DEFINING MOMENTS: Vacation

To-day is the 14th of June 2007, our 2nd day in Perapat.. There’s nothing to brag about this morning, except to quickly pack up as we’ll be on the move again, this time to Brastagi. Then to Medan, and back to KL for a 5D4N holiday package.

Frankly I never expect my wife to suggest that we should spend our vacation in Medan. “What is so special about Medan. It is just across Selat Melaka, a 45 minutes flight from KLIA or Penang, a few hours ferry ride from Penang, Lumut or Melaka,” I retort although I confess - time and again my natural feelings had induced me to make a fact finding tour of North Sumatra Provinces: Tanah Deli & Langkat and Riau Archipelago – the origin of my long lost clan.

But this is not a fact finding tour, rather than just a leisure holiday.
Yes, sure… Sumatra is my late father’s ancestral county: Melayu Riau. But I don’t have any ancestral family records to justify my claim.
I am pretty sure, my mother’s descendants The Bugis first settled around Kuala Selangor, Kapar, Pasir Penambang, Klang. They, fought the Dutch at Kuala Selangor. We’ve some artifact to prove this.
Parapat & Brastagi where we are going to spend most of the 5 days sojourn have been known as The Land Of The Batak.

Nothing really interest me travelling uphill to Danau Toba, except to savor the scenery along the way and master my skill in landscape photography.
Again, I asked my wife to justify her decision.

“What? Lake Toba? What’s wrong with Tasik Cini, Pedu Lake, or Tasik Kenyir….”
“They said it’s so beautiful.”
“Who said so? Your maid from Sumatra? Your mengaji collegue. Who?”
I confess, I failed to dissuade her.
So on the early morning of the 12th June 2007 off we - The Four Golden Couples: Bak&Teek, Mazlan&Badiah, Aziz&Sauyah and Me&Wife) flew to Medan on MH flight en

route to Perapat. The journey from Medan to Perapat took several hours, through country road. We had a sumptuous Minangkabau lunch at Restauran Simpang Tiga and a stopover at Kedai Paten Pematang Siantar.

Then a gruesome ride along a meandering uphill narrow pass, reaching Perapat late evening.
Frankly speaking Perapat has nothing much to offer,

except for the panoramic view of Lake Toba from our hotel, and the cool & fresh air. The night life is at the hotel itself – a disco, a karaoke lounge and a bar & restaurant. For the elders with ‘squeaky bones’ and tired muscles a good massage is the only alternative for they had excellent messieurs. The following day was spent “melawat Kampung Tomok.” by ferry. It’s a rustic village. Nothing much to say, except that the venue is part of our Tour Package.
The trip from Perapat to Brastagi on the 3rd day was astounding. The view of Lake Toba from the terrain as we passed through was breathtaking

. Finally I was ‘trigger happy’ with my camera, snapping along the route. It was drizzling at times and some hillocks are covered with mist. It also create an aura of enchantment, and mystical, especially so as we pass through hamlets with traditional worn-out Batak dwellings, each surrounding an old church. The streets lined with Restaurant serving “Babi Panggang”. Spending the night at Golden Mutiara Hotel & Resort at Berastagi was

‘a 5 star’delight, before the nonstop return trip to Medan the following morning.

They said Danau Toba is full of mystic and a beautiful lake. They said Danau Toba was formed by the greatest volcano eruption ever known in history to become the most beautiful lake ever seen in the universe. They also said, Danau Toba with a lakeside living in full harmony, with magnificent rocks around, full of history, legends, culture and hundreds of roaring waterfall, old stones and agriculture mosaic over the highlands, to beckon you They have lots of stories and legends to brag about. Still it does not impress me, although my conscience at time awakens my guilt. Maybe my lacks of interest in reading about it’s formation and history blinded me.
So I felt more comfortable when we finally arrived in Medan, last leg of our tour package. History has it that the original location of present Metropolitan Medan ‘di tanah Deli’ was developed by Guru Patimpus around 1590ies situated on the confluence of 2 distinct rivers - Sungai Deli and Sungai Babura. The village was nicknamed as Kampung Medan or Medan Deli by the locals.
Massive development with the opening of tobacco plantations by Dutch Companies came about around the year 1860ies. The Dutch Colonial Government ruled over Tanah Deli from 1658 when Sultan Ismail of Kerajaan Siak Seri Indrapura surrenders Deli, Langkat and Serdang to The Dutch. By 1915 Medan officially became the capital of North Sumatra province. By 1918 it was unofficially declared as Kota Madya. Sad though our final day in Metropolitan Medan was spend shopping. As I pen this chronicle, I feel that the 5D4N Medan Lake Toba trip as incomplete holiday package for discerning travelers like me. We should be visiting more historical sites and cultural villages. Lack of tourist information and guide booklets is another factor. You have to depend on your tourist guide all the time for information. Infrastructure is bad. However Anuar the Tour Guide of PT.LOVELY HOLIDAYS has a pleasant character. He sings oldies to kill boredom, as he rattles through history, ethnic culture and tradition of the locals.
At the end of the day, you’ve to agree with me that a week’s break from the daily chores helps in building your self esteem, enhancing your good health and sound mind. I am always game for a good holiday away from home, though majority Malays are not used to taking holidays or times off, except for their yearly “balik kampong” exodus during the festivals, unlike the Europeans, Americans, Australian and other “Mat Salleh”. They saved for their annual vacations.

We hope our siblings take note and do the same.