The East And North of Kalimantan, Part 3: To Samarinda And Back Again

Due to our hectic schedule, I did not have time to take photos of our hotel in Balikpapan, Platinum Hotel & Convention. We didn't even get to see the facilities (Was there a swimming pool? I don't know). However, I could say that it is a good hotel to stay when you are in the city. I even saw Ruhut Sitompul during breakfast time.

 

If you are staying in Platinum Hotel, I suggest you to focus on the pastry. I love them all! The porridge is also good, but I forgot to take picture.

On Day 3, we were scheduled to go to Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan. But before that, Wda would meet with Bappeda officials. She told me to have a bit of fun while she was there, so I asked the driver if there are any local culinary spots, not Javanese or Bugis food, and particularly not Soto Lamongan. He told me about Mantaw Canton, a breakfast-type eatery that serves mantau (a type of white bun pau), coffee and other foods.

At first, I was like, "But Sir, Canton was even more foreign to Kalimantan than Javanese or Bugis", but anyway, after a quick browse, I found that mantau is indeed the specialty food of Balikpapan. So to Mantaw Canton I went.

Trivia: The origin of Chinese community in East Kalimantan dated back to the Dutch colonial era, when the Dutch established a special settlement for the Chinese people along Mahakam river to create jealousy among the local people (this is part of the Dutch's divide and conquer strategy). The Chinese settlement was definitely more strategically-located than the local people, and at first, the relationship of the two communities did not go well. However, the local people later established a trade company called Handel-maatschappij Borneo Samarinda (HBS), collaborating with Sarekat Islam (SI), and they managed to build a healthy competition and good relationship with the Chinese community. When Japan lost the war and the Dutch wanted to come back to East Kalimantan, both the local and the Chinese community fought fiercely against it together (Source: here).

Ok, back to Mantaw Canton.

 

The views from the front side of the eatery look promising.

I arrived at the place at around 8.30 am, which is breakfast peak hour. Families and working people were coming in droves. Since I came alone (the driver went away to wait on Wda), the waiter asked if it was okay to sit further in the back. Sure, I said. I ordered my go-to drink in cafes (black coffee, no sugar) and a fried mantau bun, because the waiter suggested it. I didn't order anything else, because I already had breakfast at the hotel. Bad decision, I know, but I couldn't pass on the pastry at the hotel. Anyway, I guess it was unusual for a woman to order black coffee with no sugar, as the waiter triple-checked with me.

 

I got a seat in the back. I took this photo after the breakfast rush hour subsided, just a bit after 9.30 am.

I have tried the store-bought mantau, and usually I have them steamed. The fried one in Mantaw Canton is an innovation of the owner, so it's a must-try. I was glad that I had the black coffee to pair with the fried mantau, the bun gets a notch sweeter after being fried so they made a perfect combo.

As I munched on the mantau, Wda called me and said she had completed her interviews and even managed to meet the sultan of Kutai Kartanegara. Whoa, I wanted to meet the sultan too. She picked me up at the eatery and we drove to Samarinda for the next appointment and to drop off our fixer to his home. Our fixer is based in Samarinda, but his network spans across the province, including Balikpapan. He invited us to have lunch at his home because his wife had cooked us some foods, which happened to be...*drum rolls*...Bugis foods. LOL.

Our fixer is a Bugis, so it is only natural that his wife cooks Bugis foods. However, here comes the plot twist, his wife is actually a Javanese! I think by this time Wda and I have given up the hope to taste the local culinary, because there is no such thing.

 

Anyway, here is the view along the Balikpapan-Samarinda tollroad. As you can see, there is a black patch on the soil. Our fixer and driver said that it was the young layer of coal (lignite). I remarked in passing that Balikpapan had cool weather compared to Palangkaraya and Pontianak, which I found weird because Kalimantan, which is known for coal and peatland, should have scorching hot weather. They both said that we were lucky to come during the rainy season, but it sure felt scorching hot in dry season.

Trivia: The 97.27-kilometer-long Balikpapan-Samarinda tollroad, or the BalSam tollroad as people call is, is the first one in the island. It was completed in July 2021 and inaugurated by the president in August 2021. After 76 years of independence, the development finally reaches Kalimantan.

The lunch spread at our fixer's home. His wife really went all out, everything is delicious.

 

Although we didn't get to know the local culinary of East Kalimantan, we really enjoyed the Bugis-themed lunch at our fixer's home. We had kappurung (sagu with fish soup), grilled fish, shrimp and if I'm not mistaken, three types of sambal. I have sampled kappurung when I was assigned to South Sulawesi in 2008, but this one is more delicious. At the end of our lunch, our fixer said,"If you come again to Samarinda or Balikpapan, just give me a call. You have a family here."

Then, we were back on the road again.

 

We couldn't do any sightseeing in Samarinda because of the appointment and we needed to come back to Balikpapan before it got too dark. However, passing the great Mahakam river in Samarinda already brought me joy. There are several bridges that connect both sides of the city. The most famous is the Mahkota Dua bridge, which spans at around 1 kilometer!

The Mahkota Dua bridge, shot from adjacent bridge

 

On the second video, we were passing another bridge when the driver started telling us about an incident of collapsed bridge. If you know Bahasa, put the sounds on and you can sense my anxiety rising as I comment, "I don't think this is the kind of information on bridges I'd like to hear when we are passing one."

Pak Niel, the sourceperson in Samarinda, turned out to be quite knowledgeable about North Kalimantan. After discussing the new capital, we changed gears and asked him about North Kalimantan. Both Wda and I have travel experiences across Indonesia, but still, this would be our first time exploring a new place without any important events or schedules.

He told us the important information, that it is safe for us to walk at night. There might be crocodiles or other wildlife animals, but those are mostly living on the upstream area. Phew, what a relief.  Kalimantan may not have volcanoes as other islands in Indonesia do, but it is famous for having many rivers. Encounters with river-based wildlife animals are the least wanted in my list. 

We drove back to Balikpapan, took the second antigen test for our flight tomorrow (we both tested negative, alhamdulillah) and later had dinner at the hotel's rooftop, because we were too beaten up to step out of the hotel. The cafe at the rooftop had live music, but it was too loud that we couldn't chat. So we finished our meal quickly and went back to our room to rest.

 

Have you ever visited North Kalimantan? I hope to see your comment on the next post :)

The East And North of Kalimantan, Part 2: Balikpapan And The New Capital

The visit to East Kalimantan was very packed with interview schedules as Wda hired a fixer to set the meetings with all local officials.

On the day of our arrival in Balikpapan, we had a late lunch at Ocean's Resto, with view facing Balikpapan Bay. It was our driver who took us there, perhaps he thought we wanted to eat at a fancy place. IMHO, the foods in this restaurant are not that special and overpriced, most likely because it sells the view to the sea horizon, which is dotted with vessels. 

Then we had a brief tour around Balikpapan, perhaps we finished it in around 1 hour. Our driver took us to Balikpapan Super Block (BSB), which consists of mall, apartment, clinic and office. My jaw dropped at the size of the place as it reminds me of the Mall Kelapa Gading complex. I mean, if it is in Jakarta, it would have been a normal sight. The mall houses various restaurants that are also available in Jakarta. I was trying to find a restaurant that is more local, but there was not any.

After that we had a cup of coffee and affogato at Dialog Cafe, as well as a bowl of rujak. Balikpapan has many cafes that look like this cafe, with modern and minimalist design. The coffee here is seriously prepared. 

 

The next day, we went to North Penajam Paser regency, which would be the location of the new capital. There are two ways to reach the area of the new capital from Balikpapan: (1) by road; and (2) by ferry boat. For the trip there, we took the first option. It was around 3-4 hours of car drive. 

Our fixer came to the hotel and we went out just after breakfast. I was still a bit overwhelmed by the previous day's trip, in which I had to leave home after midnight to catch the rescheduled flight in advance, so I slept in most part of the ride.

 

The first appointment was with the Sepaku district head. The officers in the district office were very friendly and welcoming us with enthusiasm. They were thrilled to be selected as the new capital as it meant more development in the district.

Greetings from the new capital-to-be. Isn't it happenstance that the name of the road is Negara (which means The State)?

 

After wrapping the interview, we went to the Sepaku Semoi Dam construction site, which is just a few hundreds of meters away. The dam had been planned way before there was a discourse on the new capital, it was aimed to provide raw water for the people and the industries around the area. 

 

 

When we got to the gate, we were turned down by the project manager. Our fixer said that although we received permission from the district head during the interview, the project manager said we still had to obtain permission from the Public Works and Housing Agency. I advised Wda to step out of the car to persuade the project manager. The project manager came to the car and he probably felt sorry for us, because he saw me with my neck pillow and my face definitely looked tired. He gave us the phone number of his supervisor and asked us to contact the number for permission. His boss quickly responded and told us that we were allowed to have a look around.

 

 

 

From the dam site, we went to the lookout tower, the zero point, and the helipad, all located in the industrial plant forest managed by PT ITCI, which is owned by one of Prabowo Subianto's relatives (?) (cmiiw). Almost all trees in the area are either acacia or eucalyptus, planted for 7-8 years and then harvested for the paper and pulp mills. 

 

The environmentalists have voiced concerns on the relocation of the capital, saying that it would destroy the forest. Well, the bitter truth is the forest is not there anymore, all I could see was industrial plants. However, the new capital will reportedly span at around 250,000 hectares, and since Samboja's orangutan preservation area is nearby, the concerns are valid.

View from the lookout tower

 View from the helipad

This is actually the geodetic point, but people call it the zero point of the new capital.

A closer look on the little plaque.

We met several officers of the plantation forest management company and they escorted us to all of those points above. We also passed several cars that  carried people who were coming to see the points. I jokingly told one of the officers that it felt like a tourism site. He seriously replied that there had been rising interest to see the points and they decided to be open to public. They really wanted the new capital initiative to be a success and they wanted to support it in any way they could.

We had two other appointments in Sepaku district. One was with the indigenous community head, and the other was with the North Penajam Paser deputy regent Hamdan. Why not interviewing the regent? Well, the regent was detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission shortly before our arrival *facepalm*. This is a serious warning as the regency would be host to the new capital.

 

Most officials are defensive when journalists asked about corruption. Instead of being angry to the journalists, they could turn the table simply by reiterating their commitment to corruption eradication and showing the investors that they would work hard to prove it.

For our trip back to Balikpapan City, we used the second route option: the ferry boat ride.

 

 We kept our masks on and even maintained distance with each other :)

 

We touched down Balikpapan at around 9 pm. To close the day, we had...*drum rolls*...Soto Lamongan for dinner. Wda and I laughed so hard at the idea of having Soto Lamongan, a dish that is a signature to Lamongan, East Java, in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

However, most residents of Kalimantan are Javanese and Bugis of Sulawesi, while the indigenous people probably only comprise 10 percent of total population. The Javanese came through the transmigration program back in President Soeharto era, while the Bugis people, the strong seamen tribe of the nation, landed in Kalimantan for trade purposes.

Oh dear, the post is already this long and it's just one day. I guess, I will wrap this here. See you on part 3.

The East And North of Kalimantan, Part 1: The Trouble With The Flight Schedule

Hello there, apologies for the lack of posting. I have just returned from a week-long trip to East and North Kalimantan with my friend Wda. If you've been following this blog for a while, you may have read her name in passing when I went to Japan and stayed at her hotel room. This time, we were going on a trip for her work assignment, so not much of a sightseeing, but we still managed to slip in some happy time.

In the last months on 2021, news have been circulating on the relocation of Indonesia's capital to East Kalimantan. Therefore, my friend was assigned to visit the location, establish connection with local officials and if possible, produce several in-depth stories. While discussing the trip plan, her bosses had some wild ideas to also assign her to North Kalimantan, the youngest province in Indonesia. She could not avoid the suggestion, so she asked me to accompany her and offer to pay some of the travel costs.

As an Indonesian myself, I don't know a lot about Kalimantan, especially North Kalimantan, the 34th province that was split from East Kalimantan in 2012. So I was pretty excited to take the trip.

Before the trip, I introduced Wda to one of my former bosses, who is now working for a project in North Kalimantan. Due to the pandemic, this boss closed the office and the whole team went back to their respective hometowns and work from homes. He happened to be in Jakarta a few days before our departure, so I managed to book for an appointment o talk about what North Kalimantan is like over a cup of coffee.

In January 2022, the travel requirements to Kalimantan included two-dose of vaccine and antigen test result. Except for Pontianak (West Kalimantan), which required PCR test result. Since we used airplane to travel to the two provinces (for time efficiency), this meant that we should take antigen test three times (1st antigen for Jakarta-Balikpapan flight, 2nd antigen Balikpapan-Bulungan and 3rd antigen Bulungan-Jakarta). Ouch, my nose!

 

 

I went to the drive-through test place near my home (only 900 meters away) for the 1st antigen test. I asked an officer to capture the historic moment. As you can see, I do not enjoy having my nose poked in. The result was negative, alhamdulillah.

 

The antigen test result kind of remind me to a pregnancy test result :)

I took leave for the whole trip, because I did not think I would be able to have a stable Internet connection. However, on the departure date, I decided to still work on one of the freelance jobs because I booked the flight at 01.30 pm right after I finished my work, a decision that I would regret because...the flight was being rescheduled from 01.30 pm to 05.20 am! *horror music ensues*

I immediately informed my supervisor to prepare to stand by in case I faced other obstacles on the road. Fortunately, no more weird things happening. I arrived at Supadio International Airport as scheduled and quickly searched for a place to work. There is a KFC at the airport, so I bought something to eat and parked myself for a few hours, working and waiting for Wda to arrive (she flew with Garuda Indonesia and her flight was at a later hour).

I guess traveling in the time of Corona means you have to be ready for all possibilities, from flight delays to flight being rescheduled in advanced.

After Wda landed, we checked in to our hotel (Platinum Hotel and Covention) and went around the city with the rental car. It was my first time visiting Balikpapan, and I was surprised at how advanced it is. There are malls, restaurants-cafes and clinics/hospitals (the last one is important during the pandemic).

I will stop here as I need to write the other parts of the travel stories. There will be five parts in this travel story series. The second and third part will be about East Kalimantan (Balikpapan and Samarinda), while the fourth and fifth part North Kalimantan (Bulungan and Tarakan).

PS. I wrote this draft upon my return, but Wda asked me to keep the trip a secret until she completed her stories, as she did not want other media to know that she was working on a story on the new capital. However, I forgot to post. So here it is, the first part of the travel trip that hopefully can shine light on what the new capital city is like.