Sulawesi local cuisines

Popular local culinary of Makassar : Otak-otak ikan tenggiri,Ikan Woku,Ikan Rica Manado,Cumi Masak Hitam,Cumi goreng Tepung,Nasi goreng ikan asin,bubur Manado,ikan asin tenggiri.

Otak-otak Ibu Elly  Shop is the most popular in town located at Jalan Kijang No. 7 Makassar.
The retail price is 2,800Rupiah.
The white fish cake is actually extracted from the 'ikan tenggiri' fish which is also popular in making the fish ball.
The otak-otak serves as a good appetizer.

RM Lae-Lae at Datumusseng 8 which is famous for seafood and ikan bakar is another popular hunt.
RM stands for Rumah Makan or Food Court

Ikan Woku is a real hot spicy curry soup normally cooked in claypot and instead of fish can also cook with chicken or beef as an alternative.

Grass carp,red tilapia,red snapper or grouper  fish are the most commonly use.

Another method of preparation is the 'pepes ikan woku' where the fish is steamed with woku spices in banana leaves.

  The Ikan Woku dishes is one of the famous Indonesian signature culinary found all over the archipelago.

Ikan Rica Manado similar to the Szechuan spicy deep  fried whole fish with flakes of  red chilli  and tomato dressings.

Manado city has a large Chinese(Tionghoa) community whose early ancestral could be traced back to China.

The early days Chinese migrants throughout Southeast Asia were economic migrants who were mostly originated from the coastal China cities of; Guanzhou,Hainan and Fujian Province.Henceforth the Chinese cuisines were integrated with the local culinary.



Cumi Masak Hitam or Squid cooked with freshly ground black pepper,a dashed of olive oil and squeeze lemon juice.
The people of Manado love eating food with spicy hot flavour. and this plate of kangkung (water spinach)(Thai-'Pak Boong')which is the most popular vegetable in Southeast Asia is prepared with red chilli pepper,lots of garlic and some soy sauce.





Cumi Goreng Tepung or  Crispy Fried Squid(Cumi) with similarity to Japanese Sushi appetizer  'Ikamaru'

Udang Goreng Tepung or Crispy Prawn(shrimp)  Fried is also yummy.







 Bubur Manado (Manadonese Porridge).
This cuisine must have been introduced by the Teochew(Chaozhou) Chinese who have emigrated from the Fujian Province.Indonesian Chinese cuisines has a particularly distinct taste-it's spicier and more flavourful than normal Chinese cuisine,which by Indonesian standard tends to be quite blend. 





Push-cart stall is a common street scene throughout Indonesia.
Indonesia is one country where you have endless variety of food and drinks which travellers could savour.
Day and night these push cart food sellers could be plying around the streets while some may be static at a certain corner.
 They are the engine of growth providing the impetus towards an increase activity in the area which otherwise will be a sleepy city.






Mie Pangsit for 6,000 Rupiah from the push cart vendor.
This taste very delicious similar to the Bakso Mie which I had while in Surabaya.










Hokkien Mie for 27,000 Rupiah at Jalan Serui,Chinatown.(no shop name,a few blocks off  Sulawesi Street)
The business start around 6:00pm in the evening and by nightfall the crowd will swell which I presume they pack it for night supper.
It's a house cum shop with a push cart beside the main entrance.
There's only two table inside the small compact shop house.I stumbled into it when it was just getting ready to open for business.
This is truly the original recipe  from Xiamen.,Fujian style cuisine.

Education in Makassar

The School of Menara St Martinus named after the famous 8th century medieval church in the Netherlands located along Jalan Timor in Makassar City

This is a private  school for primary level students.
The education system in Indonesia is such that children aged 6–11 attend primary school, called Sekolah Dasar (SD)

The Spanish and the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Sulawesi  bringing along with them missionaries who eventually also started many  mission schools throughout Indonesia.

Western education in Minahasa(ethnic group of people  in North Sulawesi,Manado)whom majority are Christians started much earlier than in other parts of Indonesia.
Because the education were taught in Dutch, the Minahasans had an early advantage in the competition for government jobs and places in the colonial army.

 Most of the schools in Indonesia start with the title SD or SMP or SMA.
ZION Makassar is another private school offering primary and secondary courses.

Sekolah Menegah Pertama(SMP) denotes junior three years secondary classes while Sekolah Menegah Atas (SMA)is senior three years secondary.classes.

Sekolah Zion(Zion School) Makassar banner Open House Day on the 24-26 January at her facilities at

1) S.Limboto Street for TK(Taman Kanak2) pre-schoolers or kindergarthens.

2) Dr Wahidin Sudirohusodo Road for SD(sekolah dasar)-primary school

3) S.Cerekang Road for SMP- junior secondary students

4) Dr.Wahidin Sudirohusodo for SMA-senior secondary students.

In Indonesia, all citizens must undertake nine years of compulsory education which consists of six years at elementary level and three in secondary level.

There are two types of education in Indonesia: formal and non-formal.
Formal education is further divided into three levels, primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Schools in Indonesia are run either by the government (negeri)or private sectors (swasta).
Some private schools  go beyond the minimum government requirements, especially with the use of English as medium of instruction or having an international-based curriculum instead of the national one.

Students in Indonesia attending government schools also need to fork out about 350,000 Rupiah monthly for school fees.

Cari Sekolah(schools search)

wikipedia

 

Major towns along Trans Sulawesi

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A detail look at the map of Sulawesi(Celebes)including the physical features of the landscape might deter travelers from trying to make an overland journey from Makassar(the capital city of Sulawesi Selatan(or Sulsel)to Manado(capital city of Sulawesi Utara(or Sulut)

Can you imagine the road distance from Makassar to Manado is approximately 2,000kilometers which might take couple of days to arrive in Manado.
Except for good roads out of the capital Makassar to Pare-Pare,further than this point will be the long and bumpy narrow roads through the hinterland.
Sulawesi is quite an enormous island with tough terrain and rich virgin jungles.

Trans Sulawesi highway is not an actual expressway like those in modern cities.There will be instances of unpaved roads,narrow and winding through the rugged mountains.
To adventurous backpackers,overland travel is quite a good marathon attempt.

The northern routes bus terminal  is at Panaikang aka Dayak Terminal.in eastern suburbs of Makassar to catch the buses :

1) Pare-Pare,
-the hometown of third President Indonesia-B.J.Habibie
-population about 132,000 (2012 consensus)
-about 3 hours journey(200km),road condition excellent.Fare:22,000 Rupiah

 
2) Rantepao
-the gateway to Tana Toraja
-about 8 hours journey.Fare:55,000Rupiah(normal),70,000 Rupiah(aircond)

3) Tana Toraja
- about 8 hours,near Rantepao.Fare:70,000 Rupiah.
-Bintang Prima,a luxury busline direct booking at Makassar Mall.
LIST of bus companies and phone numbers for booking


4) Poso
-facing Gulf of Tomini,main port north eastern coast Central Sulawesi, situated on the Equator Line.
-Population about 40,000.Year 1998 sectarian violence flashpoint,Christians and Muslims(JI groups)
-situation now normal and expect security checkpoint within the vicinity.
-the shortest route to Manado in the northeastern tip has to pass through Poso.


5) Tolitoli
-capital city Central Sulawesi(Sulawesi Tengah)
-population about 200,000 human capital.
-main agricultural produce is pepper.

6) Gorontalo
- the 32nd Province of Republic Indonesia administered by provincial governor.
-main hub to Tongean Islands
-accomodations Hotel Quality ,City Hotel, Hotel Tenteram, Liberty Hotel,Prasanthi Magna Hotel Resort

7) Tomohon
-Tomohon city website
-Wonderful Indonesia Official Tourism Website

8) Bitung
-ferry to Ternate in North Moluccas.
-best diving spot adjacent Lembeh Island.
-captivating Lembeh Straits.the world's number 1 eco-diving paradise.


9) Manado,capital North Sulawesi also the main gateway to Bunaken Island.


Taxi services South Sulawesi