Mapanget Indah Restaurant is located somewhere nearby the airport at Jalan A.A. Maramis. This restaurant is so called floating above a pond and the total look is so wood!
The day was so hot like hell. When we entered, the first thing we saw was the young coconut juice on the service counter. In the end most of us ordered that but it turned out to be too sweet so some of us ordered ice tea to add on.
And these are what we ordered:
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| Ikan Bobara Bakar - Ikan Bobara Goreng - Cumi Bakar - Fuyung Hai - Kangkung Cah - Sayur Pakis - Cumi Goreng Tepung |
The menu in this restaurant was not so extensive. We ordered ikan bobara or ikan kuwe or trevally fish in two cooking methods, i.e. fried and grilled. We also ordered cumi or squid in the same pattern. We ordered Chinese style fried scrambled egg, water morning glory (again) and frond vegetables too.
In my opinion, the foods in this restaurant were just so-so. The service was sooooooo slow and the portion of food was not as much as what we got the previous days.
The biggest disappointment came when we paid. The prices of the dishes were reasonable but the drinks were not. We ended up spending quite a fortune here due to the drinks!
But no problem, it was not a big deal.
We then continued our journey to the last destination: Tangkoko National Park!
Tangkoko National Park is located in Bitung, at the north east edge of North Sulawesi. To be exact, Tangkoko National Park is located at the foot of Duasudara Mountain. This conserved area includes lower ground of beach, higher ground of mountain, and a forest in between.
Inside Tangkoko National Park, a lot of flora and fauna can be found. However, we were only interested in tarsier.
Tarsier is an iconic animal of North Sulawesi and it is also one of the smallest primates on earth with the height of 10-12 cm and weight of 50-90 grams.
We did not know much about tarsier, we just wanted to see this unique animal that could only be found in Sulawesi and The Phillipines.
The journey to Tangkoko was damn hard. Firstly, we needed to travel about two hours to reach Tangkoko. Secondly, the road was small, winding, and it was a mountainous area. We could not see any car approaching from the other side due to very limited sight distance. And thirdly, the air condition in the car was spoiled!
We were like watching a thriller movie inside a sauna room!
It was about 4:00 pm when we reached the gate of Tangkoko National Park. After paying the entrance and guide fee of IDR 120000 (SGD13), we prepared ourselves in the car.
These are some advice on visiting Tangkoko National Park:
- Wear a comfortable shirt and jeans
- Wear a comfortable shoes
- Apply insect repellent
- Bring torchlight
- Bring full water bottle inside your bag
Only after paying the entrance fee, we knew that actually Tangkoko had a lot to offer. If we arrived earlier, we could have had the chance to enjoy the beach and waterfall inside the area. Oh well, maybe another time.
So, two guides were attached to eleven of us (including Mr. Raymond). From the guard house, we continued our journey by car to the side of the forest. After that, we alighted the car and walked into the nature! Yeay!
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| We were so ready for our nature trip! |
The guide brought us to see yaki before proceeding to see tarsier. It was not an easy walk. I should say it was some sort of mini trekking. The path was sloping up and down. To be honest, that was my very first time going into a forest. I walked with Chacha and we kept holding to each other's hand.
Another thing that made the walk harder was the guide. He walked super fast so we needed to walk faster to keep him in our sight distance. I literally could feel my sweat rolling from every pore of my body. It was too humid.
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| We walked in line, like ducks :P |
Okay, let's go back to yaki. Yaki is another iconic animal of North Sulawesi. Basically, yaki is a black monkey of North Sulawesi. I was told that yaki almost came to extinction due to cutting of trees and hunting of yaki for the meat. Ouch.
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| This is yaki. Its whole body is black except the buttock which is pink. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
We only managed to see one yaki climbing up a very tall tree when we reached the spot. So, it was as good as not seeing any yaki. The guide just asked us to continue walking afterwards.
On the way to the spot to see tarsiers, the guide explained that tarsiers lived inside banyan trees, in between the holes. When the trees were dead, tarsiers would move to another trees by jumping. He also showed us the food of tarsiers, which was cicada.
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| Cicada. An insect. Food of tarsier. (Photo credit: Sean Crane, photo.net) |
And through this journey, I got to know how faithful were tarsiers. Throughout their life, each one of them would only have one mating partner. When the tarsier died, the other half would follow not long afterwards. So, we were saying that the symbol of wedding should be changed from a pair of swans to a pair of tarsiers. How cute!
The guide gave us a break mid-way and everybody had been drenched in sweat. When I took out my water bottle, everybody started asking to share. Only then I realized that among us only three brought water into the forest, but one that was brought by Pink was empty! Oh Gosh. So, please, make sure you bring a fully filled water bottle when you visit this place.
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| When water became the most delicious thing in the world! |
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| Our group photo, titled "We are in the Nature" |
When we reach the home of tarsiers, it was about twilight but not so dark yet. We lingered around for some time while searching for the sights. When it turned darker, we turned our torch lights on and we could spot the cute little monkey. We were told not to make excessive noise because tarsiers would disappear if it was too noisy.
When it turned darker and darker, we could see more! At certain point of time, the guide instructed us to turn off our torch lights so the tarsiers would jump out. True enough, it really jumped from one twig to another. Wow!
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| Do you know that tarsier can rotate its head almost 360 degree? |
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| The close-up photo of tarsier |
We were there until it was pitch dark. After that, the guide brought us back to the place where we entered. The way out was milder but it was dark. So we used our torch lights to assist us in walking.
All of a sudden, the guide stopped and asked, "Wanna see panther?" and we straightaway answered, "No". The place was already scary and we did not need panther to add on the drama effect.
Nobody was unhappy with the trip to Tangkoko National Park. And we headed back to Manado with happy feelings but empty tummy. We reached the city at about 9:00 pm and we proceeded to have dinner.
Where did we have dinner that night?
Back to Boulevard Manado!
Again!
Yeah!
But we went to different restaurant to eat babi putar or grilled whole pig. Babi putar is another traditional food of Manado and it is always served during big events like wedding. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it is located along the same row of San Fransisco Cafe and Ragey 1/2 m.
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| We were the last customers and got everything left |
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| When the waitress sliced the meat from the bone |
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| The end product |
Besides babi putar, this restaurant also served some other pork dishes, and we ordered babi tore and kuit babi krispi.
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| Babi tore. Crispy roasted pork belly with the famous three-layered fat and the skin. |
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| Kulit Babi Krispi. Deep fried pork skin. |
I will not review the dishes here because I did not eat those. I can't even imagine eating it. So, I'll skip it this time. :)
After eating and having a happy chat, we called it a day. We sent Erland back to his house and get back to the hotel.
It was so fast, our three-day journey had finally come to an end.
Next Post - Good Bye Manado, till We Meet Again!
Love is in the air,
Little Feet
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