Medan Kota

I know.. you know.. we know.. and everyone know that any start to a New Year should be something nice, good, as well as pleasant.. so it should goes the same for my first blog post for this year 2010.. but nope.. I am not… and I am not gonna think that what I experienced on the first minute of year 2010 is a bad start for my coming year..

A week before the start of this new year… I twitted, told myself and everyone that.. I am NOT gonna stay in my bedroom and fall asleep before the midnight.. rather I want to be somewhere nice to do the countdown.. and for some reasons (should have known that it’s a sign to warn me).. well, at 8pm, my boys were telling us how they want to be cuddled up in bed with mum and dad  i.e spending their night with us… and yes.. I told them a straight ‘NO’ and clearly announced that this year mama wants to have some fun..

My plan for the night was really simple… had dinner with family and then head down to Prime Bar at JW Marriott Hotel to meet up with my dear girlfriend.. and yes, for once I even made an effort to not wear something usual…

We left home at 10:15pm heading from Polonia towards Marriott Hotel.. 3 mins into the journey, small traffic began to build up but cars were moving okay… 10 mins later at Jl. Permuda, police began closing all the major roads leading up to the L.Mederka.. and so the nearest road we were allowed to turn was at Jl Sutomo.. let’s just said that I was in the car for about 2 1/2 HOURS and get to nowhere!!.. hubby ended driving on the foot pavement to get to the nearest turning just to get home…

As for my countdown?.. do I need to say more?… well, hubby and me weren’t in any mood to even talk to each other!!!… we were so so soooooo frustrated… my brain was cursing every possible single things I could thought of and with that!! … tell me, am I supposed to just console myself that…. ‘this is Medan’?.. for just once.. jusssttt onceee and for the first time in Medan… I want to celebrate my New Year in the right and proper way.. and oh yesssss… my beloved Medan town decided to close their roads this year…

Popularity: 5% [?]

this is what I recommend for Jetstar Asia magazine for Dec/Jan 2009 issue

Popularity: 4% [?]

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…

Popularity: 5% [?]

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...

Popularity: 5% [?]

Air Asia is the first budget airline that operates from Medan… when it first started out with this Town.. not many of the locals heard or knew what budget airlines were… everyone has this idea that it was dangerous and unsafe to take… (Medan is kind of slow…. slower to know of most things from the outside world..)..  but well not for me…

So with that, I was among their first few loyaltyclients that use their services… having flown Singapore Airlines and constantly paying thousands of US$ each time I go back to Bangkok… Air Asia to me was a godsend… the initial promotions were about just ¼ of what I paid on SQ…

I remembered then that during the checked in or while waiting for flights at the Polonia airport, many times I met people who know me, who were then surprised how I chose to fly budget… they weren’t just giving me an unapproving look.. words were said how disgraceful.. unsafe.. unhygienic etc… but what these people didn’t know was that… not many people were taking up the offer.. so the plane was often less than 50% occupied… I remembered paying 3 adults + 2 infants.. and we had like 9 seats … which the boys were lying flat asleep… including myself…

Then as it became popular… the airline is no longer so budget anymore… so I often shopped around now… then guessed what… ALL the people who were saying all the negatives stuff to me, well.. I have not seen one of them NOT using the budget airlines services… As for now… I choose to fly with which ever airlines that provides me with the most convenient…

Popularity: 3% [?]