On "adventures" in Indonesia from George Quinn on Translating Indonesia:

'Though it may seem strange, Indonesian doesn’t seem to have words for “adventure” or “exciting”, at least not ones that correspond exactly, or that don’t sound forced or artificial or “foreign”.

The notion of “adventure” is one which, on the face of it, seems universal, but it turns out that it is something peculiar to certain cultures and is far from universal. The Macquarie Dictionary defines “adventure” as (among other things) “an undertaking of uncertain outcome, a hazardous enterprise” but this does not do justice to the resonances the term carries from deep within our history. In English-speaking culture, and I think throughout much of Europe, “adventure” has overtones of romance and individualistic daring. It has a lot to do with the tradition of knighthood that we have inherited from the middle ages whereby a man proved his courage and nobility by facing and overcoming dangers. The knightly tradition of adventure really bloomed during the age of European imperialism and migration when young men (and many young women too) went out to the colonies to brave the dangers of unfamiliar places and make their fortunes. Adventure and individualism go together: adventurers prove their courage by leaving the security of community and succeeding on their own. These days, of course, “adventure” has been re-incarnated (albeit in a somewhat debased, and less individualistic form) in mass travel and tourism.

In Indonesia, the notion of chivalric knighthood never bloomed. Indonesians were the targets of European imperialism. They were the victims of imperial adventurers from Europe. Indonesia has never possessed colonies in distant parts of the world that its young men and women could aspire to visit as “adventurers”. '