A Mini Adventure In Padang, Indonesia

Chinese New Year (CNY) was coming and we wanted to go on a short beach getaway during the long weekend break. Last year, we did a little staycation at Villa Samadhi. And same like last year, tickets to Bali and most places were incredibly overpriced during the CNY period.

• Related: Our Staycation At Villa Samadhi Singapore

However, we managed to find reasonably priced tickets to Padang, Indonesia on the eve of CNY via AirAsia and we decided to jump on it. Ann and I have never been to Padang before and there was little information about Padang on the internet.

So we made this trip our mini adventure to discover Padang.

Ibis Hotel Padang

Padang is only an hour from Singapore via flight. As soon as we landed, we hopped into a Bluebird taxi and headed to Ibis Hotel Padang. Ibis Hotel is situated in the city and everything we wanted or needed was just a stone’s throw away.

we watched the sunset every day from our room

The room is very comfortable with a minimalist style design. There is an outdoor pool, spa and a 24-hour rooftop restaurant that serves local and international cuisine with live music on certain days.

• Tip: Request for an ocean view room to watch stunning sunsets every day

As Padang is situated on an active geological fault line, Hotel Ibis is one of the few hotels with Seismic Isolation Bearings to protect the building during an earthquake. It is this feature that made us book this hotel; to have a peace of mind while on holiday.

View Ibis Hotel Padang Rates

Once we have settled down, we head to the nearest mall to get our toiletries as well as a prepaid sim card. In Padang, we were informed that the Go-Jek app is more popular than Uber. It is cheaper with drivers easily available with a press of a button.

• Tip: Get a local prepaid sim card with data for all your transport needs. Drivers tend to call to check on your exact locations, so do get a sim card with local airtime. We made a mistake of only getting a data sim card.

We downloaded the Go-Jek app and the first place we headed to was the Number 1 rated restaurant in Padang known as Lamun Ombak.

Rumah Makan Lamun Ombak

Lamun Ombak literally meaning Overcome by Waves needs no introduction. This is the place where tourists and locals alike go to have their daily Nasi Padang fix.

Here at Lamun Ombak, Padang food is served Hidang style whereby plates of dishes are laid out in stacks in front of you to choose from. You will only pay for the dishes you eat.

There were so many dishes laid in front of us to choose from that we were spoilt for choice. We were informed that Lamun Ombak serves one of the best Beef Rendang in Padang and it gets sold out very fast. Unfortunately, we did not get to try it even though we came quite early.

The food here is famous for the rich taste of coconut milk as well as spices and surprisingly it is not as oily as we thought it would be. We personally like the Gulai Ayam (chicken curry) as well as the Ikan Balado (fish with chilli paste) that we ordered additional sets of it.

Lamun Ombak is a definite must try restaurant when you are in Padang!

Pondok Ikan Bakar

After our hearty Nasi Padang meal, we succumbed to food coma and crawled back to our hotel for a little nap. We viewed the sunset from our room after which we got ourselves ready for our food adventure part 2.

As Padang is situated near the beach, they are known for their fresh seafood from the Indian Ocean. We headed to the beach where all the grill seafood restaurants are and ended up at Pondok Ikan Bakar which means Grill Fish Shack.

The restaurant serves the freshest daily catch, grilled over dried coconut husks and charcoal to give the seafood its distinct flavour.

We had a whole fish, big prawns grilled to perfection as well as a serving of crabs cooked in Padang style. The food was very filling and rich that we could not stand up and walk after the meal. The food here is great but after our heavy lunch, another round of rich Padang food was too much for us to handle!

We headed back to the hotel and laid on our backs like a Fat Starfish! We were definitely Overcame by Waves. 😛 What an amazing gastronomic day!

Chinatown

The next morning as it was CNY, Ann and I decided to head to the Padang’s Chinatown for a little sightseeing. The stretch of road on Jalan Kelenteng is dotted with colonial houses during the Dutch colonial era. There is a temple there too where we went in to have a look at the CNY prayers going on.

Unfortunately, most of the Dutch colonial era buildings are abandoned and not well maintained. Nevertheless, we still had an enjoyable stroll snapping photos along the way as well as burning the calories from the day before.

Weekend Cafe

At the end of the Jalan Kelenteng, there is a cafe which Ann had already planned to visit for a little brunch known as the Weekend Cafe.

The Dutch colonial-era building has been beautifully restored by the cafe owners and it is one of the top places to eat in Padang.

For starters, we ordered the deep fried calamari. The calamari was served with a mix of onions, garlic and vegetables to give the squid a different dimension from the usual deep-fried versions.

It definitely whets our appetite for our main courses.

I ordered the Nasi Goreng Weekend (Fried Rice) while Ann had the Weekend Bowl. The fried rice I had was served with chicken cutlet, prawn crackers, pickled vegetables, sambal and a sunny side up.

The rice was rather bland, not something I expected from the usual fried rice you get in Indonesia. However, it was something I needed after 2 days of rich coconut infused cuisine.

Ann went for the healthier choice, the signature Weekend Bowl which consists of avocado, mixed vegetables, sunny side up served with rice in a bowl. It was definitely a healthier choice compared to my dish and Ann really enjoyed her meal.

The food here was great and we ended the meal with a serving of brownie with ice cream as well as coffee.The decor and ambience of the cafe are catered to the young hip crowd and both Ann and myself were kind of feeling young. 😛

Their iced caramel latte was the bomb! We spent 2 hours here soaking in the hipster atmosphere while sipping our coffees. Simply just enjoying each other’s company. 🙂

Adityawarman Museum

After our meal, we headed to Padang’s State Museum, known as Adityawarman Museum to learn a little bit about the culture and history of Padang. The museum displays ethnographic collections of items related to the culture of the Province of West Sumatra, particularly the culture of Minangkabau and Mentawai.

We spend a couple of hours here looking at the various items and artefacts on display. There is also an exhibition of photos cum memorial of the Padang people who lost their lives during the 2004 tsunami.

A great starting point to learn a thing or two about the Minangkabau culture and the city of Padang.

Tapsung Crab & Coffee

Tapsung Crab & Coffee was probably the highlight of our whole Padang adventure. We stumbled upon their Instagram page and from the photos we viewed, they looked like a restaurant that serves seafood like those Southern American styled seafood spread on a table.

We keyed in the address to their location in the Go-Jek app and to our amazement, when we reached, Tapsung is actually a home based restaurant situated right by a river opened barely a year ago.

Every day, fishing boats would return after their catch and pass upriver to Tapsung, and the restaurant owner would buy the daily catch.

Only the freshest seafood gets served here!

We ordered their crab cooked in Padang style which is a sour and spicy sauce served with a side of salad. The fresh and the sweetness of the crab meat was unbelievably good!

We have never tasted crab so sweet and the umami sauce made us lick our fingers, all ten of them.

Our second order was deep fried prawns in batter. There is no doubt about the freshness of the seafood here and the prawns blew us away. The batter was light, crispy and the prawns were so good Ann and I were fighting over the last piece.

Before our fight escalated into something bigger, we ordered a 2nd serving of prawns this time cooked in Padang style. 😛

They also serve gourmet coffee and you can get your daily fix of caffeine and crabs here at this humble home restaurant.

We can go on and on about how great this seafood place. You have to try it to believe it.

This restaurant is a definite go-to place in Padang when you are here.

Island Hopping

After 2 days of gluttony, we were off early in the morning for a day trip to the islands surrounding Padang. We were told that Padang is known for its pristine clear waters and white sandy beaches. We booked a Go-Jek car via our app and headed to Bungus where the boats will depart for the islands.

• Tip: You can request for your Go-Jek driver to pick you up later in the evening or hire any of the drivers at the disembarkation place to get back as to save costs of hiring a full day driver.

We booked a package tour at Alvino Beach (the tour operator) to visit 3 islands for Rupiah 270,000/person which is about S$25.

What is included in the package?

• Round Boat Trip
• Visit to 3 Islands
• Entrance Fees
• Packed Lunch + Mineral Water
• Snorkelling
• Underwater Photo (They provide a Go-pro but you must bring your own memory card)
• 1 Banana Boat Ride

Do keep an open mind when you are visiting these islands. They are still underdeveloped with minimal infrastructure. There are no hotels, restaurants, proper bathing facilities and toilets. The local tourists would usually go to these islands for spearfishing, camping out in tents while cooking their daily catch.

While the waters are clear blue, there are no corals nor variety of marine life at the islands we visited. So do not expect world-class snorkelling here.

But what we love about those islands are its raw and untouched form. We highly recommend visiting the islands before international tourism set foot on them.

For us, we just wanted to laze around by the clear blue water and just soak in the beach life vibes.

Our boatman brought us to Pagang Island first for snorkelling and a banana boat ride. Suwarnadwipa Island for some photo taking. Our favourite was Pasumpahan Island for some swimming and lazing around under the sun at the white sandy beach till we suffered from sunburns.

• Tip: Do not underestimate the sun and apply sunblock generously on your skin.

Address: Alvino Beach, Bungus Teluk Kabung Km 21

Ayam Penyet Ria Khas Ibu Ruth

Back on the mainland, Ayam Penyet Ria is no stranger to Singaporeans. The deep-fried smashed chicken cooked in spices and served with mouth-watering sambal is a staple in Singapore.

They have a couple of outlets in Singapore and we are familiar with their food. However, here in Padang, the food costs a fraction of the price compared to Singapore.

We ordered 3 sets of the smashed chicken (yes 3 sets), a set of beef ribs, Soto Ayam (chicken soup with spices) and a serving of vegetables. Being Singaporeans we ate till our heart’s content and not feeling guilty of overspending afterwards.

To top it all off, we packed a set of fried banana fritters with cheese and chocolate sauce back to our hotel to end our island hopping day with a bang.

Bebek Betutu Gianyar

On our last day in Padang, our plan was to stay in our hotel and recuperate from all the feasting and adventures. However, we stumbled upon a restaurant serving Balinese cuisine named Bebek Betutu in Padang and we just had to check this place out with no questions asked!

Ann had the chicken version

Bebek Betutu is a classic western Balinese dish of smoked duck infused in a variety of spices served with small servings of vegetables, hot steaming rice and sambal. We have tried this dish in Ubud, Bali before and till this day, dreaming of returning to Bali for it.

• Related: Our Short Getaway to Ubud

Finally, after so long we get to eat this wonderful Balinese dish again to cap our wonderful adventure in Padang.

Address: Jln. Niaga Pondok No. 219 Padang

Our last sunset in Padang

Padang has been a wonderful experience. We were thankful to have chanced upon this hidden gem. Compared to other Indonesian cities, there are minimal traffic jams here, the streets are clean and the people very friendly, helpful and hospitable.

Even during the CNY week, there wasn’t any crazy crowds or tourists in Padang making our holiday here a pleasurable one.

Thank you, Padang for the hospitality, great food, beautiful sunsets and endless memories. We have so far only scratched the surface of this wonderful city. There are still many places to venture and visit.

• Related: Our Guide to Canggu
• Check Out: Raja Ampat – The Dive Site That You Might Never Want to Leave

We hope to see Padang again soon.

Till next time, Safe Travels.

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