Busy Bee August (Part 2) : Adventure of a non-adventurer

"I thought you said you did not want to go to the forest!"
"I am not going to the forest, I am going to Pekanbaru!"
"What do you think Pekanbaru is? It's a forest!"

I was sort of cursing and swearing about going to Pekanbaru. The thing is, I am not so keen on going any business trips. Because business trip means changes from my daily routine. And on top of that, I just hate packing and unpacking my things. Lame excuse, but it's so true. And I also heard about the forest fire in Pekanbaru. So, that's it. Pekanbaru is a forest, with raging forest fire.
Still I had no choice. I've got a guest that I need to accompany, and so I reluctantly went for this trip. I consoled myself, it's a short trip, less than 2 days.

I left Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon, and reached PB in the early evening, before the sun set, so I still managed to get glimpse of PB before the darkness set in.

So, how's PB? 

"Pekanbaru is a two-time Adipura Award winner!" boasted the driver who sent me to the hotel.  I understood why he was so proud of his city. The city was very clean. He continued to explain that there were two shifts of road cleaners employed to maintain the city's cleanliness. Having spent most of my time in big cities, it was a nice break to see smaller town. 

I had my visual feast on the city on the way to the hotel from the airport.

this is the picture I took from the hotel window

I stayed on Aryadutta Hotel. Supposedly the best hotel in the city. I've got no complain, but my travel companion, from the same company, was busy making phone calls to move us to another hotel. He told me that Aryadutta Hotel was too quiet for his liking. Due to some security approval, we still ended up in the same hotel.

Dinner was at Jalansutra's acclaimed Restoran Anom. Supposedly one of the best chinese restaurant in PB, Resto Anom was famous for its Udang Telor Asin (Salted Yolk Prawn). The dish itself was disappointing, it was runny with very mild salted yolk taste. The other dishes were not too bad, good review from the rest of our group. As our host (who came from Jakarta) explained, it's famous in PB, but we could not compare it to Jakarta's chinese food restaurant. I'll give them 3/5 rating.

No picture of the food from Resto Anom, as I was too hungry and busy eating to my heart's content

We went to Kerinci, another town close to PB, about an hour drive to meet one of our customers and to check on illegal logging business (??!). The road to Kerinci was narrow and winding. We've also got to be wary as there were wild Sumatran tigers abound.

Wild Sumatran Tiger

I would not live up to my non-adventurer tittle if I did take too many pictures of PB or Kerinci in that matter. Believe it or not, rather than enjoying the scene of a new place, I was either chatting with my travel companion or busy sleeping.

And there went my full day of PB and Kerinci. I also found out that equator line actually passed through PB. Too bad, I did not get to see the monument as we traveled to the opposite direction.

Some pictures that showed that indeed PB has forest to prove my colleague's words. No, I did not go to the forest, but the logs & chipped woods came from the forest.

So, that's the end of the adventure for me. I am still not looking forward to this kind of adventure in the future. But, I have to admit that it was quite fun. At least I did not encounter something nasty in the forest, and, oh, I did not go to the forest at all.