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!