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!