Pabatu, Tebing Tinggi, 11 Januari 2008

Tanggal 10 Januari saya meninggalkan Medan menuju kompleks rumah Nana. Kata mas Deni, sang sopir yang mengantar saya, kira-kira perlu waktu 2 jam lebih dikit untuk sampai ke Pabatu. Dari Tebing (nickname untuk kota Tebing Tinggi) kira-kira 7 km ke arah Pematang Siantar.

Perjalanan cukup lancar. Setelah melewati kota Tebing, kami mengikuti jalan ke Pematang Siantar. Sekitar 7 km kemudian, kami sampai ke area Kebun Pabatu PTPN IV. Melewati kompleks kantor, kami masih terus, sampai ke daerah berbukit. Ternyata kompleks rumah ayah Nana terletak di atas bukit.

Kompleks eks kantor direksi PTPN VI ini memang nyaman untuk ditinggali. Rumah-rumah kuno yang dibangun lebih dari 50 tahun lalu bertebaran. Masing-masing punya halaman yang luas. Hmm... orang-orang kota yang terbiasa dengan flat dan apartemen pastilah iri dengan model rumah seperti ini. Nampaknya dulu kompleks ini memang dirancang untuk menjadi wadah yang mengeratkan komunikasi sosial. Tidak ada pagar pembatas antar rumah. Ada banyak tanah lapang yang bisa dipakai untuk social gathering. Ada pula gedung hiburan (katanya dulu pernah dipakai untuk bowling segala) yang kini sudah rusak. Ada pula sekolah TK yang murid-muridnya kebanyakan adalah pegawai kebun.

Saya tinggal di mess yang besar, yang masih dipakai jika direksi PTP IV datang berkunjung. Mess ini terletak di ujung kompleks, di dekat bangunan TK. Saya suka dengan landscape-nya. Terbuka, datar, dan ditumbuhi pepohonan yang cukup besar. Kesannya tranquil, tenang, dan damai. Sayangnya waktu itu saya sedang tidak dalam mood untuk menikmati ketenangan ini :(

Rumah pak Ramli, ayah Nana, terletak sekitar 300 m dari mess. Kamis sore itu rumahnya sudah mulai berhias, karena malamnya sudah akan dipakai wiridan. Saya datang wiridan jam 19an, ternyata ada 2 ronde :) Saya dapat berkatan juga, tapi terpaksa tidak saya bawa karena malah akan merepotkan nantinya. Yang saya bawa adalah bungkusan kertas kado, yang saya tebak isinya sarung karena Nana pernah cerita. Ternyata tebakan saya benar :D

Esok paginya, hari-H, saya datang pagi-pagi jam 7.30. Saya packing sekalian barang-barang saya, karena mau sekalian pamit langsung ke Polonia siangnya. Rencana semula sih mau pulang hari Sabtu, tapi karena ada sedikit masalah, saya memutuskan pulang awal -- ternyata tiket juga masih bisa diubah. Jam 7.30, rumah masih sepi. Saya motret-motret dulu, dan ngobrol dengan ayah dan uwak Nana. Calon pengantin pria datang jam 8 lebih sedikit, lalu prosesi ijab kabulpun dilaksanakan. Sederhana dan alhamdulillah semua berjalan lancar. Khotbah nikahnya lucu, apalagi disampaikan dengan logat Batak dan suara yang khas :)

Setelah makan pagi, pengantin pria kembali ke pos mangkalnya di rumah sebelah untuk ganti baju. Pengantin putri juga demikian. Muncul kembali sekitar jam 10, kali ini dengan pakaian adat Tapanuli Selatan. Ingatan saya kembali ke masa 17 tahun yang lalu, saat saya menikah dulu. Istri saya juga pakai kostum adat Lampung yang warnanya merah menyala, sama dengan yang dipakai Nana. Pakai hiasan kepala yang beratnya minta ampun. To tell the truth, waktu itu yang saya lihat bukan istri saya karena wajahnya sama sekali berubah. Nanapun kemarin juga demikian. It didn't look like you. Sorry mbak, ini pendapat jujur saya :)

Sekitar jam 10.30 diumumkan akan ada acara serah-serahan. Sebenarnya saya ingin melihatnya, tapi karena saya masih harus mencari oleh-oleh, maka saya putuskan untuk pamit. Kemarin ada rasa aneh waktu memberi ucapan selamat. Hard to tell, macam permen Nano-Nano, campur aduk gitu. Yang jelas, Nana sekarang bukan lagi Nana yang kemarin. Selamat untuk anda berdua ya... doa saya selalu menyertai...

Foto-foto ada di sini

Dusun Kelor, Turi, Sleman - 31 December 2007

This time our family holiday was filled with something different. Instead of having trips to big cities or tourism objects, we went to a small village just 20 km north of our home. The village, called Kelor, is located in Turi district, on the slope of Mt. Merapi. It is one of some villages promoted by Sleman regency as a tourism village, a tourist attraction with strong flavour of local tradition, food, environment, etc.

When we enter the village, we were greeted with a friendly welcome from our contact person, a local person who works as a marketer for the village. Then we were headed to a home where we would stay. It was owned by a family with 3 children, and our families soon got together easily. The host and hostess were very friendly, and they served us with their best courtesy. Typical warm welcome from villagers.

The village boasts itself with some interesting attractions, but we only tried two of them: trekking along a small river and fishing. The trek is actually for children: the river is small (only 3 m wide) and only 40 cm deep at the max. However, it is very interesting especially for children (and adults too) because the riverbed varies from flat and sandy to steep and rocky. Perfect for small adventures: quite challenging, but no dangerous things. We spent about 2 hrs to follow approximately 300 m trek. The long journey was not because it was difficult, but we had to stop many times waiting for the children enjoying themselves in the river. Oh, and it some parts the scenery is beautiful too. It provides a sense like we are walking in a deep rainforest.

The second attraction, fishing, is absolutely for children only. Don't think about real fishing. There was a 2x2 pool with a lot of fish, so when you throw the bait, you don't have to wait for a second to get a fish... That's quite good for children though, I can see thrilled sensations when the bait was taken by the fish :)

Overall, we were very satisfied with our holiday this time. Something different, and it's also good for my children since they now know that there are different people with different life, values, habits, etc. And one more thing, like other Sleman village, Kelor is also famous for the "salak" fruit.

Hongkong, 8-9 November 2007

This is actually a traceback of my previous trip to Hongkong in 2005. Funny enough, when I planned to stopover in Hongkong on the way home from Chengdu, my original idea was just to revisit places that I dropped by in 2005. In particular, I wanted to go to Avenue of Stars in the evening, as well as The Peak. And it turned out that my stay was purposeful in the context of souvenir shopping since I could not find good items in Chengdu. So the Ladies Market at Mong Kok came into my list.

Hongkong has not changed much since my last visit. The skyscrapers, the food, the crowd, the markets... However, new buildings have been added into The Peak complex. One of the building has a special terrace, making it convenient for viewing Hongkong from the top of the hill. As more and more people go to The Peak, it is very crowded, especially in the evening. It took me almost 30 minutes to get into the Peak Tram. On the way back, I lost my patience and took a cab to go back to my hotel, since the queue was probably more than 100m long (and lost my HK$ 33 return ticket...)

The Tsim Sha Tsui area where all types of souvernirs are sold was still like 2 years ago: vibrant, busy, and demand high skills in bargaining. Unfortunately I don't have the latter, making my task seemed very difficult. Shopping for souvenirs is the most difficult task whenever I go. If not for some people that I love, I would not do this job... Well, I finally completed this daunting obligation, but I was not really sure I bought correct items for everyone. What I was sure was that I paid too much for every thing I bought :)

Anyway, I was very pleased with my two-day stopover in Hongkong. I could realize my expectation, I could see and admire beautiful views of this city, and I managed to make good pictures (at least better than those I made 2 years ago). The only thing I missed was someone very special to me... I wished I could sit beside her while enjoying the glamorous lights of Hongkong in the promenade... Next time, my dear...

Photo collection is at Google's Picasa web album.

Chengdu, China (5 - 7 November 2007)

After a tiring trip, including 4.5 hours transit in Hongkong, I finally arrived at Chengdu. I was surprised since the airport is very big, too big for a provincial capital. But later I found out that this capital of Sichuan province is a major hub for the western part of China. Even people who want to go to Europe now fly from Chengdu, instead of Beijing. Like other big city in China (Chengdu is the 7^th biggest city in China), it has enormous population – more than 10 million people. The 1,200 sq km city (probably a bit smaller than Jakarta) is located in a basin, so it enjoys a mild 4-season weather. Not much rain, not much sunshine, not too cold, nor too hot.

The hotel where I stayed, Shangri-la, is a landmark of the city. The newly-built 35-floor building erects proudly just beside the Jianjin river that runs through the heart of the city. When I entered my room, I was amazed - this is the most luxurious hotel I have ever stayed in. My room, a standard one, is about 42 m2. Very spacious. Everything is high-quality and made of first-class materials. This is the hotel where I have ever stayed which has a wall-mounted 32-inch LCD (but I could not enjoy it because most programs are in Chinese). In short, I was treated like a king ! The hotel surely represents its name: an earthly paradise.

What I expected the most in my first trip to China was its food. Yes, I am a fan of Chinese food. And the organizer of the China-ASEAN USO Forum perfectly filled my expectation, especially during the dinner in the first day of the seminar. The banquet was conducted in a big hall. The course consists of more than 10 (yes, ten!) dishes, each was served one after another. The good thing is that Moslem participants get special halal foods which were a bit different from the main course. There are new dishes (some of them are strange food!) that I have never tried before. My favourite was roasted duck and lamb. The taste...ummm...yummy... obviously different from Chinese food in Indonesia. The hotel also provides a broad varieties of cuisine, from Chinese to western. They even serve salty fish and salty eggs. But somehow I felt that Sichuan foods are not very good for health, since most of them are hot 'n spicy, oily, and salty. Well, I don't stay forever in Sichuan, so that's fine with me...

Another nice thing about Chengdu is that it is easy to find good-looking girls. Pretty face, slim and slender, and white skin. They are everywhere: at parks, on the pedestrians, and of course in the hotel... No wonder our local tour guide boasted these flowers of the city by saying, "If you go to Chengdu now, you'll be sorry for marrying too early"... The bad thing (or was it a good thing – for me especially ?) was that most of these Chinese people (even who work in an international hotel) do not speak English fluently.

During the event we were also taken to a Sichuan opera show. It was actually a variety show; there were a number of different performances. Each performance has its own beauty, but what brought my interest was the face-changing show. Several dancers wore a colourful mask, and during their performance, they kept changing their mask, just by a sudden movement. They did not even touch the mask. I don't know whether it was purely speed or any other things. It is said that this skill is unique to Sichuan people. They did not even allow Andy Lau to learn it -- even though he is a Chinese man.

On the third day, during our field visit, we were taken to a tourist destination in the Dujiangyan city. The location is actually a water irrigation management system built by an engineer named Li Bing in the 2nd century. The system controls the flow of a river that runs through Sichuan basin, and serves two purposes. First is to prevent floods coming to Chengdu, and the second is to provide water for irrigation in the dry season. The unique thing about this system is that it is based on precise calculations of the river bed's physical condition, and the flow control is purely carried out using natural means, with minimal man-made intervention (such as dams, etc).

Okay, enough talks about Chengdu... Next: Hongkong...

Kuala Lumpur, 9 - 12 Sept 2007

As a MIC advisor, I got an invitation from Microsoft to attend Faculty Summit 2007 in KL, which was held concurrently with the TechEd 2007 conference. The venue was in KL Convention Center (KLCC), at the heart of KL city. I went with 3 other MIC advisors from UI and ITS. We were lucky to have an accommodation at Impiana Hotel, just across KLCC. The good thing about the hotel was that it is close to great objects in the city center, namely the famous Petronas Towers and the KL Tower.

It was not long after we arrived at the hotel, we snapped our cameras and started taking pictures of the beautifully-lit twin towers. It was good to find out that KL still offers space for pedestrians to wander around the city, so we went from a corner to another to admire the view of the towers. Even from my hotel room, the towers still show their beauty. They are like two tall candles reaching out the dark sky.

On the second day, we were invited for a dinner at the revolving restaurant on the top of KL tower. Located on a hill, it is a 255 meter tower not far from the twin towers. The restaurant rotates at about 1 rev/hour, and the view is breathtaking. The twin towers looked like siblings, shining in cool white.

I think this KL trip's theme was best named as "grandeur in height".

Oh, and the Microsoft event itself was very interesting. There were a lot of talks about new trends and technology. Some of them are even accessible by academics. Looking at the effort to organize such a big event, I just thought how big the power Microsoft has, and how it exerts its power to penetrate into all sectors (academic, business, government, ...). No wonder their credo is "world domination"...

Btw, I have moved all the pictures of my visit trails to Google's Picasa web album. Enjoy my web album !