Indonesia: Going Back To Malaysia

The breakfast at the hotel was delicious. It just fried meehoon and fried rice, but the taste was excellent. No cold drinks though. Just hot coffee and tea. I drank Marquisa Tea I bought last night at Indomaret. The view from the small restaurant was spectacular. Unlike yesterday, the sunlight make the view more breathtaking.

As promised, the supir waited for us at 7:30 in front of the hotel. One thing about Indonesian, they are hardworking. Kalau janji mesti ditepati, provided we pay them. They also will not miss out any opportunity to make money. First, he brought us to the nearby hotel which we can see the scenery of Lake Toba. There is a man who came to us and offered us to take a ride on his boat with the amount of RP500,000. Since we need the money at Medan in the evening for food, taxi, pay tax, etc, we declined. Still he asked us how much  do we afford. Still we told him no!

The scenery (click to enlarge)

Then we went to the palace.

Then, we went around Parapat.

The supir said this ferry goes Acheh 

I didn't know Rio is the model for GG

After that to the Niagara Hotel. This is the biggest hotel in Parapat. I recommend you to stay here, although it is on the hill and far from the town, but it is comfortable and the view is nicer that the hotel we stayed. We hung around about and an hour.

After that the supir sent us back to our hotel and we waited for our transportation back to Medan. After arrived in Medan, we took the taxi to the airport.

Indonesia: Trip To Lake Toba

Had our breakfast before check out early in the morning. Yesterday, Amni called Bagus Taxi to booked seats for us to go Lake Toba. Our original plan is just to stay in Medan but two weeks before the journey she said she wanted to go to the lake. So, I canceled a night in Madani Hotel and book a hotel in Siantar Hotel in Parapat. 

The taxi came at about 8:30 a.m. at our hotel and drove us to the Bagus Taxi station. The station is based at the front of a small eatery. The chief or should I say the boss talked to us mostly about the fare and places of interest. The cost for a seat is RP65,000 which is cheap compared to rental vehicles (RP400,000 - RP500,000), it just rental vehicles tak payah kongsi dengan passenger lain ler. I paid for three seats since our tushies are quite big. Haha! Talk about the genes. They used Suzuki APV as their taxi. We waited for other passengers til 10:30 a.m. They are a family of three from Parapat and a Caucasian from Ukraine. 

Bagus Taxi & Car Rental (Medan-Parapat-Medan)

Phone: +62 813 6121 8903 or +62 813 3724 1037 (Timbul P. Nainggolan)

Facebook page: Click!

Bagus Taxi Station in Medan

And we were good to go! We sat at the most back of the vehicle. Before we arrived at Parapat, all of us stop by at Restoran Miramar in Permatang Siantar. This atmosphere of the restaurant felt like the 80s. We ordered ayam bambu, gado-gado and rendang daging together with rice. Although the food was quite expensive I really enjoyed ayam bambu.

Ayam Bambu Best!!!

Then we continued the trip. The road to Parapat, toksah cakap laa. Similar to the road from KL-Gua Musang but worst. Jalan of course lubang-lubang & sempit. I must say Indonesian driver is one of the best driver in the world, may be? Supposely, when you used to drive or sit in front of the car you will get motion sickness if you ride at the back. Tapi dengan supir ni bawak laa kat jalan mana-mana pun. Amni and I didn't get nauseous at all. He even overtook other vehicles when the front vehicle was just 10 meters away. Two thumbs up!!! (b^_^)b

*Tapi kalau yang jenis tak biasa dengan kelajuan atau asik dok tempat passenger jer memang rasa gerun laa.

We arrived at Hotel Siantar Parapat exactly at 2:00 p.m. I don't recommend this hotel to you but it is cheap. The view A-. The only problem was the guest cannot set up the air conditioner and the WIFI signal didn't reach my room. The room in the afternoon was quite hot but at night it was quite cool. It also quite far from the Parapat Town. Amni immediately asked me to accompany her to walk around the town. Being lazy I said hari nak hujan. Hahahahaha!!! Then, both of us took a long nap with the not so well air conditioner. Nasib baik hujan.

View from the room

Nearly 6:00, the atmosphere getting darker and cooler. We got up and wanted to go around the town. Memang silap sangat laa tido tadi. Patutnya pi jalan-jalan dulu malam baru lepak-lepak. So, we walked ahead to the nearest taxi stand. We walked in the rain. Of course basahlah. On the way, a 4 wheeled drive car stopped and asked us where we are going. After talked to him, he offered us to drive us around the town with the price of Rp200,000, lepas tuh kurang jadi RP180,000. Amni, kaki jalan setuju je. Memang gamble ler kitaorang nih. Nasib baik badan besar-besar dan kurang seksi. Tak de laa jadi mangsa kena jual. Hahahahaha!!!

He drove us to the President Sukarno's runaway house. Malam-malam nak nampak apa. Gile tak syok. We came here for the view so we told him we wanted to book him for the next day. We just have a look around the night view of Parapat and Lake Toba, stopped at souvenir shop to buy some fridge magnet and went to Indomaret. We went back to the hotel without having dinner. The supir said we have to be careful if you want to eat over here. Although the restaurant mentioned halal it's not exactly halal. So it's better to eat at the hotel.

We went to a small jetty near the pool of the hotel to have a night view while surfing the net. The Wifi reception was clearer there. Amni brought out the snacks and drinks we bought at Indomaret and a comic book I brought along. Heh! I brought probably 8 comics from Malaysia. There was a family fishing at the jetty. We also heard a choir of singers sang Christmas song in the hall. Probably the natives. Their children were playing around at the pool and some of them sang K-pop songs. Ring Ding Dong pun ada. Heh!

Night View

Amni and the comic

The night ended with a cool and soothing breeze of the air of Lake Toba. We slept well.

Cooking: Ikan Siakap 3 Rasa

I made lunch today;

Siakap 3 Rasa My Version

Ingredients:

Untuk Ikan,

1 ekor Ikan Siakap

Tepung jagung - untuk di lumur pada ikan

Serbuk Pasti Sedap Knorr

Minyak untuk menggoreng ikan

Untuk kuah:

1 biji bawang besar - potong dadu

3 biji bawang putih - diketuk

10 biji cili padi - potong menjadi kecil

1 inci halia - dihiris menjadi kecil

1 biji tomato - potong dadu

Segenggam nenas - yang dipotong dadu (guna nenas dalam tin pun boleh)

2 sudu besar sos tomato

2 sudu besar sos cili

1 sudu besar sos tiram

1 sudu besar sos ikan

Garam secukup rasa

Ajinomoto secukup rasa

Gula secukup rasa

Minyak untuk menumis

Cara membuatnya:

1. Ikan dibersihkan dan ditoskan
2. Lumurkan ikan dengan Serbuk pasti sedap knorr.Pastikan semua bahagian di lumur rata
3. Kemudian, lumurkan pula dengan tepung jagung. Lumur ke dua-dua belah bahagian ikan termasuk bahagian dalam
4. Panaskan minyak yang banyak di dalam kuali
5. Pastikan minyak betul-betul panas barulah di masukkan ikan tadi
6. Goreng terendam ikan tersebut
7. Setelah ikan garing, angkat dan ketepikan
8. Panaskan minyak dalam kuali yang lain
9. Tumiskan cili padi, halia dan bawang putih
10. Setelah bawang agak layu, masukkan sos cili, sos tomato, sos tiram dan sos ikan
11. Kacau sebentar
12. Masukkan bawang besar, tomato dan nenas
13. Masukkan air sedikit
14. Tambahkan garam, gula dan ajinomoto
15. Biarkan kuah mereneh seketika
16. Setelah kuah agak pekat, angkat dan curahkan di atas ikan yang telah digoreng tadi

Bon apetit!!!

Credit to: Cik Rose Cute

Indonesia: Shopping In Medan

We woke up quite early(?). We decided to go out right after breakfast. So, we went for breakfast prepared. The food is like biasa-biasa aje. Ala, hotel 3 bintang. Enough with fried rice, fried noodles, side dishes, some fruits, bread and juice for drinks. Alhamdulillah. 

We went outside the hotel. There were a few taxis and trishaw called 'bechak'. Amni said it's cheaper to get around with bechak. We'll see about that!

Bechak

View for our bechak

Respek ahh, sini tak pakai helmet tak kena saman

Supir kitaorang pun tak pakai helmet

We went to Mandailing Graveyard to pay respect to our late grandparents (father's side). Here there are a few people who will help (help laa sangat) us to clean the graveyard. Kat Indonesia ni kawan-kawan, jangan anggap kalau orang tuh tolong, orang tuh ikhlas. Kena bayar laa ye? I think Amni paid about RP6000 to them. Kubur-kubur ni sebenarnya dah beberapa berpindah randah. Ayoh yang buat batu nesan untuk kubur-kubur ni.

Then, we went to Pajak Ikan or Pasar Ikan. This is not a fish market. There's no single fish at the market. Aku pun tak tanya pak supir atau orang sana kenapa dipanggil pasar ikan. They only sell clothes and textiles. Anyway, I didn't take any picture over there sebab takut nak keluarkan kamera. Takut dowh sebab penjual-penjual souvenir ni macam gangster skit. I just buy kain for my friend, Dayah (dia dah kirim awal-awal) and kain sembahyang. Kain-kain sini sebenarnya murah laa jugak tapi aku tak beli sangat sebab aku cuma pinjam duit Amni. Belum gaji daa...huhuhu! (It's my own fault I did not look at the calendar before booked the flight). 

About the souvenir seller, Amni silap sebab tanya harga barang-barang tuh. Sepatutnya jangan layan. As for me, aku tak suka orang sua barang kat aku. Aku lebih suka cari sendiri walaupun barang tuh mahal. Sebab tuh aku tak layan sangat salesman yang jual barang kat kedai-kedai makan. Mintak sedekah pun aku tak suka macam tuh. Aku lebih rela pi sendiri kat orang tuh untuk sedekah. Bukan sombong, but I just really hate it. Korang kalau pi sana nanti jangan layan orang-orang yang jual jalan kaki nih. Bahaya. Kenapa? Sebab salah sorang tuh (yang Amni tanya laa) jual souvenir, Amni lak tanya pasal fridge magnet. Tengok-tengok tak lawa, Amni tak nak laa. Aku masa tuh berurusan untuk beli kain Dayah. Laki ni lak macam paksa-paksa, pastu cakap kasar suruh kami beli. Yang tak bestnya bila kami jalan nak pi kedai lain dia ikut. Aku rasa lemas sungguh. Ada sekali aku dengar dia cakap "Macam ini boleh berbunuhan" (lebih kurang laa, yang aku dengar jelas tuh bunuhan). Terpegun, tapi aku terus perjalanan je. 

All of us (termasuk laki yang jual souvenir) singgah Restoran Garuda. It was still early so we only had some jelly and drinks. Amni pulak tertinggal kain sembahyang dia kat kedai yang kitaorang beli tuh. Damn!!! So, terpaksa laa aku sorang mengadap balik mamat tuh. Sebab aku serabut aku beli. Yang bestnya aku tak paham lagi penggunaan duit rupiah nih. I bought 3 fridge magnet of Medan. One is for RP3500. So semua sekali suppose to be RP15,000 la kan? Aku terbagi RP105,000. Damn dia tak bagi balik baki tuh! Aku teringat balik masa naik bechak nak pegi Sogo. Patut laa ramai orang Malaysia menyumpah-nyumpah kalau pergi sana. It is worst than Petaling Street.

Outside of the restaurant there are a few bechak waiting for the passenger like us. We choose one of the supir that will charge us RP25,000 to go to Sogo. We stopped at the Money Changer first. Murah gile tukar duit kat situ. Then, we headed to Sogo. The supir told us he would wait. Harga tetap sama RP25,000. Kami tak payah bayar lagi laa. Haha! Di situlah penipuan akan berlaku.

Sogo Medan.

The shopping mall is bigger than KL's. Masuk-masuk ja ada Musical Instruments sale. Murah-murah laa jugak harga piano Yamaha (RM2500-RM10,000). Then, we went to a handphone shop to buy a sim card. Senang skit nak call Pak-pak Supir kat sini. Then, we went to 77 Es Teler Juara Indonesia (pehh!). Nak try Es Teler yang Amni kata sedap tuh.  Es teler ni macam ABC laa tapi lain skit rasa dia. Sebenarnya aku dah pernah masuk kedai macam ni masa kat Bukit Jambul Penang dulu tapi kedai tuh dah tutup mungkin tak laku kot but I never had Es Teler .Mengimbau balik kenangan lalu, I ordered mie ayam (ala-ala megi tapi sedap wei!), kongsi Es Teller with Amni and Amni ordered Roti Bakar Coksuke (roti chocolate ada cheese kat atas). Es teler ni tak kena dengan selera aku, so aku order beverage lain, air kelapa. Warning!: Sapa-sapa yang ada kencing manis & tak suka makanan atau minuman manis korang kena cakap kurang manis. Diaornag ni tak kedekut gula. Aku orang Kelate yang suka manis pun tak tahan. 

Find their outlet and menu at http://www.esteler77.com/. Aku rasa kat Malaysia ada kot. Aku cari kat Mr. G ada kat Central Market.

Cr. to the owner

Roti Bakar Coksuke (cr. to the owner)

Mie Ayam (cr. to the owner)

After had our lunch we window shopped around the mall. Aku geram kat handbag Guess yang tengah dalam sale. Harga sebenar RP14,000,000++ diskaun 50%. Sapa tak gila kalau Guess Original jadi RM200++. Tapi aku menahan rasa dulu sebab lepas ni nak pi Lake Toba lagi. Takut duit tak cukup. Grrrrr!!!

After jalan-jalan around there we decided to go back to our hotel but after chatted with supir about the fridge magnet, he brought us to Istana Maimoen, where he said souvenir at the place is quite cheap. Hmm...boleh laa! He will wait us and we go to the palace yang tak macam palace tuh.  Nevertheless, I love the art of the palace. The entrance fee is RP3000 per person.

Istana Maimeon

The Kings stayed at the palace

Inside Istana Maimoen

With a group of tourists who are willing to take our photo

After that we straight back to our hotel. Yeap, the fare increase to RP100,000. C*lakak! So there is a trick, you'll be charged if they wait for you. Next time if I want to go to Indonesia I won't ask these supirs to wait. I'll find another taxi. 

We rested for a while. Amni said she wanted to go to the mosque. I said I wanted to rest more so she went to the mosque alone. I asked her to bring a little money to the mosque. The name of this mosque is Masjid Raya. It is across our hotel and in beside Istana Maimoen. Although I didn't go to this mosque, I can see from outside and from the Mr. G's pictures that this mosque is quite beautiful. After coming back from the mosque, she told me that there was a person who is in charge to take care of the slippers. Siap ada bubuh nombor giliran lagik and yes you have to pay for it. Heheheheh!!! Kan dah cakap, here is all about the money.

Masjid Raya (cr. to the owner)

We decided to hang around at Yuki's Simpang Raya at night. Amni said she wanted to buy rosary (tasbih) ordered by her friend. I just shop with my eyes, intented to buy a batik blouse but it was too long that I was afraid the blouse will make me look shorter (¬_¬). I also tried to take out some money from the ATM Machine, tapi tak diluluskan ler plak. Dind't want to try anymore, takut kad kena telan. Duit ada lagi, mana tau kot-kot ada duit lebih boleh beli handbag yang dilihat siang tadi. Then, we went to Indomaret to have our dinner by the counter. Ala, macam convenient store kat Korea laa bleh makan mee segera kat kaunter. Instant noodles kat sini memang best ahh! 

Having instant noodles at Indomaret

Finally, we went back to our hotel. Watch Muhan Dojeon a bit, then sleep. Next post, Indonesia: Trip To Lake Toba.

Indonesia: Arrived In Medan

I decided to leave the house in the afternoon because my flight was at 9:00 p.m. and I do not want to drop in Puchong. Arrived at Shah Alam to picked up my sisters, Naili in UiTM and Amni at KGSAAS (Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah). It's the peak hours on the road during that time because the people were coming back from work. We straight away went to the airport. After Naili drove away with my car (and she kept it in her campus. Way to go girl!), Amni and I straight away went to have our dinner. I was so hungry since I didn't have any food since morning. Amni had fried meehoon and I had chicken rice. The food is just so-so. Biasa-biasa aje laa tapi mahal nak mampus. Biasa laa, any restaurant dok kat airport mesti mahal gilos.

Cr to the owner

Chicken Rice (Cr to the owner)

We boarded the plane 20 minutes before the flight. Being excited going to oversea with a plane, I took a few pictures with Amni.

 

We arrived at 8:55 p.m. (Indonesia time) or one hour later. Polonia airport is a small airport, even smaller than Kota Bharu airport. Kira ok laa, Perak langsung takde airport. Dulu ada laa tapi sekarang tak dibuka untuk commercial flight (/ﾟДﾟ)/. After dealing with the immigration and custom, we straight go to the taxi. Normally, the taxi will charge the foreign passenger about RP60,000. Dalam duit Malaysia dalam RM16.80. Kira mahal jugak laa untuk perjalanan selama 10 minit. 

At first, I booked Grand Sakura Hotel but I read one of the blog said that the surrounding of the hotel is quite spooky (lebih kurang macam Lorong Haji Taib) plus it's hard to get food over there. Hence, I booked Madani Hotel instead. Amni and Naili used to stay in Madani Hotel along with my father, aunty Sophia and my cousins; who also recommended this hotel. There is also a food court (حلال) behind the hotel, Kompleks Yuki Simpang Raya (shopping complex) and a convenient store ala-ala 7 Eleven named Indomaret across the hotel. I booked through booking.com and it cost RM128 per night. Breakfast is included and has free WiFi (the most important criteria when I booked any hotel). Cikai mana pun hotel tuh if it has WiFi, I will satisfy enough.


Madani Hotel
JL. Sisingamangarja/ Amaliun No. 1 
Medan, 20215
Indonesia
Phone: +62617358000
E-mail: reservation@madanihotelmedan.com 

Madani Hotel (cr to the owner)

Yuki Simpang Raya (cr to the owner)

The first thing I saw before entering the hotel entrance was a lot of board decorated with fake flowers. Actually, the board is for congratulate (wedding or promotion) or as an obituary. 

This was taken during the next day

After checked in, we chilled for a few minutes and listen to the live band which was so loud. Then, as planned, Amni and I went to the food court. I didn't know what to order so I ordered bakso. Amni too. This is my first time to taste bakso. Kat Perak memang ada tapi tak terdetik nak rasa. I don't know. Being a Kelantanese and have a taste bud like a kid, I often avoid weird food (in my opinion). As I predicted, the bakso didn't suit my taste, but the soup is alright. I just took a bit of the meat and finished the noodles. The watermelon juice is alright. There are variety of food at the food court; Indonesian, Western, Italian etc. Shisha is also available over there. It seemed the live band performed in front of the food court. Best-best jugak lagu dia. After that, we went to Indomaret to buy some drinks and snacks. Ohh, may I remind you that if you take any drinks, even the mineral water and coffee or tea sachets from the room you will be charged. So, I bought lots of drinks especially tea. I don't know what's so good about Indonesian Teh Botol but my favourite is milk tea in the bottle and marquisa tea.

Night view from the room

Bakso

The live band

We went back to our room. The live band stopped at 12 midnight. I took a hot shower and after updated my status in Facebook (wajib buat setiap hari), read a few pages of a comic I brought while eating a Kerepek Emping Kusuka (sedap bangat dong!), then I went to sleep.

See ya in Indonesia: Trip To Medan Part 2!!!