On the Go in Manado 10 - Tomohon

I woke early on the 10th day of the journey to the sound of gardeners outside my window tidying up the grounds of the Mountain View Resort in Tomohon.

This was on the wall of the hotel where I
spent my first night in Manado.  Maybe it
planted a seed in my head.

Looking forward to a full day of sightseeing, I opened the door of my bungalow and sniffed the cool highland air. Glancing the gardeners, I was surprised. They were an older Western couple. White people doing the groundskeeping in a place where the minimum wage was about $5/day. It was the hotel manager and his wife, diligently weeding and raking up leaves. 

This was one of three accommodations I stayed at on the trip run by foreigners. Seeing them has put an idea in my head, perhaps I dare call it a dream.

From the Mountain View Resort

I got 20 years of teaching in me still, and I've got no idea what I'll do in retirement. I can picture myself raking leaves at Joko's Inn, opening up somewhere in SE Asia in 2035. Obviously, this would take a lot of resources, and I've got no idea what goes into opening and running a hotel other than what I've gleamed from being an avid traveler these last few years. Anyways, just floating an idea... perhaps I'll make it into a goal. 

What to see and do in Tomohon?  The first place to visit was the central market in the heart of the city. I'd read online that there were quite some unusual foods being sold there. I wasn't looking forward to seeing dogs on the butcher block again, but the idea of eating bat intrigued me. 

wings sold separately 

After visiting the market, it was a pleasant ride up the green slopes of the Mahawu Volcano. The volcano's crater was within a well tended national park, and I was expecting a significant foreigner entrance fee. I signed their guest book and was asked to make a donation of whatever I felt like making. That was refreshing. 

The video just covers the morning's activities there in Tomohon; what happened on the way back from the volcano gets its own video. 

On the Go in Manado 5: On the Road

Finally, it was time to get my motorcycle rental and hit the road. The agency's rep was going to meet me at the dock where the boat from Bunaken lands, so I'd be on my way with no time lost. I was so excited.

After doing some paperwork there at the same warung where I'd waited to go to Bunaken (no fork-wielding toddlers around this time), I climbed on the Honda Vario 150, and vroom! I was on the road.

Even though it was fully automatic, meaning I had no controls over the gears whatsoever, I was immediately impressed by the motorbike. I normally drive (or rent) bikes that are 125cc, and that extra 25cc of this one's motor was noticeable. Secondly, it's a Honday and it was brand new, less than 1100 km on the odometer. It had some pick up and was perfect for negotiating my way through Manado's relatively modest traffic. 

First stop was IT World, Manado's largest technology mall. Among it's dozens of camera shops, there were a plethora of models to choose from to replace my broken GoPro.

Can't tell from the pic, but this little guy is
about 2.5" x 4" x 1" in size.

Based on some recommendations, I settled on a Xiaomi Action Cam. It came with a waterproof case that fit the same mount that my GoPro uses, so it was helmet friendly. And at less than $100, it didn't break the travel budget. 

Like with any new technology, there's been a bit of a learning curve. Sometimes, I thought I was recording and I wasn't. Other times, I thought I was recording and instead I was taking pictures. It also occurred to me that when it was inside it's casing, the audio would certainly be effected. Would it even pick up sound inside the case? I found out along the way.

Next stop on the journey was lunch with Steve. He'd been reading my posts about this trip on an online forum for expats in Indonesia which I've been participating in, and he invited me to meet, and after a lunch of my favorite Indonesian food, Siomay Bandung, it was off to his home to meet his wife Penny and their dog, Bosco (who had made the trip with them from America).

Video frame grabs are fun. It looks like Steve has gone
berzerk here.

It turned out Steve was from San Francisco and Penny was from Morgan Hill, both towns very close to where I went to high school and the region to which I feel most connected. Steve and Penny had a lovely 3 bedroom house and grounds 20 minutes outside Manado for which they pay less in rent than I do on my little Yangon apartment. Manado is a nice place to spend retirement. 

A road in Steve & Penny's village.. Crosses everywhere.

After a tour of the home (which I thought I was recording) and a couple glasses of cap tikus, It was already 3:00 and I still had quite some ways to go. Because of its relative position within its time zone, the sun sets early here; I didn't have a lot of time. Steve had recommended that I take the coastal route all the way down to Anurang, my planned destination for the first leg. When I left, I decided to take the shorter route; I don't like looking for new places in the dark. 

When I got the crossroads, I stopped and thought about it for a second. I thought about if I'd ever get a chance to check out this road ever again in my whole life. What's a little inconvenience in place of the joy of driving through the jungle alongside a beautiful tropical coastline? As you can see on the map at the top of the page, there's an obvious shortcut that I didn't take. I'm quite glad I didn't. The views were amazing.  

Steve had also mentioned that if I stopped anywhere along the way, not to be surprised if the locals asked if they could have their picture taken with me.

At a beautiful beach out on the tip of the peninsula, that's exactly what happened. An older man started talking to me, and when he found out I was from America, he said, "Trump, good! Lots of money!" That's a bit different than the reaction I got in Myanmar from a Muslim guy. His daughter wanted her picture taken with me. Then the old guy grabs his son and says it's his turn.

I know how these things go; I'd be there a long time. I made my apologies, saying "it's already late afternoon..." and was back on the road. 

Also because the camera was brand new, it didn't have a fully charged battery and so the video today kind of ends abruptly as I was coming around a corner. 

On the Go to Manado 2: First Impressions

I woke up bright and early in Singapore, ready for my morning flight to Manado.  I was a bit lighter in the wallet (not just from the gambling; everything in Singapore is SO expensive!), but glad that the journey to my destination had required two days. Part of travel's whole appeal to me is seeing unique, new places. Singapore is one of the most singular places I had ever been. Truly remarkable. 

I would be driving down the very road in this picture just a few
days after it was taken

The flight to Manado was fascinating. See, I'd been planning this trip for some time, or, at least, day dreaming about it while viewing Google Earth. I'd spent hours studying the satellite imagery of Sulwesi's north coast, looking for possible places of interest and stopping points. As it came to an end, the flight path of the plane took it directly parallel to that north coast. Here, I was seeing in real life what I'd spent so long looking at on a computer screen. Ooh! I know that island! Aha! I know where we are! 

As a middle-aged guy who's spent a lot of times in planes, getting a window seat shouldn't be such a thrill anymore.  One might think that I've gotten used to it by now.  Well, I haven't.  I'm still filled with a childlike sense of wonder when I get to stare out at billowy clouds, fascinating coastlines and even miles and miles of empty ocean. I hope I never lose that, and it's sights like this that help rekindle it. These two atolls didn't show up on the Google Earth. 

Striking similar, looking like cat's eyes and positioned in just the right proportion to each other and to the concave sloping coast of mainland below, it looked like the island of Sulawesi was looking up and smiling at me. 

Manado isn't that big of a city, and my hotel was fairly well located in it's heart. It was a short mini-van-bus ride into downtown, where I spent some time wandering and looking for a couple more items for my trip.  As dinner time came, I found exactly what I was looking for: a nice clean restaurant overlooking the water. 

After sunset, I went the other way from my hotel into the older part of town. This was on eve of Good Friday, and Manado is a fervently Christian town.

In the Western church, they've never reconciled the notion  of Christ's resurrection with all the pagan Easter stuff that goes on with eggs, and chocolate and bunnies. Well, here in Manado, they don't have that problem. In this mural, it kinda looks like the Easter Bunny was there at Calvary Hill.

At just two minutes, this is likely going to be the shortest video in this series.  Enjoy. 

Joko's Java Journey 5: to Ujung Genteng

Refreshed as I was having reached the south coast, I was ready the next morning for the next stage of the journey. I had spoken with the owner of a beachside cafe who happened to be a German very much into motorcycle touring there in Java and had gotten some good insights into the roads ahead. He told me that the road to Ujung Genteng was quite good and that I would have a swift and easy ride.

The Hotel cat saw me off

At 94 kilometers, it was the shortest leg of the journey, and the German was right. The road was fantastic. Curvy, but not one hairpin turn after another. Smooth and uncrowded. Spectacular scenery all around. It's roads like this which are why I enjoy motorcycle touring the first place. Furthermore, to have as a destination the beautiful beach at Ujung Genteng, that made it even that much better.

The hills of West Java (slightly color enhanced)

The road to the hotel

I found and booked the hotel I chose in Ujung Genteng online. In some respects, I enjoy the certainty of knowing where I'm going when I end the day on the motorbike. What I've come to realize, however, is that it's often better not to book online until you've seen the place. I didn't like my hotel that much. The road to get there was terrible, and really, it was meant for those who were there for the tremendous surfing a few hundred meters away at the beach.

Still, a beautiful sunset is the same no matter where you're sleeping.

Enjoy the video.

Joko's Java Journey 4: Jakarta to Pelabuhan Ratu

No one would rent me a motorcycle. I feared the vacation would fail entirely due to this lack of transportation. What could I do? While meeting with old friends there in Jakarta, one of them took pity on me and lent me his spare scooter and finally, the trip was afoot.

Given that I had lost so much time, I had to reroute my itinerary. Gone was the trip west to beaches facing the Sunda Strait seperating Java from Sumatra. I would not step foot on the Krakatoa volcano nor see the critically endangered Java rhino on this trip. Instead of heading west, I headed due south, skipping my stay in Bogor and going all the way to the south coast, to a place near the town of Pelabuhan Ratu.

More than 5 hours to go 140 km? That's less than 30 km/hr
(20 mph). How can that be? TRAFFIC!!!

Traffic so bad that I could check my
route on my smartphone while driving.

I've heard horror stories about Jakarta traffic, and my experience in taxis and such over the last few days had confirmed that motor congestion is a 24 hour reality in the capital. Now, I was leaving at 6:30 AM, and I was heading OUT of town, not in, and as most rush hours tend to be one-directional, I was hoping it wouldn't be so bad leaving the Big Durian.

I was right. The traffic in South Jakarta was heavy, but not brutal. On the other side of street, however, the folks trying to come into town were bumper to bumper, jam packed.

The old colonial palace

Eventually, I got to the city of Bogor, about 50 miles south of Jakarta. Bogor is an old town, and 70 years ago, was the colonial capital during the hot season. Being at elevation, Bogor is a bit cooler than the lowland Jakarta. Bogor is also renowned for its famous botanical gardens, which you'll see in the video.

Heading out of Bogor, the traffic was absolutely insane. Several highways converged into one and whereas driving a motorbike usually allows you to wind your way through stopped traffic, even us motorcyclists were at a standstill.

Srsly?

This insanity lasted for scores of miles until eventually I reached my turn off. As the congestion looked to continue unabated all the way to Sukabumi, as soon as made a right onto the road to Pelabuhan Ratu and the south coast, everything opened up.

In fact, perhaps it was due to the contrast from the hell I'd been through up to that point, but I thought at the time I was one the best possible road for motorcycling. Smooth, windy, and with some hills for contrast, I enjoyed that last bit of the day's journey as much as I have ever enjoyed any road. Free from the continuous urban sprawl that had followed me all the way from Jakarta, the hills were green, forests surrounded the road and I got my first real taste of the Javanese countryside.

Jakarta: 1986 vs 2016

(Preface to my regular readers - I've written this for a very particular audience: expats in Jakarta)

In 1986, at the tender age of 16, I arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta to begin a one year experience as an exchange student. During that year, I came to know the city fairly well, and by the time I left, I had 'gone native' to a certain extent. For 30 years, I've carried around these memories of my time there, and although I've had tons and tons of other experiences since then, I'll always look back fondly on my first overseas adventure, the people I came to know during that time, and the city that served as a backdrop to the whole thing.

30 years later, I'm living and working in Southeast Asia again, and have taken a vacation back to the island of Java and the city of Jakarta. First time I've visited since 1990. This may sound cliché, but so much has changed, while at the same time, so much has not.

Maybe by giving examples I can make things clearer

Four things that haven't changed in Jakarta in 30 years which I thought might have-

Bajaj (pronounced Bajai): These sturdy Indian-made three-wheeled taxis dominated the roads of Jakarta Selatan during the 80's. If ever you wanted to go anywhere, you grabbed a beat up, orange Bajaj. You could fit three adults in the back, fares were negotiated, and they were just narrow enough to get through some of the gaps in traffic that cars couldn't. I saw one Bajaj in my first day in Jakarta. Just one, and it was blue. Then I got to Jakarta Selatan and went to Blok M. Now that's Bajaj territory. They aren't as beat up as they were back then. They're blue now instead of orange, and they seem to all be licensed and

registered. I took one from Radio Dalam to Blok M, and seeing the driver work those Vespa-style gears, it brought back fond memories.


Metro Mini: Again, transport surprised me. Of course Jakarta still has buses, but it was cool seeing those same stenciled letters “Metro Mini” on the same red medium-sized buses. Like the bajaj, they're not as dented and beat up as they were back in the day, but they're probably pretty much the same on the inside.

Kaki Lima: One of my favorite parts about Jakarta in the 80's was the food vendors wandering the neighborhoods. If you were hungry, just listen for the sound of your preferred vendor as he patrolled the streets and you could have anything from baso, satay, and siomay to roti, ice cream and martabak.
You don't get this kind of food service in Bangkok or Yangon. Hanging out a friend's house the other night, we heard a “TAY!!” from the road out front. “Hey, Joko, would you like some satay?” Hell yes.


Blue Bird Taxis: They seem to have expanded in both market directions, but it's nice to see an honest company built on not ripping people off still thriving. In fact, I've noticed that the beat up, old, yelly “Presidents Taxis” are gone. Good riddance.

Four things in Jakarta that have completely changed or are new since 1986

Gojek & Grab: Again, I seem to be focusing on transport, but I find it fascinating that Jakarta has an app with which you call a motorcycle taxi on your smart phone. The motorcycle taxi is the best way for a single person to go short distances in several Asian cities, but they don't have this app in Bangkok. I think it's really neat.

Becaks: They were trying to get rid of the pedicabs in the capital back in the 80's, but with limited success. I remember a story about how the police confiscated thousands of the sturdy, 3-wheeled bicycle cabs from all over the city, dragged them out into the Java Sea and dumped them in hopes of their acting as the basis for an new artificial coral reef. Instead, local fisherman went out, dragged them up off the bottom of the sea and sold them back to the becak drivers. Now that I'm out of town, I see them here, but they seem to be finally gone from the city.

IndoMaret and AlfaMart: My God, they're everywhere. In my first video of this Java Journey series, I noted how I saw two IndoMarets on ly three doors away from one another. AlfaMart is similarly ubiquitous. Where did they all come from? What impact are they having on the struggling mom and pop warungs? Back in 86, the very first convenience store chain was just to appear: Circle K. They were wonderful as they were the only places in town where you could buy ice cold beer any time of the day or night. Now, neither IndoMaret nor AlfaMart, nor Cicle K or 7-11 for that matter, sell beer.


Hijabs: I can't recall the Indonesian word for the Moslem headdress that women wear, but I think it's Jaelbob... Anyways, back in 80's, few Jakarta women wore the Islamic garb when they went outside. They'd wear it to pray, but otherwise no. Maybe 1 in 10 women out in public wore the hijab. Now, it seems like the majority of women are wearing the headdress. Advertisements on TV feature ladies in the Islamic hijab. I don't know if it's a reflection of a change in culture or a change in fashion, but there's a lot less hair seen on the streets of Jakarta today.

The Tour of Borneo: Part Two - Pontianak

The morning of my second day in Pontianak, I had the google revelation I mentioned at the end of my last blog. Why was a searching online in English for a motorbike to rent in a city where they don't speak English? When I switched to Indonesian, results! 

 
I contacted the office of the rental agency, and they said yes, they had motorbikes to rent. They asked whether I would like for them to deliver one to me. Oh no, I had to check it out first.

Indonesian police aren't as intimidating as I remember

Pontianak is a strange city when it comes to transportation as in there is apparently little to no public transportation. You don't see taxis on the road. The motorcycle taxis (ojek, as they're called here) are practically non-existent. There are a sprinkling of pedicabs (becak), and occasionally I've seen some run down old vans which serve as the city bus system. You have to have your own transport to get around here.

 The doorman arranged a private taxi ($6 for 3 miles? That's outrageous for Third World prices) to take me to the motorcycle rental agency. On arrival, I saw no motorbikes. The lady behind the desk asks, “Did you call earlier?”

I told her that had been me. Oh, she apologized. She didn't realize when she was talking to me earlier that they were all rented out. There should be one later that afternoon, if not tomorrow, she continued.

Well, damn.

What could I do? It was a good thing I had the taxi wait for me while I went in.

Siomay Bandung!

So, with nothing to do but just wait around (I had already explored the Pontianak within walking distance the day before), I found a restaurant that sells my absolutely favorite Indonesian food (Siomay Bandung), checked out the jacuzzi and pool facilities at the hotel and hoped my phone would ring.

It finally did. Enjoy the video.