After visiting Bali, we decided to visit our dear friends in Kupang, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia. We met Ino through the program we did back in 2003 and she is now married and has 2 adorable kids, Santa and Angelix. We stayed at her house which helped us reduce our travelling costs, a pretty sweet deal. We did a little tour on the first day we arrived (well, Kupang is a very small town so didn't take that long) and we stopped at the old Portuguese harbour to eat "jagung bakar". After that, we headed to the night food market on Jl. Siliwangi, the food market opens every night serving all kinds of seafood and Kupang eats. Second day, we went to Semau Island, about 30 minutes away by boat from Tenau Harbour. We rented a boat that cost IDR 100,000 each way and, to go to the beach, we took ojeg by paying IDR 20,000 return. All was arranged by the boat driver. The beach is pretty nice, white sand and sandy bottom, no waves, so nice for swimming. There's a pond of natural spring not far from the beach but unfortunately the villagers used it for washing clothes, so the water turns soapy. I feel bad for the fishes who live there. We ate lunch on the beach, played ball in the water, and soccer with the village kids who followed us all the way to and from the beach. Third day we went to Lasiana beach, I read somewhere that Lasiana beach is not that great but I loved it there! So beautiful! Palm trees on the beach, white sandy beach, also sands in the bottom, my kind of beach! I wouldn't have stopped swimming if not for a jellyfish sting. And, you all know what is the best cure for jelly fish stung! But you just gotta do it. We brought some watermelon to the beach and apparently some kids saw it and asked us for some watermelon, so we shared it. Sharing is believing as people say. They were so happy, which made us happy. The night we went to "Nelayan Restaurant" on Jl. Timor Timur, to have some dinner. We ordered...more seafood of course, but given the name of the restaurant "Nelayan" which means fisherman, their specialty dish is fried chicken, which was pretty good. Drinking some beer, listening to our friend Randy (Ino's husband) sing some songs with full stomachs, and some good companionship, was another highlight of our trip. Fourth day, which was our last day, we decided to take it easy and just spend time with our friends and the kids, we went to the one and only mall in Kupang "Flobamora". Not much happening in the mall so we played bumper cars, so much fun! We wanted to go to the Kupang Museum, but apparently they're closed on weekends. If they want to raise people's awareness of the history, museums should open on weekends, so all the working people could go to museums. Felt a little dissapointed about the museum, we went to a souvenir store and I bought a tiny "tenun" table runner that cost IDR 60,000 and my husband bought this hideous mask for IDR 100,000. The night we were invited to Ino's dad's birthday, first time to meet her "real" parents.
Who knew after 9 years we still keep in touch and still be buddies. Nothing have changed except a few wrinkles on our face :) We still have our laughs. We got to meet the parents and kids, making tea in her own kitchen, playing with her kids, a little walk down memory lane in a new place. We didn't expect Kupang to be that nice because we were just very excited to see our friends, so all of the stuff we did are nice bonuses. I would say, even without my friends living in Kupang, I still like Kupang. The other thing that fascinate me about Kupang is that people rub their noses as a way to greet there. Which I think is pretty neat! I only read that rubbing noses as a way of greeting only happens in Eskimo, or some other rare indigenous people in the western world. But, we can actually see it in Indonesia. This is what I love about travelling, that we got to learn about diversities, different customs and habits and you got to see and experience it yourself. Kupang palm trees, nice beaches, the savannah, this kind of trees that I don't really know the name of it but it's all over the place and knowing some dear friends who live there, together made a great visit to Kupang.
After visiting Bali, we decided to visit our dear friends in Kupang, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia. We met Ino through the program we did back in 2003 and she is now married and has 2 adorable kids, Santa and Angelix. We stayed at her house which helped us reduce our travelling costs, a pretty sweet deal. We did a little tour on the first day we arrived (well, Kupang is a very small town so didn't take that long) and we stopped at the old Portuguese harbour to eat "jagung bakar". After that, we headed to the night food market on Jl. Siliwangi, the food market opens every night serving all kinds of seafood and Kupang eats. Second day, we went to Semau Island, about 30 minutes away by boat from Tenau Harbour. We rented a boat that cost IDR 100,000 each way and, to go to the beach, we took ojeg by paying IDR 20,000 return. All was arranged by the boat driver. The beach is pretty nice, white sand and sandy bottom, no waves, so nice for swimming. There's a pond of natural spring not far from the beach but unfortunately the villagers used it for washing clothes, so the water turns soapy. I feel bad for the fishes who live there. We ate lunch on the beach, played ball in the water, and soccer with the village kids who followed us all the way to and from the beach. Third day we went to Lasiana beach, I read somewhere that Lasiana beach is not that great but I loved it there! So beautiful! Palm trees on the beach, white sandy beach, also sands in the bottom, my kind of beach! I wouldn't have stopped swimming if not for a jellyfish sting. And, you all know what is the best cure for jelly fish stung! But you just gotta do it. We brought some watermelon to the beach and apparently some kids saw it and asked us for some watermelon, so we shared it. Sharing is believing as people say. They were so happy, which made us happy. The night we went to "Nelayan Restaurant" on Jl. Timor Timur, to have some dinner. We ordered...more seafood of course, but given the name of the restaurant "Nelayan" which means fisherman, their specialty dish is fried chicken, which was pretty good. Drinking some beer, listening to our friend Randy (Ino's husband) sing some songs with full stomachs, and some good companionship, was another highlight of our trip. Fourth day, which was our last day, we decided to take it easy and just spend time with our friends and the kids, we went to the one and only mall in Kupang "Flobamora". Not much happening in the mall so we played bumper cars, so much fun! We wanted to go to the Kupang Museum, but apparently they're closed on weekends. If they want to raise people's awareness of the history, museums should open on weekends, so all the working people could go to museums. Felt a little dissapointed about the museum, we went to a souvenir store and I bought a tiny "tenun" table runner that cost IDR 60,000 and my husband bought this hideous mask for IDR 100,000. The night we were invited to Ino's dad's birthday, first time to meet her "real" parents.
Sempet makan sei ga 😁
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