Lake Toba short trip (February 2015)

Having holidays is rare for me, and the celebration of Chinese New Year had provided the right opportunity to visit one of my most favourite places - Tuk-Tuk, Lake Toba. Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake of the world. Indonesia is proud to have it.

I embarked on the journey two days ago with my friends, Meilina and Pete. Reserving the stay for three days two nights, we were excited for this trip.

The first day was stained by the gloomy rain and flood. It was a long journey but we had the nicest driver ever from the shared taxi named Puba, we were thankful. When we arrived at Tuk-Tuk, it was almost 6 pm. The weather was cold, still raining and we could not see the mountains properly, the shrouds of mist could be seen in the distance.

After checking in our guesthouse, we could not deny our grumbling stomachs. We ordered quick meal in the guesthouse. A rock would taste like bread for Pete. We were halfway stopping him from feasting on the chairs when his meal suddenly arrived.  That  helped a lot. After that, we walked on that chilly night to a restaurant called Jenny's. We placed our orders and waited while watching Pete do his impression.

About an hour later, our foods finally arrived. I had grilled lake fish. Needless to say, it was tasty. We could breathe properly again. Literally!

Then, we went to Samosir Cottage, close to the restaurant. We watched the Bataknese traditional dance. Meilina and Pete had a chance to participate in the dance.

 

That is the end of Day 1

On Day 2, we decided to walk to Tomok to check out the preserved Batak Houses that belonged to the Kings in the past. The walk was long but I greatly enjoyed the beauty of the surrounding. It was such a lovely day. Breathing the fresh air, I could smell the aroma of the green leaves. Flowers danced along the road. I was in a photographer's heaven - the majestic view of mountains, rice paddies, lush green foliage along the lake mixed with tall coconut trees, they all nourished my every sense.

 

Our encounters on this footpath with cute dogs were sweet. We met a special  dog that Pete called Jalan, because he followed and walked (jalan) with us for some time.  

Pete and Jalan

After a couple hours of walking - I completely enjoyed the scenic route as well as Meilina and Pete's company - we arrived at Romlan, our guesthouse. Such a welcome respite from the heat.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." This does not apply to swimming in the lake I'm sure. It would kill me. I still could remember vividly that I almost drowned in that part of the lake. I battled myself in my mind about braving myself  to swim. The cowardly me won the battle. So I simply watched Meilina and Pete enjoying their swimming time.

Oh well, I would swim when I got better with my swimming skill. That's a challenge now.

A satisfactory way to end the day, my shower awaited and a soft pillow to rest my head. 
 

That's the end of Day 2

Waking up to a nice sunrise and azure sky the next morning, I utterly felt grateful. Gratitude is such an incredible feeling if we wrap our arms around it.

Refreshed from a hot meal we then headed back home. Lake Toba is bursting with natural beauty.Time to move on...

 See you soon, Lake Toba.

Excursion (a Sunday getaway from hectic activities to basically tire myself out)

It's been some time since the last time I wrote my thoughts here. Hectic days - teaching and working have been what my days are full of. As if I couldn't tire myself enough, today, I went to Mount Sibayak for hiking. Maggie convinced me to join even though I knew I would be knackered. I have a lot of students to teach and work to do on Monday so I didn't know what I was thinking when I said yes to her for this hiking trip.

The troops consist of Maggie, Meilina, Marisa, Diana, and Sam. Cameron and Andi cancelled joining due to some stomach bugs. There was no toilet in the mountain, obviously. It rained heavily this morning, yet my excitement did not subside. Afterall the downpour was washing away the lingering heat. Packed with my jacket, a hat, and a tongsis (monopod/ read: narcissistic stick) to take a wider range of picture, I was more than prepared to embark on this journey.

That preparation, however, did not include not drinking much water and pee before getting on the bus. After one-hour ride on the bus, I knew I could not stand it anymore. I just needed to pee so bad. I asked Maggie to nudge Suryadi (her friend, the organizer of this tour) to stop at any gas station so I could use the toilet. Like a balloon that was growing larger and larger, about to burst, my need to pee was twice as explosive as that. No, I am not exaggerating. The driver had been notified and maybe he thought I was just joking, several toilets were passed and I was crying inside. Finally, I told them I would pee on the bus if I did not get the toilet to use. I was relieved that eventually I was heard. They stopped by a small diner, and I was able to do my stuff.
The journey went on, pretty uneventful. We arrived at Sidebu-Debu hot spring. It was also a bus parking area. Our journey began here.

I was walking allright at first, pacing slowly, breathing properly, enjoying the nature and fresh air. It lasted 15 minutes. When I started to climb stairs that seemed endless, hike the seemingly impossible pathways, my excitement flew away with the birds in the sky. HIKING IS NOT EASY, what am I thinking? Why can't I spend my Sundays like a normal person. Either I teach the whole day or hike. I HAVE TO ALWAYS TIRE MYSELF OUT. Why why why? These self-blaming thoughts ran inside my mind, squeezing my brain, my breath was short and I was panting. I was not able to hike more, I kept taking a break and I felt so bad to make Maggie and Yupitera (the other guide and also Maggie's friend) wait for me. I had also gulped down the one water bottle I took.

I oscillated betwen going back or  going on and after a long and arduous 1 hour of hiking, my legs had turned jelly. No matter how hard I tried to climb and walk, my legs were crying. The legs had the mind of their own, pleading me to stop. So I did. 

I told Yupitera and Maggie I could not make it to the summit. I asked them to go on climbing and I would go back on my own. Being a polite and nice guy, Yupitera insisted on joining me while Maggie, continued the journey.

Going down was so much easier. I was not fighting the gravity and I enjoyed it more.I wish I had not been this weak but lack of exercise, no breakfast contributed to all of this vulnerability. Yupitera and I reached the buses area and we found a place to drink and eat our lunch. Conversation with him was interesting and it helped to cope with my disappointment for giving up.
A few hours went by and we had to fetch the others from a certain spot. On my way there, this time on the bus, I had a chance to take a picture of this view.

I am sure the view they took from the top of the mountain was very beautiful but I was more than satisfied to enjoy this one for today. It is more than a pretty picture on postcards.

They arrived at the spot and we decided to grab some corns in the Penatapan (Viewing area) at  Brastagi and I got to enjoy another breathtaking view there. The weather was very cold, though.

We went back to the bus soon after and despite the long traffic we faced on our way back to Medan, I am sure today has been a fun day for everyone.

Hiking Mount Sibayak = Mission Accomplished failed.

White Noise (1985)

I read this book as a friend recommended it to me. It was intriguing to me because of the idea of post modern/ contemporary literature, which was something I had never learnt about till I read this book. Thanks to my friend, Alex.

The story is bizarre. It took me some time to get into this book. I had to re-read some parts. Anyway, the grotesque element is the fact that it is giving me a feeling of dystopia. If I could summarize this book in one phrase, it is probably "A denial of death".

It is about a man named Jack Gladney, a professor in Hitler studies, who is in the fourth marriage with Babette. Their kids from their previous marriages are weird, brilliantly smart and precocious. The story is divided into three sections. The first section is slow, this is the part I had to re-read several times just because I lost track, also this book is a tough-read. But the main bulk of the story lies in the second and the third parts, in which the story develops more, from the point of airborne toxic event  as Jack got exposed to the air for a few minutes and then he's constantly obsessed in his mind about his own death. It is an incessant battle. His fear of death shuts him to accept many ideas too, for example when his son's friend would like to challenge death with snakes, he could not try to accept it at all. Lots of conversations in this novel I think are very philosophical, and the plot is a little bit unsettling. For example Jack and Heinrich's talk about rain, or the philosophical talk between Jack and his doctor. It jumps from one character's development to another, then there are bizarre conversations between  Jack and his friend, Murray, Jack on Hitler and Murray on Elvis Presley, which make this novel comical in its own way. 

This book is very futuristic, given that it was actually written long time ago, and therefore the consistency that links it to the modern world today is uncanny - people who rely heavily on technology, all the white noise (air-con, television, fan, telephone), swayed away people on what has become more important in their lives. Furthermore, this technology should have helped humans in terms of death, yet, in this book, Jack and his wife are constantly in fear of death. They are pushed to the surface, the discussion about who will die first between him and his wife is intense, the death itself has become the central theme in this book. It makes this man inside Jack introspective but obsessive with death.

The book is also dramatized satirically about how the modern society keep focusing on consumerism, with references like the way  people spend loads of their time in the supermarkets, mocking that it is all futile. Technology is useless.

The ending, however, is predictable, and so I don't really like the ending, or maybe that's the way Don Delillo wanted to play with the plot, making it confusing and completely predictable.

♥♥♥♥

Life of Pi (2012)

I just watched Life of Pi. It is a film adaptation from a novel by Yann Martel. I've got the book for a long time, but I haven't read it. The movie makes me want to read it soon! The novel was previously deemed unfilmable but it was brought to the screen in breathtaking fashion by Oscar-winning director Ang Lee. He cast Suraj Sharma — a 17-year-old with no previous acting experience — in the lead role of Pi Patel.

The story is a grand adventure on an epic scale, a survival story that takes up half the movie. Life of Pi is about a man named Pi who survived storm with a tiger. He confronts thirst and starvation, finds a modus vivendi with the fierce tiger, endures and wonders at a mighty storm, a squadron of flying fish, a humpbacked whale, a school of dolphins, a night illuminated by luminous jellyfish. The 227 days at sea are a test of physique, mental adaptation and faith.

This poetic Life of Pi concludes with a fascinating, deliberately prosaic coda that raises questions about the reality of what we've seen and confronts the teleological issues involved.

Life of Pi has contributed to one of 2012’s most memorable movie ever.

100% for Life of Pi

The Selection by Kiera Cass (2012)

The selection is a modern fairytale. It's like a Cinderella story. It's set in a future country with a caste system in this world that goes from one to eight. One being very rich and eight being very poor. The Selection gets held for the prince where out of 35 women he gets to narrow it down to one girl he picks as his princess. So notices gets sent to all the girls to the age of 16 to 20 and all the girls go crazy submitting their entries for THE SELECTION. Thirty-five girls compete against one another to catch the heart of a prince. However, there is one lady who goes to the selection not out of her own will. She falls in love with someone else! But throughout the time, she becomes in limbo, her heart starts tingling for the prince, yet she can't forget her first love.
The story has a very interesting setting. For me, love triangle is usually cliche, but it works on this one. I enjoy reading this book! I do feel like the writing is not exactly mind-blowing, but it doesn't really matter on this one. The story is fun! I want to read the sequel.

70% for this one

Out of my mind by Sharon M Draper (2010)

The novel is mind-blowing. I love the way the story is written. The story is compelling, making me cry in some of the parts. It's about a young girl who has to struggle with cerebral palsy. A brilliant-minded girl trapped in such disability when she is incapable of expressing herself with words, but she's full of thoughts. The author uses first person narrative and she makes Melody, the girl, sounds like a very witty, smart yet sensitive person. I can't imagine being in her position, but she is a very tough girl. She loves to learn, and although sometimes the surrounding is being cold to her, insensitive and discriminatory, she perseveres. Society can be intolerant sometimes, especially towards those who have physical limitations. This book shows conflicts that are very real and heart-breaking. She endures anyhow, and she brings tears to my eyes. This is an uplifting story everyone must read. My favourite!

100% for this book

Till we meet again, Mia :')

Mia, my lovely student

My student will leave for Singapore soon, she applied for SCGS (Singapore Chinese Girls' School), and is accepted and granted the full scholarship. I am very happy for her. Simple fact, I guided her English and I am happy she got the scholarship. But Mia is also an interesting student. She came off as a shy girl, but she's very enthusiastic in studying. She's nerdy as well as I am, and I always love her energy. She is also a very kind and polite girl. I can't say how proud I am for her. I am very sad yet happy at the same time. It is weird when I can be very happy for her, but I will miss all the moments teaching her and discussing with her. :') I will wish her all the best from the deepest of my heart. :')

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Moonrise Kingdom is one of my favourite movies of all time. We should expect nothing less than from the talented Wes Anderson, an awesome storyteller who has a knack for creating characters that are very memorable. The film is a rare and beautiful feat to capture the essence of innocent first love in all its quirky grandeur. Wes Anderson brings this delightful story to life in dripping romantic hews.

It boasts the strongest casts of the year for example Edward Norton (my favourite), Bruce Willis and Bill Murray but the two central characters in Moonrise Kingdom are actors you won’t be familiar with – Jared Gilman as Sam and Kara Hayward as Suzy. The comedic performances are delivered with a terrific tenderness and sincerity from the typically powerhouse dramatic players. Edward Norton is  perfect as the sweet man-child Scout Master Ward. Bruce Willis’ Captain Sharp is caring, yet downtrodden local Sheriff whose characterisation infers a hard past filled with regret. Bill Murray's the father of the girl, also delivers comedic gold. Yet, the true triumph of the film is director Wes Anderson’s ability craft terrifically sincere and pure performances from the two debut leads in Gilman and Hayward. For both, it’s their very first acting credit.

At its core, this is a sweet, endearing tale about two prepubescent kids who think they’ve discovered love for the first time. They’re a delight to watch.

100% for this movie.

The Big Bang Theory: My favorite TV show

I love everything about The Big Bang Theory. I love the fact the casts speak in complicated English. I love the fact they are very nerdy. I can totally relate to that, though I am not as nerdy as they are.

I totally love all the casts, but my favorite is Howard Wolowitz, I think he's super romantic and sweet. I love it when Sheldon says "Bazinga" to trick his friends. The characters are somewhat stereotypical; the guys' "nerdiness" is evidenced by their love of science fiction, abstract theoretical discussions, and inability to talk to women, while Penny, at least initially, exhibits a lot of "dumb blonde" traits.

 

The first time I watched the show I think was 3 years ago, I totally fell in love with it. Then I recently watched it again and now I'm more and more addicted to it. I hope there will be more seasons to come for this show.

Nick Vujicic

“I don’t care if you are a good mathematician, or a good athletic, or not good at anything- that you think. But I’m gonna come and tell you that you’re awesome the way you are.”
– Nick Vujicic

I am so inspired by him... When I listen to his talks, I can't help crying. I feel like I have wasted my time so much, there are many valuable things I can do now to help people. I need to see this life in a better perspective. I love my family, my dog, my job, my friends, and I have more than enough that can make me happy. Whining is not good, I will try to do better and learn to be more humble...