Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Brastagi
Day 3 (cont'd)
Ordered room service for lunch and lazed in the room coz it was raining.
Left the hotel at 3pm for town. Hailed a Sibayak minivan in front of the hotel and stopped in town. Went to the Tourist Centre near the Fruit Market and the man in charge showed us a map of Brastagi and pointed out the places that we could visit including Mt. Sibayak. It's a 3 hour climb to the peak.
We took a public van to Gundaling hill and rode on a horse cart around the area just for fun.
In town, we bought some persimmons and oranges at the fruit market as well as some scarves for myself and Jai's mom. 
Walked down and came across the bus terminal and a wet market. Explored the place a bit.
We stopped by a stall for dinner and ordered ikan bakar (grilled fish) among other dishes. It was delicious.
Day 4 - Brastagi
Had breakfast at the hotel.
Jai and I decided to explore the foothills of Mt. Sibayak (but actually ended up climbing the mountain instead). The guy at the Tourist Centre advised us to get a guide if we decided to climb the mountain (apparently, some tourists have lost their way and some have even perished while attempting the climb the mountain. In fact, 2 months back, an Austrian got lost while climbing the mountain and his body was found 8 days later).
One thing, the road towards the mountain was tarred. We could've paid a van to drive us to the junction (the end of the road) but opted to walk up instead. Along the way (after much huffing and puffing) we met up with a local who happened to be a tour guide. Imagine our luck. And, speaking of luck, we even managed to hitch a ride to the junction. Imagine my glee!
That's the tour guide who was on a holiday (forgot his name).
The smell of sulphur was overwhelming.
With Jai and the tour guide is a tourist from Holland
CAN YOU SPOT THE DUTCH TOURIST? 
Feeling ON TOP OF THE WORLD!
The climb down was also quite a task. All in all we took around 5 hours.
Jai kept telling how proud he was of me for climbing the mountain. Hehehehhehehheheheh.
Day 5 - Brastagi - Medan - KL
Did some last minute shopping in the morning. Packed our bags and thank goodness, despite the shopping we could still fit everything into the 2 backpacks! Ooo la la! Took a bus from the hotel to the fruit market to catch a bus to Medan. Unfortunately most of the buses were PACKED! So ended up taking the bus going on the opposite direction which brought us to the main bus terminal (20 mins away). Boarded another bus (which was ready to leave) to Medan. Managed to get a seat each coz those who boarded later had to sit on the roof of the bus! Omigosh!
Reached the bus terminal in Medan 2 hours later and took a beca (trishaw- not the pedal power kind but the motorbike kind) to the airport. We waited for more than 6 hours coz the plane which was supposed to take off at 8.10pm, took off only at 10.15pm. By the time we reached home it was 1am.
Ordered room service for lunch and lazed in the room coz it was raining.
Left the hotel at 3pm for town. Hailed a Sibayak minivan in front of the hotel and stopped in town. Went to the Tourist Centre near the Fruit Market and the man in charge showed us a map of Brastagi and pointed out the places that we could visit including Mt. Sibayak. It's a 3 hour climb to the peak.
We took a public van to Gundaling hill and rode on a horse cart around the area just for fun.
In town, we bought some persimmons and oranges at the fruit market as well as some scarves for myself and Jai's mom. 
Walked down and came across the bus terminal and a wet market. Explored the place a bit.
We stopped by a stall for dinner and ordered ikan bakar (grilled fish) among other dishes. It was delicious.
That's the owner of the stall!
Day 4 - Brastagi
Had breakfast at the hotel.
Jai and I decided to explore the foothills of Mt. Sibayak (but actually ended up climbing the mountain instead). The guy at the Tourist Centre advised us to get a guide if we decided to climb the mountain (apparently, some tourists have lost their way and some have even perished while attempting the climb the mountain. In fact, 2 months back, an Austrian got lost while climbing the mountain and his body was found 8 days later).
One thing, the road towards the mountain was tarred. We could've paid a van to drive us to the junction (the end of the road) but opted to walk up instead. Along the way (after much huffing and puffing) we met up with a local who happened to be a tour guide. Imagine our luck. And, speaking of luck, we even managed to hitch a ride to the junction. Imagine my glee!
That's the tour guide who was on a holiday (forgot his name).
The smell of sulphur was overwhelming.
With Jai and the tour guide is a tourist from Holland
The climb was pretty challenging towards the peak. Thank goodness I was a little monkey who enjoyed climbing trees and hills back in my younger days! That proved to be useful indeed.
CAN YOU SPOT THE DUTCH TOURIST?
Feeling ON TOP OF THE WORLD!
The climb down was also quite a task. All in all we took around 5 hours. That's the view of Mt. Sibayak from ground level.
Jai kept telling how proud he was of me for climbing the mountain. Hehehehhehehheheheh.
Day 5 - Brastagi - Medan - KL
Did some last minute shopping in the morning. Packed our bags and thank goodness, despite the shopping we could still fit everything into the 2 backpacks! Ooo la la! Took a bus from the hotel to the fruit market to catch a bus to Medan. Unfortunately most of the buses were PACKED! So ended up taking the bus going on the opposite direction which brought us to the main bus terminal (20 mins away). Boarded another bus (which was ready to leave) to Medan. Managed to get a seat each coz those who boarded later had to sit on the roof of the bus! Omigosh!
Reached the bus terminal in Medan 2 hours later and took a beca (trishaw- not the pedal power kind but the motorbike kind) to the airport. We waited for more than 6 hours coz the plane which was supposed to take off at 8.10pm, took off only at 10.15pm. By the time we reached home it was 1am.
Breathtaking Toba and Brastagi
Day 1 - Medan to Samosir Island
I lost the camera along with the 300 plus pix and videos on our way from Lake Toba to Brastagi, hence I do not have any pictures of Toba to post on this blog. However, do google for images of Lake Toba and I assure you, you will be blown away by the pristine beauty of the place.
Jai and I decided to travel light for our 5 day trip so we packed all our things into 2 backpacks (medium and small). We threw in a foldable bag just in case we decide to do some shopping. We decided to be more adventurous this time around and relied on public transport throughout our journey.
We arrived at Polonia Airport in Medan at 8.15 am (9.15 M'sian time). Met up with the rep from Ravelino Tours (booked our hotels through them) to collect our hotel vouchers. Took a taxi to the public bus terminal and were in time to catch the bus to Parapat. It was relatively comfortable (very much like our Metro bus back in KL) and only cost us Rp18,000 per person for the 4 hour journey. Towards the last 2 hours of the journey, the bus became rather packed.
Reached Parapat and took a ferry over to Samosir Island which is located on Lake Toba. We were so mesmerized by the beauty of the lake and its surrounding. Even if I had photos to show, they would not do justice to the place. You must be there to actually fully appreciate what the lake and the island have to offer.
Met up with a Malaysian Indian couple, Mr & Mrs. Sivalingam, on the ferry who were there on their honeymoon who would also be staying at the same hotel- Carolina Cottages at Tuk Tuk.
Arrived at the hotel 30 mins later and checked into our room which had a great view of the lake.
Rented a motorbike for 2 hours to explore the surrounding area within Tuk Tuk. We overshot a little and ended up at the Ambarita Stone Chair Village where criminals were executed back in the old days. The Bataks practised cannibalism in the past and criminals who were executed also ended up on the dining table. Along the way, we stumbled upon a quaint cottage called Penny's Place which sold second hand books (Jai's fav).
That night, we went for a free Batak dance and folk song performance at Bagus Bay located 10 minutes from Carolina Cottages.
Day 2 - Samosir Island
Rented a motorbike for the whole day today for Rp 60,000. Checked out the Tomok market first just to find out what time it closed. Rode straight to Simanindao where we watched a Batak performance. Met up with the honeymooners again and decided to ride the bikes to the hotsprings together. The place was quite a disappointment. After our lunch at the hotsprings, we headed to Limbun Suhi Suhi, a small village where they textile weaving is a specialty. Missed the village a few times as there were no signboards along the way. Jai and I headed straight to Tomok for some shopping while Mr and Mrs Siva made their way to Ambarita.
We had planned to find a nice restaurant for dinner with Mr and Mrs Siva but due to the sudden storm, we decided to dine at our hotel. Had a great dinner thanks to them.
Day 3 - Samosir Island to Brastagi
As there were not direct buses from Parapat to Brastagi (there were plenty of private cars), we decided to check out early - 7am to be precise. Waited for the ferry to Parapat and we were fortunate that Chandra (one of the employees at Carolina) was also on his way to Parapat. Thanks to him we managed to get public van from the jetty to the bus terminal. At the Parapat bus terminal, we boarded a minivan to Siantar (1 hour) and from Siantar,we got into a van called Sepadan to Kabanjahe (2.5 hours). It was in this bus that I lost my camera. I had it on my lap in case I came across interesting sights to capture but in my haste to disembark at Kabanjahe, I forgot all about the camera and it must have dropped onto the floor. Dang!
Anyway, from Kabanjahe, we took a minivan to Brastagi (20 mins) and got off right in front of our hotel - The Grand Mutiara Hotel.
I must say we enjoyed our rides from Parapat to Brastagi even though the vans were really packed and many of the men were smoking throughout most of the journey. It was really a great experience!
The Grand Mutiara was excellent! We paid USD32 per night and found out that the hotel was fully booked for the weekend (thank goodness we booked early). Moreover, the weekend rate was Rp600,000.00 (USD70) per night.
I lost the camera along with the 300 plus pix and videos on our way from Lake Toba to Brastagi, hence I do not have any pictures of Toba to post on this blog. However, do google for images of Lake Toba and I assure you, you will be blown away by the pristine beauty of the place.
Jai and I decided to travel light for our 5 day trip so we packed all our things into 2 backpacks (medium and small). We threw in a foldable bag just in case we decide to do some shopping. We decided to be more adventurous this time around and relied on public transport throughout our journey.
We arrived at Polonia Airport in Medan at 8.15 am (9.15 M'sian time). Met up with the rep from Ravelino Tours (booked our hotels through them) to collect our hotel vouchers. Took a taxi to the public bus terminal and were in time to catch the bus to Parapat. It was relatively comfortable (very much like our Metro bus back in KL) and only cost us Rp18,000 per person for the 4 hour journey. Towards the last 2 hours of the journey, the bus became rather packed.
Reached Parapat and took a ferry over to Samosir Island which is located on Lake Toba. We were so mesmerized by the beauty of the lake and its surrounding. Even if I had photos to show, they would not do justice to the place. You must be there to actually fully appreciate what the lake and the island have to offer.
Met up with a Malaysian Indian couple, Mr & Mrs. Sivalingam, on the ferry who were there on their honeymoon who would also be staying at the same hotel- Carolina Cottages at Tuk Tuk.
Arrived at the hotel 30 mins later and checked into our room which had a great view of the lake.
Rented a motorbike for 2 hours to explore the surrounding area within Tuk Tuk. We overshot a little and ended up at the Ambarita Stone Chair Village where criminals were executed back in the old days. The Bataks practised cannibalism in the past and criminals who were executed also ended up on the dining table. Along the way, we stumbled upon a quaint cottage called Penny's Place which sold second hand books (Jai's fav).
That night, we went for a free Batak dance and folk song performance at Bagus Bay located 10 minutes from Carolina Cottages.
Day 2 - Samosir Island
Rented a motorbike for the whole day today for Rp 60,000. Checked out the Tomok market first just to find out what time it closed. Rode straight to Simanindao where we watched a Batak performance. Met up with the honeymooners again and decided to ride the bikes to the hotsprings together. The place was quite a disappointment. After our lunch at the hotsprings, we headed to Limbun Suhi Suhi, a small village where they textile weaving is a specialty. Missed the village a few times as there were no signboards along the way. Jai and I headed straight to Tomok for some shopping while Mr and Mrs Siva made their way to Ambarita.
We had planned to find a nice restaurant for dinner with Mr and Mrs Siva but due to the sudden storm, we decided to dine at our hotel. Had a great dinner thanks to them.
Day 3 - Samosir Island to Brastagi
As there were not direct buses from Parapat to Brastagi (there were plenty of private cars), we decided to check out early - 7am to be precise. Waited for the ferry to Parapat and we were fortunate that Chandra (one of the employees at Carolina) was also on his way to Parapat. Thanks to him we managed to get public van from the jetty to the bus terminal. At the Parapat bus terminal, we boarded a minivan to Siantar (1 hour) and from Siantar,we got into a van called Sepadan to Kabanjahe (2.5 hours). It was in this bus that I lost my camera. I had it on my lap in case I came across interesting sights to capture but in my haste to disembark at Kabanjahe, I forgot all about the camera and it must have dropped onto the floor. Dang!
Anyway, from Kabanjahe, we took a minivan to Brastagi (20 mins) and got off right in front of our hotel - The Grand Mutiara Hotel.
I must say we enjoyed our rides from Parapat to Brastagi even though the vans were really packed and many of the men were smoking throughout most of the journey. It was really a great experience!
The Grand Mutiara was excellent! We paid USD32 per night and found out that the hotel was fully booked for the weekend (thank goodness we booked early). Moreover, the weekend rate was Rp600,000.00 (USD70) per night.
Monday, 17 September 2007
Hong Kong & Shenzhen, Shopping Paradise
It was another overseas opportunity for Jai albeit a working one....so I tagged along as usual and this time...it was to Hong Kong and Shenzhen. I had already been to Hong Kong for a conference in 1999, but I was more than happy to get reacquainted with the place again!
Arrived in Hong Kong and the organiser brought us to Shenzhen in a luxurious MPV. Checked into Pavilion Hotel.
Went shopping at Lowu Shopping Centre. You can find anything and everything here and bargaining is a skill that shoppers should equip themselves with!
Had dinner at Sky Paradise on the 50th floor of Panglin Hotel. The view was magnificent and the buffet....scrumptuous!
Left for Hong Kong the next day.
The view from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Since Jai had to attend the convention at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre, I walked from the centre to Causeway Bay (quite familiar with the place as I stayed at the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay when I was there for a conference in 1999. He joined me once the convention was over.
Check out how clean the MTR station is.
Our hotel room at the Harbour Plaza Hotel
The organiser brought us shopping at the Women Street (Lui Yan Kai) and then dinner. Cannot remember where but the Peking duck was excellent.
Then we went up to Victoria Peak to enjoy the breathtaking view!
Then we took the ferry for lunch on Jumbo, the floating restaurant.
Yes! We also had the chance to visit the HK Disneyland. It's very much smaller than the one that I went to in LA sometime in 1998 but it was just as exciting nontheless!
We explored the Harbour Plaza hotel that night.
That's us...doing some last minute shopping near the hotel!
Arrived in Hong Kong and the organiser brought us to Shenzhen in a luxurious MPV. Checked into Pavilion Hotel.
The swimming pool and many other facilities are located on the rooftop.
Went shopping at Lowu Shopping Centre. You can find anything and everything here and bargaining is a skill that shoppers should equip themselves with!
Had dinner at Sky Paradise on the 50th floor of Panglin Hotel. The view was magnificent and the buffet....scrumptuous!
Left for Hong Kong the next day.
The view from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre 
Since Jai had to attend the convention at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre, I walked from the centre to Causeway Bay (quite familiar with the place as I stayed at the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay when I was there for a conference in 1999. He joined me once the convention was over.
Check out how clean the MTR station is.
Our hotel room at the Harbour Plaza Hotel 
The organiser brought us shopping at the Women Street (Lui Yan Kai) and then dinner. Cannot remember where but the Peking duck was excellent.
Then we went up to Victoria Peak to enjoy the breathtaking view!
Then we took the ferry for lunch on Jumbo, the floating restaurant.
Yes! We also had the chance to visit the HK Disneyland. It's very much smaller than the one that I went to in LA sometime in 1998 but it was just as exciting nontheless!
We explored the Harbour Plaza hotel that night.
In the morning, we were greeted by the gorgeous view from our hotel window!
That's us...doing some last minute shopping near the hotel! 
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