We found so many surprises so far…

My young friend excitedly exclaimed in the end of the day. We were sitting in a hotel restaurant in Ambon that took forever to finish an order. That we could understand because the hotel is still soft open – literally half open since many sections of the hotel are still under construction. But we were with good company. Nothing to complain. Except we realized later that we are actually in the middle of nowhere. Stay in hotel is the only thing we can do after finish the day.

Anyway, yes, we are in Ambon after 8 hour travel from our doors in Ubud. Good that I decided to go with my young friend who travels to visit relatives and that our new friend from New York join is a bonus. It’s nice to adventure into a new place together. Start zero together. Our young friend was ecstatic when I took her to airport lounge and I was wow-ed by Makassar airport – the hub of eastern Indonesia. Who expect to see 'Hong Kong International Airport' in this part of Indonesia? I wouldn’t be surprised if this modern neat airport is in Bali. Or, I might not be happy too because Bali airport is already nice with Bali flavor in it. Anyway, I felt like people who never travel when walking while looking up enjoying the steel construction and the immensity of the space. It’s so brilliant to have such airport in a hub city of Indonesia. Hm… Where was I these days?

It was after rain when we landed in Ambon. I felt like I landed in Kalimantan or Sulawesi as far as I remember. The vegetation looked the same and the cows were everywhere. It’s nice! The driver drove slowly to let us enjoy the bay that splits the Ambon Island. Yes, we studied hard later the map of the islands. What is Ambon, Kota Ambon, and what’s in the other islands. This is the only way to pay attention to a place. Be there!

We spent the evening yakking in the room. It was drizzling outside and we barely could do anything. We spent time online to study the place and find a new place downtown near the city’s action for the rest of our stay. We only visit Ambon two full days so it would be nice to see the real activities in and around.

Now I look forward to starting the day.

The airport in question.