Good-bye KL, hello Sumatra!

It's nice to not have to get up early, but the taxi we had booked last night at the front desk was scheduled to pick us up at 10 AM for drop-off at the airport.  We were leaving Kuala Lumpur for Medan, Indonesia at 1:45 PM from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, formerly Subang International Airport, KL's former main airport before the KLIA opened.  Oh, and roti canai for breakfast was another good reason to get out of bed.

Breakfast is free at Classic Inn.  Each person gets a plate of roti canai, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and two plates of fruit, guava and oranges.  Everything was delicious, and filling!  The roti canai here was even better than the ones we had in Penang.  It's really all about the dhal (dipping sauce). 

 I then couldn't resist and just had to sit in one of these ...

Care to give me a hand?  ;-)

At 9:50 AM, the cab arrived and we all bid the friendly hotel staff good bye.  The drive to Subang Airport was easy.  With no traffic, the ride took less than 40 minutes.  The airport, which is smaller than KLIA, is pretty nice and modern.  It's been in existence since 1965, but has recently undergone renovation.  We were early, so we walked around and looked at some of the jewelry and hair accessory-filled kiosks, which reminded me of a mall.  Then we walked towards a hallway that was labeled, 'International Departures.'  We thought we'd better check in.  It was a long corridor that eventually turned right and brought us to a security check point.  Uh-oh.  This wasn't right.  We didn't even have our boarding passes.  Where was check-in?  We turned around, walked the long corridor back to the entrance only to find ourselves completely trapped within the corridor.  The entrance had double automatic glass sliding doors, but only opened when one is entering from the outside.  Great.  We stood there for a moment to stare at each other and laugh at our silliness.  We then all stood in front of the glass doors staring out, waving our arms to anyone who might pay attention.  'Help!  Help!  Somebody, help us!  Anybody!  Please!'   OK, it wasn't that dramatic, but we did knock on the doors when two airport employees passed by.  They let us out no problem.  We continued to walk towards the end of the airport.  Umm, why didn't we walk this way earlier?   

There was only one check-in counter area that we saw, so we approached it.  When the ticket agent asked if we had any bags to check, we did.  He then said before he could issue us our boarding passes, we had to first get our bags weighed and inspected at the baggage security check-point, which was in front of the ticket counter area, but I swear we didn't see it.  Oops.  So, we got our bags weighed, inspected, and cleared, returned to the ticket agent, and got our boarding passes.  They really should put a big sign that says, 'Clear your check-in luggage before you proceed to ticket counter.'  



With still a lot time and Malaysia Ringgit left, we decided to grab some coffee and tea at a nearby cafe where I filled out our Indonesia Customs Declaration forms.  We ended up getting more than just drinks.

For kicks, we ordered Malaysia's take on Western breakfast.  Well, it turned out to be a traditional full English breakfast -- scrambled eggs, sauteed mushrooms, sausage & ham, baked beans, and toast with butter.  Because Malaysia is a Muslim country, the meat on this plate was chicken, not pork.  It was actually pretty tasty; though we all found the mushrooms a little too salty.

We also ordered 'spicy prawns on biscuits,' or something along those lines that conjured a totally different image in my mind.  We were all sadly disappointed when this plate came out.  Not only did it look completely foreign, but the flavor was awful.  It turned out to be spicy, dried shrimp paste on top of lightly toasted mini biscuits.  The shrimp paste was so overwhelmingly salty, we scraped more than half the toppings off.  This was almost inedible.  Ugh, never again. 

We returned to the 'International Departures' hall where we were temporarily trapped earlier, went through security, and walked into one big, crowded waiting room.  Our flight was delayed half an hour.  And when Firefly finally arrived, we were escorted by a shuttle to our plane.  Good-bye, Kuala Lumpur!  See you in two weeks during our 19-hour layover! 

Our Firefly to Medan, Indonesia

A chicken curry plate and two guava juices later, we arrived in Medan, Indonesia, the capital of Sumatra.  The name Medan has never sat well with us.  In the past we have always dealt with a lot of hassle at the airport, from men going out of their way to 'help' you with your bags when you've told them you've got it, to cab drivers repeatedly asking you where you're going and pushing you to take their cab for a 'good price.'  And I'm not just talking about one or two men here; I'm talking more like 15-20 men, a herd of them all up in your face.  It is always annoying and a bit daunting.  These people think they can take advantage of tourists, which I'm sure they do on a daily basis because tourists may not know any better, but these people charge astronomical prices for very little service, and some of them are even con artists.  It's just best not to deal with them, and if you can get transport worked out ahead of time so that someone can pick you up at the airport, all the better.  Do not let yourself be prey to these hungry, aggressive people.  Another reason we don't like Medan is the airport is old and has always been dim and filled with smoke.  Not a pretty nor modern airport, just one you want to get out of ASAP.   This is why we always dread flying into Polonia International Airport. 

Perfect example: As we waited to get through Immigration (and by the way, all tourists and Indonesian citizens had to stand in one line.  Why they couldn't make separate lines for Indonesian citizens and foreigners, I haven't the slightest idea), we got a little antsy about our checked luggage and carry-on bags.  Firefly was a small aircraft, so we couldn't store any of our carry-on luggage overhead.  The airline representatives placed our bags below the aircraft, which was fine.  We're just used to picking up our bags 'plane-side' once we debark an aircraft that when this wasn't the case in Medan, we became slightly agitated, especially because the line was moving at a snail's pace.  Having been harassed by these pushy people in the past, who knows whose hands our bags might end up in?  We also had to obtain our 30-day Visa on Arrival, which cost $25 USD per person, and they prefer that you pay it in US dollars.  Anyway, Sahara got through Immigration first and dashed for the baggage claim.  Fortunately, the bags came out immediately and all in one piece, but unfortunately as she was pulling one bag after another off the carousel, an elderly man jumped in to help her when she told him that she was fine.  Instead of accepting this, he refused to let the bags go.  Sahara told him in Indonesian that she's got it, we don't need his help, we are fine, that he can go.  But he refused to listen, said nothing, and just stood there like a watch-dog with a grumpy look on his face.  Sahara then gave up and thought if he wants to stand there like an idiot after I've told him 100 times that we don't need his services, then that's his problem. Yes, stubborn old man.  And you'll run into people like him. 

We all finally got through Immigration, walked to Sahara with all our bags, where my mom then said to the old man, "OK Pak, ini saya punya.  Bapak enggak perlu mengurus tas kita."  Translation: "OK Sir, these are my bags.  You don't need to bother with them because we've got it taken care of."  My mom said this as she pulled one of our bags loose from the man's grip.  The man, startled, once again just stood there and said nothing.  He honestly thought he was going to get a tip from us.  

Luckily, the moment we exited the baggage claim area there was a man holding up a sign with my name on it.  We made sure there would be a hotel representative at the airport by calling the hotel hours before we hopped on the plane to request a pick-up .  It was a relief to see my name and walk past all the holler of the crowd.  We hopped in a van and rode 15 minutes to our hotel.  . 

As we sat in the back of the van and looked around, my sisters and I couldn't believe we were finally in Indonesia again.  It had been 10 years, and unsurprisingly Medan hasn't changed one bit.  Everything that we remembered about Medan -- the houses, the streets, the becak -- looked the same.  It was as if we hadn't missed a thing all these years.  After all we were in Indonesia, which is behind in may ways (more on this later).  We reached our hotel, and our first impression of it from the outside was one of disappointment.  The hotel looked like the Tower of Terror in disrepair.  But the adage, 'Never judge a book by its cover,' always rings true because the moment we stepped into the lobby, we felt at ease.  It was spacious, clean, and had a slight air of luxury, which of course is always nice.

We found the front desk staff friendly, who informed us that the hotel was under renovation but that we would hear no noise from our room.  We then checked into our room, which too was spacious.  Our beds were very comfortable.  Our only gripe was the bathroom.  Though we found it ginormous, it was a little grungy, as if it hadn't been touched or used in years.  There was dust on the vanity, black on the grout in between the shower tiles, brown stains on the bottom of the bathtub, and pee-colored water in the toilet bowl, even when we flushed.  We even discovered some of the light-bulbs needed replacement, which was remedied with a simple call to the front desk.  The upside was everything functioned in the bathroom, and we were only spending one night.  The only reason we even booked this hotel was because my mom stayed here four years ago when the hotel was a Best Western, and she really enjoyed her stay, especially the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.  Unfortunately things have changed and proper maintenance of the hotel has been neglected.  But with a nightly rate of Rp. 435.000, or $45 USD including tax, we really couldn't complain much.

The day we arrived in Indonesia was Indonesia's Independence Day; though we didn't see any festivities take place because Independence Day this year fell towards the end of Ramadan, or the holy month of fasting.  During this time of the year, many government buildings, businesses, and food establishments close.  Restaurants then open once the sun sets when Muslims break their fast for the day.  I don't recommend travel to Indonesia during Ramadan, especially if you travel to places where tourists are few.  It is considered rude and offensive to consume food or drink before sunset in the presence of Muslims observing the holy month of fasting.  Booking travel arrangements during this time is also challenging -- not so much the booking itself as there are vehicles aplenty and many eager drivers hungry for business -- but getting the price you want to pay for transport.  We needed to book a cab, preferably a van or an SUV with AC, for the next day because we wanted to get to my mom's hometown of Kuala Simpang some time in the afternoon.  We talked to so many hotel staff who talked amongst themselves and amongst their connections outside the hotel, and every single person we discussed our travel plans with quoted a price of Rp. 900.000, or $94 USD all-inclusive.  This may or may not sound too bad, but because it was during the Ramadan holiday, everything was inflated.  The price for this 3.5-hour trip normally costs Rp. 600.000, or $63 USD.  It was difficult for us to haggle when everyone quoted the same price.  Looking back I should have booked transport for us ahead of time, but naively thought it would have been easy to book it in person.  I didn't think about Ramadan's effect on travel because we've never traveled during this time.  Shame on me.  Lesson learned.  But then again, even if I had booked transport in advance, I may have still been charged an inflated price because of the holiday.  You just don't know.

We didn't have plans for the rest of the day.  Not because we didn't know what to do, but because we were all kind of tired and just wanted to eat and relax.  I had a whole list of things on my itinerary that we could have possibly seen, which consisted of Mesjid Raya, Sri Marimamm (a Hindu temple), Kampung Keling Indian Quarter, Vihara Gunung Timur (a Taoist temple), Merdeka Walk, and a visit to the fruit market of Pasar Ramai.  I even had a note that said, 'Get some bika ambon cake (Indonesian yeast cake) along Jalan Majapahit.'   We ended up only passing the Maimoon Palace and Merdeka Walk, apparently the hottest place to hang out with lots of restaurants and cafes to stimulate your taste buds.  Oh well, next time.



For tonight we decided to stroll down memory lane and revisit a hotel of our past, Hotel Danautoba, whose exterior hasn't changed one bit.

We used to stay here until the rooms got pretty cruddy.  But we have always loved its Terrace Cafe, a restaurant with some of the yummiest Indonesian food ever!  Our favorite is the nasi goreng special, which is Indonesian fried rice, egg, beef satay, and crispy chicken with krupuk.  It was our favorite back then, and remains our favorite today as the dish tasted exactly the same as it did 10-12 years ago!! 

Nasi goreng special

We also ordered ayam goreng, or fried chicken and a combination of beef & chicken satay, grilled meat skewers.  Everything was delicious!

Ayam goreng

Beef & chicken satay doused in peanut sauce with lontong, or rice cakes

Patio with a pool view

After dinner we went for a stroll on the grounds, and got a peek of the pool, which again looked exactly the same as it did years ago ...




And we got to enjoy some fun on the swing that I swear was here 10 years ago because the swing has definitely seen better days ... We used to play on this playground.  Fun times. 

Our best family shot on the swing at Hotel Danautoba

We got back to our hotel around 730 PM to work out the details of our ride for tomorrow, which was still up in the air.  After a few phone calls, we finally settled on the Rp. 900.000 price tag with one of the hotel staff's friend who has a friend that owns a ground transportation business.  Our ride was scheduled to pick us up at 1015 AM.  By mid-afternoon we will be in my mother's hometown tomorrow.  Stay tuned for stories on life from the rural village of Kuala Simpang.