My friend just came from Germany – he’s an Indonesian who works in a very famous European car company – to visit his family in Pontianak (West Borneo, Indonesia) and to take a break for a while. As the result, he gathered around his companies and old partners in crime forcefully and he was serious in that. He succeeded in forcing them – including forcing his friend to also have a break from Batam just to come to Pontianak – to gather around and had some fun for some time.
We did the karaoke thing, had some dinner, and some more chatting with much more sharing. Well, it was decided further than that we had to take a trip before he went back to Germany. Travel therefore means more time together to have some more chatting while enjoying the trip itself.
Indonesia is an archipelagic country with the longest coastal line in the world. It means that we can find beaches in almost everywhere we go and of course high places as the perfect partner for beaches. West Borneo actually is not a tourism city as we know as it is well-known for other cities in Indonesia such as Bali, Yogyakarta, Bandung or even Jakarta. West Borneo is more a living business city. However, hey tourism is a business thing too, right? So, it is no wonder, we can easily find any tourism spots as well in West Borneo (though as I mentioned previously, perhaps the spots are not as well-known as Bali is). One of the most famous tourism spot in West Borneo is a city called Singkawang. I suppose all people or citizen of this province will suggest any tourist to visit this place.
There is a significant growth and development in Singkawang’s tourism business lately. The local government seems able to raise the city’s potential. There are more and more beaches for tourism spots, restaurants and cultural events held to draw and attract the tourists. The city is also succeeded becoming one of the favorite nationally broadcasted television shows in travelling program. It is also famous for its’s festivals such as Chinese New Year’s Day or Chinese Lantern Festival, since Singkawang is inhabited by Chinese ethnic group majorities.
As I said previously, most Indonesian tourism spots offer beaches and high places, it also works for Singkawang. So, there we go… eight of us went travelling. A rented car is suggested, though some also prefer motorcycles and public transportation for a three-to-four-hour trip.
We decided to have a lunch first as we arrived in Singkawang. We chose a restaurant in a high place; it is located in a hill actually. Batu Mas (literally ‘Golden Stone’) restaurant is placed right in the ‘area’ around the hill. We could find villas and more restaurants around the area.
As stated as the title of this writing, I purposefully put the images and photos in square shape. The photos are Instagram-effect-edited and Polaroid-like just for the sake of art… ha… Don’t worry anyway, I’ll put some more professional photos from the professional camera also later on.
It was a-two-story building where the view was very stunning. However, we found out that the second floor would be better in the view and perhaps more private for eight of us. Though was charged for 10%, the result was satisfying.
Here’s some description in video:
Here come the meals …
Tofu and Green Bean … Yummy
Seafood and Vegetables: ‘Pakis’ and Vegetables Soup
More soup: mushroom soup and of course Indonesian can’t have meals without chili spices….
After having lunch, there was a quite interesting conversation. It was about table manner. Excuse us for having different table manner, or perhaps it was just our lack of table manner knowledge. Our common thought (in Indonesia) after having meals we should put the spoons and forks upside down and cross them. It means that we have enough.
However, our Germany friend told us that after having meals, German (or Europeans) usually put the spoons and forks in the normal position side by side and without put them upside down. Well, it was quite something. All the seven later on would do this after we have meals 🙂
Next trip was to another high place. It was actually a new tourism spot and is still in the development. There is ‘Puncak’ in Bogor and ‘Kaliurang’ in Yogyakarta, and now West Borneo has a new one, it is called ‘Rindu Alam’ (literally ‘Miss the Nature’).
I tell you, the view of the sky was expensive…
Road to Rindu Alam:
Rindu Alam:
We continued to another side of this high place, we went to the forest. Well, it’s Borneo; we will easily find beautiful forests everywhere.
Next destination was beaches! The beaches are actually still in a hell of huge area. More than three beaches and tourism spots alike are included in the area (Including ‘Simping island’, ‘Sinka Zoo,’ and some more beaches). We visited ‘Tanjung Bajau’ and ‘Palm Beach’ in a particular purpose, to catch the sunset!
This beach is famous for its icon: a giant statue of Godzilla-like creature fighting with a giant squid. It was an interesting fact, because it seemed like a must that in any tourism spot there should be statues. Along our trip, we could find statues and more statues. Funny statues, serious statues, abstract statues, or even unimportant statues. It started with the statues of winged-elephants almost every corner near the Tanjung Bajau beach. In Tanjung Bajau itself we found giant statues of Godzilla (which we did not even recognize what it symbolized), crab, turtles, penguins and Mermaid. Oh, right, back to Rindu Alam forest, we could find giant statues of iguana, turtle and elephant as well…
Shot by Lucy Wong
Mermaid gigantic statue!
See what I said, statue. Anyway, enjoy the view of the sky though.
Hey… what’s this..?? Ha… please forgive our English..
Weeee…. They also had Ferris wheel. I always wanted to have a picture with a Ferris wheel as the background. They had a funfair including marine sport, banana boat and stuff.
Shot by Lucy Wong
It was getting darker. Time to take more pictures … Enjoy!
Walked a little bit, and we’ve got ‘Palm Beach..
And this was the main show … Sunset at Tanjung Bajau and Palm Beach
Was it time to go home?
Wait, we were hungry… We went to the Singkawang downtown to find some food. Chinese food would be great.
As the result, we visited one of the famous restaurant in the city. It was a Thai-Style restaurant with the literal name ‘Rumah Makan Ala Thai’ or ‘Thai-Style Restaurant,’ ha ….
The cooks and their spices…. bunch of spices…
Though the restaurant called itself Thai-style, the food was actually various from locals to Chinese food.
Shot by Lucy Wong
So, there we go… We had chai sim, Fu Yung Hai, Tom Yam, and more ….
Don’t forget the rice..!
We were full, and we had learned the European table manner then… ha ha
Time to go home then… We had around for hours or so, because it was at night we chose not to be hurry. We stopped in a coffee shop in ‘Sungai Pinyuh’ around one hour to Pontianak to have a cup of coffee… Nothing more relaxing than a cup of coffee with friends after a journey..
Hey, I still have more photos from a more professional camera. But for this moment, please enjoy these images and our journey …
NikodemusYudhoSulistyo's World 