Zue's Personal Blog

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 05-06 @ Medan Free & Easy

2011-10-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

Last few days, we visited so many places already. From the hill area with cool weather to the City of Medan with hot weather. Unfortunately, our body cannot accept the drastic changes. We started to suffer sore throat, flu and my dad having fever. Luckily, he recover fast after received an injection from a local clinic there.

Nothing much to do, we just went back to Pasar Ikan since the first time we've been there most of the shops closed since its weekend. Just windows shopping.We shopped a lot at Samosir Island and Berastagi.

Our return flight will depart at 19:00 pm local time and driver will get us from the hotel 2 hours before departure. But, we have to check out before 12:30 pm, so we decided to extend a room till 5pm and move all the luggage there. My parent can rest too since they are not feeling well while my friend and i went to the nearest Mall.

Good bye Antares Hotel and Medan............

We arrived in Penang on time .

Thanks to PT. LOVELY HOLIDAYS TOUR AND TRAVEL MEDAN, for the arrangements. We enjoy our trip very much. Not to forget, thanks to Asdo, our Driver cum tour guide, a very soft spoken person with his funny stories during the trip. My mum like him a lot and she did mentioned if we get there again, she want him to be our tour guide.. hahaha. Unfortunately, we don't have a chance to said good bye to him since he got something to handle that day and can not send us to the airport. Thanks again.

Regards,
Zureyna

Medan Trip 20-25/10/2011 - Day 04 Berastagi-Medan

2011-10-28T00:20:00.000-07:00

We stayed at Danau Toba International Cottage for only 1 night and back to Medan the next day. We stop at the Fruit Market to buy some Berastagi's souvenirs . Believe it or not, the price a lot more cheaper than at the samosir island for the same item. It just that the word "berastagi" and "lake toba" make it different.Lots of fruits and flowers can be found here. The strawberry also cheap.

This fruits known as "Pisang Kaki". It my first time to see how the tree looks like. Never imagine before. The fruits so sweet. I want to buy more but we still have few days here till depart.

Strawberry is so cheap here. All of them cost me RM 14 only. A small pack of strawberry sold for only Rp. 4000 less than RM 2.

After shopping, we now heading back to Medan. But we stop at few place to take last photo of lake toba view.

It's lunch time when we reached Medan City. So, Mr. Asdo took us to a local restaurant.

The Grill chicken & Fish are extremely delicious! We enjoy the food very much and ordered additional fruits juice. So yummy.

After having our lunch, we continue with city sightseeing. We stop at Toko Batik, Pasar Ikan , Maimoon Palace and Medan Mall for a while. Not to forget, the shop where they sell the famous Bika Embun too.

Maimoon Palace

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 03 Lake Toba - Berastagi

2011-10-27T23:42:00.000-07:00

After visiting Lake Toba and Samosir Island, we are then heading to Berastagi.Berastagi, usually pronounced Brastagi, with an elevation of 1220m, close to Lake Toba is a small, normal busy Indonesian town. Berastagi is located 70km from Medan. It does not rely on tourism so you'll get to see the locals getting on with their lives rather than hassling tourists to make a living.There is 2 active volcanoes close to Berastagi. Sibayak, closest to town, 2100 meters high and fairly easy to climb and a great place to view the sunrise. And Sinabung, 2400 meters high, quite steep and difficult to climb, often getting on your hands and knees to climb at times.

40 minutes from Berastagi is the Sipiso - piso waterfall ('like a knife') on the northern edge of Lake Toba. The waterfall is 120m high and is formed by an underground river which flows out into the Toba caldera. Unfortunately, it's raining the moment we reached sipiso -piso Waterfall, so i just grabbed an umbrella and my camera. Managed to snap few pics and continue our journey to Danau Toba International Cottage Berastagi.

We checked in at Danau Toba International Cottage Berastagi. Rooms are spacious and clean.This hotel is surrounded with flowers and fresh air.

My favorite pic taken in front of our room.

Right next to the centre of Berastagi is Bukit Gundaling which is a hill overlooking Berastagi, Gunung Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung. At the top of the hill are some food and coffee stalls with excellent views over the town. There are also horse riding available up and down the hill.

Mount Sibayak

Mount Sinabung (an active volcano)

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 03 (Lake Toba - Samosir Island

2011-10-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

Early morning, we had our breakfast before took ferry heading to Samosir Island. Lake Toba is in the centre of the homeland to the Batak people but 'Tano Batak' covers an area the size of Belgium within North Sumatra. With their own language, the Batak are mainly Christian, encountering Christian missionaries in the 1850's and 1860's from Holland and Germany.The current estimated population of Samosir is 120,000. Including Lake Toba there are six major Batak regions - Toba Batak, Karo Batak, Kakpak/Dairi Batak, Simeulungun Batak, Angkola Batak and Sipirko Batak. Around 1.5 Million Batak live amongst these regions. The Karo Batak and centered around Berastagi.

Three megalithic sites on Samosir bear witness to the glory - and horror - of Batak history. The three consist of 300-year-old stone seats and benches arrayed in a circle. The first set of ruins was used as a conference area for Batak kings. At the second site, the rajas would sit in judgment of a criminal or enemy prisoner. If the accused were found guilty, the assembly would move to the third set, which features the ghastly addition of a central stone execution block.

Shopping at Samosir Island

Few video at the Samosir Island for those who interested to watch

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 02

2011-10-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

For day 02, not much activities since the journey from Medan to Parapat Lake Toba to hours. After breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, we continued our journey to Parapat. On the way there, we stop at Paten, a famous shop selling local foods.

Varieties of foods selection served for breakfast.

PATEN sell snack mostly made of peanut.

We arrived at Parapat and went to a local restaurant for lunch. They served us with Nasi Padang and variety of dishes which one of it is a dish of Famous Ikan emas (Gold Fish) , part of Lake Toba legend.

We then went to our Hotel, Danau Toba International Cottage, Parapat.The scenary is superb. The Lake look like an ocean.Lake Toba, the largest lake in South East Asia, and the deepest in the world, was formed 75,000 years ago after an earth splitting volcano eruption. It is the largest and deepest volcanic crater lake in the world. It's 906 meters above sea level with an average depth of 450m. The lake has an island in the middle called Samosir.

I will continue with the stories of Lake Toba and Samosir Island on my next post.

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 1

2011-10-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Once again, my family and i got a chance to travel with free flight tickets. Our destination is Medan, Indonesia. We only pay for the airport tax which is worth RM 26 for return trip from Penang-Medan-Penang. Thanks to Airasia for this great opportunities.

My parent insists to visit Medan since we can get there from Penang and its only took us 45 minutes to get there. I used to visit Bandung few times and it is one of my favorite places since it the best place for shopping and its cheaper there. But, discover new places is good too.My parent never travel outside Malaysia, so, it the best time to visit Medan.

Before my trip, i do some research, asked friends about Medan and interesting places to visit. From there, i knew that Medan is not the best place for shopping since the price there almost similar to Malaysia. Furthermore, it attraction areas located far from the city. To get to Lake Toba itself took around 4-6 hours drive.

Since i dont have much time before the travel date , i decided to search for travel agent and managed to find one. Thanks to Lovelyholidays, even though we just managed to confirmed for the package less than a week, they did a great job and discover Medan became easier for us.

Based on the details i gave, they proposed an itineraries which i think suitable for us since i don't want my parent get tired with too pack schedule. The package price is reasonable too.

TOUR PROGRAM Breakfast : 5X Lunch : 3X Dinner : 4X

D1 : Arrival Medan
Upon arrival at the airport meet with our driver cum guide then
transfer you to local restaurant for having dinner. Check in to hotel then
free program.

D2 : Medan - Parapat
Breakfast at hotel then depart to Parapat. Stop at paten to buy local food. Arrive at parapat check in to hotel.

D3 : Parapat - Samosir - Berastagi
Tomok Village, Simarjarunjung, Sipiso Piso, Fruit Market

D4 : Berastagi - Medan
Gundaling, Maimoon Palace, City Sigh Seeing, Fullday Shopping

D5 : Medan Free And Easy (B)
free activity

D6 : Medan Free and Easy (B)
Pick up 2 hours before your flight departure then transfer to airport for
your flight back home. tour end.

PACKAGE INCLUSIVE
5 Nights accommodation
5x Breakfast, 3x Lunch, 4x Dinner
Driver cum guide
Private Transport
Entrance Fee
Tours
Parking

Our flight to Medan from Penang delayed for 45 minutes due to bad weather. We arrived at Polonia Airport, Medan 1 hour late than actual arrival time. Our Driver cum tour guide, Mr. Asdo already waiting for us with signage.

Mr. Asdo (driver cum tour guide) with his Toyota Kijang

From there, he took us to a local restaurant for dinner. This restaurant is famous with their Nasi Padang and Ayam Pop dish.

The foods is nice and we enjoyed our dinner. Mr. Asdo took us to Antares Hotel and we check in there for that night . Hotel Antares is a great 3 star hotel right in the centre of Medan. Located on Jalan Sisingamangaraja 50m down from the Mesjid Raya. Yuki Simpang Raya Supermarket located just 240m from that hotel.

Our room got bathtub too....nice..

Check my next post for more stories and pics on our trip to Medan.

http://zureyna.blogspot.com/2011/10/medan-trip-20-25102011-day-02.html

http://zureyna.blogspot.com/2011/10/medan-trip-20-25102011-day-03-lake-toba.html

http://zureyna.blogspot.com/2011/10/medan-trip-20-25102011-day-03-lake-toba_27.html

http://zureyna.blogspot.com/2011/10/medan-trip-20-25102011-day-04-berastagi.html

http://zureyna.blogspot.com/2011/10/medan-trip-20-25102011-day-05-06-medan.html

Coconut Pudding.

2011-01-19T02:29:00.000-08:00

Last 2 years, i went to Kota Kinabalu , sabah. During the trip , my best friend introduced me to Cotton Pudding sold at a cafe in a Mall in that town. I fallen in love with that Pudding since that day but unfortunately, i cant find it anywhere else, just at the cafe. Since that day, i started search for the recipes but don't find any match.

Yesterday while browsing for other recipes, i found a recipes which is almost similar to cotton pudding that i ate. But of course, the cotton pudding is better but i can accept this coconut pudding as the substitute....hehehe.

The recipes is simple and easy to make... why dont give it a try . Who knows you will fall in love with it. It;s called Haupia (American-Hawaiian coconut pudding).

Haupia is a popular Hawaiian dessert, often served on a ti leaf at luaus. A thick, sliceable coconut pudding, it is also used to cover cakes and as a top layer on pies.

4 to 6 servings
Coconut milk -- 1 1/2 cups, or 1 (12-ounce) can

Water or milk -- 3/4 cup

Sugar -- 6 tablespoons

Cornstarch -- 1/4 cup

Method
Add all the ingredients to a medium-sized saucepan and whisk until smooth. Add a little more sugar for sweeter haupia if you like.

Set the saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking constantly as it comes to a simmer. The mixture will thicken considerably and should have a silky sheen.

Pour into an 8x8-inch baking dish and chill until firm.

Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Variations
Tembleque (Puerto Rico): Use all coconut milk and add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg after it is chilled.

For serving, top with a little crushed pineapple or a little whipped cream sprinkled with ground macadamia nuts if you like.

This dish will always be better if made with fresh coconut milk.

Haupia is traditionally made with arrowroot starch (pia) instead of cornstarch. Substitute an equal amount of arrowroot for the cornstarch.

Keep it cool in your freezer for a while and it will be a lot more delicious to be eat when it cool. You can put some grated coconut with a bit salt if you like.

Source of the recipes http://www.whats4eats.com/desserts/haupia-recipe

Mimpian Jadi Resort , Tuaran , Sabah

2010-10-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Mimpian Jadi Resort in Tuaran is about 1 hour drive from Kota Kinabalu. Nestled in the corner of paradise, Mimpian Jadi Resort is a place for those who seek something beyond beautiful dreams. At Mimpian Jadi Resort, you'll find everything from sun-kissed sandy beaches to meandering mangrove rivers: from lush tropical gardens to shady natural trails. Here, you can enjoy the serenity on a hammock, worship the sun by a glistening pool,

With 48 spacious Malay style chalet and terrace rooms with two queen size beds of twin singles and private bathrooms attached for only RM 99.00 per night/rooms, I can say that it can be a suitable choice for those who are looking for lowest rates accommodation. The rooms comes with Individually controlled air-con, color TV, In-house movies, tea & coffee making facilities, hair dryer, radio, refrigerator, telephone, wall safe, private balcony, etc.

The room , 2 queen size bed

They used to offers a variety of recreational facilities. But all that are no longer available. Long time ago , their private jetty provides a host of events such as a water village cruise, mangrove cruise, water bicycle, canoeing, fishing, crab catching, jet skis, banana boat and fish trawling. Other activities are horse riding, Malay blowpipe, lawn bowling, beach soccer, beach volleyball, batik painting, pottery making, go-cart, beach bike, lawn croquet shell digging, scuba diving lesson snorkeling lesson, scuba have-a-try, ping pong, etc. Walking around the resort, you can see all that a left in an open area without proper maintenance. What a waste! However ,their MTV Karaoke lounge are still available for nightly entertainment, music, drinks and snacks.

Mount Kinabalu's View for their private jetty

Sunset at Mimpian Jadi Resort

Their current room rates is RM 99 per night. However, you may contact the resort for more information :

Mimpian Jadi Resort
No. 1, Kuala Matinggi, Kg. Pulau Simpangan, 89208 P.O.Box 230, Tuaran, Sabah.

Phone# 088-787799

FAX# 088-787775

Hotel La ViVa , Kota Kinabalu , Sabah

2010-10-26T01:08:00.000-07:00

La Viva hotel is a new hotel located at Jalan Pasar Baru Kg. Air near Sinsuran area. Surrounded with shops and near to Shopping Mall , make it among the best place to stay.

Hotel La Viva offer 4 types of rooms .

Superior Single RM 88--> Now promotion at RM 68
Deluxe Twin RM 98 --> Promotion price at M 88
Deluxe Double RM 98 --> Promotion price at M 88
Family Room RM 118 -->Promotion price at M 108 (recommended for 3 pax)

This hotel do not offer free breakfast but offer facilities as below :

Fully air-conditioned
32" LCD screen , 8 channel TV.
Attached bathroom with water heater.
Telephone.
24 hours reception.
24 hours CCTV security.
Fee Wi-Fi service available.
Complimentary coffee/Tea making in room.
Complimentary drinking water.

The room is nice and comfortable. The bathroom is clean and nice too. We love to stay at this hotel and the room rates is a lot more cheaper.If only we found this hotel first, for sue we will stay here while in Kota Kinabalu. Information about this hotel is not available in the internet since it is a new hotel. But i recommended this hotel for those who planned to stay in Kota Kinabalu. I do believe, there are lots more cheaper hotel near that area, but unfortunately, we do not have enough time to survey.

Family room

Do contact the numbers below to find out any new promotion if you ae interested.
Address :

Hotel La ViVa
No. 12, Jalan Pasar Baru Kg. Air,
08800, Kota Kinabalu , Sabah.

Tel: 088-239888, 257221 , 267221 ,
Fax :088-256222

Seri Borneo Hotel , Kota Kinabalu , Sabah

2010-10-21T02:43:00.000-07:00

My trip to Sabah this time quite different since my whole family joined together. Actually, I booked them the flight ticket a year ago when Air Asia offered 1,000,000 free seats. That time, I booked 9 seats for my parents, my uncle's family and my siblings. But when the time comes, only 5 of us managed to go. But it's OK since the return flight ticket from Penang to Kota Kinabalu worth RM 15 only per person.. hehehe.

Two days before the trip, I searched for hotel room for us through the internet and manage to booked a room at Seri Borneo Hotel, Kota Kinabalu from Asiarooms.com . The room rates is cheaper if you book your room from this website.

Seri Borneo hotel is a budget hotel which is 2 orchid ratingIt situated in Sinsuran Complex that is 2 blocks away from D'Borneo Hotel.

Room Type	Board Basis	Room Price for 1 night
Standard Double Room Room details Cancellation policy	Bed & Breakfast	RM93.50 RM99.00
Superior Twin Room Room details Cancellation policy	Bed & Breakfast	RM99.00 RM104.50
Superior Double Room Room details Cancellation policy	Bed & Breakfast	RM104.50 RM110.00
Superior Room Room details Cancellation policy	Bed & Breakfast	RM121.00 RM132.00
Family Room Room details Cancellation policy	Bed & Breakfast	RM154.00 RM165.00

I booked a Family Room from Asiarooms.com website. The rates for online booking is RM 154. All you have to do just visit the website, search for the hotel and make a booking. you will be given a reference No. and then you have to call their customer service ( choose their customer service phone number which located in your country) but of course, you must have a credit/debit card to make an online booking. They will need your credit/debit card number to secure your booking but you can pay by cash at the receptionist counter. As for me, i just use my Publicbank Debit card (honestly the balance at that moment is not enough to cover the room charge but all they need just your valid Debit/credit card to secure your booking.).

I did mention that we will check-in late since we took the last flight but i did re-confirm my booking the day we depart. We took the Family room which is recommended for 4 pax but planned to ask for extra bed since all 5 of us stay together and the room recommended for 4 pax only. The staff told us that they do not have extra bed but he did explain that the room is big and we can re-arrange the bed and it will be enough for 5 of us. He was right. We re-arrange the bed and it enough to not only to 5 pax but maybe for 6-8 pax... hehehe . 2 extra pillows also available on the drawer .

The hot water also available in that room ( Room 201). Free Wi-Fi only available in the lobby. We stayed there for 2 nights. The room comes with breakfast for 4 pax but the breakfast will be serve at D'borneo Hotel around the corner (same company). The bathroom is big and clean too.

You dont have to worry about food since there are lots of restaurant around the hotel ..If you plan to change to other hotel, you can survey for others hotel from there, lots of hotels in that area.

We re-arranged the bed.

As mentioned before, the room rates will be cheaper for online booking since i checked at the counter, the rates for the same room is RM 180. And the RM 154 rates only for online booking, meaning if you planned to extend for fews more night, the rate will be RM 180 per night unless you make another booking thru the internet.

Overall, we enjoyed and comfortable with the room . No to forget ,the staff also friendly and very helpful.

Address :

Seri Borneo Hotel, Kota Kinabalu

Lot 10, Block D Sinsuran Complex , Kota Kinabalu, 88000, Kota Kinabalu , Sabah , Malaysia.

Tel : (6)088280777 Fax : (6)088-269131

Gayang Seafood Restaurant

2010-10-21T01:20:00.000-07:00

After visiting Tuaran Crocodile Farm, on my way back to Kota Kinabalu, my friend took us to Gayang Seafood Restaurant.To get here from Kota Kinabalu, travel north on Jalan Sulaman, and turn in at the next junction on the left after passing Salut Seafood Restaurant. The journey takes about 25 minutes from Kota Kinabalu City.

This place serves No Pork. Fresh seafoods and the price is reasonable too. Lots of live fishes, tiger prawns, crabs and clams to be choose .

This place is famous not only among tourist but also among the local people . Unfortunately, we starving when we reached this place till forgot to snap some pic of that restaurant..hehehe...

Gayang Seafood Restaurant,
Kampung Baharu, Jalan Sulaman,
Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia.
tel: +6088 229 066

Business Hour: 11am to 10pm, daily.

Tuaran Crocodile Farm

2010-10-21T00:44:00.000-07:00

Tuaran Crocodile Farm is a newly established tourist attraction in February 2005. Being the largest crocodile farm in Sabah, they accommodate more than 1000 crocodiles in. This Crocodile Farm operates on a land adjacent to the 32km, Sulaman Highway , Tuaran in northern of Kota Kinabalu city. With more than 50-years of establishment, the farm is packed with ample knowledge of captive breeding and crocodile farming and has an international reputation for producing superior quality raw skins and meat. They also one of the major commercial producer of Crocodylus Porosus (saltwater crocodile) worldwide. This farm aspire to commercially produce and display Malaysia's largest reptile in a sustainable manner, while protecting and promoting Malaysia wild crocodile population. In their production line, experienced handlers follow stringent guidelines to ensure that only healthy crocodile with high quality skin are removed for slaughter. Every complementary raw skins are attached with a CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) certificate enabling the products to be marketed locally and international.

Visitors can buy their Crocodile Skin products and the crocodile meats at their shop located at the farm's entrance. It will be fun to visit this farm during the feeding time which scheduled at 09:00a.m/10.30am/12:00pm/12:45pm/1:30pm/02:15pm/04:15pm and 4:45pm daily.

They also got small Ostrich Farm there.

Lot of catfish

Rumah Panjang where they always perform the Cultural Dance
Show Time :
Mon-Sat : 11:30a.m and 3:30pm
Sunday and Public Holiday : 11:30a.m , 1:30pm and 3:30pm

If you are brave enough, you can try this... like my brother.

If you go to Sabah, dont forget to Visit this Crocodile Farm.. This Farm open from 0:30 a.m to 05:30 p.m and the entrance free as listed below :

Malaysian :

Adult : RM 10
Children : RM 5

Non-Malaysian:
Adult : RM 15
Children : RM 10

For more information, please contact :
Site office : 088-793376/7 Fax :088-793623
Mobil : +6013-8508818

Girl In Peace

2010-10-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

RM10

Seahorse In The Air

2010-10-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

RM14

Lurve Pink

2010-10-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

RM18

Cutest One

2010-10-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

RM10

Go-go purple!

2010-10-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

RM20

snowflake in the garden

2010-10-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

RM20

Ordinary Earing

2010-10-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

RM5

Wild Reddish

2010-10-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

RM14

Meaning of Owl

2010-10-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

RM14

Sweet Pearl

2010-10-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

RM14

3 Siblings

2010-10-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

RM13

Wild Purplish

2010-10-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

RM14

Snowflake

2010-10-05T23:21:00.000-07:00

RM14

Zue's Personal Blog

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 05-06 @ Medan Free & Easy

Medan Trip 20-25/10/2011 - Day 04 Berastagi-Medan

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 03 Lake Toba - Berastagi

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 03 (Lake Toba - Samosir Island

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 02

Medan Trip 20-25/10//2011 - Day 1

Coconut Pudding.

Method

Variations

Mimpian Jadi Resort , Tuaran , Sabah

Hotel La ViVa , Kota Kinabalu , Sabah

Seri Borneo Hotel , Kota Kinabalu , Sabah

Standard Double Room

Superior Twin Room

Superior Double Room

Superior Room

Family Room

Seri Borneo Hotel, Kota Kinabalu

Gayang Seafood Restaurant

Tuaran Crocodile Farm

Girl In Peace

Seahorse In The Air

Lurve Pink

Cutest One

Go-go purple!

snowflake in the garden

Ordinary Earing

Wild Reddish

Meaning of Owl

Sweet Pearl

3 Siblings

Wild Purplish

Snowflake