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