Tuesday, December 3, 2013

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,

    Monday, December 2, 2013

    Thailand Radio Stations

    Sunday, November 24, 2013

    Robinson Departmental Store Haadyai

    Robinson Departmental Store in Haadyai,Songkhla is just a stone throw from the Hatyai Junction main rail terminal.

     This departmental store is slightly off the main tourist belt of the Haadyai Walk street where most of the hotels and guesthouses were located.

     Tourists should not miss this secluded departmental store which has big savings and very popular among the locals.

    Having 32 branches all over Thailand,the operating hours are from 10:30am till 9:00pm At the basement,were the supermarket and the food court.

    Usually,I just give this supermarket a miss but this time around after buying my 3:30pm rail ticket to Bangkok,my attention was driven to the early morning sound of drum beatings.

     My eagerness to check it out was worth the effort.Interestingly the employees were having some fun activities before the department store open for the day's business.

    The sweltering morning heat did not deter me from taking photos and recording their fun activities and uploading them on you tube.

     It's really fun to be with the Thai people.

    All good things have to come to a close and it's back to work for the employees. I proceeded to the supermarket section and got hold of a 5 litres SINGHA brand mineral water that cost 33Baht which will last me for three days while in Bangkok.