Manado Trip - Tomohon We are In Love Part 1

Our first day itinerary is Tomohon.

What is Tomohon?

Tomohon is a town located at the south east of the capital and it is located at higher ground, surrounded by mountains. 

The location of Tomohon. It is said that the shape of this town looks like a starfish.

A little bit insight about Tomohon:

• Tomohon is known as flower town.
• Tomohon Flower Festival is held yearly in August. During the festival, there will be a parade of flower decorated carts marching along the roads.
• Tomohon was part of Minahasa Town until an 'upgrade' in 2003 to make Tomohon a town.
• In Tomohon market, you can find bloody boars, dogs, rats, and bats being sold. Minahasan people enjoy eating those extreme dishes.

So let's start the journey.

Before heading to Tomohon, we picked up our tour guide first. He is my university friend that has chosen to be back to his hometown rather than staying in boring Singapore. :P

After a 4-hour journey on the plane plus 2-hour wasteful journey to source for a waterdrop, everybody's stomach was growling. So we made our first stop for breakfast.

Here we are, Rumah Makan Nasi Kuning Saroja. In English, Rumah Makan Nasi Kuning Saroja means Saroja Yellow Rice Restaurant. This is the oldest yellow rice restaurant in Manado. Forgive me for not taking any picture of the place but you can find it pretty easily in Google.

Basically, the restaurant is just a small wooden hut with a big signage on the facade. When you enter the place, nobody will bring you menu. The busy waiters will only ask whether you want egg for your rice and then they will serve you the standard food there: yellow coconut rice, rough skipjack tuna & beef floss, fried shallot, and egg (optional). The chilli sauce is so damn good that Pink and I almost ate half a bowl. And the cost? About IDR 15000 (SGD1.6). Cheap and good.

Nasi kuning Saroja to start up the day

And we officially started our journey to round Tomohon, the flower town!

The first stop was Monumen Yesus Memberkati or Jesus Blessing Statue. It was built 50m atop the ground in Citraland Housing Complex with the height of 30m on top of the 20m frame. The statue directly faces Manado and symbolized inter-religion relationship in Manado. Indonesian is really proud because this statue is the tallest in Asia and the second tallest in the world after the one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The famous Jesus Blessing Statue of Manado. The first statue of Jesus that was built with inclination.

Ohooo, somebody proposing? *wink

The first proper group photo of the day. So sad that the lighting was not so good resulting in the disappearance of Jesus' head.

And we moved on to our next destination. My friend brought us to a platform besides Tinoor Jaya Restaurant to see the whole Manado from above. 

Manado, the pretty lady surrounded by sea and mountain

And of course, selfie like nobody's business!

We did not spend long time here because it was drizzling. After that, we headed to see the famous Mount Lokon. Mount Lokon and Mount Empung is twin active volcano in Tomohon. Why Mount Lokon is more famous than Mount Empung, don't ask me because I really have no clue. The last eruption of Mount Lokon was three years back in July 2011.

My friend brought us to his former boarding high school, SMA Lokon to get an unobstructed view of Mount Lokon. And he definitely did not bluff us as we could really see the charm of the mountain. So deep in my heart I envied him for being able to wake up every morning and get greetings from the wonderful view during his high school.

What a beautiful scenery. I am in love <3

Thanks for being a great tour guide, Land!

Me and my best friend (let's call her Chacha) embracing the world. Oh how I love the photo effect.

We also used the opportunity to tour the school. We were impressed. The school had spacious area and the environment was so enjoyable. A lot of flowers, green, and mountain!

And we were so impressed by how the marching band performed. 

The next stop was Vihara Ekayana. Although the majority of South Sulawesi people are Christian, there are still Buddhists and where there are Buddhists, there will be fo tang or temple or vihara. The highlight of this temple is the pagoda and the statues inside.

The view from the entrance - with the statues of Buddhist gods

A two-headed dragon statue

A bridge to go to the back of the vihara

bf and I with the famous pagoda <3

At the backyard of the vihara, we found something interesting. There was a giant dragon-turtle-kind-of-thing statue and a pond in front of it. There was a giant coin with a bell in the hole located in the middle of the pond. There were some words crafted on the stones surrounding the pond: longevity, happiness, money, etc. We assumed whoever threw a coin inside and hit the bell would get what he wished for.

The pond, but the giant coin was not moving that day :(

My other friend (I will call her Moon) trying her luck

Before we left the vihara, we saw a donation box in front of the main building. There was no pressure from the people around to ask for donation. Actually nobody cared about what we were doing there. No entrance fee, no forced donation, nothing. Whoever wants to donate can just put in the money inside the box.

Jesus, Bird's eye view of Manado, a mountain, and a temple. What else can Tomohon offer?

A LOT!

Next Post - Tomohon We are In Love Part 2

Love is in the air,
Little Feet