Public Zone 公開區 > Travelogues 遊記相薄
North Sulawesi, Indonesia 2010
chin:
Finally arrived at Hotel Santika after about 40 min ride. We had the choice of picking a (relatively) luxurious downtown hotel vs this seaside heaven for divers. We chose the seaside resort.
On the first day of checking in, it looked like we were the only party beside a large group of 5 or 6 American families. Later I got the chance talking to one of them on the diving boat, and learned that this group were all expatriates working at a Chevron project in Indonesia. The adults include geophysicists, and teachers working at the school for the Chevron expatriates. Almost all of them, including some young kids, like to dive. And this patch of sea is supposedly one of the best diving spots in the world, with more than 60 diving spots.
The first picture looks like any seaside hotel cafe in SE Asia. If you can see the small path in the middle of the picture, it extend perhaps more than 1km toward the sea leading to the jetty for diving boats. The 3rd image is from Google map with the pin showing where I took the picture.
One of their kids, Max, in black tee, was born on 1 Apr and have a small party with the hotel staff singing and playing music.
chin:
The first day in Northern Sulawesi.
We hired the taxi driver who took us from the airport to the hotel. The hire cost was Rp350,000 per day plus gas. That's about HK$350 or US$45. Gas is very cheap in Indonesia at about Rp4,000 per liter unleaded.
I was told that many people in Manado are sailors and soldiers. There are not too many locals involves in trades or commerce beyond small shops. They can afford to be layback and relax because it's very easy just to earn enough food.
I was happened to be reading Ascent of Money, and one of the early chapters was talking about the resource curse. I wonder if what I was told about the Manado people is a minor example of resource curse.
Anyway, our driver typifies the stereotypical Manado folks. If we wanted to be picked up in the morning, like 9:30 or 10:00, he would always be later by 30 or 40 min. He's otherwise very cheerful and talkative, and very serious about what music to play in the car.
chin:
On the side of the road we saw this huge monument. "Monumen Yesus Memberkati" means Monument of Jesus Blessing. Our driver told us that it's the second largest Jesus statue in the world after the Brazilian one.
The second photo shows the scale compare to the houses & cars on the road. The 3rd image is from Google map showing clearly the statue.
chin:
Upon further investigation, we found the statue to be part of the marketing or attaction of a high end real estate project - Citraland Manado, the City of Blessings.
These are the mansions near where I took the above pictures, marked by the upper left pin on the Google map image above. There are many many many Roman or Greek themed statues and sculptures inside the property.
Can you guess what's Miracle Walk?
It's a small strip of shops attached to the property.
chin:
After leaving the upscale Citraland, we pressed on toward Lake Linow. On the way we stopped at an outlook point, where on clear days you can see the whole Manado city. But not today.
I took this picture at the fruit stall at the outlook. What's she looking at? Can she see her future?
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