Tomohon's Macabre Market

The Tomohon market in North Sulawesi, Indonesia is basically your usual market, I guess…for the people of Minahasa. But definitely not for tourists or for those of you who are, uhm, prone to queasiness.

You see, Minahasa people are quite (in)famous for their reputation to be able to eat anything. Yes, anything.

So in this particular market, they sell bat meat and dog meat, and I was “fortunate” to see them still being sold at the market. If you’re really adventurous, go on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays in the morning where they have more selections or specialties, i.e. snake meat. They say they also eat cats. Come in around August where they have this kind of feast, but don't bring your pets as they might end up in your plate.

*moment of silence* 

The worst part is you see live dogs in cages. Just like you see pigs or chickens before they are butchered, but here you see dogs. To make you feel better (I guess - I'm being sarcastic), the caged ones are ugly, skinny dogs (Indonesians say it as anjing kampung), not one of those fancy ones - the kind Paris Hilton would adopt.

I don't want to put pictures of grilled bats or, maybe the worst is grilled dogs (literally - not the sausage kind). If I do, my blog would probably be reported by PETA. If you want to see the pictures, you can contact me and I’m willing to share the adventure. Or the cruelty. Or the gruesomeness. Or maybe just to fulfill your curiosity. So I'm just going to share this "safe picture" instead :)

Ring the Bell

They say if you can ring the bell with a coin that you throw, you can get what you want based on the point where you are standing. Happiness is tempting, no?

Pagoda Ekayana, Tomohon

Moving on to another religion/faith-based tourist attraction in North Sulawesi, we traveled to Tomohon and stopped by at the Ekayana Pagoda. It's located not far from when you enter Tomohon, but you have to ask the locals where it is exactly located. Arriving at the Pagoda, you are greeted by the line of statues decorating, or should I say "guarding" the place with their backs against the Lokon Mountain in the background. Apart from the Pagoda, there's the Kwan Im Shrine (I hope I get this right) and some sort of shrine shaped like a tortoise. I'm very bad with the facts so please share me the information or a bit of history on this pagoda :)