In March I visited the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Despite its size, perhaps you've never heard of this heavenly place? You can definitely read more objectively about it on
Wikipedia, but I'll give you a glance from my very subjective experience (and two-city sampling). The work week took me to both the southern city of Makassar and the most northern city on the tippy top, Manado. I visited with universities and teachers and ate some pretty amazing food. In sum, the place is different somehow. The same tropical island and forest feel but with another unique perspective and cultures. It sounds trite but Indonesia is so mind-blowingly diverse. Here are some of my selected highlights.
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| Sunset on the gorgeous boardwalk in Makassar |
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| The Makassar boardwalk was a wonderful place to roam with families strolling, musicians playing along the way, and vendors selling aromatic foods... and this on a weeknight! |
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| The most delicious crab that I have ever eaten at Makassar Surya Super Crab. Oh, my! Pictured here with a spicy ginger sauce of some sort. Worth visiting for this dish alone. |
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| Manggustine and langsat were in season and vendors lined the major streets selling them at a bargain. I devoured 1/2 a kilo of langsat for dinner. YUM! |
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| My hosts welcomed me to northern Sulawesi with lunch at "Big Fish" right on the water. |
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| After some insistence, I tried the "special" iced drink - a strange combination for a North American: shaved ice, avocado, durian, and redbean all covered with sweet, condensed milk. I ate it, and, although the combination struck me as weird, it was actually pretty tasty. |
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| A visit to the national university outside of Manado introduced me to the English faculty dogs sleeping guard in front of classrooms. |
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| This view of the campus redefines academic jungle. |
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| Yep. That's me with another poster. Please do giggle when you read this. |
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| Quick picture of the highlands on the drive back to Manado. |
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| This is a traditional Minihasa house built from local woods. They are so popular that rich foreigners order them from afar, have them broken down, shipped, and reassembled by the workers who are flown in with the structure. |
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| Lunch at a floating restaurant on a lake in the highlands was a breezy and beautiful respite. |
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| Now we depart from work... I took a day to travel out to Bunaken for some snorkeling. The most beautiful waters, fish, and corals. I even saw several large sea turtles and a manta ray! |
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| Ah! There is something therapeutic about being on the water. |
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| Manado has its own porridge for breakfast made with pumpkin. YUM! |
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| A view of the city and water from my hotel balcony in Manado. |
