In March 2010, I screamed secretly as I was so excited I was going to Menado June this year. Actually, you should not call the city Menado as it should be called Manado. There was a mathematical conference there and this trip was going to be my first academic trip since I went back to Indonesia back from Melbourne.
The conference was from 30th of June until the 3rd of July, so we decided to buy a return ticket that was departed from Jakarta on the 29th and returned on the 4th of July.
Here was the picture taken when we were just arrived at Manado. The name of the airport in Manado is Sam Ratulangi Airport who was the first Governor in North Sulawesi. Sam Ratulangi is one of the national heroes that has a slogan "Si tou timou tumou tou" meaning that a human could be called a human if he is useful to others.
Thus, I found a few interesting things when I was there.
1. Cewek
In Indonesia, especially in Java, we usually called "Mbak" to a waitress. But in Manado, if you call a waitress "Mbak" she would not respond. You should call her "Cewek" and she would respond. This fact amazes me as in the city where I live, if you call a girl, a waitress "Cewek," this means you mock her.
2. Adipura
Manado is the cleanest city that I have ever been. Of course I must exclude cities that are outside Indonesia. It is very rare that there is a city in Indonesia that is as clean as Manado. And the government awarded an Adipura for the city of Manado.
3. Bunaken
If you go to Manado, it won't be incomplete if you don't go to Bunaken. Bunaken is an island that is one hour from Manado. It has a very beautiful marine park where we can do a scuba diving.
The water temperatures ranging between 27 to 29 °C. The park has a high diversity of corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges. Notably, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken.
Angkot is the most common public transportation in Indonesia. It is a van, usually, and it could contain 12/13 passengers. But the best thing about Manado, angkot (they called it Oto there) has only 7/8 passengers which makes we sit far more comfortable than angkot in Java.
5. Bukit Doa
Other than Bunaken, we could go to Bukit Doa. This is a small mountain and is a site of Catholic Pilgrimage. The hill is so beautiful and peaceful make you do not want to go home. On the top of the hill, they made a chapel. From there you can see a good view of Manado and places around.
