My
short holiday is coming to an end again. Perhaps it is not
so bad this time because I am out of a job in town and thus
do not need to be too worried about the stupid emails that
I need to clear when I come back to Land of Expensive Beer.
Before getting back to Singapura, I get to enjoy 1 night's
stay in busy Medan which my hotel reception in Tuk Tuk states
that Medan is just an err... BUSY city. I will get to know
what he means when I reached there.
Medan
is heavily polluted and filled with jams. Drivers horn for
free on the streets and I see endless of Becaps (motorized
Trishaws) bothering the Farangs. I guess there's nothing
wrong with that, since everybody has to make a living. Perhaps
Singaporeans are too accustomed to regularity that we forgot
that this is not the norm.
There
is a Chinatown in Medan city. I was pretty glad because
there is hot food available though not necessary cheap by
Indonesian standards, maybe to a certain extent EXPENSIVE.
One observation I made is that most Chinese are rich and
they employ Indonesians to do the work. No offense to whatsoever
and I have to agree that I have been in Indonesia for too
short of a period to make such a bold statement.
Home
“Sweet” Home. When will I be on the road again? |
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Stoning
on bed in Hotel Carolina. The bed is very comfortable and
I don't feel like moving. |
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Was on
the way back to Medan and saw people standing in the middle
on the road holding a net. Upon closer observation, these
nets were used to collect donation from the drivers. These
are usually used for building the local mosque. Some were
also seeking donations for Bandar Aceh and Palau Nias. |
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Pasar
Malam in Chinatown along Jalan Bogor. There were warungs
(stalls) and shops selling bak mi (dried meat noodles),
burbur (porridge), nasi ayam hainan (hainan chicken rice)
and pao (chinese buns). Realised that it was Qing Ming Festival
tommrrow (5th April). |
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In a noodle
shop called Mie Tiong Sim (Noodle town). They served quite
good cantonese wanton noodles. Rp.15,000 a bowl. The shop
was quite crowded at 8pm in the evening. Sharing the table
with us was a guy who wore a Singapore T-Shirt. |
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My Roomie
eating Bak Ku Teh (Literally translated as Pork Rib Tea)
in Medan, Jalan Semarang. Also Rp 15,000 per bowl. The stall
even had a signboard that states Singapore Bak Ku Teh. |
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Me with
yet another Bintang. This was taken in a 24-hour convenient
store (7-eleven style). Beer was cheaper at Rp 5,850 a pint. |
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Breakfast
in Medan Chinatown. Bakso Ayam Mi (Minced chicken noodles).
They do not use the conventional sambal chilli or tomato
ketchup like we do in Singapore. It was just soem soya sauce
and pork lard. Delicious! Rp 9,500 a bowl. |
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A shoe
shine boy in Medan. He goes into the Chinese shops and asks
people if they want him to shoe shine their leather shoes.
Another of "Buskers" is young Indonesians taking
a small guitar entering into shops and started playing some
unrecognizable music. His partners will clap his hands in
rhythm and then asked for donations. I seen it a couple
of times and not sure what they were singing. |
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Jalan
Bogor, 10am. Not so busy traffic as a motorcycle slowed
down at a corner with a pedestrian looked on. |
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A shop
selling Burbur (porridge). It kind of attracted me because
there were 5 calenders (updated, 5 April) and 2 clocks on
the wooden segment wall. Reminds me of my grandpa's kopithiam
(coffee shop) in Pontain, Malaysia. |
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