On the soccer field during the day, young men and women drilled almost the whole day, marching in lines, holding flags and musical instruments, practicing their routines over and over again in preparation for their National Day, just less than a week away. Young girls shouted out steps and orders to their classmates while others pounded away on their drums, creating quite a ruckus marching through the streets of town every afternoon, stopping traffic and any conversations that would be drowned out by the loud bands. Just before the sun went down, the field cleared off, and then the next wave of people came in - a group of about 15 soccer players, some young kids and their fathers with kites, and teenage girls just coming to chat.
One day as I was about to join the soccer match, I saw something enticing over in the corner of the field. A large group of men had gathered, and I couldn't tell what was going on, but judging by their reactions, it seemed exciting. I wandered over and found two small courts where a few local guys were playing sepak takraw. I had forgotten that this was an Indonesian pastime, something that I found a few years ago on the internet and really wanted to see in person, though it was just pure luck that they happened to be playing right across the road from me. The game is basically a combination of volleyball and soccer. Three players on each team gather around a slightly lower net than volleyball with a small, thatched wicker ball. The object of the game is the same as volleyball, to hit the ground on the opponent's side, allowing only three touches on your own side, though the touches in this game are with the legs, chest or head. This sounds like something a lot of soccer players do when just playing around, but the difference is the small ball and the incredible athletic ability of the players. These guys, mostly small in stature, can contort themselves and leap into amazing positions, flipping and spinning as they send the ball flying just over the net. Basically, it's a ridiculously talented series of high kicks and bicycle kicks until the ball hits the ground. Along with the game, the excitement comes from the crowd, cheering and jeering every point. I also noticed that part of the reason it's so popular is because of the gambling aspect. The gamblers pick the teams beforehand, placing money on the players they like, putting together fair matches that will yield the most money. So once the game begins, they obviously have a vested interest in the affair.
Particularly amazing was one player who had an incredible leaping ability, beginning with a quick hop stop to ready himself and ending with a bicycle kick almost every single time the ball came to him. As the ball was sent his way, the crowd would light up, the ball would be crushed over the net and a series of yells and screams would come out, mocking those who try to block his powerful kick. The matches continued on the next day, and I had a great time with the locals surrounding the field, many of them still wearing their motorcycle helmets, watching match after match in the 45 minutes before darkness set in.
After dark, a small town carnival just across the street from the soccer field started up, in conjunction with National Day. Being just a small town affair, the carnival offered only a few gasoline powered ferris wheels, ring tossing games and food vendors, but it was a lot of fun just walking around the event, watching the locals enjoy themselves, watching them watch me and realizing that around the world, kids seem to enjoy the same things. There was just something special about the almost quaint, innocent atmosphere of the whole thing, quite a different feeling from some of the tourist-oriented sights from other parts of the trip.
With my time in the city, I also had time to explore a few good restaurants, finding a place for a good, cheap breakfast and a great place for lunch and dinner, a mix of Chinese and Indonesian dishes. I tried a few other places and found a cheap supermarket for afternoon ice cream, but I kept being drawn back to the same restaurant for dinner, unable to resist this amazing dish with white rice and boneless chicken (a rarity here) in a dark red sauce that was almost a mix of sweet and sour sauce with the spicy Indonesian sambal. At $3, it was a little pricey for the area, but it was too good to pass up.
Eventually, I had to say goodbye to the wonderful mountain scenery, rice fields, valleys and extraordinary cultural traditions of Tana Toraja and Rantepao, but my week spent there was interesting, relaxing, enthralling and inspiring, providing everything I wanted to see in the area. In the beginning, I wasn't even sure that I'd have a chance to visit Sulawesi, but thanks to some changes in plans, pricing differences and revelations, I got to see this wonderful place.
(Some of the girls, marching/dancing through the street, with the soccer field in the background.)
(Pa'piong. A local dish that took three hours to make - I had to order ahead. It is basically shredded chicken with coconut sauce and some local veggies, stuffed into a bamboo tube and grilled over an open flame. It sounded great, but the reality is that it didn't seem much different than a spiced-up chicken salad. I didn't tell the cook that, though. During this meal, I was actually treated to the local gossip about guides fighting for work/guide services for the few tourists in the area.)
(Tanpa tulapa. This dark red sauce was half chili sauce, half sweet and sour, half amazing. Yes, three halves. It was that good.)
(One day I strayed from my tanpa tulapa for the traditional sweet and sour chicken which was also quite good. This Indonesian/Chinese restaurant was awesome and cheap, so I went back quite a few times.)
(One of my lunches just around the corner from my hotel. This is mie goreng - fried noodles. It's almost like fried, instant Ramen noodles with a bit of Indonesian spices. This one was topped with a lime and some spinach, and it was really good.)
(Here is the crowd gathered at the corner of the sports field, watching the serve in sepak takraw. Check out how high that guy's leg is. This is definitely not a sport for inflexible people like me.)
(On the left is the best player, half a second away from his trademark bicycle kicks, as the yellow guy on the right tries in vain to block it. No, yellow does not refer to the color of his skin; it's the color of his shirt. That's racist.)
(Another amazing mid-air kick by the star of the show. I could have done the same thing, but I didn't want to steal the spotlight...)
(Check out the good form on this overhead kick, and also check out the guys in the crowd wearing their helmets. I never get tired of laughing at them. A few times in stores, I thought about slapping one of them on the top of the head and then justifying it because they were still wearing their helmet and were thus protected. That probably wouldn't go over well.)
(Here you can see the ball coming down, and Big Red (his new nickname) perfectly horizontal to the ground below. After making contact with the ball, he'd continue to flip over, landing on his feet to complete the flip, though he would catch himself with his hands on the ground, too. He was very interested to see my pictures after the match, since I was the only foreigner watching.)
1 comments:
Roger needs to start learning these moves.
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