Dutch bastion Fort Rotterdam Sulawesi Selatan

The Dutch East India Company seemed to be one of the greatest maritime colonial powers of the 17th century.
Malacca,my hometown was once known as The Sleepy Hollow where the Dutch booted out the Portuguese conquerors in 1641.
It's all about the monopoly of spice trade route.
Imagine the Dutch ruled Malacca for 183 years (1641-1825) before they finally gave in to the British in exchange for a new capital Batavia (now known as Jakarta).
Batavia being strategically located on the maritime route between the Straits of Malacca and South China Sea provided a valuable asset base for further expansion within the hinterlands of the Indonesian archipelago.More seaports were established by the Dutch  which included Manado(North Celebes) and Macassar(South Celebes).
A visit to Fort Rotterdam gave me further historical insight on how the Dutch defended Makassar.(formerly known as Ujung Pandang)against any invading forces.This will be the Dutch East Indies battalion bastion.

As I entered the main compound,there's an open air stage with the theme Pagelaran Seni,some sort like cultural performance but that's in December 2012.
The Tourism Board also has a theme below saying Let's Visit South Sulawesi.
The program line up includes traditional karebosi dance,musical Ansam Bel,sketches Calling Back the Spirit Parody.
The guest star was Miss Sulawesi Utara 2012,Nathania Lukman(age 21,Height 5'8")

 

Makassar Chinatown

Makassar's Chinatown,Sulawesi Island of Republic Indonesia lies between  Jalan Sulawesi,Jalan Lombok and Jalan Wahidin Sudirohusado.
The main artery road of Makassar is Jalan Ahmad Yani where most of the financial,commercial and administrative offices were located.
Most of the ethnic local Chinese  operates businesses  with their residential houses(shoplot type) tend to concentrate around this part of Makassar(also known Ujung Pandang)
The Chinatown here is not that spectacular as not much activities can be seen.During the night this whole place can be very dark with sparsely lit streetlights.
Metropolitan Makassar has standing links to overseas communities bridging as  twin cities namely:
1) Mobile,Alabama,United State of America
2) Aden,Yemen
3) Constanta,Romania,
4) Lismore,Australia
5) Peshawar,Pakistan
6) Hakodate,Japan
7) Tawau,Malaysia
8) Qingdao,China
9) Wellington,New Zealand

Mention Chinatown in any parts of the world,you definitely have the Chinese Temples.
In Makassar alone,there are four distinguish temples.
This one Gedung Istana Sakti Klenteng Xian Ma (Mother of Immortal )is at the corner of Jalan Sulawesi and Jalan Bali.

Other temples nearby  include Tian Hou Gong (Heavenly Queen Temple) corner of Jalan Sulawesi and Jalan Serui.
Xuang Tian Shang Di Temple and The Long Xian Gong Temple.

The internal view of Xian Ma temple.
All visitors of any creed are allowed to enter this temple.















Dinasti Hotel lies off Jalan Sulawesi,Lombok 30 Street  can be contacted at +62 411 3625657
email: info@dinastihotelmakassar.com
There's an in house massage outlet  within,free wi-fi to all rooms.
Price range Rupiah350,000 onwards.

Strategically located in town center,walking distance ten minutes to Jalan Nusantara beside the harbour area where the nightlife gets hotter

 For backpackers,across the Dinasti  hotel here there's one guesthouse at the corner  charging around Rupiah 70,000 fan private bathroom
Name:-Penginapan(Guesthouse) Kartini Tahel
Rupiah120,000 aircond attached bathroom
Room maximum two person,each additional pay Rupiah30,000 Kamar - room

Check in 06:00 WITA,Check out 13:00 WITA
*WITA stands for Waktu Indonesia Tengah.(Mid islands Indonesia time zone)

Late checkout pay Rupiah10,000 per hour fan room,also applies aircond room Rupiah 15,000 per hour












Vihara Ibu Agung Bahari (Tian Hou Gong Temple) one of the oldest temple in Makassar

GPS:

-5.130845568550237, 119.40663164627995

 Built in 1736 by Kapitan Ong Giap.

Formerly the temple was known as Klenteng Istana Ratu Laut and was renamed to the present form in 1750 by Thio Heng Sioe.Most of the Chinese names have to be Indonesianised as required by the law.

This building looked quite new but the actual one should be behind me where I took this photo.

The old building looked totally wrecked.

Pelabuhan Makassar or Port of Makassar  along Jalan Nusantara.

During the day,the street was lined with job hunters and when night falls the area being transformed into a red light area.

To get a bus back to the airport,find a bus stop near the port side  as the bus do ply along this route.

For ferry services timetable refer to Government owned PT Pelni (Persero)



Tugu Selamat Datang di Makassar(Welcome to Makassar monument) similar to the one in Kota Jakarta.

View form the city center airport bus stop along Jalan Ahmad Yani.

Traffic circle from the monument along the left is just a five minute walk to Fort Rotterdam.

That cream colour building is Yazmin Hotel and two blocks beside is the Legend Hostel which I parked myself for three days while in Makassar.

My arrival on the first day was greeted by Legend Hostel staff Henrik.

The weather in Makassar was drizzling all throughout the day.and in the evening followed Hendrik to attend the Sunday mass at the nearby  True Jesus Church or Gereja Yesus Sejati,

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