This morning I explored one of the cafes which make up Ambon’s cafe scene that’s not seen elsewhere in the country. At the Sibu Sibu cafe, I downed a delicious milky ginger coffee with some local cakes. Ambon is famous for having a disproportionate share of good singers in the Indonesian music scene, and their portraits adorn the wall of the cafe. The cake “Bika Ambon” appears to originate in Sumatra though, and it wasn’t anywhere to be found in any Ambonese cafe!
There’s not much specifically that I wanted to do except just to absorb the atmosphere and go see the Commonwealth War Cemetery. The cemetery was a short van ride on the edge of town. It has the graves of largely Australian soldiers who died in WWII, plus a considerable number of Brits and some Indian soldiers too.
It was a well-manicured site. It was sobering to think of people in their early twenties who had died leaving a wife and kids. Rather sobering in contrast to the enjoyable (but basic) time I’ve had in the last week or two.
There’s a chain of massage spas through Indonesia called Nakamura which has a local branch here in Ambon. I checked it out and a 2h massage only cost IDR180K (about NZD18). So I treated myself. It consisted of reflexology and a full body massage shiatsu style.
The rest of the day after lunch was spent in the relative comfort of my hotel room.
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- Cloudy Ambon Bay.
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- Kids fishing on the waterfront.
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- Pink is in at the market; those are sweet potatoes.
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- At the Commonwealth Cemetery.
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- At the Commonwealth Cemetery.
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- At the Commonwealth Cemetery. One of many Muslim graves as many soldiers were Indian Muslims.
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- At the Commonwealth Cemetery. One of many Muslim graves as many soldiers were Indian Muslims.
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- Lovely trees at the Commonwealth Cemetery.
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- Becaks waiting for customers.
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- Becaks waiting for customers.
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- Becaks waiting for customers.
