Medan Kota

Is this right?

I came across this wedding invitation… and couldn’t help but wonder… at the bottom of the invitation showed 3 logos.. first represents Gifts.. second represents Papan Bunga (Flower banner).. while the third said red packet (cash to be exact)..

I can accept the fact that couples prefer not to receive the second option… but declining gifts as well?  …. I find it rather  ‘…?…’ .. can’t think of a word to describe…

Popularity: 4% [?]

I have lived in 4 different countries… Bangkok, Singapore, United Kingdom and Medan, Indonesia …. each lasting about 8-9 years on average… so.. I kind of able to see the full characteristics of the local cultures, the people habits, their lifestyles…etc… as for Medan.. with 9 1/2 years….. hitting a decade soon… I think I know Medan way better than some of the locals …..

well… of all 4 nationalities, Medanese have my first place for being the hardest group of consumers to please…  let’s just stick to one area that we all know best – food… restaurants…. eating out…

back in year 2000…. eating out in restaurants were rare for the locals… restaurants were often seen packed only during  the weekends… but well.. it was all simply becoz… there weren’t proper restaurants good enough for people to enjoy anyway… the best at the time were Jumbo which is still popular till today… and next and never seem to fail is Nelayan… and of course the local Padang food at Garuda…..

and to get discounts in restaurants in the past were all about connections.. i.e you know the boss… bill arrived.. you mentioned the boss’s name.. and just like that … you will probably received a maximum of 10% discount…

as years passed… the credit cards from all the different banks came out with discount offers especially for restaurants…  as such… Medan people began to eat out more….. then it became…  the ever non-stop in applying for the next card that give the next best promotions….  I have seen friends that have like 6-7 cards in his/her wallets….

for me… well.. I love food… I can cook but can’t be bother kind of thing you know… with ingredients not being that easy and cheap to source… I have since stopped my culinary skills and simply enjoyed what’s on the market…. so.. when I craved for something… I will simply head down to the ones that will satisfy my appetite…

instead…. for some of the local Medan…. people seem to head down to the whatever gourmet outlets that offer the best promotions….!!  ….  “Arisan” a term used by the locals where they gathered on monthly basis to meet up with friends over meals…. are the main target groups for all dining places around town…. so.. yes.. for those restaurants having no offer, no discount, none promo…. unless it is cheap in its own way… else.. you will often find these ones 1/2 occupied….

and I have been over-hearing such conversations way too often…

a’Fuk: ‘what to eat today….”

a’Cai: ‘anything is okay for me …..”

a’Kong: ‘there’s no such thing as anything…. ok!… decide!!’

a’Kim: ‘where got discount?..’

a’Fuk: ‘Mega got 50% off at Taipan’

a’Long: ’say earlier mah…… ‘

a’Liang; ‘who got Mega card…?? you have..?’

a’Cai: ‘I have…’

a’Kong: ‘I also have…’

a’Kim: ‘I also have leh… ‘

a’Fuk: ‘why still standing… let’s go… later no space…”

I am not saying that it’s bad… but it has since become that.. people opt to eat at wherever there is promotion going on… I have a friend who wrongly sent a message to me … in the text message…. she wrote the date n time to meet up with her friends… the last sentenced was…  ‘where to eat… but Marriott has 50% off tomorrow with Mandiri card…”

for me personally…. I am ashamed to admit that I have fallen into being a victim as well…. I am addicted to the Citicard Rp 100.000 free dining promo… ever since the promo started… we can be found at Sushi Tei every weekends… but that is also becoz my boys just love the food there…. it’s healthy and not oily …. as for us… well.. you know.. happy kids plus…  happy to daddy’s wallet kind of thing …. ^0^

the current most popular are 50% off with Mega at Taipan ….. and 50% off at JW Marriott hotel Medan on certain dates… I heard from friends that at Marriott cafe, Jade resto (min spent is Rp 2jt) as well as Prime Steakhouse (min Rp 700.000) were so fully packed that ….. they had to turn away guests…. informing them that the waiting time could be at least 1 hour… well… some guests replied were….  ‘it’s ok.. we can wait…’

well… with the Mandiri promo going on for the next serveral months… initially… it’s real tempted to apply for the card… but having heard how it’s always fully packed… well I rather go on regular day with the standard 20% off for citicard… although with 30% less discount…. but I can see that I will definitely enjoy my food in a proper and better way… not in queues… not seeing the ones that I want to eat and it’s not there… or the long waiting time ….  but well.. that’s just me though… BUT.. we are definitely getting the card for the offer they have over at Hagaan Daz…

like how Medan people are well know among the Indonesian… ‘Medanese are calculative group of people….’

Popularity: 6% [?]

I have a memorable childhood… and still remembered those times very clearly…  my typical day would be like, school till 3p.m, finished my homework off in the car!! Once got home, bath, changed and just sit right in front of the TV watching cartoon… I would then have dinner and once done with the last meal for the day, I was off outside kicking ball with my brother.. (I was a tomboy).. and it would be like 8 pm before my mum would screamed to call us into the house, changed and put to bed…  It’s just like that.. fun and simple …

So, when I gave birth to my 2 boys, I want to make sure that they have an enjoyable and a memorable ones as well …  we stayed at home mostly and only began taking the kids to Tumble Tots when they were 7 months old.. and then enrolled them at Highscope at 18 months…

When Jadon turned 3, his friends’ parents began talking of how his/her child attend drawing class, English class, mandarin class or other baby classes after school hours… one of them even attend Highscope in the morning and followed with Kinderland afterwards!!! … funny though, these parents would then often come to me and asked what are the extra classes that Jadon and Elson are taking… and when they heard that I said NONE, they would repeat the same question to me, making sure that I understood what they were asking..

I never really quite understand why parents are so anxious of the speed of their child education.. Kumon, a maths centre, was particularly popular…  I am not sure if these parents feel that they want their kids to be faster or what… (they love comparing who’s who’s kids are in which level at Kumon)…..  if you are not familiar with Kumon, it’s basically just Maths practice centre… kids are given worksheets to simply practice.. e.g 2+1 , 2+2, 2+3  i.e its those dead fixed questions…

Then when Jadon got into K1 at Piaget, it was worst… my goodness, majority of his classmates, I would say like 95% of them are attending outside classes after school for like 6 days a week!!!  You can say that these kids have no free time to do other things at all!!!.. I do admit that I panic at first too.. and again, I was asked if Jadon and Elson are attending outside classes… and again I said No… except for Mandarin, the main purpose is to have other adults speaking to him in the language…

Instead, I was busy looking for a lot of sport activities for the boys to do… like swimming and, karate for self defense… being a parent to 4 and 6 years old, I can understand that school works are important, but I just feel that Kids in Medan are exercising too much of their left brain..

I then asked the parents don’t they think that the kids are doing too much, all of them replied the same thing to me… ‘rather than let them stay at home and watch TV and PLAY, and that we don’t know how to teach them personally…’ I feel real strange to hear those words…

I feel that many of the local mums here are still having the traditional mindset, like the old tradition school system whereby lots of homework are a must from schools..  however, in reality, and been proven and tested that Kids need the sport activities!!! and with that, it trains the kids to be a team player and a leader, where these are the 2 vital factors needed in the real world that we all look out for most in an individual…

and VDO games, been proven to help the kids in ability to learn.. and I absolutely support that… sound surprised?  The games train them to think faster and react to the problems and situation better…. If I ever mention this to his classmate mothers, they must think I am some crazy woman… (sorry couldn’t find back the link to these articles)

to argue that parents have no time and the ability to teach their own child, its depressing to hear that… and definitely silly and an excuse…  IMO, kids learn better from parents and that we, as a parents will know the strengths and weaknesses of our own child… how on earth, these parents think that by sending off to the extra classes will make them skyrock better… to an extend, yes, but still not the same as we spend the time with them..

worst yet, parents then complain of how much $$$ they are paying each month on the extra classes… whenever I hear that… I just want to ask them questions … but as we all know “as much as we may be right, some things are better left unsaid”

Popularity: 7% [?]

Before I went on the seminar, I vow to send the boys over to Singapore regardless of whatever it takes… in fact, I was already looking out for a property and planning to move myself and the boys in like 2 years… and let’s just say, we are staying put as a family in Medan.. till the right time comes to move as a family..

When I read the rich dad poor dad many years back, I did things differently and couldn’t be thankful enough …. and hearing live from Robert Kiyosaki himself, have greatly affect my life in a positive way.. ..

His theory has it that you make money work for you.. and that going to school, get good grades so that you can get good jobs is not the ideal thing to do… and yes.. I do agree with that..

My husband and me stayed at the Swissotel hotel in Singapore, so for 2 days, we took a 25 mins MRT ride to the Singapore Expo, back and forth for the seminars…  on my first morning, at 8am, being a tourist, I sort of able to see things differently..  its peak hours, so you see a lot of office workers having the morning rush..  this is before I went into the seminar… as I stood in the train, and as it passed all the housing areas where the real normal Singaporean live, it shows how life is so sucks for many people… I was telling my husband that these people look so miserable early in the morning…. they were sleeping on trains, looking blank into the morning sky, grumpy face, looking lifeless, emotionless and no smile.. nothing!!!!  It was an eyeful for me though, as many times that I am in that country, we often just wonder around the popular places during the happy hours… my head was going like.. thank god I am not one of these miserable people…

Then on second morning, after being told repeatedly from the previous day seminar of how going to school will not help your true real world situation, it just put things into perspective…

by second evening, I was convinced enough to gladly informed my hubby that he can stopped worrying and that we no longer need to argue over the boys moving away from him, as I sincerely telling him from my heart how the boys are staying put in Medan and that we are staying as a family… ‘for the moment’

You see… Singapore is known for good education system.. no doubt about it.. I was there to experience it for like 8 years, from 9 yo -16yo…  initially, it was fun.. then when I entered the secondary years, I was faced with friends who were sosososo kiasu (afraid to lose) and remembering how we were being told to memorize words for words for many things including history.. god… I can still remember clearly how I had nightmare and blurting those essays out loud during my sleep…

But having said all that, this does not mean that we don’t need to go to school….. we all need the school education to process all the INFORMATION around us and put it into meaning to understand… e.g Fibromyalgia… we may know the words, but we need the education to make it into meaning for us to understand…

I admit that I am born privilege.. so, its sort of like I have the Rich dad and the Rich husband too…  but to come and think of the less privilege people who has no one to tell or to guide them what real life is like…  its definitely like running around the rat race…

Popularity: 6% [?]

Medan Polonia Airport, the one airport, a definite one that you just want to scream each time you stepped off the plane… it’s like the beginning of a nightmare once I am back in Medan… for someone like me living in this town…

First, we still need to walk down the stairs to get off plane… it’s particularly difficult for old people and especially for parents with young kids…

Second, the immigration, being a foreigner, they tend to ask silly questions… anyway, for newbies, make sure you have the completed immigration card and a copy of the return tickets so that the process will be smoother..

Third, the trolleys, it will probably be taken up and none left for use by the time we are waiting for our bags, … so help the society and the people in need by using the porter service…

Forth, you just pray hard that there is no ‘white chalk cross out‘ shown on the bags… if so, you will be asked to open the bag for inspection.. I still don’t quite get what exactly they are looking for though, I know that they saw something from the x-ray machine but am still curious with it till today… some said that it’s the weights of the bag, but I don’t think so.. coz I am one person who uses big bag and being heavy and yet I am still ok… then some said it’s the books… and again, no, coz I dragged back 20 kg of books and still ok…

But I saw something at the inspection counter once that made me laughed each time I landed at the Medan Polonia Airport ….

A chinese girl, may be like 17 years old… she looked like she was coming back to Medan from studying in Singapore… she had one huge luggage, a reasonable size push bag and an extra plastic bags full of stuff… her big bag got crossed out and was told to stop and have it opened for inspection… I was standing nearby waiting for the porter to get my bags, so I was seeing this quite clearly…

The inspector was an old male guard, the girl being young and a teenager was of course not looking pleased… but she obliged and didn’t slip in any small money (like many typical Medanese would do), she opened her luggage, with her face looking emotionless, …. and in there lay a big old grandma underwear !!!!  Its not those size 10 or 12 that belongs to her, but one that is like XXXL, old and worn out, with fade colour, neatly placed right on top of the stuff….  my head was like …. hahhaah, laughed, shocked, surprised but curious at the same time… remembering we are in a Muslim world…

The old guard gave her a look, and she, gave him the shrugged shoulders, 2 palms opened and on her face, with her tongue sticked out signaling like I don’t know, my mum packed the bag for me.. …and having that pretend innocent look…  my god,.. I have to turn myself away in another direction to laugh it all off…

And yes, NO word was exchanged, the old guard didn’t touch a single stuff and let her close her bag off and walked away…

Not sure if it’s a trick that some of you may want to take note of….

Popularity: 9% [?]