Makassar (3-5 Apr 15)

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A long time ago as a student in primary school, I saw the crazy-looking island of Sulawesi (we'd learnt it was called Celebes back in the days of the British East India Company) on the map, and wondered what it was like there. Now I'm finding out!

And so a little over a month since my last brief rendezvous with Thailand (again), I'm back on a more exotic trail and continuing to fill in the gaps of my now seemingly never-ending Southeast Asian adventure. My latest stop is the aforementioned claw-like, giant Indonesian island, and its Southern capital of Makassar. At one point also known as Ujung Pandang, this fourth-largest city in Indonesia has had a colourful history as an important Dutch trading port-of-call en route to the Spice Islands of the Moluccas further east. While those days are long gone, its strategic location along the Makassar Straits ensures its continued relevance to regional shipping, as its present-day container port bears testament.

Walking along its pier-side promenade, it's hard not to think about the city's history, and to contemplate the many thousands of foreigners who had come before me from lands afar in the name of trade. Back then, the sea voyage from Europe must have taken months, but for me it was just several hours by plane from Singapore including transit in Jakarta. Thank you aviation technology advances!

Stayed at New Legends Hotel.

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Photos

Bird's Eye View
Of the sprawling capital of South Sulawesi.

View from the Bastion
At Fort Rotterdam

On the floor at the front of the bus again
With obligatory bemused front-row passenger. If I had a penny for each time I were in this situation on the road...

Outdoor pier-side entertainment
Along the Makassar Straits.

Masakkan Padang
One of the things I've quite missed about the country.

Only Rp27k
Including Es Jus Jeruk!

Arsenal-Liverpool
They're watching the match, projected from a tablet PC, in a darkened auto-dealership showroom (yes!), both inside and outside! Of course I had to take a picture.