My mother has a sister in Medan. I was browsing the internet and suddently had a idea..why don't I take my mom to visit her sister. It is my intention to make her happy and to please her always. For children to please a mom is an easy task. More often that not, we are too busy to please them although a phone call is easy to make and would make them very happy. Everytime when we call her, she will tell others about it. My mom - she will never ask for anything. Whenever I go any where and ask her what she wants, she will say.. "nothing. I only want you to be safe". May Allah bless my mom for being so kind to us. So that is why I decided to take her and my sister to see my aunt in Medan.
It was a good flight. My regret was only that I did not request for a wheel chair for mom. She said it is alright for her to walk and not to worry. I forgot that my mom will never ask.. she would say ok until it is too much to take. When we reach there, my aunt was already waiting. We stayed at her place as a gesture of respect and of course, it would mean saving lots of money and perhaps spending the money saved on shopping ;-)
Medan is not like Bandung. It is not heaven for shoppers. There was not many choices and there were too many walking-the-street sellers selling all sorts of goodies to you. It was rather annoying but I guess, the style was everywhere in Indonesia. You just have to make the most of it and look at the bright side. Which bright side? I don't have the answer!
It is good to take Amir to Medan. The time when we were about to go to the airport for our departure, we saw chidren, ages 5-12 begged on the street. They knocked car windows and ask for money. We watched from afar as they did not come to our window. THey tried their luck while the traffic lights were still on red. Amir watched. I hope he realised that not many children are as lucky as he is. I know he had seen it on TV but never on real life. It should be an eye opening event for him.
I guess Amir experienced lot so things.. things he take for granted are actually not available for many people there. You can see that people are striving for their living. In the area that we stayed - many houses are converted into a shop. They will do just about anything - according to their specialization, of course! When we reach there, Amir's first question was "Is there any cyber cafes?" I thought the answer would probably be "NO" but to my surprise, there are!!! Of course, my aunt and auntie do not know about these cyber cafes but Amir roamed around. He found so many cyber cafes around the vicinity. In fact, the nearest was only about 300meters away. So Amir killed his luxurious time at the nearby cyber cafes playing his games. And it was very cheap... only around 3000 rupiahs about RM1 per hour.
Well.. i did not let him spend too much time playing games. Most of the time, he'll be at home with us including spending his time, talking to my uncle. My uncle is a real scientist. He is an old man in his late 60s or early 70s. I forgot to ask about his age. There was a picture of him when he was still a baby in his dad's arm. He has the Pangeran Deponegoro's blood (the ??th generation) - the Javanese warrior who fights against the Dutch. He told us his stories... how he went to school and the parents spoke dutch at home but was never taught dutch. So when he was young, he can understand but cannot speak the language. Now, he forgot the language because not many indonesians speaks dutch anymore. He told us the difference between the dutch and the british colonies. How they ruled the country and how they treated the people. The dutches took almost everything and left them with nothing. Not even knowledge! They make the people feel like they can't do anything and that they should rely on other people. I believe many successful Indonesians are those who realise the trick and believe that they should improve. I believe my uncle is one of them. He is a famacist and is very knowledgable about chemicals and herbal medicine. I envy him for his knowledge and admire his passion for reading. Amazing man! Amir was impressed too!
Nowadays, although the country is rather poor in general, but the people are working very hard. They are very creative. If you go to their shops, you can see all sorts of fashion, for children or adults. I was really amazed of the designs that they come out with. Very fashionable and stylish and they have them matched in terms of color and fabric from head to toe. Yes.. they are quite fashionable people. But of course, the taste of fashion is a bit different in Malaysia. But in general, I believe they are very creative people.
I guess the best part for everyone was Danau Toba. The lake is huge. You can't see the other side of the lake - 100 by 30kms. It was created when there was a supervolcanic eruption which happens around 70,000 years ago. That is what people say. In the middle of it, is Samosir island. We rode the public ferry because it was cheaper but I regreted because as for other public transportations in Indonesia, you cannot expect much from them. I just can't stand the dangdut music that was too loud. Other passengers were enjoying it I guess! They didn't look like they suffer much like I was! Yes, dangdut can kill me ;-(
To me, the best part of the trip was the food. We were usually served with food cooked by my cousin. She is a lawyer and has a firm there. She practised law with her husband. THey are doing very well, in fact! Before going to work, she will cook for us. Oh.. I love the food. She can cook the Minang style or the Batak style. I don't ask much when I love the food because I will keep myself busy with eating and enjoying the provision Allah keep for me. If I don't like the food, I will eat less and talk more ;-)
The night of the departure, they sent us to the airport. The airport was small and they can't go in and we had to say goodbye at the door. We hugged each other and was really satisfied with the hospitality that was given to us. Not many people would allow others to interupt their lives for 5 days and constantly entertaining us. We hugged each other and say good bye. Although I did not buy much and had limited time shopping (which I wish I was given more time or the shopping malls are bigger), I was happy as I believe I have made my mom happy. Isn't that what this trip is all about? And I saw my mom was smiling while walking to the plane! Gosh! I wish I had requested the wheel chair this time!!
