Thank you MEDAN! (Final Part)

HORAS!

Hello there. So, finally, it comes to an end. This will be the last chapter of "Thank you MEDAN!" by me. In this chapter, there are a lots of exciting things that we did in Bukit Lawang and Medan City. So, go and enjoy yourself reading it!

April 09 2009

- We woke up early (at 6.30 a.m.) for the jungle tracking
- Water is very cold, so I decided just to wash my face and brush my teeth before entering the jungle
- 7.30 a.m.: we were ready for the jungle tracking leaded by Ayub, a local tour guide
- First 15 minutes was quite tiring because we climbed the steep hill. Furthermore, I haven't have my breakfast... huh
- Inside the jungle, Ayub called for the orang utans
- Waited for a long time (about 30 - 45 minutes) until we found one. However it was wild and it ran away from us... sob, sob, sob...
- Waited patiently and we finally found another 2 wild orang utans
- We fed the wonderful orang utans with bananas
- We also met 2 English women (Allison and Sarah)
- Ayub looked for and found 2 Thomas Leaf monkey (I mistakenly heard it as "tomaslip" monkey)
- Very cool animal and we fed them with bananas
- Went out of the jungle after that and arrived at the room at 10 a.m.
- We rested at Bohorok riverside. I washed my feets and crocs there
- Then, we went for brunch (I had fried rice with scrambled egg)
- Check out at 12.30 p.m. and it was raining when we went back to Medan City
- It was "Hari Mencontreng" a.k.a. Election Day. So, there were a lot of motorcycles and thank goodness there was no riot in Medan. Libur!!!
- Reached Medan at 3.00 p.m. and again, we stayed at Labana Hotel
- I was tired that afternoon. So, I took a nap until 6.30 p.m.
- We went to Minang's restaurant at 8.00 p.m.
- Had minang's food and they were absolutely fantastic!
- I had salted fish fried rice + ayam penyet sambal pedas
- Then, we went jalan-jalan around the Medan city by car drove by (who else if not) Wak Hadi
- I enjoyed the city night life
- Most of the shops were closed due to Pemilu (it means Pilihanraya). They were afraid there is gonna be a riot. Thank goodness there was no riot when we were there.
- Returned to our room at 10.30 p.m. and I accidently fell asleep because I was tired
- Woke up at 12 midnight just to take my bath and then rest again for the rest of the night

*Salleh was bitten by leech during jungle tracking
*Me and Bedi were almost got bitten by leech as well but manage to get rid of it
*Allison has been to Sabah before. Bedi had a good chat with her
*The minang's food cost up to 198, 000 rupiah!!! My portion was only 38, 000 rupiah and the rest were by Bedi and Salleh. But anyway, the food is awesome!
*Salleh bought fried noodle at hotel for 19, 000 rupiah and it was quite nice too
*I should have enjoy minang's food a little bit more even though it costs me bundles of money
*Learn how to talk like the local Indonesians. It is very useful when you are buying stuffs and foods.

Orang utan... such a wonderful, delicate creature.

Feeding the orang utan. Greatest moment to be in touch with the animal.

Thomas leaf monkey... A cool, friendly animal... It has Mohawk hair style :)

Cleaning up after jungle tracking at Bohorok River.

The cheapest hotel we stayed in Medan.

Leaving Bukit Lawang. We had a wonderful experience over there. Thank you Bukit Lawang... sob, sob, sob...

Wonderful minang's food. Mouth-watering and delicious!

April 10 2009 (finally...)

- Woke up late (8 a.m.)
- Rushed to check out because Wak Hadi was waiting (suppose to meet him at 8.30 a.m. but only manage to get things packed up at 9 a.m.)
- We went out to try some much cheaper minang's food
- I ate ayam pop + daun ubi rebus + perkedel (begedil) + sambal + nasi putih. Total, it costs me 14, 000 rupiah. I was really satisfied with the price.
- After that, we went to Sultan Maimun Castle and we took some 'royal' pictures
- It is a small castle and nothing really interesting over there
- Me & Salleh bought postcards of Sultan Maimun Castle
- Then, went to a batik shop
- Bought batiks for Dr. Chong and my father. They are beautiful and very cheap
- It is only 85, 000 rupiah (convert to Malaysian ringgit, it is only RM 28... I've told you, it's cheap)
- Then, we bought Medan layer cake for 50, 000 rupiah
- After that, we went to Plaza Mall Medan and shopped over there
- I bought 3 CDs for 85, 000 rupiah... Damn cheap...
- Then, we went to Polonia Airport to board our flight back to Penang at 2.30 p.m.
- We left Medan at 4.00 p.m. and we had a sweet journey in Medan... sob, sob, sob... :(

*We were "attacked" by female shopkeepers where they were trying to sell skin cream. I managed to avoid it and did not buy their product even though they tried it on my skin... lol... pity Bedi and Salleh
*I really found the CDs are very cheap and I used them to create background music of the video we took in Medan.
*I found the trip is really worth it. It taught me to be responsible because being in another country without parents supervision test your leadership skills. And I managed to make the trip meaningful and packed with trips from town to town.
*Felt I little bit sad in the airport because we finally left Medan after almost 1 week.

Simple minang's food for breakfast. The last meal in Medan...

The 'royal' picture... lol.

In front of Sultan Maimun Castle.

Buying batik for my dad.

Final hour in Medan... *sad*

We were back in Penang and had a wonderful time in Medan. Thank you Medan!

******
So, that's it. That's all about the trip in Medan. I created a 2-hour video about our trip in Medan and hope it will be a memory for us to be in Medan. Thank you for patiently reading my posts. Hope you yourself also enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy in Medan!

Thank you so much everyone!

Thank you MEDAN! (Part 3)

HORAS!

Hello surfers... To who ever who had follows my journal "Thank you MEDAN", this is the continuation of it. In this chapter, we went for a tour in Brastagi and also Bukit Lawang (Bohorok).

Surfers, enjoy!


April 08 2009


- Woke up at 7.30 a.m.
- I had a good sleep last night; bitten a few times by mosquitos
- It is cold in Brastagi (some more I was shirtless the whole night, it was damn cold)
- Thank goodness there was hot shower
- In the morning, we went to Gundaling. It is a good spot to see the volcanoes
- Volcano behind a male statue is Sinabung, meanwhile the one behind a female statue is Sibayak
- There was a horse ride, but I didn't want to go for it even though it was cheap because of lack of time
- From Gundaling, we went down back to Brastagi for shopping
- I bought a few T-shirts and ulos for my mom at a very cheap price (thank you Brastagi!)
: T-shirt from 30, 000 rupiah to 20, 000 rupiah
: T-shirt XL from 35, 000 rupiah to 25, 000 rupiah
: Ulos from 80, 000 rupiah to 40, 000 rupiah
- We went to Bukit Lawang from Brastagi at 11.30 a.m.
- Road is windy and in bad shape
- Almost got into an accident - luckily Wak Hadi is a skillful driver and avoided the lorry
- Caught in traffic jam when we almost reached Medan City
- Stop at Medan for lunch; I had nasi soto and sup lembu (I was so hungry that i ate 2 meals for lunch... hehehe...). It was yummy and reasonably cheap
- Continue the trip to Bukit Lawang on a very bad road
- Reached Bukit Lawang after 3 p.m.
- At Bukit Lawang, we were looking for a cheap hotel. Finally, after a short walk in the jungle, we found a cheap hotel (the cheapest we ever stayed upon arriving in Medan). It cost only 80, 000 rupiah... Sweet...
- In the evening, I booked a jungle tracking package for 200, 000 rupiah
- I bought a pair of crocs for the jungle tracking
-We had a dinner at the hotel cafe. The food price is a little bit expensive but the food taste quite nice
- Sleep early after dinner (kroih, kroih, kroih...)

*Salleh said something 'porno' along the way to Bukit Lawang (caught it by my ear... lol)
*Salleh wanted to say sauce but end up saying rose (rose = sauce... hahaha)
*Bedi farted in the room twice and toxificated the room... huhuhu...
*I had a nice chat with Wak Hadi. He became friendly to us when we were in Brastagi. Nice to have him as the driver.
*Bukit Lawang reminds me of Saratok. I missed the longhouse and the river. I also missed the bridge that I used to run near my longhouse (that will then make the bridge swing... haha... I always did that when I was small)
*I like Bukit Lawang because the air is fresh and the place is peaceful

As the sign board said, Welcome to Gundaling Hill.

The Borneans... cool...

Crossing the bridge of Bohorok River. This is the type of bridge that I loved to run on. Missing home at that moment.

Rocking in Bukit Lawang!

So, that's what we did when we were in Brastagi and when we arrived at Bukit Lawang. Brastagi offers a good choice of fruits and also souvenirs (and of course I bought a few things as a memory from Brastagi. Even though the road to Bukit Lawang is unexpectedly bad, but upon arriving there, it reminded me of my hometown. Peaceful and green...

So, that's it for the third chapter. Wait for the final chapter of "Thank you MEDAN!" ok.

Thanks for reading!

Thank you MEDAN! (Part 2)

HORAS!

Hello there! Thanks ya for reading up my previous post about Medan. And now, with no further delay, go on and read the next chapter of "Thank you MEDAN".

Enjoy reading!!!


April 07 2009

- Had breakfast in the hotel in the morning - I had a fried rice with scrambled egg
- Went to Samosir Island at 8.30 a.m.
- 1 hour journey by ferry
- Met an old lady - a nice lady - she requested us to sing songs for her (Bedi sang Laskar Pelangi & Tetaplah Disisiku)
- Samosir Island is very, very awesomely beautiful
- Lake Toba is very, very large (last time, I only managed to read about Lake Toba from textbook, could not believe that I was actually over there myself to see Lake Toba... Praise God.)
- Water is dark blue, can't see anything below
- Scenery is very, very beautiful
- On the island: lake view is wonderful, lots of paddy field, the mountains look great & wonderful
- The road is small and has a lot of puddles
- Went to the Stone Chair where executions of the enemies and traitors were done by the Bataks 200 years ago
- People are very desperate of customers - they forced us to buy stuffs from them
- Salleh was forced to buy a sarung - they are cunning
- Despite all that, I used my bargaining skills to buy batik (from 85, 000 rp to 35, 000 rp) & ulos (shawl for 120, 000 rp to 80, 000 rp)... hohoho...
- Visited Batak King's tomb made of mountain stone (the oldest tomb, forgot how old it is, lost count I think... lol)
- Me & Bedi ate B2 panggang (B2 means pork)
- The shop is smelly & a bit dirty
- Praise God that nothing happen to our stomach
- 1.30pm, journey from Tomok (a town in Samosir Island) back to Parapat
- On the ferry, we met with a family - they own a food shop in Padang
- They have a cute little boy named Edwin; he is so adorable :)
- After that, we had a windy-road journey to Brastagi
- The road is very windy - just like a snake
- We played teka-teki with Wak Hadi
- Wak Hadi told us a story about Lake Toba and Batu Gantung
- Stopped at Simarjarunjung to had a very nice ginger tea. It tastes very good with pisang goreng
- Then, we continued our journey to Brastagi
- Managed to have a nice talk with Wak Hadi along the way to Brastagi
- We saw 2 active volcanoes named Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung
- Reached Brastagi at 6 p.m.
- Stayed in a budget hotel (after learning a lesson in Parapat) for 150, 000 rupiah
- At 8 p.m., we went out for dinner
- Me and Bedi had a roasted chicken and Salleh ate ikan nila bakar (it is a type of fish; called Ikan Pacu in Malaysia)
- The food taste ok & slightly different compared in Malaysia
- Then, I bought an adapter to charge my phone; I bought it for 9, 000 rupiah
- Then, we looked for food in case we were hungry in the middle of the night
- 11.00 p.m.: we went back to the hotel and had a rest

*Some people in Samorsi Island are 'dangerous'
*If you have good bargaining skills, you can bargain a lot in Medan
*Samosir Island is great because of the scenery despite the shopkeepers over there are so desperate of customers
*Food? Don't worry too much about getting food over there. Just make sure that you look for a clean shop
*Water? If you can, try to drink sealed-bottled-water
*To be friend with somebody, expect friendship and act :)

On the ferry with Wak Hadi on the way to go to Samosir Island.


Views of Samosir Island. It is so beautiful and you should go there.

An old woman trying to persuade us to buy stuffs from her shop. Hands in pocket!

About to enter Kampung Siallagan, a Batak village.
Beautiful view of the hill in Samosir Island. I am in love with it.

In front of Batak Museum. Nice group picture.

Edwin, the little star from Padang.

Had a very nice ginger tea at Simarjarunjung.

Arrived at Kaliaga Bungalow in Brastagi. The air is cold over there.

I had a very good roasted chicken for dinner :)

A present from Salleh.

Reading back what I had wrote in this post, WOW, that's a lot of things that we do that day. We had the best experience in Samosir Island and we really enjoy getting to know about Bataks, Karo and other ethnics, especially their cultures and legends. Besides, with bargaining skills, we also enjoy buying stuffs over there :)

Okay then, wait till the NEXT chapter! See ya!

Thank you MEDAN! (Part 1)

HORAS!

That's how Bataks greet each other in Samosir Island.

Last week, we had a 1-week break and me, Bedi and Salleh decided to travel to Medan, Northern Sumatra. Initial plan was to go to Bangkok but we canceled it because of unstable conditions in Thailand. Anyway, here I am going to summarize what we did during journey.

Enjoy!

April 05 2009

- Met with a cute air hostess during the flight from Penang to Polonia, Medan.
- Arrived at Medan at 1845 (Indonesia time)
- Bought a traveling package to travel around Medan with the cost of RM355 per person
- Bought food for 7,000 rupiah
- Stay over at Labana Hotel for 150, 000 rupiah
- The room has a king size bed, aircond but not really working and no extra power point (so had to unplugged tv to charge cellphone & camera batteries)
- No tv for the whole night... huhuhu...
- Sleep at 12 midnight... zzz...

*Salleh's body shower & sunblock were confiscated during the security check in Penang Airport
*The hotel is in front of a cemetery (just realize it the next morning...)
*Bought Indonesia Sim card (SimPATI Pe De) & top-up
- funny experience because everything is in thousands rupiah... hahaha...
*Become millionaire in Indonesia (I had more than 2, 000, 000 rupiah in my pocket... wala!)

We took picture with the captain and the cute air hostess of the flight

I became a millionaire after I reached Medan! Yahoo!!!

April 06 2009

- Woke up at 7.45am
- Had breakfast in a stall just outside the hotel
- had fried Indo mee
- ordered bottled-water but got bottled-tea... what the ____ (fill the empty space with appropriate word)
- Met Wak Hadi (our driver & tour guide)
- Check out from hotel and start travelling to Parapat at 9.30 a.m.
- A very long journey to Parapat (4 hours journey by road)
- Reached Parapat at 1.30 p.m.
- Had a lunch in a Muslim stall
- Found a very nice hotel and it costs for 350, 000 rupiah!!!
- Room is very, very nice and it's a suite! Everybody got their own bed. Yeah!
- The hotel attendant offered a massage service
- Rest in the room until 6 p.m.
- At 6 p.m., went out to Parapat small town to buy souvenirs - bought a baju batik for 35, 000 rupiah
- Had nasi soto & pecal for dinner
- Reached hotel at 8 p.m.
- Rest for the rest of the night

*Rejected the massage offer (I am playing safe dude...)
*Warning and reminder, next time find a budget hotel because the hotel 'burns' my money!
*T-shirts are super-duper cheap
*Receive message very early in the morning from Dad

I like the view from the hotel. The air is chill and it was very nice to be in Parapat.

We had nasi soto and pecal at a Java food shop.

Displaying caps that Bedi bought. Cool!

So, that's what we did when we arrived at Medan and during the first day in Medan. I still could not believe that I was actually there and all this trip is planned by ourselves. We really enjoy the air (it was freezing cold that night), environment and the people in Parapat.

Ok then, wait till the next post.

P/S: Need to break the original post into 4 parters so that you able to enjoy more! Thanks ya!

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