It's a 'chun choi' world out there

Finally...the day is here for me to submit my IT project on blog. I must say it has been a rather difficult journey. To start with, I am not very good at computer. So when my lecturer, Mr Wilson asks us to start a blog as part of our assignment, I was sieged by panic attack. But with lots of guidance from him and a little trying here and there, I manage to get my blog going. Then came the writing part. I struggled with deciding on what to write. The first 6 articles, I was suddenly left with no more ideas on what to write. Thank God, I went to Medan and the 'special' and 'unforgettable' experiences there gave me more to write on (I still can't believe we were cheated, threatened and fleeced).
And then there is the flag counter. I got excited everytime I see a new flag on the flag counter. Never felt so excited about flags before.
And now that the assignment is due, I am beginning to think that I will miss blogging. I will definitely miss the flag counter. It serves as the most encouraging part for writing the blogs.
Who knows, I might continue to blog. Who knows, I might continue to work on the flag counter. And for all these, I have my lecturer to thank. At the very least, I got to learn about blog. And I find that it's a very interesting aspect of the internet.
To those of you who may just start to blog, add the flag counter..... it's fun. It provides the adrenaline rush. It keeps the momentum for writing.
Finally..... I hope I will get good marks for my blogs..... and pass with flying colors!!
Thank you Mr Lecturer.

I like chipmunks.Their voices in particular..... that high pitch yet cute and very distinct voices of the chipmunks can definitely catch the attention of everyone who hears it. And I am one of them. So, I have decided to post my current favorite song Kenangan Terindah ala Chipmunk version. Listening to it intently I can actually feel the feeling of the songs just like in the original version by the original singer. Hopefully, those who visit my blog will enjoy it too. And speaking of chipmunks, I really miss those cartoon by walt disney that feature them in the form of "chip & dale", two of the cutest cartoon characters ever seen on disney cartoon. It has been a long time, but yet I hope that these cartoon characters will be given a new lease of life. If only they make a whole movie out of it. I will definitely be the first to watch it. So folks, enjoy the song by the chipmunks above.

Finally.... after days of deliberation, of making decision and unmaking them again and again, finally a decision is reached. My fate: I am not going to Penang. As it transpire, another of my colleagues decided that she will not be going for some personal reason. And then, I see that opportunity to end all this deciaion making. I took my stance too. I told my other colleagues that I can't go too, for whatever reason. And they immediately okayed my decision. And so, it is decided then that my colleagues will go in one car. They will take turn to drive and they will also make stops to watch the world cup. Phew..... finally, it's decided. For a while, I thought we will never reached a decision. And oh yes, I will be drinking my cup of tea on that morning while my colelagues will make the arduous task of driving all the way to the Pearl of the Orient. Hopefully, they will have a fruitful trip and hopefully, there'll still be sparkle in the pearl of the orient. Hm.... maybe I should ask them to buy back Penang Durian for me. After all, it's because of my 'sacrifice' that they are able to come to a decision concerning Penang, saving them all the headache and money. Maybe, and hopefully, they will realize for themselves my sacrifice and buy me the Durian. Till then, I will dreaming of my Durian cause now I can sleep better knowing the outcome, and oh, world cup will not be playing for a few days after tonight. Hooray..!

Lagu dari Penyanyi Indonesia, Samson bertajuk "Kenangan Terindah"

Aku yang lemah tanpamu
Aku yang rentan karena
Cinta yang telah hilang darimu yang mampu menyanjungku

Selama mata terbuka
Sampai jantung tak berdetak
Selama itupun aku mampu untuk mengenangmu

Darimu.... Kutemukan hidupku
Bagiku.... Kaulah cinta sejati
Yeah Oooooo

Bila yang tertulis untukku
Adalah yang terbaik untukmu
Kan kujadikan kau kenangan
Yang terindah dalam hidupku
Namun takkan mudah bagiku
Meninggalkan jejak hidupku
Yang tlah terukir abadi
Sebagai kenangan yang terindah ooooooo


The above is a song I hear today because It is supposed to be performed by some of my school's students at the upcoming talentime. It is a very nice Indonesian song which talks about 'Sweetest Memories'. These students of mine have been practising hard to sing this song as a quartet. Initially they formed a group of 6 singers but instructons form my HQ don't permit a group number to be more than 4. So, now they have to choose 4 out of 6 singers, a difficult process because all of them are very eager to sing and allof them are good friends to each other. After all, talentime don't happen very often in my school, at most once a year. And to make things more difficult, this year's criteria are more stringent. My colleague has been teaching them how to sing so that they can do well in the talentime. I wish them all the best. July 23rd is still a long way to go and I believe that with practice, they can be better. All the best to the singers, whoever you are, whichever one of you.

They are here again. Ah.... the smell. The prick of its thorns. The shaking of the fruits and yes, the heavenly taste when the sweet pulp touches your tongue. Yes, it's durian season again. And yes, I get more excited about durian compared to football. Compared to the ball of football which comes only in one size and one shape, at least durian has many variants to it. There are the D24 (my personal favorite), D2, 101, D13, Ang Heh (Red Prawn), Kunyit, Musang and many many more. Durian comes in different sizes and shapes. At least, durian is not boring. They give you different flavor and texture. They are sweet and cause you to sleep after gorging on it. Just make sure you don't drink Coke after a hearty meal of durian in place of your regular dinner. Durian gives you a lot of pleasant surprises too. For example, an unassuming looking durian when pried open can give you the sweetest tasting fruit and so full of flesh the seed is nothing bigger than your thumb (this is Musang and indeed value for every cents). And talking about the best durian, I have not tried the Penang ones. Now, if I get to go to Penang, then I will definitely try those in Penang. I heard that they are cheaper and nicer. I will definitely eat to my heart's content after all the uncertainty of my going to Penang and having to contend with noises from the world cup crowd in the middle of the night. Durian, durian... what to do? I find you a better company than watching football and engaging in decision making about Penang trip with my colleagues. Hm... anyone for midnight durian feast?

Hm... talking about Penang trip, my colleagues have been discussing about it and making many many changes to the plan in the last 24 hours or so. It drives me crazy because one moment they wanted to drive there. And then, almost immediately after, they changed their mind about driving there, citing cost as reason and decided on taking the train there instead. This decision looked finalized and just when they were about to go to the train station to buy the tickets, they had a change of mind....AGAIN!!!! They now think that it is better to drive there, not just using 1 but 2 cars! In all these, my participation for the trip has been changed from 'going' one moment to 'not going' the next moment and now I am at a limbo because I really don't know whether I am going or not. I think I should because now we have 2 cars going to Penang. Then again, I may not because they may decide against having 2 cars, in which case, we will be back at square one. Argh........ And all these.... just to plan for Penang. Sigh..... I probably will just stay back in KL and enjoy my cup of tea on the day they go. Much peace, much rest, no hassle and saves a lot of money too. Maybe, I should just get a few durian to keep me company. Ah... such bliss.

Football.... it's over-rated, over-watched, over-adored and obviously over-priced (the player obviously). For the past 18 days or so, I have to put up with colleague that appears at work looking like zombie, and the constant talk of football and more football. Which team wins, which team loses, the scores, the praises, the condemnation and of course the prospective winner to be crowned on July 11th. Sigh, I am really not interested in football. The sight of 22 men or rather grown up adults chasing after 1 ball in a big field really makes me think that football is just rather meaningless, as in don't these men have better things to do? I mean look at badminton, notice how the player uses tactics to trap the opponent. One has to think fast and obviously needs to possess good skills before one can play badminton. The ability to make use of speed and agility to peform a perfect drop shot, returning a shuttle using the back hand etc etc. Same goes for basketball, tennis, table-tennis, and even gymnastics, all these need good coordination and assessment, not something easy to do. But look at football, all they ever do is to kick the ball around, if not in any direction, it will be in all directions. But still, there are many followers. And so, I have to put up with shouts of victory in the middle of the nights till July 11th. Until then, I probably will not have a good time of rest. Thank God, all these only happen once every 4 years. I pray they extend 4 years to every 8 years, or better still, once every decade. I won't miss it. I think they should just ban football altogether.

I wish i can drive so that i can use my time better instead of waiting for buses that keeps me waiting for half hour or more. Waiting for buses can incur a lot of time, so this makes me want to drive to work and to college. When i can drive, i can go to work on time and no need to trouble other people to fetch me home. This is when i can drive but now i have a problem because i don't have a licence yet.

Yesterday, I went and check out a few places to find out the rate for getting a licence. The first place i went to was Pandan Indah. The rate is ok, not so expensive and the place feel save to me ie i don't think these people will cheat me. The second place I went to was Pandan Mewah. The place is dark and not save. When I looked at that shop it feels that they can cheat me from the outside. I am going to check for one more place tomorrow some where in Taman Midah or Taman Yulek. Hopefully i can find a good shop.

Our last day in Medan was spent looking for Soto Sinar Pagi. After a short walk fom our hotel, we found the stall. The food was good. After that, we headed for the airport. And this was where trouble began all over again.

Right at the entrance to the airport departure lounge was the security check point. Out of the blue, a person who acted as though he was from the airport authority asked us to take out our passport and flight itinerary. He grabbed all our passports and dashed off to the check in counter in such quick succession that we didn't have time to re-act. Before we knew it, he already started filling out forms for us. And then he held on to our passports and proceeded to queue up. However, he jumped queue a few times and these made us uncomfortable as there were many people already in the queue.

Thanks to some slight foresight, after obtaining our boarding pass, I insisted on taking back our passports and I forcefully grabbed them from the man's hands. After proceeding to pay airport tax and getting our boarding pass stamped, we immediately walked into the departure hall. This was when we heard him shouting angrily at us. The last person in my group overheard him muttering something about us not paying him. We didn't turn back to look. We just walked on.

We realized that he was a tout trying to fleece easy money from unsuspecting tourists. He helped to fill up the form and expected us to pay him. We didn't want to because we didn't ask him to do it in the first place, and it's not that we were illiterae and couldn't do it ourselves.

But what really gave me a sense of insecurity is the fact that he managed to trick us to part with our passport. What is he had ran away? What if he refused to hand us back without paying him a hefty sum? I learned my lesson. We must never let our guards down, not just in Medan but wherever we travel.

After all the bad experiences at Medan airport both when arriving and while departing, I really feel SERIK about Medan. This is one place that leave me with a 'bitter after taste'. Most places, we may feel like visiting again but not so for Medan.

Please be careful of airport touts in different forms..... they are quick..... they are cunning..... they will fleece you...... so beware......

Medan-Prapat-Samosir-Brastagi-Medan

The above summed up my itinerary while in Medan, Indonesia from June 13th to 17th, 2010.

13th June
Medan is something like Ipoh, just multiply it by about 5 times to get a rough idea of its size. A city of about 2 million, the people come across as genuine, hard-working and resourceful. First evening was spent shopping in Sun Plaza, located at the city-centre and touted to be the most happening mall in Medan. And Grand Antares, being our 4-star accommodation for the first night, gives us the best of the best in the service industry in the form of a receptionist by the name of Irma. Dedicated, emphatetic, helpful, gentle, kind, cheerful, calm, resourceful, initiated are just a few adjectives inadequate of describing this special person. We owe a lot to her.

14th June
A long and winding ride to Prapat, the jetty town off Lake Toba. We spent the night at the chalet overlooking the lake. Constant splashes of the wave against the hotel's wall provides the only sound for the night. Otherwise, it is completely serene, calm and quiet. On the way to Prapat, we stopped by at Dodol town, to buy what else, but dodol. Permatang Siantar was the next town and by about 5pm, we were greeted by a majestic view of Lake Toba. Our guide and driver, Ronnie, provided detailed description of each unique feature of his country, answering every and any questions we threw at him. To call him professional is an understatement.

15th June
Woke up early to enjoy the ferry crossing to Samosir, a town on Lake Toba. There, we rode motorbike as well as bicycles. This provided us an opportunity to get up close and personal with the daily lives of the local people. What was supposed to be an hour motorbike ride ended up taking almost 2 hours and a half because one of my friends tried going around the mountain range, without realizing that the mountain range stretches over a wide expanse of the lake, impossible to go around it in an hour or so. We were then taken to view hanging stone (Batu Tergantung), a popular legend told to all visitors of Medan. We spent the next half day driving to Brastagi. Along the way, we stopped at Si Piso Piso waterfall. The 100m fall is simpy majestic to view.

16th June
Brastagi is a town full of fruits and vegetables. It is also dotted with mountains and former volcanoes. One exploded so hard that it split into two, now known as gunung Sebayak and gunung Sinabung. We also tasted for the first time avacado juice mixed with milo as well as terong belanda juice. Both were tasty ad indeed did a good job moving the bowel of one of my traveling mates we had to stop a few times for toilet breaks. A 2 hour ride was all we need to make it back to Medan. I rested in the hotel room while my traveling mates went and enjoyed what they called the best seafood they have ever tasted. We also went to a cake shop selling kueh bika ambon.

17th June
A walk to the town in search of Soto Sinar Pagi. It was definitely worth the search. The soup was more pungent compared to the Malaysian's version and they serve rice with it, instead of noodle. The black chilli sauce is second to none, perfect with its mixture of chilli seeds as well as fried onion. A quick dash to the airport and we were back on Malaysian soil.....

More on our bad experience at the airport.... AGAIN.... on the last day of our trip in my next posting

I would like to put in the records here my bad experiences with touts at Medan airport. It left me with a big sense of insecurities as my group and I were misled, cheated and harassed from the point we walked out of the airport. What was supposed to be a fun-filled trip turned out to be rather stressful and affected our stay in Medan. My advise to everyone who travels there, especially after exiting the airport, please please be very careful who you pick as taxi driver. There are many opportunistic bad apples stationed at the airport in the guise of taxi driver but with the sole intention of cheating unsuspecting tourists. Always note their taxi permit number and their taxi registration number so that you can try reporting any bad event to the Tourism authority, but then again, I doubt they can do anything much. So, it's still better to avoid falling into the trap of one of these.
We got our taxi driver, agreed on the rate and he took us to the city centre. However, upon arriving at our hotel, he insisted on additional fee. We paid him to avoid arguments and then and there decided we will not be using his services anymore for the rest of our trip. However, he argued that our asking him about his rate for trip to Lake Toba consitute an 'agreement' or 'contract' with him. Therefore, when we decided to cancel him, he harassed us by going to our hotel rooms and knocking on our doors. He even brought along a friend to psychologically threaten us. When we didn't respond to his continuous pounding on the room door, he went downstairs and waited for us at the breakfast area. The hotel securities personnel came to our rescue but even with the presence of the security personnel, the taxi driver refused to accept the changes and demanded a cancellation fee. We didn't want to pay because there was no agreement in the first place.
We must thank the hotel securities personnel and the management for providing us with the safe route out of the hotel without him coming near us. At that moment, the 4 of us felt threatened. And since we were in a foreign country, we were really worried because we didn't know if he had contacts with other bad hats out there.
We must also thank Cik Irma for doing all the necessary arrangement for us, inlcuding calling the agents to cancel and re-arrange our itinerary and putting us in touch with a reliable person in the form of Jenson Sinaga to help us plan our next half of the trip. Jenson Sinaga proved to be a really reliable person. He even got a few of his friends to help escort us to the agency to make the changes. And he also provided us with a very good and reliable driver, Ronnie to take us on our trip to Lake Toba. This part of the trip will be posted at this blog in due time.
What I really want to say to those intending to travel to Medan, please look out for unscrupulous touts at the airport. If possible, make prior arrangement for people to pick you up at the airport. Do not be like us in that we only looked for transport arrangement upon arriving. Doing prior research will definitely help to avoid such unfortunate situation, which almost destroyed our trip.