Manado, Sulawesi Utara (27-29 Desember 2009)

Setelah di Bunaken selama dua hari, kami melanjutkan liburan di kota Manado. Kami menginap di hotel Ritzy yang terletak di pusat kota. Beruntung kamar kami menghadap ke laut. Dari kamar, kami bisa liat pulau Manado Tuo dan area sibuk di pinggi pantai kota Manado.

Day 1 - Minggu

Dari Bunaken ke Manado kami naik taxi (Thank you God for having Bluebird in Manado!). Sebelum ke hotel, kami meminta taxi langsung membawa kami ke tempat jual souvenir, saya ingin beli hiasan dinding atau kerajinan khas Sulawesi Utara. Namun di toko yang menurut supir taxi adalah toko souvenir terbesar di Manado, kami kecewa. Ini karena pilihan barang yang ditawarkan sangat terbatas dan banyak yang bukan produk khas Sulawesi Utara ditawarkan juga disana. Namun saya sempatkan beli dodol pala beberapa bungkus. OK lah, mungkin dengan pergi ke musium kita bisa melihat atau mengenali kerajinan plus budaya asli Sulawesi Utara. Jadi taxi kami minta membawa kami menuju ke Musium Provinsi Sulawesi Utara. Apa mau di kata, musium ternyata tutup. Melihat rumput tinggi tak terawat di halaman musium, saya berharap dalam hati 'Sebelum itu rumput dirapiin, mudahan tidak ada guide yang bawa turis asing ke sini.'

Kekecewaan kami pagi itu terobati ketika kami tiba di Jalan Wakeke, satu jalan obyek wisata yang hampir tiap rumah disana berjualan makanan khas Manado. Primadonanya? apa lagi kalau bukan Bubur Manado. Saat melihat daftar menu, saya dan adik saya bingung, karena kami tidak menemukan bubur manado di menu. Tamu lain membantu kami bahwa dalam bahasa lokal, bubur manado adalah 'tinutuan.' Pantas, kalau itu banyak kombinasi nya dalam menu. Jadinya kami pesan Tinutuan dengan Sambal dabu-dabu ikan cakalang. Sedap banget!

Dari Wakeke kami istirahat di hotel. Walau hotel Ritzy sudah modern, hotel ini setiap pagi menampilkan musik kulintang yang secara life dibawakannya. Adik saya berangkat ke airport untuk kembali ke Jakarta meninggalkan saya dan dua anak saya, Lulu n Lilo.

Sore, kami bertiga pergi ke daerah Wakeke lagi. Kali ini saya pesan Mie Cakalang. Puteri saya berpesan bahwa ini terakhir kali dia mau menemani saya ke Wakeke, 'masak belum sehari udah dua kali kesini?'. Bagaimana ya, abis makanannya enak-enak. Dari Wakeke kami ke Pantai Malalayang. Sore itu pantai penuh dengan pengunjung. Tempat jual makanan juga banyak disana dan ternyata yang paling populer adalah pisang goreng.

Day 2 - Senin

Pagi hari Manado diguyur hujan. Tapi akan rugi sekali kalau kami tetap di hotel, jadi kami memutuskan tetap jalan-jalan. Pilihan kami adalah ke Tomohon atau ke Bitung. Di Tomohon dan sekitarnya kita bisa menikmati Kota Bunga itu, Woloan, ke Makam Tuanku Imam Bonjol dan ke Bukit Kasih. Sementara bila ke Bitung, kita bisa melihat Tarsius (Monyet terkecil di dunia), Tangkoko national Park dan Tangkoko Beach. Considering kami berasal dari kota kecil di dalam hutan dan monyet adalah tetangga kami, saya memutuskan untuk pergi ke Tomohon.

Pilihan saya jitu sekali. Tomohon adalah kota di dataran tinggi, setengah jam bermobil dari manado. Dalam perjalanan ke Tomohon kita dapat menemui banyak rumah tradisional manado, gereja, seminari dan kuburan kristen di sisi jalan. Untuk saya, ini adalah pemandangan baru. Kami juga stop dititik dimana kami bisa melihat kota Manado dari ketinggian dan tentunya mengambil beberapa foto.

Di Tomohon, kami stop di daerah Woloan. Disini adalah area tempat pembuatan rumah kayu khas manado yang bisa di knock down. Yang menbeli bukan hanya orang Indonesia, tetapi juga di ekspor sampai ke Eropa. Dari Woloan kami memutuskan langsung pulang ke hotel karena saya dan puteri saya pusing. Masih capai. Dalam perjalanan pulang saya stop di toko souvenir dan membeli beberapa gantungan kunci dari batok kelapa bertuliskan 'Manado.'

Malam terakhir di Manado, kami dinner di d'Terrace Cafe. Letaknya strategis menghadap ke laut dan bisa kamu tuju dengan jalan kaki dari hotel. Dari Terrace kita juga bisa melihat Pulau Manado Tuo, lebih dramatis lagi kalau dilihat saat senja. Kami pesan makanan sederhana, .... nasi goreng dan gado-gado. Ngak apa-apa, saya udah ngerasain makanan asli manado di Wakeke kok. Jadi back to basic doesn't hurt.

Meeting Casts of 'Finding Nemo' in Bunaken, North Sulawesi Indonesia (25 - 26 December 2009)

Day 1

My kids, Lulu and Lilo, and I arrived Sam Ratulangi Airport of Manado North Sulawesi on the Christmas Day of 2009. The airport was hot and there was not many trolley available. Thank goodness, my sister Helga arrived from Jakarta not long after so at least my luggage trouble was sorted out.

A taxi took us to the hotel. There was a touchy moment when we found our taxi driver taking his son with him in the cab. "His mum with his sister visiting the relatives for christmas. So he has to come with me because there is nobody at home" the driver told us. For me, it is sad to work in a big day like that, we suppose to be with our family.

The hotel we stayed in, Santika, located in Tongkeina. We saw bufallos, dogs .... and hedgehogs on the street to the hotel. A bit remote isn't it? But the hotel is in perfect location, Bunaken and Manado Tuo islands are across the shore.... and at the hotel we also got acquantance with this cute dogAs we arrived in the afternoon, we just walked around the hotel and checked the boat for the next day. I was a bit worry as the weather was not very friendly, especially for snorkling. Hope the sun would come out on the next day.

Day 2

Sunny day!!

From the hotel pier, we were on the boat heading to Bunaken island at nine thirty in the morning. Everybody had the life jacket on.As we approaching the island, a church which looked like a fairy tale castle welcomed us.Then we arrived the island. When we got there, some locals offering us with many things. One lady offering us with mangoes and banana fritter. However, she got a giant dagger in the hand. Hard to say No isn't it?I paid 150,000 rupiahs to for two hours rental of small boat which took us to the snorkling location. Then, off we go. The truth is, among the four of us, only Lulu who could swim well. Lilo which is only five not very confident with his swimming, I am a new swimmer and Helga could not swim. But the beauty which appeared beneath the clear water, and of course the life jackets and a guide, got the fear away from us.

And there we were ..... with a chaotic start, but we enjoyed ourselves and saw the beauty of nature..The corrals, the fish and everything was sooo.... beautiful, so colorful. I did not take any pictures, because I didn't bring under water camera. But if you want proof, you can check the beauty of Bunaken in the internet .... or just come visit this marine park!

Lilo went on and off for snorkling. He could not stayed long on the boat. "Mama, I saw a lot of Dori" he said. Dori is talkative fish in the Disney Pixar movie 'Finding Nemo.'And Lulu, she is a champion. Not only snorkling by herself, she was occasionally my guide.

While enjoying the marine view, I did not realized that I got myself around the seawall. It was so dark .... I was so terrified and asked the guide to take me away from there.

After snorkling, we had lunch in the island. We had Manado food: Grilled fish, soup, 'dabu-dabu' chillie and fresh coconut. So yummy, especially for our empty tummies. Before leaving, we walked the island and bought souvenirs. It was a good day!

Note about Bunaken (From me):
- Don't compare the island with Gilies, the beauty of Bunaken is the marine park.
- Fresh water is expensive. We had to pay around 10,000 rupiahs for a gallon to wash.
- Better to get the boat from Manado as we can use it to the island and snorkling area. (Unlike me spending money for two boats ... shhh ..).