Manado, A Faraway Country

My first journey in 2014 is MANADO!

When I told other people about my destination, a lot of people asked me, "Where is Manado?" or even "What is Manado?"

So to answer that,

Wikipedia 

Manado is the capital city of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Manado is located at the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area.

The location of Manado on the map of South East Asia (snapped from Google Maps)

Manado is a waterfront city.

Manado is the second largest city in Sulawesi (Celebes) Island.

Manado is part of Indonesia.

Manado is near The Phillipines.

Manado has the famous underwater world Bunaken.
Manado has 408354 inhabitants according to 2010 census.

Manado is located at the southern west of Sulawesi Island. It is a city sandwiched by Celebes Sea and mountainous area. We did not know that we could enjoy the sea and the mountain at the same trip. So, when we threw the dart to Manado, we only thought about Bunaken, about snorkeling, about swimming, about water, about sand, about sun. We did not think that Manado would have so much to offer.

There are 11 cities that have non-stop flight to Manado Sam Ratulangi International Airport

Cities with direct flight to Manado (thanks to Mr. Google)

Apparently there is only one international flight operated by Silk Air that flies directly to Manado. It flies four times a week from Singapore Changi Airport. So, if you are going to Manado from other countries, you can either fly via Singapore or Jakarta. From Jakarta, there are a few flights a day operated by Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, and Batik Air.

If you buy the air ticket way way in advance, you can get Jakarta-Manado return tickets of Lion Air for approximately IDR 1.5 million (SGD 170). However, I do not recommend taking Lion Air and I will explain that in my next post. If you are lucky, you can catch Garuda Indonesia during their promotion period and you can get it for a little less than IDR 1 million (SGD 110) one way.

I will end this post with 10 Little Facts about Manado

1. Manado was dominated by Portuguese for the spices and Spanish for the coffee.
2. After Portuguese and Spanish were defeated by the local, The Dutch set foot in the area and conquered it for a very long time.
3. Even after Indonesia declared its independence, The Dutch still forbid the national flag to be raised. This caused rage and riot on 14 February 1946 resulted in the defeat of The Dutch.
4. The word Manado was originated from Minahasan Ethnic language “Manarow” which meant “Going to the faraway country”. Long time ago, whenever a person who resided in the mountain travelled to Manado for trading purposes, the neighbors would ask, “Mange-an isako?” which meant “Where are you going?” and he would answered, “Mange-an manarow.”
5. The word “Manarow” also referred to Manadotua Island where the old Minahasan people lived.
6. Manado started to be called Manado only in 1623 to replace its old name “Wenang”.
7. Manado people communicate using Manado Language (or should I say it dialect) which is basically a mixture of Bahasa Indonesia, Minahasan Language, Dutch Language, and Portuguese.
8. Klapertaart, which was inherited and influenced by the Dutch, is the iconic food of Manado. The meaning of klapertaart is coconut tart.
9. Bunaken National Park is a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2005 and there has been a significant increase of tourists flowing to Manado since then. Bunaken is famous for its sea wall.
10. Besides Bunaken National Park, there are still quite a number of diving sites around Manado, such as Lembeh, Lihaga, Montehage, etc.

Next Post: Behind the Scene, Before The Journey

Love is in the air,

Little Feet