May 1st, 25 years ago…..

I walked into the school hall like any other school day, except it wasn’t.

I was all dressed up and felt like a princess – I was getting married, and at my alma mater. It was the perfect choice. We had so many guests that our church hall would not have been able to contain them all. That, plus the fact that my husband is unashamedly radical!

Honestly, I was quite taken aback at his suggestion. I guess I am a square peg in a square hole. You can be sure there were a lot of “buts” from my side but Allan was his usual “Why not?”. Yes, why not indeed? Radical plus practical won the day. The hall was big enough for all our guests (more than 500), the parking was adequate, the canteen was ideal for the reception and the columns….oh those gorgeous columns for the photographs! I’m not sure, but it might have been that last bit that won me over

So it was 25 years ago, I walked down the aisle to be married to Allan Yong, my soul mate, best friend, father of our children and partner for life through the grace of God!

As we celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary this year, I decided to keep my promise to Sow Yoong to get this article out. Yes, finally, procrastination lost!

I am proud to proclaim that I am the only BBGS girl who got married at her school and I am so thankful to have a husband who was radical enough to suggest it!

My earlier performances at the school hall – I’m the girl in pink, 1st from the left

There were quite a few other performances in this same hall, but my biggest performance of all….

Was on my wedding day!

Wonder what happened to that big school badge that used to hand above the stage?

It was legal alright, and I have the papers to show for it

Decorating the hall the night before. It was very hands on with us making the cut outs of doves and the letters.

Full house in the hall

This was one time I walked past the staff room with no fear nor felt the need to keep quiet!

Ok, I’ll admit we didn’t have time to decorate the canteen nor hide the pots and pans away, but I can assure you that we are much more meticulous and organized today at event management.

See what I mean about the columns?

Allan and I want to write about how God has been so good to us and we had planned on getting it done for our 25th anniversary but I don’t know if we will be able to get that done this year,….. well, there’s always the 26th anniversary

Day 3 – Lake Toba – Leaving beautiful Tabo Cottage for the Tele mountains

This picture will give you an idea of where we were on Lake Toba. We crossed over on the ferry to the north east part of Samosir island to a place called Tuk Tuk.

Our adventure with the magic mushrooms finally ended by dinner time. Our group was served dinner at a pavilion. Dinner included delicious home made pumpkin soup, fish, vegetables, chicken with …… arhhhh….. MUSHROOMS! It was a simple but delicious meal in a gorgeous setting. Although I love mushrooms, I just could not make myself take one that night – it was just too soon after our earlier escapade!

It was wonderful just sitting there, chatting and relaxing; taking in the beauty of the place.

The next morning, we decided to stay longer at the hotel and cancelled the trip to the waterfall.

Although the lake was beautiful, it definitely looked less brilliant compared to the moments when we saw the lake through the eyes of the “magic mushrooms” trip, hahaha!

Did I mention that there is free wifi at the Tabo Cottages?

Breakfast was a fusion of western and eastern food. I particularly enjoyed the homemade buns.

My mom had a bathroom that made her take her bath in a hurry!

We finally left the hotel at around 11am. About 10 minutes after leaving, a call came from the hotel – we had left our laptop bag WITH the laptop at the hotel. We so blessed to have stayed at a place with honest people.

It is not unusual to see graves strewn all over the place. Each family buried their dead on their own land, next to their homes, some on their padi fields. We were told by our guide that this was the wisdom of the elders. Apparently the Bataks like to gamble. Having a grave on the land was a safeguard against anyone trying to sell his land to settle gambling debts.

As you can see, some of the graves looked better maintained than their own homes!

The white patch on the mountain is the hot spring.

We finally crossed back to the mainland and headed to the Tele mountains. It is a very scenic drive. The only set back is the badly maintained roads

The bridge crossing over to the mainland

You really should not miss going to the Tele Mountains. I would suggest that after visiting the place, you BACKTRACK to Samosir island and go back to Medan via Parapat instead of going on to Brastagi. The roads after Tele mountain is terrible. This stretch here on the way to the mountain is bad enough but it gets WORSE after that! There are stretches when we were traveling at 10kmh. At one point, I saw a signboard saying “51km to Medan” but my joy was short lived as it took us more than 2 hours to travel that last bit!

A view to savor, but DO head to the mountains early. The place gets really misty after 2pm. Our guide told us that nobody wants to drive on these treacherous roads after 6pm.

We had a nice cuppa at the little shop behind us

One of the joys of homeschooling is that Andrea gets to go for holidays anytime we want.

How a Malaysian Chinese Family celebrates the Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year 2011

We are Malaysians, were born and bred in Malaysia. Our forefathers came from China many, many years ago and settled here. Although we only know of Malaysia as home, we practice many rich and meaningful Chinese cultures because our parents taught us what they learnt from their parents. In the same way, we want to pass these precious practices to our children and our children’s children.

One of the things that we really enjoy doing is to shop during for new clothes and shoes for the Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year. This tradition probably meant a lot more for our forefathers many generations ago. Most of them were poor and could only afford a new set of clothes once a year and they would try to get that for their children even if they could not afford it for themselves. Of course it is a tradition that is conveniently kept by us now, especially if we love shopping! We try to get something for our children every year, so they are very blessed indeed.

The eve of the Chinese New Year is a very important day as all the members of the family returns to their parent’s home. The gathering together of the clan is a joyous occasion. There is a great dinner that night. Allan and I will go to the market a day before and start preparing for the meal by 3pm. Every year my mom will join us and we try to invite some others who do not have their families in Malaysia. Allan is a great cook and I am great at washing up and setting up I think we make a great team!

Allan’s famous “pak cham kai” – “white chicken”

Good food makes people happy!

 

Another very important culture we maintain at home is the giving of ang pows which is done with a tea ceremony. On the first day of the Chinese New Year, our children will serve us tea and give us a blessing. We then give them an ang pow (money packet) and give them a blessing in return. If your family has never done this, you should try it.

Just before the tea ceremony

Andrea preparing the tea

Serving tea to dad

And then to mom

After that, we leave home to visit family and friends. We visit those who are senior in rank.

The delicious “siew yok” at one of my uncle’s home.

 

Enjoying my Bak Kut Teh – all the way from Klang, no less.

Sweet desert

My mom and my grandaunty

We only buy new clothes for the new year – my uncle buys a new car for Chinese New Year!

Trip to Lake Toba – Part 2 MAGIC MUSHROOMS!

 

Day 2 – Samosir

The next morning, we left the hotel early as we wanted to make sure we were on the 8.30am ferry. It takes an hour to get across. The tour guide wanted us there early so that the vehicles would be in line to get on the ferry.  We were entertained by a few young boys who would dive into the chilly waters for a some coins. Watching them made me feel sad. It was a lot of work for mere cents. The only comfort I derived was that they were earning an honest living and were getting good exercise in the process!

He keeps the coins in his mouth

 

Our first stop was to the Batak village of the king, Raja Sidabutar, in Tomok. The 3 main kings who were entombed there had different characters and stories. The first king was a gentle man whose face was depicted as such on his tombstone. The second king was a hard man. His tomb stone included a carving of his hard features and that of his best friend below him and his ex-girlfriend behind him. Both the first and second kings were animists and were entombed in stone as they believe the spirits of dead men were everywhere, including within stones. Their body guards and warriors were buried in smaller tombs next to them. Within the tombs are a mixture of the skulls and bones. The 3^rd king became a Christian and ordered that his body be buried in the earth to follow the teaching that men is made from dust and will return to dust.

Shopping after that entailed haggling for discounts. You should ask for about 60% off and end up with a 50% discount.

Economy is 51% farming

The second Batak village was the one belonging to Raja Siallagan Ompu at Ambarita. Here, we were told some interesting facts. The Bataks stay together in one big room on the first floor. Rice and other harvest products were stored on the top floor and animals were kept in the basement. When the children reach puberty, the girls were sent to another house with all the rest of the single girls in the village, and the boys, likewise. Every house had a staircase with 5 steps, signifying the 5 generations staying together in the village/house.

Our guide, (below), a Batak himself

The criminals and the King with the body guard

Before the Bataks embraced Christianity, they were animists and believed that the spirit of the dead King resides in the tree they planted upon his death.

The criminal is placed in stocks whilst awaiting trial. He is placed beneath the King’s house.

We were taught the Batak greeting “Horas”. Why are the doors so small? Well, the size forces you to bend your head and bow. Then you greet the household with the word “Horas”.

Place of execution

Gorgeous colors

Children here are carefree. It’s fun time after school, no private tuition, music and dance classes to go to :p

 

The MAGIC!

Our adventure with the magic mushrooms started at lunch. We went to the only place that served magic mushrooms on Lake Toba. Our lunch was BBQ fish and pork. After we finished lunch, the magic mushrooms cooked in an omellette were served. We were told that one portion is for 2 people but it was too late because Mark and Yin Mei had already eaten one omelette each! We headed for our hotel, the Tabo Cottages, a beautiful place owned by Anto, a local Batak and Annette, a German. The place is beautiful and well managed.

After 30 minutes nothing had happened yet, so Mark said, “There is no reaction at all”. Not long after that, Allan started smiling to himself and laughing! All of us laughed at him and enjoyed watching his reaction. Not long after that, a few others started feeling limped and a bit woozy. The slightest thing made them laugh!  I was still fine and started walking back to my room. A while later, I started laughing uncontrollably at the slightest provocation! I realized something was up and decided to do some research on the internet. By now, I was feeling totally light headed and my limbs felt limped. It took a lot of effort to do my research. Keeping focused was very difficult.

Long story cut short, here is a good read about magic mushrooms. There are certain “rules” like not taking it on an empty stomach, nor taking it when you had too much to eat, or you might feel nauseous. Then there is the “don’t eat too much”. Sigh! We broke all the rules….

http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/mushrooms/effects.htm

So, we went on a “trip” by accident. I’m including it here because noobs like us need to be warned that it is not just “Jamu ketawa” as we were told. We thought it was just something that makes you laugh a lot, like helium gas makes people’s voices go funny! Imagine what would have happened if we had hired motorcycles to ride and started hallucinating? Since we asked for the magic mushrooms, the restaurants owners probably thought we wanted to go on a trip although we knew next to nothing about it. Our daughter, Andrea told us, “No, I’m not going to eat it, I’m underage, this is like a drug!”. Unfortunately, we neither believed nor took her seriously because of her history of being fussy with food!  One lesson learnt – we will take her more seriously in future!

 

The grilled fish is good! It’s fresh water fish from the lake.

Finally – the magic mushrooms cooked in an omelette. They looked deceivingly innocent.

Here’s where the trouble started…

The restaurant is just outside Toba Cottage,  a beautiful place. We could easily sit there for a day just gazing at the lake and not be bored.

The beautiful Batak house for anyone to go up, sit and gaze at the lake.

No, this is not a result of the mushrooms. It’s what clowns do!

THIS is the result of the magic mushrooms…..

………. and this……

……..and this……

Could not stop laughing

Next phase is intense lethargy coupled with euphoria

Trip to Lake Toba – January 24th – 27th 2011 Part 1 – Parapat

After a hiatus of more than a year, I thought that I should really revive my travel blog.  In between now and then, we have been blessed by our trips to a few other places but most of all, to USA to attend our daughter’s graduation. I will write on that trip to and try not to procrastinate. Right now, I have to write about this particular trip, because of some really strange and amusing stuff that happened. It’s all about MAGIC!

The road from Medan to Parapat was narrow but not rough

Scenic road

Most of the Bataks are Christians, so you will see many churches along the way

 

One thing the families here have in common – almost everyone has a satellite dish – TV’s a big thing here!

 

Day 1 – Medan and Parapat, Lake Toba

This was our company’s annual trip/dinner. We took the first flight out. It’s a good idea to fly into Medan early because the road trip to Parapat is a long one. We stayed a night in Parapat instead of going directly across to Samosir because the tour agent arranged our itinerary as such. Parapat is not as peaceful as Samosir and the water at this part of the lake is not as clean. When you get to Samosir, you will feel that you want more than 1 night there. If, I had not been so busy, I would have seen to the entire trip myself and not stay at Parapat, which I feel was not necessary. BUT then again, if I had arranged everything myself, then the strange MAGIC would not have happened.

So what is there to talk about Parapat? Nothing much really, except that it gives you the excitement of the first glimpse of THE LAKE! Expect the “ooh-s” and “ah-s” as you take the final bend and see the lake.  We stayed at Niagara Hotel. I’d say that it caters mostly to Malaysians and Singaporeans. Even the electrical socket points are catered for us.

First glimpse of the Lake is exciting

Nigara Hotel, Parapat, Lake Toba

 

Allan & Friends’ Staff

And Us

Nothing much to do at night but there are two pool tables available IDR5k per game – really worth it at less than RM2/game!

Tips to  remember:

1)   Bring enough IDR (Indonesian Rupiah) with you unless you have brand new US dollars. Any US currency that is folded, looks old or of an older sequence gets a lower currency exchange rate. The current rate for new bills is USD$1=IDR9,005. IF your notes are not new and you haggle a bit, you can get about USD$1=IDR8,800.00. For Malaysians, better to bring Ringgit instead of USD. The rate for Malaysian Ringgit is pretty decent.

2)   Some custom officers take their duties very seriously and go through the whole works in processing visitors, which includes finger printing ALL the fingers, photo taking and asking questions – no matter how long the queue is. So your bags may come out really fast but passing through immigration takes up your time.

3)   The seemingly short distance from Medan to Lake Toba is deceiving because the roads are narrow and bumpy. The journey takes a much longer time than anticipated.

4)   If you can help it, AVOID taking the route through Brastagi because the roads are so port hole ridden that it bears on the ridiculous!

5)   In view of (4) and (5) above, please MAKE SURE the vehicle you are renting is in good shape with a good air cond system and has enough power to travel fast.

6)  Set aside IDR75,000 per person for your exit tax. It MUST be paid in IDR, nothing else, no credit cards accepted too.

Be it a dog, a lady or a baby…….

Some of you know that our dog Hyper, was knocked down by a car 2 days ago. Allan was taking the dogs for their morning walk. This lady in her car, came rushing through the narrow side road, obviously in a rush to get to her destination, ran over our dog, Hyper, and then just drove off. A lot of motorists use this side road as a means to beat the traffic jam in the mornings. We can see that most of them are in a rush.

So I think, this is just so typical of us, myself included. We want to get to where we want, what we want, and so on and there have been many times when we don’t really think nor care for those we hurt on the way, as long as we get what we want.

This lady didn’t even stop to make sure everything was ok, maybe because it was “only a dog”?  When we allow our minds to think “its only a ….” we take the first step towards numbing ourselves to the pain of another life. This process in its extremity makes us immune to the pain of another human life. Is that why mothers and fathers can throw their own flesh and blood into the dump, allow insects to bite them alive, allow them to burn from the blistering heat, allow them to die a slow and painful death?

And to those of my friends who urged us to report her, well, we can’t, because Allan didn’t get the number plate of the car. He was too concerned about the dog, and maybe he thought she would be human enough to stop and ask if everything was alright.

I just thought to myself. In her hurry, this lady just drove really fast even though it was a narrow side road. WHAT IF THERE WAS A KID THERE? My dog could easily have been a child walking with his dad in the morning.

The newspapers tell us that some Malaysians are getting so immune to pain and sin that they have no qualms about hurting another human being. One day, its a baby being dumped; oh sorry, my mistake, its BABIES being dumped! Another day, we hear of the senseless death of a 50+ year old lady who died because the guy just wanted her valuables. Then we read of this guy who ran down a girl on her bicycle and then took her into the woods to rape her. The list goes on……

I’m going ahead to put up these pictures of Hyper all although some people might find it a bit grotesque. I just want to send a reminder to all of us. Plan our schedules so that we don’t have to rush, and when we have to rush, we still need to slow down when there is a danger of killing or injuring another life.

Hyper is going to be alright, she will take 2 months to heal because the bone is fractured too. In 2 weeks time, the leg might have to be put in a cast.

This could have been a child……

by Veronica, 27th August 2010

Siem Reap, Cambodia – the people who went

I’m being a little bit disorganized this time around and will not be starting from the beginning of our trip in this blog post. I’m just going to post all the pics that John Kit took in this one post and will post the tips and so on about traveling to Siem Reap in my next blog. Why? erm, just wanted to focus on people – these are some of the people from Allan & Friends who went for the trip.

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY JOHN KIT

Of course, there is the boss and his wife, who paid for the trip

This pic turned out so different – we didn’t realize that it was going to turn out as a classic 70′s posed pic!

Because of that, I decided to post the Black and White to make it look even more 70′s

Of course, since this is my blog, I get to put more pics of ourselves in it

Kuang Fei and Kah Choon, cousins from Bentong who ended up in KL and are TOP NOTCHED entertainers!

Allan & Friends is pretty much a cosy set-up – we believe in working as a family, as much as we can. So, we welcome their friends to join us on the company trip (they paid their own way though)

Pei Win, the one who completes Kah Choon.

John Kit, on the left, with Kah Choon, in their brand new Cambodia t-shirts

Connie, a real blessing to us. Without her, I’d definitely have less time blogging and face-booking

The 2 missing from this pic are John, the photographer, and Andy Yap ….. erm, I don’t where he was when we were taking this pic.

So, more to come another day

Siem Reap, Cambodia, where the people will touch your heart

This year we decided to take Allan & Friends’ to Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

Before I write about the places we went to, and the tips on what to bring, where to go, how to budget and so on, I’d like to share this video with you.

We met so many children who were just roaming the streets selling postcards, bracelets, key chains, books, etc, etc, etc. 

Some of them were so young, in fact, the girl in this video is only 6 years old. She goes to school in the morning and heads off to Angkor Wat after school to sell her merchandise. Its amazing how well she speaks, and how well she sells! 

This girl obviously goes to the School of Hard Knocks and has learnt to survive at such an early age.

Watch out for how she gets 13 cards out of a pack of 10 cards

Random pics taken and stuff done last year

These are some pics that were left “unblogged” in my computer and I thought I’d just blog about them in one post. Everything is random with snippets from here and there.

First up is this notice that was tagged to the table at the Cheras pasar malam. The “threat” is softened by the smiley face at the end of the notice

Next is a pic of these 2 HUGE eggs that was given to me some time last year – they are organic. Taste is about the same – ok, I guess I’m not much of a connoisseur who can taste the difference.

This, I proclaim, to be the BEST Roti Milo in the whole of KL. The stall is not easy to find at all.

688, Lengkungan Jambu Gajus, an area inside Segambut

This is probably not going to help much, but this is how the place looks like.

This “kopitiam” styled place called ah cheng laksa at cineleisure, the curve. Good set meal for 2-3 pax @ RM13.90 with bowl of laksa, bowl of assam laksa and a choice of nasi lemak or kway teow soup. Sufficient for small eaters and tastes pretty good

Some of our guests for our 2009 Christmas dinner at our place.

Meanwhile, our eldest two spent Christmas together. We’re glad they had each other in a land so far away.

It was many “firsts” for Andy – first time away from the family at Christmas, first time at college, first time experiencing winter and snow, first time working. For Anna, it will be the last lap before graduating – 4 years already, and we can only thank God for the way He has kept and protected her, and provided for us as a family.

Relaxing in Camerons

One of the really great things about home schooling is that we can just “up and go”; erm, I don’t mean that in the morbid sense but literally pack up and go off for a break! And that’s exactly what we did at the beginning of January and we’re going to do that again in February

We sent Angie off to Cameron Highlands for the 5-week Residential Bible School and decided that we should take 2 nights off to relax. It was a great 3 days, walking in the mornings not only fulfilled Andrea’s PE class requirements but also did us a lot of good, much better than walking in KL!

Wi-fi services widely available meant Andrea’s classes were not disrupted.

I must say that I’m not good at this “self-portrait” kind of thing! 

Steam boat is a MUST for us whenever we go up to Camerons. The hot food and soup plus the cool weather – GORGEOUS!

We decided to try the organic steamboat. I’m not sure if we went to the wrong place but I just felt a bit let down. The soup was pretty watered down and bland. There are a few organic steamboat places in Brinchang, I don’t think there are any in Tanah Rata. Maybe next time, we should just throw our health out of the window and go for the “normal” steamboat with the really tasty herbal soup or better still, tom yam soup!!

This cosy, quaint little place called T house at Tanah Rata (corner, 1st floor near Merry Brown) is one of my favourites. The apple pie is really good and we find the food and drinks cheaper than some of the other places. There’s also free wi-fi here

Saw this spider weaving her web as we headed off