MANADO - INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY: MANADO

MANADO - NORTH SULAWESI

Manado - Let's start off geographically. Manado is located in Southeast Asia in the country named Indonesia. The city is located in the eastern part of Indonesia and is the capital province of North Sulawesi (north-eastern tip of Sulawesi or Celebes Island). Although located in the eastern part of Indonesia, we are in the WITA Timezone (Central Indonesian Time).There are many ways to describe this city. First let's talk about Bunaken although many Indonesians or even Manado locals doesn't know the difference between diving (menyelam) and snorkeling (I've had many experiences with this one). That's very unusual knowing the fact that Bunaken is world famous for it's diving - maybe I wasn't clear, famous outside the country not inside. Not only famous for it's diving, Manado is also one of the international gateways to Sorong (specifically Raja Ampat) - although many people don't know that Raja Ampat is currently more popular than Bunaken at international dive exhibitions (but let's not talk about Raja Ampat in detail - my focus is Manado and North Sulawesi in general). Let's not forget about critter diving in Lembeh - I think people living in Manado doesn't know that there's even life existing at Lembeh. It's a 1.5 hour drive from Manado to Bitung (port) and 10 minute boat ride to Lembeh Island. I think there's between 5-10 resorts currently located surrounding the strait. Diving at Lembeh Strait mainly focus on critter diving (I think it means tiny sea creatures about the size of 1cm). Enough about diving.Apart from the diving, Manado is also famous for it's good and unique cuisine. It's a shame if you're a foreigner and only limit yourselves to western food while you're in Manado. I haven't heard a nasty comment from a foreigner about Manado cuisine so far. Even Bondan Winarno (the culinary expert that's been hosting the popular Trans TV program for the last 3 years) stated that Manado cuisine is one of his favorite foods. Exotic spices are commonly used in everyday Manado dishes - and a few ingredients are only found in Indonesia itself. Chili (cabe rawit), limegrass, basil, etc are some of the everyday spices that we use. But Manado is most famous for it's spicy food - although I am not an extreme fanatic of spicy food. You can find these extremely spicy food at small restaurants along the main streets - Restaurants at malls and shopping centers aren't extremely spicy due to adjustments to the international / national cuisine which is not too spicy. People here in Manado won't likely go for a strike when fuel costs increase, but don't expect them to stay quiet when chili rates (cabe rawit) increase. Chili rates went up until Rp. 100,000/kg last month - that's equivalent to USD 10 (you can even buy about 5 pounds of apple in the US with that much money). But don't worry, the storm ended - at the moment it's currently down to a stable Rp. 20,000 per kg.