July 25, 2014

• Island of Belitung – day 1.

  Two short days.  Too brief to fully explore the beauty of the location.  Cramping a tight itinerary in an overnight stay last month at Pulau Belitung (Belitung Island), on the eastern coast of Pulau Sumatra (Sumatra Island), turned out to be the best stress reliever weekend getaway I’ve had this year.  Hands down.

  With the earliest morning flight to Tanjung Pandan (Cape Pandan), a lack of sleep was to be expected.  The 7AM arrival was hectic and full of anticipation for what lies ahead.  Wasting no time, bags are dropped off at hotel, and then straight to Pantai Tanjung Kelayang (Cape Kelayang Beach) to catch a motor-run wooden boat for the day’s island hopping.

  

  First stop – Pulau Pasir (Sand Island)

  Started out nice and easy, we roamed patches of sandy islands with their shallow clear water, and explored the vast ocean view and the star fishes laying around, oblivious to the passing of eager two-legged visitors.  The location was so spectacular that we just had to take a group photo.  The star fishes made their cameo in our picture too.

  

  Second stop – Pulau Lengkuas (Galangal Island)

  The main attraction of the island is the 132 year old lighthouse.  It was quite a hike up to the seventeenth floor, before we reached a small opening that would allow visitors to take a peek outside at the incredible view from up top.  Luckily, we had plenty of bananas on the boat to fill our tummy earlier, to store up energy to combat the heat of the sun and the climb.  Let’s just say the lunges routine at the gym got nothing on the many steep steps leading to the top of the lighthouse.

   

  Third stop – Snorkeling.

  Between this island and the next, we stopped by at a couple of spots for some snorkeling fun.  Afterward, we devoured our boxed lunch right on the boat due to hunger.  The blazing sun and the exhaustion from the snorkeling prevented us all from having some patience to wait until we get to the next island to sit down and eat.

  

  Fourth stop – Pulau Gede (Big island)

  Upon arrival, we showered and chilled for a bit with some fresh coconut water and local sweet snacks, which include fried bananas, as well as steamed mung-bean cake and steamed palm sugar cake, both served with shredded coconut.  Feeling all energized after having ourselves recharged twice, we roamed around this island before heading back to the main island, where our car is awaiting to take us back to the hotel.

  

  Fifth stop – Rumah Makan Sari Laut (Flavor of the Sea Restaurant)

  It took a while to get back to the main island of Belitung.  Everyone was famished by the time we did, and so dinner must happen before we get to our hotel.  This restaurant caters a Chinese-Indonesian style cooking with seafood.  Fortunately for us, sixteen cranky tourists mean dishes to be placed on the table in a jiff.  This evening meal started out with several bags of fish crackers, then followed with fish ball soup (their specialty), beansprouts with salted fish and tomatoes, sautéed crabs, deep fried chicken, silken tofu with prawns and black bean sauce, and spicy kangkung (water spinach).  All accompanied with heaps of steamed white rice and local lime juice.

  

  Sixth stop – Dessert.

  As if the dinner feast wasn’t enough, on the way back to hotel we decided to stopped by elsewhere to get ourselves some dessert from a street food vendor.  We got ourselves a local favorite, Martabak Manis.  A thick batter pan-cooked to a crisp on the bottom, with a buttery and dense spongy consistent on top.  Topped with sweet goodies such as chocolate sprinkles, crushed nuts, granulated sugar, shredded cheese, and condensed milk.  Folded in half and cut in pieces, makes it look like thick spongy sandwiches.  I opted for a cheese topping, lightly drizzled with condensed milk, because everything else just tasted overly sweet for my liking.

  Oh, this time we were civilized enough to bring the dessert back to the hotel, where we could enjoyed it sitting down, with some wine.  YUP.  We had ourselves a bottle of Chilean Shiraz and a bottle of Aussie Chardonnay, flown in with us all the way from the capital city.  Not exactly the best accompaniments for our local dessert, but everyone seemed content with a plastic cup of wine in their hand, gazing away at the evening sky by the pool side, while some chit-chatting away about what to eat the next day.

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