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(My Travel Series) August 2010 Day 3 Tomorrow morning we're going to go back to Jakarta, so today was our last day exploring north Sumatra. In our way back to Medan, we stopped at a vintage coffee shop named Toko Sedap. This place is popular for its custard apple jam or  selai srikaya (in bahasa) . We ordered custard apple jam toasts with a cup of coffee. I didn't drink the coffee but according to people who drank it, the coffee tasted nice and very suitable with the toast.  For me the taste of the toast was not special, but my mom loved it so much. She even brought some custard apple jam home. However, I always love to eat in a place with history. It made me imagine how was this place look like in its era. It wasn't so hard to imagine because I think they are never re-design the facade, interior, the cup or the dish. When we ate the bread, some people around us ate noodles that look very tasty. My sister and I asked my mom's friend where to...

(My Travel Series) August 2010 Day 3 The best thing about visiting a place with local friends is the unique experience we can get. In our third day, my family and I visited a fish farm in the lake Toba. The fish farm is belongs to my mom's friend who accompanies us in this trip.  She told us about types of fishes they breed and the fishery business in lake Toba. Unfortunately, I wasn't remember any of it because I was too busy thinking about what will happen if I fell into the lake. When I was a kid, my mom told me that my grandpa went to the lake Toba and he saw a big mysterious creature like Nessy. She made me believe it might be true because lake Toba is an ancient lake and nobody really know what is inside.  While I was focused on my walk and tried hard not to fall, my sister,  Lala , somehow were able to took many lovely photos. Even though, I am not a big fan of walking in a floating deck, but I think this is a very uniqu...

(My Travel Series) August 2010 Day 2 I have been preoccupied with a lot of things lately and forget to continue my travel stories here. To refresh your memory this is my last post about my North Sumatra Trip and here the beginning of the story if you haven't read it yet.  *** One of the places you have to visit in Samosir island is the old village. My family and I went there by a car. You supposed to pay some money to enter this place, but we didn't have to because my mom's friend is a local people and she had some contribution to this place. Just like the name, this place is an outdoor museum about traditional village from the old days. There were eight different types of architecture from common people's houses to king's graves. In this place, according to the information board, there are Batak traditional dances which performed every day. Sadly, when we were here, we did not see the performance. Here the complete list of what you can see in the old v...

{This post along with two previous posts are specially written for Kompetiblog 2013. It might be different from my usual posts} Saya tersenyum ketika pertama kali membaca sebuah artikel di Internet yang berjudul “ Living in a Dutch Fantasy Land ..” Sang penulis James D Schwarts bercerita tentang hal-hal menyenangkan yang dijumpainya di Belanda, mulai dari penduduk yang murah senyum, jalur khusus sepeda dimana-mana, dan pengendara mobil yang berhati-hati terhadap para pengendara sepeda. “Instead of horns, I hear bells. Instead of exhaust fumes, I’m breathing in fresh, clean air – and when I arrive at my destination, there are thousands of bicycle parking spaces – mostly full, “ tulisnya. “Just like a maximum performance carbon fiber racing bicycle can make you push yourself harder, a Dutch-style bike can help you relax a little bit.” Saya sungguh iri, tampaknya menyenangkan bisa menggunakan sepeda sebagai transportasi sehari-hari dan bukan hanya untuk olah raga atau rekreasi. ...

{This post along with a previous and a next posts are specially written for Kompetiblog 2013. It might be different from my usual posts} Yang pernah belajar geografi pasti tau bahwa dua pertiga wilayah Belanda berada di bawah permukaan laut dan karena itulah Belanda paling siaga tentang air. Kekhawatiran akan masuknya air laut ke daratan kini tidak hanya punya Belanda. Jika global warming benar-benar terjadi dan air laut naik, semua Negara di dunia akan mengalami masalah yang sama dengan negeri kincir ini. Ketika Negara lain masih ragu dan berdebat untuk membuat pertahanan terhadap air laut, Belanda sudah mengeluarkan biaya banyak dan telah membuat rencana menghadapi pemanasan global untuk 200 tahun ke depan. Usaha Belanda antara lain mempertinggi bendungan, reklamasi pantai, dan membuat kincir angin. Tapi, usaha untuk menahan dan memompa air kembali ke laut tidak selamanya bisa dilakukan kalau air laut terus naik. Belanda pun mulai berfikir untuk membiarkan sebagian air mas...

{This post along with two next posts are specially written for Kompetiblog 2013. It might be different from my usual posts} Dengar kata tulip pasti langsung terbayang Belanda. Bunga warna-warni ini memang sudah jadi ikon tersendiri. ‘Tulip sama dengan belanda’, anggapan yang sederhana tapi sebenarnya tidak. Setuju dengan quotes dari film Inception , “No idea is simple when you need to plant it in somebody else’s mind.” Lebih susah kalau ide itu ditanam di benak seluruh orang di dunia. Sukses menanamkan ide bahwa tulip adalah Belanda merupakan bukti keberhasilan para pionir asal Negeri kincir angin. Poster dan logo Belanda dari tahun 1859, 1948, dan saat ini yang menampilkan gambar tulip (sumber: trueartworks , internationalposter , netzvitamine ) Sekilas tentang sejarahnya, tulip bukanlah tumbuhan asli Belanda. Awalnya tumbuh disekitar laut hitam, Rusia dan kemudian dibawa ke Turki. Di Turki, bunga ini mulai dikembangkan sebelum akhirnya diperkenalkan ke Belanda....

Next week, my aunt will  have a surgery in Singapore. I hope everything is going to be okay and she will be well soon.  I am sorry I could not go there, so I made this for you. :) This is a picture of pear blossoms. It means health and hope.