A short getaway: MEDAN (PART 1)

A WALK TO MEDAN, INDONESIA

ON 31/3/2011-2/4/2011

Salam everybody.

Baru dapat peluang untuk duduk, tenang-tenang dan update my blog nie. Sekali menulis, dah takleh nak stop. Tengah mai mood rajin, apa lagi...nak flashback kenangan pi Medan,Lake Toba dan Brastagi, di Indonesia sepanjang 3 hari 2 malam di sana.

Tiket memang awal-awal lagi aku dah book, Firefly ja sebab murah(pi dan balik dalam rm100 +tax 22.00=RM 122 ja), dan naik di airport Penang. Sangat dekat dgn umah aku (Sg Petani dan Penang dalam 40 minutes gitu ja). Actually, i never plan nak pi mana-mana tempat di Indonesia. Macam tak minat ja. Tapi lagu depa aku suka jugak, Peterpan la...huhu. Opss..berbalik pada topik utama, kawan akulah ni si Ana tu, dok ajak dan promote kat aku, join dia dan kwn2 ofis dia nak pi sana pada tarikh yg aku tulis tu. Aku pun check ticket, hah..rezeki aku, ada lagi promotion firefly. Terus ja aku book, tak kira apa dah. Kalo pi sendiri, jgn harapla..Tapi pi ramai2 aku ok ja.Sebab ni Indonesia, bukan nak pi western country.huhu..

Geng ke Medan

Aku bukan amik port sangat pun tempat2 yg ada di sana...apa special places nya...Maklumla,aku just join kwn aku tu ja.heheheh..So, Ana lah yg uruskan semua.Aku juz said, yes.Ok...hahahaha. Hari yg di nanti pun tiba.Aku bwk satu beg ja, ringan, senang, tak berat sgt. Duit pun dah ditukar, rm500 dapatla juta rupiah. Ish..sekali aku tgk duit tu, mcm dh jadi millionaire sekejap..hahahahah.

Duit diaorg, 1000 ribu rupiah bersamaan 0.30 sen duit kita.Kalau 30 ribu tu bersamaan rm 10. Kalau Satu juta rupiah tu bersamaan rm400 ja.huhu....Jangan terkejut.

Ana deal dengan satu travel agency kat A.setar, so ada tourist guide yg akan bwk kami jln2 nnti. Takutla nak main redah ja...Pagi sabtu(31/3/2011), sepatutnya flight kami kul 10.15pagi but ditukar ke jam 7.15pg, so awal gila gerak dari rumah..Kul 5 pg aku dah gerak ke airport, abah yg hantarkan. Sejuk...jalan pun clear...Ana dah 2-3 call,risau kami (me dan kak ina-kwn ana yg tumpang naik my car kat tol tmn sejati) tak sampai2 lagi coz kami nak check in sesama.

Ana and I

Aku sampai kt airport, terus nak check in. Ok, no problem. Danla breakfast(mkn cream cheese bagel n hot tea kat coffee bean-aku ja), sbyg subuh siap2..

Makan bagel dulu

Kul 7.15 masuk Departure Hall. Firefly ni kecik ja...comel ja,juz like me.

Dalam firefly

Masa nak naik tu, mmg terasa gak..berombak...huh..pastu ok. Aku selalu naik MAS ja dulu-dah government amik dgn MAS dulu,time economy tgh ok. Dalam sejam ja, dah sampai Airport Polonia Medan. Waktu kita 8.15 pagi, depa kul 7.15pagi baru. Awal banget!!

Polonia

Airport Polonia Medan

Sampai2, Pak Mat(dari travel agency Lovely Holidays dah tunggu dgn signboard, SHUHANA AHMAD-nama my friend tu). Lega....kami naik KIA PREGIO-leh tahan gak transport depa nie. Medan seawal pagi dah nak mula jam. Sesak. Bnyk kereta2, kereta angkut, angkut kota dan mcm2 lagi. Aku ternmpak satu sign board kat jln depa tu, lawak lak rasa...ni lah signboardnya.

Bus sekolah

Patuhilah rambu-rambu lalu-lintas

Pak Polisinya mana?

Kami dibawa ke Istana Maimoon dulu. Tapi tak bukak lagi, awal sgt kan. Sultan pun rasanya tak bangun tidoq lagi time ni...Sultan tu ada kt dlm istana, tp sultan kat sini dah tak berdaulat. Yalah, Indonesia kan republik, ada presiden. So sultan, nama ja sultan...tapi tak kaya pun. Bergambar kat sekitar Istana Maimoon ni dulu la. Hah, dtgla org juai souvenirs...Buk,beli buk...keychain dan segala mak nenek ada dlm beg plastic dia. Jgn terus beli ok. Bnyk lgi tmpt nk p. So, keep ur money first.

Istana Maimoon

Dalam van

Tepi van

Pastu, gerak ronda2 Medan. Mak aih...jgn terkejut dgn keadaan lalulintas di sini. Semua nak cepat. Macam F1 drivers ja depa nie. Potong sana, masuk sini, takut ooo tengok...Kusss semangat jadinya. Tapi yg aku heran, depa takdak la pulak accident mcm kt negara kita. Rata2 yg aku nmpk depa bnyk guna public transport...depa tak banyak bus, tapi guna van ganti bus. Van tu, takde pintu belakang tau. Angin dptla masuk plus kita dpt tgk org kt dlm tu..hahaha..kelakar..

Innova merata2...maklumla murah ja kt sna-tax depa rendah...RM70K ja tau. Huh...sana sini Innova, vios. Ish...aku ni bila nk merasa pakai Innova entahla...

Welcome to Medan

Ok. Masing2 dok merungut lapaq kat Pak Mat. Kami mintk Pak Mat bwk p breakfast kat mana2 yg ada jual soto ka. Sekali dia bwk p satu kedai ni, Kedai Nasi Soto H. Anwar Sulaiman. Lay out mcm biasa ja.Simple. Kami pun order la, naso soto ayam dan daging. Satu set bersamaan 15 ribu rupiah bersamaan RM5 duit kita..Mahal jugak, tapi sedap banget soto dia. Pure dan asli ja rasa. Tol2 rasa soto..bukan kuah sup. Kwn aku,Ana mkn sampai licin....huhu..Tu tanda sedap soto dia.heheheeh

Ni rupa nasi soto

Makan time

Bil-tgk tu,ribu ribu rupiah tau

Pas makan, gerak la..aku dok kat belakang Ana,dia dok depan, sebelah Pak Mat. Diala tukang bertanya itu ini(dah nama pun ketua rombongan cik kiah kan), aku dok tengok sekeliling ja...tengok kereta..orang2..Tapi,sesa k jugak Medan ni. Kalau tak pandai drive,jgnla mai sini. Di sini, hon digunakan semaksimum yang boleh. Juz imagine, sebaik lampu hijau ja, depa dh pakat dok hon org depan, menandakan suruh gerak cepat. Gila apa..Kalo kat Malaysia,mau kena maki ja buta2 kalo hon tak tentu pasai ni. hehehe..Tol tak? Potong pun depa akan hon, jgnkn kata keta, motor pun hebat hon. Pon!Pon!Pon! Pening kepala aku....bising banget pulak.

The traffic here

Ok, on the way nak ke Parapat(tempat Lake Toba tue), kami melalui highway. Aku actually miss part lalu kat hiway coz tertidor...ngantuk kekenyangan...Buka2 mata, dah masuk jln kampung balik. Aku terkejut tgk ada org mintak derma utk baiki jln tgh2 jln yg bz tu. Ada tong2 drum tgh2 jalan jugak. Gila seh...Kelakar pun ada...mcm2 la benda pelik yg aku nampak, yg takdak kt sini. Gelak ja kami tengok. Hahahahahahaha....

Highway entrance

Perjalanan nak ke Parapat ambil masa 4 jam. So, kami akan bnyk henti la, utk lunch, beli buah tgn dan sebagainya on the way tu. Jalan dia sesak dan sempit, plus condition dia tak berapa elok sgt. Tapi, satu kelainan la dpt tgk tempat org. Jln2 luaskan pandangan. Kami melalui plantation Sumatera Utara, rubber,palm oil dan cocoa.

Singgah kat satu kedai ni, Paten. Jual segala snacks yg famous di sana. Aku beli 8 kotak ting ting, tung tung, tong tong, teng teng, ping ping etc. Hahahaha..mmg tu namanya. Sebenarnya tu emping beras yg dicampur kekacang, keju, bijan hitam etc. Rangup..sesuai wat snack minum petang atau mkn ja saja2.Aku beli semua dlm rm48 duit kita...pastu jln balik nkp lunch di Permatang Siantar.

Kedai PATEN

Beli ting ting, teng teng, tung tung, tong tong, ping ping, pong pong etc.

Restoran Garuda, Permatang Siantar

Nilah kedai makan di Permatang Siantar tu. Paling sedap dlm bnyk2 kedai mkn yg kami singgah lepas tu.

Posing depan kedai

Hah..masing2 lapar, mkn smpai licin. Nasi padang ni bnyk lauk pauk nya. Aku takdak problem bab2 mkn ni, jnji HALAL...belasah ja. Ok jugak lauk2 dia...kenala dgn my taste.

Nasi padang, Ana and I.

Geng2 yang pi Medan

To be continued....follow me...

CUDA

One day in Penang Island with H5P1

A TRIP TO PENANG ISLAND ON 19.03.2011

On the 19th March 2011(Saturday), i had a very enjoyable, outrageous, unforgettable, memorable and wonderful outing with my mentees, H5P1 in Penang Island. The trip to the island was an awaited one by them since they could go out for one day, with their friends and got the chance to visit few interesting places in Penang. I cant deny that the journey was exciting and everybody enjoyed every bit of it.

The first destination was, Taman Rimba Teluk Bahang. It is 1 hour and 30 minutes journey for us to get there from KMPP, Kepala Batas.

Over there, the students had some games (they came out on their own) and they gave full cooperation. Moreoever, one of the students claimed that he hasnt been into a river for 3 years. Hahahaha..so that was kinda relieved for him at last..got the chance to swim and bathe in the river or more to pool.

Izzah, one of my mentees, didnt even come out from the water from the time she got into it(10.30a.m) up to afternoon (1.00 p.m.)!!! What a craze!!! They were very sporting. They(the games' committee) had prepared some water games and the rest of the students took part in all the games without any hesitation at all!! That's what i would call as "Teamwork".

Splendid job izzah, yana etc...!! After Zohor, we made our move to Teluk Bahang Dam. Actually we aren't allowed to enter the dam except when "International Boat Competition" is held. So, we could only look from the outside, but the dam is very large...big....n beautiful too in a way.

After that, we went to Penang National Park. If only we had enough time, we would not waste the opportunity to ride the boat and explore the rest of the preserved forest.

A very hot day..we were sweating but that didnt stop us from snapping more and more pictures over there. There were many tourists too. I guess they might be outsiders(mind their dialects)

We went to Pantai Miami, Batu Feringgi..another session of taking photos here and there.

I tried Laksa with my students. Few of them couldnt finish it as they said that it tasted weird(of coz because of "otak udang") and i found it amusing..hahahaha...but as for me, it was simply delicious. I finished it until the last bite that i could have. huhuhu...

Floating mosque,Tanjung Bungah, is our next destination. Beautiful and peaceful too.. we took a nap there while waiting for asar, n we performed our prayer together. Taking photos, then we got ready to go to Padang Kota.

It was raining for a while...and cloudy too. I hope by the time we got there, the weather would be juz fine...Not that far from Tanjung Bungah, it only took 20-25 minutes for us to reach Pdg. Kota(depends on the traffic of coz). But before that, the driver brought us to the Gurney Walk...nearby Gurney Plaza. We didnt stop actually, he juz drove along the Gurney Walk to let the students see how it looks like.

By the time we reached at Padang Kota, the weather seemed cloudy and it was going to rain any minutes. Crowded!!! Noisy too...but the students seemed so happy, they didnt care about other things at that time.

U have to pay RM2 if u want to enter Fort Cornwallis and u will get to see the canons that were used during the war(remember Francis Light??? hah, he's the bad guy here). U can see his statue too there...n take picture with him(pose any style that u want).

We spent 20 minutes there, then only we realized that we were so HUNGRY!!

6.30p.m, we made our move to Batu Uban- Nurul Ikan Bakar (nearby Marin quarters) to have our dinner. I had reserved earlier for 24 of us, so there was no problem. As we got there, it was raining heavily, cats n dogs kind. Hah...Time to eat!! The students were so hungry that they ate until the last bite.

The menu was awesome too..yummy.. I ordered Siakap bakar n steam, tomyam campur, telur dadar, sotong goreng tepung, sayur campur and watermelon juice. They said, the dishes were delicious and tasty. I was so happy and gald that they enjoyed the meal. During that time, they had the gift exchanging session.

So everybody got a present from their friends, including me! I got a jersey(printed with my name at the back), red colour(juz like Liverpool jersey).
THANK YOU H5P1!!!! I also got another gift(i havent unwrapped it until now).

What an unforgettable memories with my students a.k.a my mentees. I will always remember and cherish the moments that we spent together..Thank you for being good students to me. I hope all of you will succeed in ur life.InsyaAllah....Amin., and dont forget me ok???

CUDA..

R.E.S.P.E.C.T!!!!!

The topic for today is, "How do you differentiate the way u treat people?"
When u treat ur family members?
When u treat ur friends?
When u treat ur teachers?
When u treat ur special person(bf/gf etc)?
When u treat unknown person(strangers)?

The key for all those questions is, RESPECT. Whoever that person is, should treat the person with respect. Without it, u wont get the same treatment in the end. If u want others to respect u, u have to respect others first. That is the rule. Easy. It doesnt require money or energy. Juz a small effort. That's it. Is it hard? Is it really hard for u to do that?

I dunno...It can make the person feels down and angry then leads to hatred. It is not good when u hate somebody. It shows u dislike the person so much. Then, u tend to avoid the person. Isolate urself. Im in that state now. I start to feel that way now...mistreated me...disrespected me..I feel so hurt. Damn hurt. Badly hurt.

Can u make it better by simply apologizing from that person every time u say something wrong or for mistreating her/him? What if the person keeps repeating the same thing?
So, i guess in this context, sorry isnt the hardest word to say..."Im very sorry".."Im sorry"..."Forgive me"..
Is the meaning still there?

CUDA..

Nothing much..

Im juz having the ups and downs in life.
Sometimes im very confused with what i really want in this my life.
I cant make my decision, or even stick to it.
Yeah...maybe im a bit confused.
Thought im a bit vulnerable, attract problems,like magnet, to me...follow me whenever i go.
People juz dont see, and i cant try to make they understand.
The rules are simple i guess. Juz go with the flow...
Ive chosen this path...so i have to endure the pain.

CUDA

Exploring and wandering.....

Last Saturday, i took my family to Penang Island, to the Taman Rimba and Penang Butterfly Farm at Teluk Bahang. Well, my kids had fun and my parents too. So here, i would like to share some of the interesting pictures that ive captured during that visit. Try to go there one day...Very nice places after all..

End of Part 1

CUDA..