Medan Trip - Day and Night of Samosir

Another folklore to start the post.

Long long time ago, there was a king and his son whose name was Si Manggalae. Manggalae died in a war and the king turned very sad. Therefore he ordered his people to create a wooden doll that looked like his son in terms of size and face. The spirit of the son then entered the wooden doll and made the doll able to move and cry just like human.

The wooden doll could move with the beat played by mangondangi (Batak drum). The doll was named Sigale-gale due to the weak movement. The real Sigale-gale could be watched long time ago in Samosir, but now what we could watch was only the robot version of it.

Dancing Sigale-gale in Desa Tomok

After finished watching the show which cost us IDR 5000 (SGD 0.55) per person, we walked to the tomb of King Sidabutar. In this area, we met Mr. Bedman who offered us the story of King Sidabutar for IDR 20000 (SGD 2.2). So we paid and listened to him.

The king, the queen, the minister, and the elephants

The courts of the king

A tomb with thousand stories behind it

Mr Bedman told us that the king had big head, big eyes, big nose, and long hair. The head was big as the sign of his cleverness and wisdom, the eyes were big because he could easily judge other people correctly from the look, the nose was big due to his ability to smell good and bad intents of other people, his hair was long and strong because there was the power in it when he swung it.

At the other end of the tomb was his queen. To melt the queen's heart, the king and his prime minister accepted a challenge to tame two elephants. The king went for a journey to Aceh and brought back a pair of elephants. However, these two elephants could not live in Samosir and died not long after.

In front of the tomb, there was the trusted prime minister. He was from Aceh and back to Aceh after the king has died.

At the side of the tomb was the courts of the king. And at further end there was another tomb of King David who was already a christian while King Sidabutar still believed in animism.

You can throw money at these naked boys so they can swim and pick the money

We went back to the boat so the boat could transfer us to the cottage at Tuk Tuk Village. The cost of chartering the boat for a few hours was IDR 800000 (SGD 86). After the boat sent us to the cottage, his duty finished. We checked in to Hotel Carolina and got our room facing the lake.

Our room

The view from our room

Relaxing and enjoying the breeze

We spent our evening relaxing at the balcony. At around 5:00 p.m. we moved our lazy ass and walked around Tuk Tuk. We took some photos and settled for dinner at the hotel in the end due to limited choices outside.

We are at Samosir YEAYYYY

The food at the hotel was quite nice and cheap. After dinner, we sat at the lobby to watch the third presidential debate. After that, I went back to the room to shower. It was very cold at night and only my room had hot shower. What a hotel. :P

And after that, all of us sat by the lake to get really amazed by the night sky. We gazed at the southern sky and it was so amazing!!!!!

I was so happy that night I slept with a smile from my ear to another ear.

Next Post - The Shining Jewel Brastagi

Love is in the air,

Little Feet

Medan Trip - Winding Roads for Danau Toba

Pardon me for not posting anything for two weeks, I was down with dengue. A very long week to experience: went for endless blood tests, went up and down to the clinics, got rejected by Tan Tock Seng for hospitalization because it was not chronic enough, went back to Palembang instead, and a full week of resting.

So, here I am, back in Singapore, ready to write down everything before I forget them all.

It's now time for Danau Toba.

Danau Toba or Lake Toba is a super volcano and lake. It is the largest volcanic lake in the world! It was said that long long long long long time ago, there was a volcano eruption that caused sudden decrease in the temperature and massive death of people around the world. The eruption also created a crater and this crater was filled with water; the current Lake Toba.

However, there is another story of the creation of Lake Toba. The folklore said that once upon a time, there was a fisherman. One day he managed to fish a goldfish. He intended to kill the fish the next day, but to his surprise, the goldfish turned into a pretty lady when he woke up the next day. The fisherman and the goldfish got a deal: the goldfish would be the wife of the fisherman but the fisherman should not say anything about the wife's origin to their descendants. 

Time passed by and they got a son and he was very naughty. One day, the son did something that made the fisherman furious. In his rage, he forgot his vow and revealed that he was the son of a fish. The wife knew that turned angry. The anger caused the very heavy rain for weeks and flooded the whole village. And that's how Lake Toba was formed.

Amusing, yes?

So the second day was for Danau Toba. We woke up quite early as we planned to leave the house at about 7:00 a.m. Anam told us that it took a few hours to reach Danau Toba.

The distance from Medan to Danau Toba

We were so ready at 7:00 a.m. but the driver did not show up. Anam's mom helped us to call and found out that the designated driver suddenly said he could not come. And we waited for another driver in the end.

The replacement came around 8:00 a.m. and we straight away loaded our bags and ourselves up to the car. We were so ready for Toba!!!

From Medan to Danau Toba, the car took the route via Pematang Siantar. Pematang Siantar is a small town out of Medan. The town is really small it looks like just a few blocks. At around 11:30 a.m. we reached this small town and we headed for lunch.

There is a famous noodle shop in Medan that was originated from Pematang Siantar. People said that the noodle in Pematang Siantar was much nicer therefore we went for it.

This is the legendary Mie Pansit Awai!

The interior

Bakmi Ayam Jamur (Chicken mushroom noodle)

Orange Capucinno, the biggest mistake here

The signature noodle in Mie Pansit Awai is pork noodle, but since I am not a pork person I ordered chicken mushroom noodle instead. I should say that even the chicken mushroom noodle is very nice. The chicken stock was dense, the chicken was tender, and the noodle was done to perfection.

So no need to say anything about the pork noodle, it must be better! 

However, I need to say something about the drink. Please do not order Orange Capucinno. It was a disaster. :P

After our tummies were happy, we continued our journey.

About two hours later, we reached Danau Toba. The place is called Parapat, a village at the bank of Danau Toba. Another folklore said that the place got the name from a lady who fell into an earth hole near the lake. It was said that this lady was about to jump into Danau Toba to commit suicide because she did not want to have arranged marriage with her parents' choice. However, she dropped into a hole near the lake. She was very upset and shouted from inside to tell the stones to squeeze her. She kept yelling, "Parapat, parapatlah batu!" which meant "Squeeze me, squeeze me, Rocks!" and she really died inside. That's why the area is called Parapat till today.

We were to spend the night at Samosir Island, an island in the middle of Danau Toba. Therefore we rented a boat to bring us to the island. But before that the driver brought us to an old house by the bank of Danau Toba. This house was the house of the first president of Indonesia during his exile.

The house of President Soekarno during his exile in Parapat. This place was called Parapat Palace.

It was a waste that we could not enter the house that day. The driver told us that the house was being used for some events that day. So we could only admire the exterior and the view of Danau Toba.

What a view Soekarno could see every single day during his exile

We spent just a short while here before proceeding to the pier. The boat (or should I say the yatch?) then picked us up and sent us to our first stop, Batu Gantung a.k.a Hanging Stone.

Near the pier

Our yatch yoohoo!

The same folklore of the lady applied for Batu Gantung. The lady that committed suicide by asking the stones to squeeze her turned into the hanging stone the next day. The hanging stone has the shape of a lady's body.

Can you see? Can you see?

After taking photo for a while, the boat brought us to Desa Tomok (Tomok Village) at the eastern side of Samosir Island. This area was full of tourists because there were a market and some tourism spots.

The first sight of Desa Tomok

The pier of Desa Tomok

Walk a bit and you can see a market selling a lot of souvenirs

Tourism spots at Desa Tomok

We went to Sigale-gale and Makam Raja Sidabutar (King Sidabutar's Tomb) in Desa Tomok. What are they?

Next Post - Day and Night of Samosir

Love is in the air,

Little Feet

Medan Trip - A Culinary Day at Medan Kota

I forget to mention that we had the privilege to stay at Anam's place throughout our stay in Medan. His house is located in one of the high class housing complexes in Deli Serdang, a bit outskirt of Medan.

The location of Medan City, Komplek Cemara Asri, and Kualanamu International Airport

Before reaching Anam's house, he brought us to a vihara (Buddhist temple) around his house. The vihara is called Vihara Mahavira Graha Medan. When I googled it, I found out that this vihara was under Mahavira Graha Pusat and there were quite a numbers of this vihara all over Indonesia.

The front look of the vihara

Pardon me if the photos of this vihara are not appealing. There was a huge sign stating that no photography was allowed. Moreover, the security guard followed us throughout our visit to make sure no one violated the regulation.

In order to keep the memory, I stole some moments and snapped a few pictures.

Behind the main building, there is a huge square and such corridors surrounding it

The vihara looked very Chinese, a bit like China Great Wall and a bit like Tian An Men. The corridor is full with China ornaments and the wall is full with dhamma stories. The square behind the main building has a great numbers of Buddha statues.

After walking one round and pray for a while, we finished our visit here and headed to Anam's mansion!

View of Vihara Mahavira Graha Medan from the car

When the car entered the housing complex, I was amazed by how big the houses were. And I couldn't help but to wonder when I could afford to have mansions like this. :(

Oh well, let's focus on the holiday. We were welcomed warmly by Anam's mom. Since I was the only girl in the trip, I had my own room with attached bathroom. Yeay! The guys (six of them) were to sleep in Anam's super big room.

We officially started our culinary day with fresh mangoes eventhough we already had butter cake from Manado and bika ambon in the car.

Slices of mangga harum manis and tiny mangga prapat

We also had lalampa from Hari-Hari Bakery, specially brought by Erland from Manado. Wow!

Lalampa, speciality from Manado. Ho ciak!

After resting for a while, Anam and his mom brought us out to Medan Kota. Our first stop was Kedai Kopi Bun (Bun Coffee Shop) at Jalan Yoserizal with its speciality, tau kua he ci.

The famous London Sumatera Utara Building while we were on the way

We finally reached Kedai Kopi Bun!

A modest coffee shop

So, again, this coffee shop's speciality is tau kua he ci. What is tau kua he ci? Tau kua he ci is a so called 'snack' of Medanese consists of fried tofu block (tau kua), morning glory (kangkung), bean sprouts (taoge), chunks of fried soft shell crabs and prawn-flour cracker (rempeyek udang) with sweet red sauce. It cost IDR 23000 (SGD 2.4) per portion.

Tau kua he ci before and after being messed up!

Other than that, we also ordered some desserts like bubur pulut hitam, ucece, and skotheng. These desserts cost IDR 13000 (SGD 1.4) each.

Bubur Pulut Hitam is basically black sticky rice and mung bean with coconut milk 

Ucece. In Singapore we call it bobo chacha. In my hometown, this is kolak.

Skotheng in Medan is not like those in Java with ginger broth. It is just sugar syrup with jelly, atap seed, and sweet corn.

Then we went to Sun Plaza, one if not the biggest shopping mall in Medan. Since it was still Saturday noon, Medanese were still working thus the roads were quite free and it was quite easy to find parking lot. We reached Sun Plaza around 2:00 pm. I started my manicure and pedicure around 2:30 pm while the rest walked around the mall and had some bites.

I never thought that a manicure and pedicure session could last for 3 hours! Only at 5:30 pm I was released. This thing hit me for IDR 365000 (SGD 38) and my butt was so so so pain from sitting for that long.

Such a simple thing for 3 hours, seriously?????

After I have finished, we rushed back home. Anam's mom was so afraid that it's gonna jam along the road but thank God the road was quite clear. Only at an intersection, one motorcycle sped up, got caught by a pot hole, and fell in front of our eyes. The rider was unconcious and bleeding from his head.

By the look of their shirts, we knew that these people was from Pemuda Pancasila Medan. Pemuda Pancasila is a political gangster that has been founded since 1981. I don't understand what is the purpose of this community. By the news so far, they are quite radical in their acts.

When the other members of the gang helped the unconscious guy 

After reaching home, we rested for a while before heading out again for dinner. You see our day was completely filled with food!

Our destination for dinner was Jalan Semarang or we can say Medan Chinatown. Jalan Semarang is actually a normal road with rows of shops in the day time. After 6:00 pm the road side is occupied and the tables and chairs are set up to cater for the diners. At another road besides Jalan Semarang, there is Selat Panjang. Selat Panjang also offers similar experience to the visitors. However, according to Anam's parents, the foods in Jalan Semarang are better.

So there we were at Jalan Semarang. I could remember that I had been there before but I still felt amazed. A lot of roadside eateries. A lot. A lot. If you come here without bringing any Medanese, I am sure you will not know which one to buy.

Jalan Semarang. If only the road is closed for car, this place will be much nicer.

A very impressive system is practiced here. Eventhough there are so many eateries offering different culinary experiences, you need not worry. You don't need to walk along the road nor to shift from one to another food kiosk. What you need to do is to find a seat. The waiter will find you and take order.

You can imagine that you are dining in fanciful restaurant even though you are just sitting at the roadside. There is a centralized management of these eateries thus you can order anything from the waiters and you just pay once. What a convenient. I really salute that all the food sellers are so secure in their fortune they do not try to compete in each and every way.

This system provides convenience and tends to make the customers to over order.

Just like us.

Namyo's mom helped us order the foods. And she ordered a lot. A lot. A Lot. A LOt. A LOT.

Other than ordering from the waiters, she also went to other places to buy some other things for us to try.

So these are what we ate that night:

Bihun Bebek Atak (Duck Vermicelli Atak). My favourite for the night. Tender duck breast, al dente vermicelli, clear and refreshing soup.

Wanton Mee (Dumpling Noodle) without dumplings. Due to the customs in Medan, every noodle is called wanton mee. In my hometown, this is bakmie. :)

Hokkien Mee (Hokkien Noodle). Another noodle dish with clear glass noodle, prawns, fish cakes, fish balls, and veggies. Pour the broth over, add some chilli, and enjoy it!

Medan Hor Fun (Medan Flat Rice Noodle) is basically hor fun poured with flour-water mixture and pork, meat balls, and veggies.

Char Kway Teow (Fried Kway Teow). A long order list caused this dish to be delivered the last. To be honest I could not recall how it tasted now. Maybe I have eaten too much when I tasted this.

Medan Popiah (Medan Spring Roll) is not like any popiah in Singapore. Refreshing taste of carrots, cucumbers, and crabs filling. My saliva is running while I type this.

Crispy Popiah. In Singapore people call it kueh pie tie. The filling is exactly the same as popiah but the skin is different. 

Fish Ball. Initially I thought it was just an ordinary fish ball but I was wrong, it was a bowl of fish balls with minced meat fillings.

Char Siew (Cantonese Barbecued Pork). Lotsa fats. I could not stomach it.

Roasted Pork. I dared not eat because it basically consist of fat and skin. Euhhhh. However everyone in the group praised it and I tried to taste the bone and to be honest, it was nice.

Sate Padang (Padang Style Satay) is not really my food.

Kerang Rebus (Boiled Cockle). The best thing of this thing is the sauce: chilli sauce, grounded peanuts, and pineapple.

But be careful you may find small crab inside. Don't eat it! It's not a buy-one-get-one-free thing.

We were so very full after all the foods! We were thankful for the foods and decided to call it a day.

Happy face and happy tummy

But we were wrong. Anam's parents went to Selat Panjang to buy some sweet stuffs for us.

Martabak Piring (Plate Pancake) in front of Selat Panjang. Crispy and nice!

I can't recall the name but it tastes like kue dadar (Update: the bride told me that this was called APUNG)

Only after we finished everything, the bride-to-be reached Jalan Semarang. We had a fun chat for a while before calling it a day and driving back home.

However, when we reached the housing complex, it was completely dark. Only then we knew that Medan was facing blackout every single day for three hours a day. Terrible. So, instead of going home, Anam brought us to another vihara. This time is a super big vihara called Maha Maitreya Vihara.

It was so dark I could not take any better shot. This is just the front porch of the first floor of the vihara

Another dark shot.

Everybody was so tired after the whole day. All of us fell asleep just in seconds with almost exploding tummy.

Next Post - Winding Roads for Danau Toba

Love is in the air,
Little Feet