Medan Kota

I went on a Parenting Session yesterday, conducted by Dr Ernst Wong.. The topic was “How to Listen to your Children & Get Cooperation From your Children”

We also do Personality Test to see which number we are … it was fun.. my girlfriend and me.. we were laughing throughout the whole test and I have to agree with Dr Wong that by understanding which personality type my 2 boys will be… I will then know how to deal with them.. in a much more understanding manners…

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Eat… Sleep… Play…  = Holidays

these are blackberry casing I found around Thailand… it was cute.. cheap.. stylish.. and funny..  If you walked around Medan trying to get hold of the typical casing sold… apart from the plain silicon cover that cost Rp 25,000 or more… whatever else found will cost a lot more … and most times… selling at ridiculous price… what you saw above.. for all the silicon ones cost less that Rp 50.000…

The Devil

some of you may or may not feel the same way as me… but the red fruit with hairy skin – Rambutan… well.. it’s sweet and nice.. cheap and nutritious… but it’s when you pop it in your mouth trying to bite out the edible parts… the grey covering over the seed will often get in the way and make the whole eating experience unpleasant… and we Thais.. especially my house… my mum knowing how both the kids and me love it … she will often use a really small sharp knife and craft out the seed and what you see above its like a box of gems… do try

2 days… my son Jadon mastered his Roller Blading and yes… knees.. palms.. elbows.. legs.. are filled with plasters covering all the wounds… but kids.. you just have to let them go through it and learnt things… and it was definitely fun..

Mango… many of us consume mango in the soft ripe standard way… but do try those ones that are 1/2 ripe… it’s still sweet and I personally prefer it this way… and you can find it in Medan supermarket… it comes in the hard green unripe look… choose one that’s slightly turning yellow…

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overloaded….

traditional transport used in one of the world most modern city…

it was real tempting with an empty stomach… after a hearty meal and..  it’s like, oh,  please….

though its a mock up town… but I love it…

beautiful Jade Temple Buddha

French Concessions... funky shops… restaurants with expensive drinks… art galleries… boutiques selling over priced items… yet it’s my favourite place of the whole trip… and I must have been under-dressed or something… several times I picked up an item, the salesperson will inform me of the price without me having to raise my voice… and nothing beat having a salesgirl telling you… ‘oh..  the dress is too small for you and I have no bigger size coz we make only one size!’... well, I was just picking the dress up to look at the design… and ouch.. it does hurts till today.. BUT there is an accessories boutique selling all things Pearls.. as in Farm Pearls and not South Sea Pearl… very very reasonabley priced and hand made by the owner herself...

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things I find interesting…

ICBC is one of China leading bank … I was being recommended to buy their stocks in fact… I was seeing the logo everywhere I turned… but each time we see one… hubby will say ‘ICBC = ai xi bei xi’ which in hokkien translates to ‘ICBC = want to die cannot die’… and since there is one right opposite our hotel… I went in there to change some money… as I was being given big 100 notes… I asked for some to be changed into smaller ones… the clerk guy said that he had not enough on hand for other customers… !! I was like… comeon this is a bank and you gave me that excuse??..

I skipped my breakfast for this famous restaurant at Yuyuan… one word ‘disappointment’… the queues were long and everyone was talking about it… so I have to try… the big bun with straw.. it was just plain soup inside… and I couldn’t understand why it was oily since it was simply filled with soupbase …

we went to the pudong side to have a better view of the full Shanghai Tang… along the river bank.. I saw this set up photography store… and I really have the urged to have one taken… but because 1. there is no changing room so I have to slip on the costume over what I was wearing…2. the camera that they were using was a lot much worst than mine.. 3. lots of people were starring… so.. I didn’t have the guts to do it…

at the Zhuangzhou Watertown… the food came in HUGE portion… it was enough for at least 6 people… obviously we managed to eat just 1/4 of it… tastewise… just only ok… but most interesting part was when you see how the vegetables were being pre prepared….

one of my most disappointment was not seeing the BUND… the whole stretch is having construction going on to prepare for the Shanghai Expo in 2010…

but one of the fun part was experiencing the automated toilet in the lounge of the Shanghai Airport… I have tried many of the semi automated ones but not like one of this …. and all along I have always wondered about why the Japanese all have such a big fuss over their toilet seat until now…. for this one, as you opened the door, the light is automatically switched on… the toilet seat cover is then automatically lifted up… then on the side.. instructions and a panel of functions you pressed .. high or low, front or rear, different types of spraying methods… and it comes with the DRYER function!!… I am NOT at all ashame to admit… but it was really cute and I was like a little kid finding excuses to go in again and again…

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some 3 years back… for each Idul Fitri comes, and with each holidays being longer than the next… I was telling my hubby how we should take the time to explore more of Indonesia.. i.e visiting other cities…  like Yogjakarta, Lombok,  Java, Manado, Sabang etc..  well.. it ended with nothing…

apart from Jakarta, Padang and Bali.. thats just about it for Indonesia with me…. I know that I should explore more… BUT I bet I am not alone to feel the reason behind… Idul Fitri holidays will probably be the only time that best suit me to travel within the country… but with Hari Raya (the New Year for the muslims) being the most important date for the locals…. where shops are closed, airport are jammed packed with locals trying to get home ( just imagine the queues and delays… the squeezing and queue jumping…), and that hotels charging high season rates and that air tickets are like double the price… honestly…. I simply can’t bare to part with my money.. coz.. adding it all up… I can easy take a trip to Hong Kong..  plus the fact that my dearest just not into local sightseeing.. (a typical local who dont see what’s the point of seeing all things local…aiii)..

with Indonesia being such a big country and that the infrastructure is not well developed… it’s really not easy… unlike Thailand, Malaysia, US, UK etc.. the locals can choose to drive.. and go cities hopping… while here.. all you can do is take Plane rides… and living in Medan makes it even more unfeasible…

being here in Medan means that where ever we go… we need to take a flight out to the nearest cities before we get to our next destination.. i.e plane connections.. and that simple 1 hour plane ride.. to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore or even Jakarta… will cost an extra of at least US$ 150 per person.. so for my family.. it will add up to like US$ 600!!

well.. my current travelling wish lists are Lombok and Yogjakarta… each time that I look up Lombok…. my brain will say….. let’s do it the next time.. I need 4 planes connection – Medan-Jakarta-Bali-Lombok.. and imagine waiting for flight connection in Jakarta airport!!!… I don’t even want to go explaining it… even with lounge access… its kind of not the place I want to be… anyway…. assuming I am taking the earliest flight like 6 am… I will only get to Lombok like 2/3pm and will cost me about US$ 350 for air ticket… so with that… we never get round to doing it..

the time that we were enrouting to Bali.. Jadon being his first time to Jakarta Airport… (we were only transiting…).. was real excited about the whole trip… the moment that he stepped off plane and walked into the terminal… he turned back and said “mama,… are you sure we are in Jakarta?? …. it smells so bad.. and very dirty”.. and he never mentioned about going back there again…

and when I asked some of the local friends….. apart from Business trips to cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya as well as holiday destination, Bali… many of them don’t really explore much of their own country too… well.. I guess I am not alone…

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