Julian turned 98 months old on 28 July 2015.
After church, Julian was pleased with our comment that he was a good boy during mass.
Julian: I behaved like Jesus.
Daddy & Mummy: Huh? (*eyebrow raised*)
Julian: Jesus is always good!
Daddy & Mummy: Oh...ok... :o)
[Julian on a deckchair at Kampung Air, Bukit Merah Laketown Resort]
Justin turned 6 years old on 25 July 2015.
[Justin cutting his birthday cake in an early celebration]
[Justin celebrating on his birthday]
Daddy was watching the "Tree House" episode of Peppa Pig with the kids. For anyone to enter the tree house, Peppa asks for the password: Daddy's big tummy. Justin was amused, and gave Daddy's (big?!) tummy a good whack. Ouch! *Daddy reminds himself to stop those stress eating*
After some time playing plasticine together, Julian suddenly complained that he was hit in the eye by one of Justin's creations.
Justin: ... but he hit me first!
Daddy: If you're hurting each other, then you'll have to settle it yourselves.
Julian: Justin, say "sorry".
Justin: Sorryyyyy...
Julian: Say "sorry" (very many) thousand million times.
Justin: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, ... (etc.)
After very many "sorrys"...
Julian: It was extremely hard.
Justin: ... but soft...
Daddy & Mummy: *shakes head*
I had always been curious about the local wild cherry tree. There used to be a big tree growing in the small field just opposite my childhood home in Batu Gajah. Back then, I dared not eat the fruit as I was not sure whether it was edible.
It was only recently that I learned that the fruits from the Muntigia calabura tree or ceri kampung (village cherry) tree were edible.
We came across many Muntingia trees along Pantai Bersih in Butterworth that had lots of ripe fruits. We decided to pluck some. The children enjoyed reaching and plucking the fruits.
The ripe fruits tasted very sweet and in some sense overpowering after eating more than a few. We made some jam and this was also difficult to eat to the extent that it was nauseating. Perhaps it's an acquired taste.
[Muntingia fruits]
[Muntingia jam]
Jianna turned 39 months old on 30 June 2015.
A Daddy-Daughter conversation...
Daddy: Jianna, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Jianna: I don't know.
Daddy: Do you want to be a teacher, dancer, doctor, engineer, fireman, pilot, artist, ...
Jianna: A princess.
Daddy: ?!?
Jianna usually wants Mummy when it comes to her bedtime routine. After learning a tip about asking narrow and leading questions to get someone to comply to something...
Daddy: Jianna, do you want to brush your teeth or go to the toilet?
Jianna: Mummy
Daddy ?!?
[Jianna]
[Giraffe under-carriage inspection]
Julian turned 97 months old on 28 June 2015.
Daddy was trying to wake Julian up one morning with some difficulty. On one of my last attempts, he responded, "I'm still charging." *slaps forehead*
At the Ulu Legong Hot Springs...
Julian: Mum, did you try the pool over there?
Mummy: No...it's very hot. I can see the smoke coming up.
Julian: That's not smoke! Are you crazy?
Mummy: What do you mean that's not smoke?
Julian: That's steam!
Mummy stands corrected. :o)
[Julian at the Taiping Zoo]
[Julian the budding durian lover]
Justin turned 70 months old on 25 May 2015.
This month, Justin asked some interesting questions:
#1 Why numbers don't end?
#2 Why [the] alphabet end[s]?
At his babysitter's, Justin told Uncle, "Pek Kong, you must not open the fridge for 5 hours. If you open the fridge, the hot air will go in." Shortly after, Aunty opened the fridge and found a broken egg at the bottom... This happened at around 4+ in the afternoon. He comes home around 6+ in the evening.
In our daily prayers, we always pray for Ah Kong & Poh Poh - that they may rest in peace. On one of the nights, Justin asked, "When will they rest in peace?" And on another night, he asked, "Will Ah Kong and Poh Poh rise from the dead like Jesus?" When Mummy said 'yes', he asked, "But how will they get out from the grave?"
[Justin engross with a composition]
[Justin playing his composition]
This is Kai Wo (chicken nest) - a pau (dumpling) that is a cross between a big pau and lor mai kai (sticky rice & chicken). Available only on Sundays at the Pin Sim Sing Kee restaurant in Menglembu, Perak.
[Looks like a big pau from the top]
[A whole different story inside]
We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary on 1 May 2015.
This year, we were in Medan over the long weekend. Subsequently, we were preoccupied with other things so much so that we only sat down for our anniversary prayer on 26 July 2016! Anyway, better late than never.
[Lighting our Unity Candle]
Day 4: Berastagi to Medan
We checked-out of Grand Mutiara Hotel Berastagi at about 8.00am.
Agriculture is big business in Berastagi and the surrounding area, thanks to the cool climate and fertile volcanic soil. The climate here is similar to that of Cameron Highlands. This makes the market a popular attraction.
On the way to the market, we stopped by the Church of St. Francis of Assisi.
[Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Berastagi]
[Interior of the church]
We arrived at the market at around 8.30am. There is a wide range of flowers, vegetables, fruits, as well as clothes and souvenirs. The fruits are perhaps a bit more interesting here. The passion fruit (markisa) and tamarillo (terung Belanda) are popular (they are also made into juice concentrate). Also available are the local persimmon, pepino (a kind of small purplish melon), snake fruit (salak), avocado, mango, grapes, and dragon fruit. It was also recommended we try the sweet-spicy grilled corn.
[Berastagi Market: Flowers]
[Berastagi Market: Vegetables]
[Berastagi Market: Fruits]
[Grilled and boiled corn]
After the market, we headed to Gundaling Hill - a popular lookout area to view Gunung Sinabung and Gunung Sibayak. We arrived at about 9.30am. Both volcanoes are still active. Gunung Sinabung has recently been erupting off and on. Besides the volcanoes, the kids were especially excited over the dandelions, wanting to pick the blowballs to blow.
[Gunung Sinabung]
[Gunung Sibayak]
[Dandelions on Gundaling Hill]
At about 10.15am, we arrived at a strawberry farm to pick strawberries. Unfortunately, it was off-season and the kids had to make do picking the left-overs. They didn't mind though. We did not see any dark red strawberries, but even the "off-red" ones were already as sweet as the ripe Cameron Highlands variety.
[Picking strawberries]
At 10.45am, we visited Lumbini Nature Park. It is a Buddhist temple with a wooded nature park nearby.
[Buddhist temple at Lumbini Park]
We left at about 11.15am and headed back to Medan. At about 1.00pm, we arrived at the Marian Shrine of Annai Velangkanni. It has a very unique and elaborate design. "Lessons" on the seven days of creation can be found on the circular ramps leading to the main church area. The seven sacraments can be found on the ceiling of the church. There is also a mini Jerusalem in one corner of the church compound.
[Marian Shrine of Annai Velangkanni]
[Interior of the shrine]
We were dropped-off at the Kuala Namu airport at about 3.00pm for our 6.30pm flight home to Penang.
For the record, we can think of perhaps two rather unfortunate incidences during the holiday:
- While having a dip in the bathtub in the hotel in Berastagi, Julian bumped his head against the bathtub tap, resulting in a 1cm gash. Luckily it was not as deep as his first (and major) gash. However, it was enough to cause a scene, and the obvious need for a plaster (see the photo of Julian picking the strawberry).
- We liked the mixed passion fruit and tamarillo juice (called martabe = markisa + terung Belanda) we order during one of our meals. So, at the Berastagi market, we bought a bottle each of passion fruit and tamarillo juice concentrate. However, we absent-mindedly forgot to check them in at the airport. They were discovered in one of our hand-carry bags during the security check and had to be left behind.
Overall, it was an enjoyable and interesting holiday. We were happy that the places we visited appealed to the adults as well as the kids.
Day 3: Samosir to Berastagi
We checked-out at 7.00am. As we drove away from Samosir Cottages, we saw some rocks that were rhyodacite lava domes.
[Rhyodacite lava dome]
[An idyllic lakeside view of Lake Toba]
At 7.30am, we arrived at our first stop for the day - the Stone Chair of King Siallagan. The stone chairs and statues found at this village were made from rhyodacite lava rocks we saw earlier. The chairs were used by the king and elders to conduct trials on crimes committed. Criminals who were sentenced to death are taken to another area for execution.
[The Stone Chair: Daddy on trial]
[A mock execution]
[Instruments used for execution]
We then took a long drive uphill to the Tele Viewing Tower located on the mainland just west of Samosir. We arrived at about 9.50am. From the tower, we enjoyed the panoramic view of Lake Toba and Samosir. The tower itself is rather shaby and not well maintained, but the view is truly amazing. There is a small shop in the area where we bought a few hard-boiled duck eggs, much to the amusement of the kids.
[The Tele Viewing Tower]
[A north-east view from the tower]
[A south-east view from the tower]
[A panoramic view from the tower (thanks to AutoStitch)]
At 11.15am we arrived at a hot spring, also on the mainland. It is a rocky, off-the-beaten-track sort of place with a small stream. Some rocks were stained yellow indicating the presence of sulfur, and the smell of the air confirmed this. Nearer the source, the water was really very hot. There were lots of piping in the area, very likely taking the water to hot spring bathing pools that are popular in the area.
[At the hot spring]
At 11.45am we had lunch at Saulina Resort. We order grilled ikan nila stuffed with sambal. It was delicious! Apparently, ikan nila is a popular aquacultured fish in the Lake Toba area, some of which are even exported to Europe we were told. As it turned out, after some Googling, ikan nila = Nile fish = Nile tilapia! Anyway, for a tilapia, it did not have the muddy-pondish taste of our local tilapia.
[Grilled Nile tilapia]
After lunch, we were back on Samosir. We were supposed to have gotten on the 1.30pm ferry from the Simanindo jetty but it was full. So, we took a short walk to another Batak Museum nearby to while-away some time.
[A traditional Batak boat at the Simanindo Batak Museum]
[The kids waiting for the ferry at Simanindo]
We caught the next available ferry at 4.15pm and drove towards Berastagi. On the way, we made a pit stop at Simarjarunjung at about 5.20pm to take some photos. Our driver, Jack, was anxious to get us to Sipisopiso waterfall by nightfall as it gets dark around 6-ish. To our relief, we arrived at Sipisopiso at around 6.10pm with just enough daylight to enjoy the spectacular view of the 120m waterfall. The water appears to be gushing out of "a hole in the wall".
[Sipisopiso waterfall]
By about 6.30pm it was already dark. We had dinner at one of the stalls at the Sipisopiso lookout area. We had simple fried instant noodles (because of the kids) at tourist prices, but the experience of dining in a rural jungle-like environment with a chorus of crickets singing in the background made up for it.
We made it to Grand Mutiara Hotel Berastagi at about 8.30pm.
