Makassar Trip 2013: A tourist in his own hometown.

I took a lone trip to Makassar few weeks ago to attend my brother's child baptism. This time I went home without my wife and children which means I would get a lot of time doing some of the things I can't do on vacation when they're around. One of those things is live sketching.
Here are some of the sketches I made during my visit to my hometown:

I thought I'd get some sketches done on the airplane. Boy, was I wrong. I fell asleep on the plane and woke up when only 40 minutes left to the flight. Then the next morning, before taking a route to Fort Rotterdam, I stopped by a coto kiosk to have me one of my favorite foods of all time, Coto Makassar.

COTO MAKASSAR

Here's another view of the completely consumed coto. It was still early in the morning so the kiosk was still empty. If you were curious about what Coto Makassar is all about, check on this url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coto_Makassar

FORT ROTTERDAM

 Fort Rotterdam a.k.a Benteng Somba Opu a.k.a Benteng Ujung Pandang is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Makassar. It was built in the 15th century and holds a lot of memoir and history of the city. Right now it functions as history museums, multiple cultural event venue, art galleries and home (HQ) to Indonesia's Sketchers Makassar branch. I had a great chance to meet Zainal Beta (often called as Bang Enal), a senior artist who specializes in mud painting who volunteered to be the caretaker of IS Makassar. He organized a weekly gathering for IS Makassar where they would tour around the city together and sketch. Bang Enal double functioned his gallery/studio with IS Makassar office where the members can come and hang out everyday during the time he's in the gallery. For more on Fort Rotterdam, visit: http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Rotterdam

LELONG a.k.a Pusat Pelelangan Ikan a.k.a Fish market 

The city of Makassar is famous for its seafood culinary. So I went to the infamous Lelong where Makassar people would go to buy real fresh fish. The price is competitive, stock is great, variety is excellent. The smell, well, what would a fish market be if it smelled like a French perfume. I bet they rarely see a sketcher doing his thing in this area hence I was swarmed from the time I pulled out my sketch book until I put it away because I couldn't see anything anymore with so many people around me. It's fun to be a live sketcher, right?

AKKARENA BEACH

What is a visit to Makassar without witnessing one of its most ancient tourist and native alike attraction, the sunset. Akkarena beach is a mere 5 minutes away from the infamous Pantai Losari. Where pantai Losari is not so much suitable for bathing anymore (pollution from the city poured into the seaside), Akkarena is where the native would go to in order to find fresher sea water, lots of water sport activities, good food and magnificent sunset.

Back to Jakarta

 This time I took enough sleep at home before boarding on the plane. Here are some images from my seat. 

I hope someday soon I can go back again to my hometown and sketch more sceneries that I didn't get to sketch this time.