also produced.

    Have you tried this coffee before? Is it worth paying top dollar?

    Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

    A four month old Luwak is tempted by some red coffee beans at the BAS Coffee plantation on Jan. 20, 2011, in Tapaksiring, Bali, Indonesia. The Luwak is an Asian palm civet, which looks like a cross between a cat and a ferret.

    Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

    A Luwak snacks on coffee berries inside its cage on Jan. 16 in Bali, Indonesia. The civet climbs coffee trees to find the best berries, eats them, and eventually the coffee beans come out in its stools as a complete bean.

    Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

    Wayan Dira collects the Luwak stool under their cage on Jan. 20 in Pupuan village, Bali, Indonesia. The stool is collected once a day for processing. Sari and her husband Wayan Dira have had a small coffee business for the last two years in the coffee region of western Bali. They own nine Luwaks and are now producing the expensive coffee hoping to cash in on the desire for the rare beans. Luwak coffee is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, and also in the Philippines.

    Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

    Sari grinds Luwak beans in an old rusted grinder Jan. 20 in Pupuan village, Bali, Indonesia. The Luwak coffee is known as the most expensive coffee in the world because of the way the beans are processed and the limited supply. Luwak coffee is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, and also in the Philippines.

  • Altamira / AFP - Getty Images

    A village is covered by mud flow from Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta on January 10, 2011.

    View of destroyed village months after Mount Merapi eruption

    By Mish Whalen

    Amazing photo showing the destruction from Indonesia's most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, that has killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions which started in late October. It reminds me of a recent TV program I just saw on the Montserrat Volcano.