Ok, having gotten so serious in my last post, I think it's time to lighten things up a bit and talk about the food, the sights, and so on...To be honest, Medan is a crazy city - it's big, it's hot, it's polluted, and the traffic is awful! But, it is also incredibly fascinating and layered and is situated in the most amazing region in North Sumatra which is surrounded by beautiful places (at least in the areas where palm oil and rubber plantations have not taken over)....and the food is outstanding, especially for one like me who eats a rice-based diet :-)
So let's start with food...I've tried so many new things in the past few weeks that I can't even begin to describe all of them, but I'll list some highlights and then give you a couple of visuals so that you can get a sense of the feasts I've enjoyed...
Rendang (a food I knew from NYC actually) is my favorite of Indonesian foods and I have feasted on it three times thusfar. I love it!
Sate is also well known in the U.S., but not in all the varieties one can find here: clam, beef heart...I stick to the chicken sate.
Lontok is a pounded, steamed rice that is then sliced and eaten with a spicy peanut sauce and vegetables such as
pacal or with sate or whatever. It's kind of like mochi, though not quite as dense and it is served savory, not sweet.
Bakso is incredibly popular with the students and is supposedly one of the two foods (the other being
sate) that President Obama said he liked on a recent visit to Indonesia.
Bakso are meatballs and their served in a soup with vegetables and noodles.
Nasi goreng is a classic: fried rice.
Ayam penyet is a kind of pounded and fried chicken...I don't understand how it is made actually, but it is like a roast chicken, sort of, and is quite delicious.
Bihun kuah is a rice noodle soup with vegetables and seafood that can be quite spicy or not and is really good and nourishing. And these are just some of the Indonesian food highlights - there are delicious Chinese foods as well...and the veggies (especially the greens) and fruits are amazing! So fresh, so flavorful, so delightful. I'm feasting on as much pineapple and papaya and mango and passion fruit and rambutan (just came in season) and watermelon and asian pears as I can!
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| This was a delicious meal of fresh fish, vegetable soup, spicy tofu and shrimp, and rice. We were at a wonderful roadside restaurant with Ibu Dewi, a friend of Zulfah's, and we sat and ate lesehan style...meaning sitting on the floor around a table outdoors. Wonderful! |
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| Here's Ibu Dewi with so many amazing dishes. This type of restaurant has many, many, many foods prepared and they bring you a bit of everything. You pay for what you eat...and we enjoyed chicken, fish curry, wonderful sauteed greens, spicy eggplant, green beans, and more. Most of my meals are much simpler than the two illustrated here - my lunch is rice and some protein and veggie dishes wrapped in a banana leaf; breakfast is rice and egg or whatever yummy treats my host family is eating that day. |
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In addition to eating well, I've had the great fortune of having many gracious and generous tour guides take me to the sights in and around Medan. I've seen so many things and will offer a few photos and short stories below:
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| Danau Toba (Lake Toba) viewed from the road leading into Parapat. The countryside near Lake Toba is lovely - terraced rice paddies, small vegetable farms, some plantations...and then you see this. Gorgeous! |
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| Another view of the hills and the lake, from our ferry en route to Samosir Island. |
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| Yes, this is still Lake Toba! I love the color of the water - wanted to swim and play here so much and hope to return. I also loved the canoes (roughly-carved from a single tree it looked like) kids were steering around a tourist spot. |
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| The ferry ride was an hour long, and cool, and relaxing...Suriana took a sweet nap as we traveled. |
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| When we arrived on Samosir Island we encountered a great monument to Batak culture which included these symbols: geckos and four breasts. The geckos are the key symbol of the Batak and are said to represent protection, loyalty, and adaptability. The four breasts represent the two wives that a Batak king took (the 2nd one he married because the first was infertile) and, according to a guide who showed us around the sites, they symbolize life, fertility, harmony, and peace. |
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| Zulfah and I are standing by some ancient sculptures of guards to a graveyard area that has the graves of three Batak kings: one from the kingdom of wood, one from the kingdom of stone, and one from the kingdom (or era) of bone. |
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| Parapat is a very popular tourist destination for both Indonesian and foreign tourists. Families were picnicking, swimming, and relaxing at this port area. |
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| Before visiting Toba, we went to a palm oil refinery construction project that Ibu Dewi has contracted and which she needed to check on. It was fascinating (and horrific) on so many levels. The smoke you see in the background is from a neighboring factory already in operation. The effect of the palm oil industry on the environment is absolutely devastating...and where can it be found? In our junk foods: oreos, chips, etc. etc. etc. |
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| Bamboo is used as a common scaffolding material throughout Indonesia (and other parts of the world). I love the way it looks and the patterns which are created. |
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| On a different trip, Ibu Dewi, Suriana, and Zulfah took me to see the port just outside Medan. I'm so glad I got to see the water there! Wish I could have gone out for a boat ride, but looking at the condition of the boats it is probably best I didn't. |
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| This particular port area has heavy industry to the left and then a sort of touristy area with an enclosed swimming area that was empty on the Friday afternoon we visited, but is packed on most weekends and holidays. |
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| Today I had a chance to visit Maimoon Palace, a late-19th century palace build for a Malayu sultan which is being haphazardly preserved today as a tourist attraction while also being lived in by descendants of the sultan. |
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| Sukmawati and Mince, a physics and an English teacher from SMA 3, served as my tour guides on this outing. Sukmawati loves to sing and had a song for almost everything we did this afternoon :-) |
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| The sultan's throne is behind us. |
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| Indonesian tourists love to dress up as Malayu princes and princesses and have studio portraits taken...the activity in this part of the palace was particularly fun! |
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| The Grand Mosque near the city center. |
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| Crocodile Park is a local tourist attraction as well...and it is a rather dismal place. Look at all of these poor 4 year old crocodiles packed together :-( |
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| Conditions are somewhat better for the bigger crocs that get to swim in this swampy lake...but not much. There were so many of them crowded together I wouldn't be surprised if they turn on each other and cannibalize from time to time. |
