Globe-trotting Adventures and Mouth-watering Eats: Last Day in K. Simpang; Sate Padang in Medan

It's been a very busy two days in Kuala Simpang, and today we leave my mother's hometown for another night in Medan. Tomorrow we leave for Yogyakarta. (More on this later). We really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Morielisa, and were very sad to leave our relatives. A lot of them asked when we'd be back, and the truth is we just don't know. My hope is, however, that I don't let another 10 years go by before coming back here. And that we spend more than two full days with family. We hardly had any time to go into town and hang out. All of our meals were eaten at a relative's home, and we were driven from one house to another. The next time we visit, it will be on a more relaxed schedule.

Pak Feri was scheduled to pick us up from our hotel at 11 AM. We got up around 8 AM and got ready. By 9 AM, we had an unexpected visitor -- my cousin Okky came by. I think he was unsatisfied with our visit yesterday as he didn't say much to us all night. Maybe he regretted that, hence his surprise visit. Not long after he arrived, my mom sent him off to fetch us breakfast. He came back within 20 minutes holding a plastic bag filled with four individually wrapped packs of nasi guri, or steamed rice with dried beef curry (rendang), sweet Indonesian-style beef jerky, pergedel (fried potato cake), krupuk (Indonesian deep fried crackers), and a little bit of chili. It was hands-down the most delicious banana leaf-wrapped rice dish that I've ever had!! It was so good, I'm drooling just thinking about it. It was just the right portion too!

Nasi guri =the perfect breakfast

Then, as we were finishing up, Okky's sisters walked in with Ibuk Ati and Zaskia trailing behind. We sat and chatted a little while we gathered our things together.

Sisters Sandra, Dinda, and Zaskia -- they all have the same eyes!

Trying to say good-bye to Zaskia

At 1050 AM, Pak Feri showed up and we made our way down to the lobby to say good-bye to the wonderful hotel staff, who made us feel welcome and comfortable. They wanted a photo of all of us with them together before we left. We would definitely stay here again.

We put our things in Pak Feri's van and had him do us a favor and drive us to Ibuk Ati's house to say good bye to our cousins one last time.

Gigi on the back of Okky's vespa on our way to Ibuk Ati's house

My cousins Lara, Dennis & Wahyu and me bidding our good-byes

Bye Kek Usuf, you will be missed!

We also said good-bye and thank you to Kek Usuf for all that he's done for us. He was pretty much our hospitable guide and transportation coordinator during our stay in K. Simpang. It wouldn't have been the same without him. It was so sad to say good-bye. But it was time to make that 4-hour drive with Pak Feri back to Medan for one more night for our afternoon flight to Yogyakarta on the island of Java tomorrow. Below is some of the landscape that we passed on our way back to Medan.

You'd pass many of these abandoned huts alongside the road.

Medan's Maimoon Palace, a 30-room mansion where the Sultan of Deli still resides

The four-hour journey is a blur to me now. I imagine I must have fallen asleep at some point. When we finally arrived in the city center, my sisters suddenly had a craving for pizza, and conveniently there was a Pizza Hut nearby. Ten years ago when we were in Jakarta, we had a beef pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut, and I must say the pizza in Indonesia is better than the pizza in the States. Not only is all the pepperoni as we know it in the USA substituted with beef in Indonesia, but there is more variety, and not just in terms of type of pizza, but there is also a large selection of pasta and salads to choose from. When we walked into the Pizza Hut in Medan, it was jam packed so we just ordered a large beef & mushroom pizza to go.

You must be thinking, what?! Of all foods, you ate pizza in Southeast Asia?! Yeah, yeah, I know. I think the same thing when I travel abroad. Why buy food you can easily get at home? This is why my mom and I asked Pak Feri to drop us off at Kampung Keling, the Indian Quarter, before we check into our hotel. Kampung Keling is Medan's famous street food scene. It's nothing fancy, but it's been there for years, is very popular at night, and stays open till 2 AM. My parents have been here many times in the past, and I might have been 10 years ago, but I don't remember. Now is the chance to get some good grub and remember it.

Kampung Keling

From mie goreng (stir-fried noodles), sate daging (beef satay), a variety of rice dishes, and iced cold beverages, you'd never go hungry in Kampung Keling. And the food is easy on the wallet, most costing only Rp. 10.000, or about $1 USD. So while my sisters enjoyed their pizza, my mom and I had a taste for something a little more exotic.

Grilled clam chili satay was our appetizer

I had only one thing in mind, and I've been talking about it for years because it's only my most beloved Indonesian dish ever: sate padang, or grilled beef on skewers doused in a savory semi-thick yellow sauce served with lontong (rice cakes). The sauce is what makes or breaks the dish, and I've gotta say the sate padang in Medan is some of the best I've ever had.

Sate padang is one of Indonesia's best created dishes

You don't know how incredibly excited I was to get my hands on this dish -- it is SO good!!!

Kampung Keling was awesome. You can eat to your heart's content here, and spend less than you would at any fast food joint in the US. Who wouldn't want to experience this place?

We also had dessert, and for us this pastry is nostalgic because it reminds us of our childhood days in Kuala Simpang. Remember the roti canai I had in Malaysia? Well, we used to eat a lot of it by stopping at any one of the roadside stalls near my grandmother's house. Instead of having it with dhal, or curry sauce, in Indonesia, we have it with butter and sugar and it makes for a great snack if you've got a sweet-tooth to cure.

Roti canai

Sahara & Gigi love roti canai Indonesian-style!

After dinner at Kampung Keling, we checked into the same room we had at the Asean International Hotel from three nights ago. Tomorrow we would be on the plane to Yogyakarta in Java. My sisters hit the sack early as my mom and I headed back to Kampung Keling for another round of sate padang.