Strawberry

I love to eat fresh strawberry...only fresh strawberry..I don't really fancy whatever foods or drinks that is strawberry base. But in Malaysia the strawberry are very expensive particularly, the one that are imported. Yes, we do have our own strawberry plantation but the fruit is quite small compare to the imported one and I found that they are very sour. Little that I know at that time that its the weather & soil that make strawberry either sweet or sour. 

I first bought my strawberry plant more than 3 years ago. I started with just 3 baby strawberry plant. The harvest was not so great during the first year so I thought ok..nevermind.

This is our very own strawberry planter box, which we made from recycle materials from the barn. If you live in the countryside, you need to be handy and creative I guess. We decided that it may need a big planter box like this as the plant will spread all over through the years and what do you know, from 3 strawberry plant now I have more than 30 strawberry plant. Each year it gives me berries more than I can consume, which I made into a jam, berry juice, ice cream or as part of baking ingredients.

The strawberry plant is up and alive now as soon it will flower. 

Tadaaa....now all the plants have flower on it. When it start to flower that is the time that the plant need water the most. I normally water the plant twice a day, morning & evening. Not enough water will make the berry sour. When it started to bear berry, we will cover the whole planter box with netting to avoid other living creature eat it especially the deer as we do have quite a number of deer around here.

I will update you guys once the berry is visible.

  

Horror story

I am really into horror movie, drama & novel. Not that I am that brave but sometimes when I have too many things in my mind or when I am worry or sad, I turn to horror movie or novel. It is just a way for me to scare myself and not thinking about the worries I have. I will just think about ghost. I guess people just have their own way to deal with their worries. Anyway, I was intrigged to read this book after I saw one of my friend post it on his Instagram. He recommended it & the next day without wasting any time, I go to MPH and search for it. Walllaaa...got it.

This is the first book I bought from series of Projek Seram's book by Buku Prima. I rarely read Malay novel because in my opinion their writing and story line is very lame. Not creative enough that it manage to make me think. I feel that most is quite boring and normally it involved only one character. But this is different. It is well written, very detail, involve quite a number of character with different personality and the writer manage to spark that 'thinking mode' in you. Each story has a flashback and the writer really manage to blend the current & the flashback 'scene' that make you understand why the 'incidence' happen in the first place. This particular book tell you three stories related to mysteries encounter/incidence that happen in a museum. Well, I can very much relate to it as I believe museum is a creepy place albeit content lots of historical knowledge for us.
  

This I just finish reading it last night. My imagination went wild when reading this one. Very much can relate it especially with bully cases in public school nowadays are getting lots of media attention, particularly when the victim pass away due to the action. All the stories in this series are related to bullying incident in school, whu ironically always happened in the toilet.
Actually this is my third book from this series. The second book is Projek Seram Pulau but I am not so impress with the second read because I feel that the 'ghost' is more like a mutant alien or creature. The spririt world I can understand but creature...hmmm...

I have two more books from Buku Prima so I'll update you guys about it soon!

Ke Indonesia Kita?? Kali ini ke Medan.

This is not a plan trip in term of the place. Originally, we were supposed to go to Luang Prabang in Laos. But unfortunately, Airasia had cancelled the route completely and for us to go there, we need to go via Vientiane (Laos) or Doung Muang in Thailand. With just 3 days I think it will not make any sense as transit time will be a waste and with two senior citizen & a toddler, I think it will be a hassle and stressful trip. So me & Rita decided to use the refund and bought ticket elsewhere, which finally we decided on Medan. So..that was how we end up in Medan, Indonesia.

Always ready for some adventure..my little travel buddy!

I did not have any expectation when I arrived in Medan but myyy...I was very impressed and surprised that the airport is very modern & nice. I actually expect it to be old and probably out dated. Boy was I wrong. hahaha..

As usual when I travel with my parents, I make sure I booked a driver..and here we are waiting for the driver to bring the car over. 

We stay at Roemah (pronounce as Rumah) 28. The place is cosy and quiet as it is situated within a housing area. One down side is that it is quite a distant to the town centre. The cafe's food is nice. But bare in mind that food in Medan is generally spicy. I am the only one who enjoy it very much. Not only they mix it with fresh chilies, they also give a generous spread of chilies flakes on your food! hahhaha...And Indonesian like their drink to be sweet (well at least here in Medan) that I need to constantly remind them not to add condense milk/sugar. On our first day, we didn't do much. Everyone was deprived of sleep since we all need to be at the airport before 7am so we took the chance to rest since we arrived in Medan quite early.

I realised that Medan town is very unorganised..I mean everything is everywhere. The eating shop, souvenir, mall, hotels, tourist attraction..they do not centred in one area. You really need to go here & there ..and even better to hired a 'supir' to really go around. Medan is a very busy town ..car everywhere..honking every minute..hahaha...my son don't really like it when they just can't stop honking. The honking remind me of China ..So since we do not hired any 'supir' for that day we just walking around aimlessly and just discover the place ourselves.

We slept early on our first night as we need to move quite early the next day for our trip to Lake Toba, Berastagi & Parapat.

I thank God that he is a morning person. We left the hotel at 6am and he woke up at 530am by himself to get ready for the trip. Well, of course he slept along the way...hahaha...

We left the hotel without breakfast so this is our first stop after 3 hrs of driving. What I love about road trip is the scenery & we get to see the small town that we pass along the way. 

Everyone is hungry at this point including the 'supir'..hahaha

This is Lake Toba. 

View from the top

Ok..here's the thing..we did not cross over the lake and go to Samosir Island. There are two reasons for that, the first one is because my mom is a bit superstitious. She learns that the island is the original place of the Batak people and historically, Batak people do not bury the dead..they literally it the dead so that they can continue on living inside them. Well..that was long...long..longggg time ago as now a majority of tha Batak people are Christian. But still my mum do not want to go there..hahaha..Second reason is the safety issue. There was an incident happened the year before where a ferry was capsized at the Lake which killed all the passenger. Why it happen? Overloaded of passenger and car, no life jacket and lack of maintenance of the ferry. At the same time, the ferry was still operating even though the weather was bad. Hence, me & Rita reluctantly agreed to skip the boat ride to Samosir Island and just satisfied by viewing the lake from above the cafe. Hahhaha...I cant possibly leave my parents at the other side while the three of us go to the island. 

This will do..hahaha...at least as proof that we did went to Lake Toba

This place call Sukarno museum. This is where Sukarno hide running from the Dutch army.

Look at that...with the cold breeze..I did not feel that I am in Indonesia..terasa macam di negara barat plak aku...feel2 di switzerland.  hahahha

Then off we go to Berastagi, which will take ard 2.5hrs of driving from Lake Toba. The scenery was breathtaking, it was beautiful, full of greenery, plantation, fruits farms and vegetable farms. We we passing from one small town and villages to another. I realised that the Batak people like to bury their loved one near their house. There are cemetery everywhere and it is really build within their house's compound. I cant help but asking our 'supir' why. He said that they just want to be near them even though they are no longer alive. My mom have to asked the question..Aren't they afraid of the dead? " Apa mau takut omma? Sudah mati. Engka boleh buat apa2. Yang hidup kita harus takutin."...

Before reaching Berastagi, we make a pit stop at Sipiso Piso Waterfall. This is actually a river which end up at a hole at a stony hill..hence, that how it become waterfall. You can actually go all the way down but I did not go because my son will surely want to follow. From Sipiso Piso, it will take less than 2hrs to reach Berastagi, which is very popular for its fruits market. We stop by for lunch at a padang restaurant. The food is spicy but nice.

 In Berastagi, we took a climb (via car..haaha) to Gundaling Hill to view the two majestic mountain, Mount Sinabung & Mount Sibayak. Being on top of the hill the air feel fresh, clean and cold with occasional smell of horse poop. Hahhaha.. 

The view is to die for. The place is so peaceful and quiet..no wonder there are few people who just spread a mat and sleep there. Once you on top of the hill, you can see the whole town and farms everywhere. On our way down to Berastagi, the 'supir' decided to use the scenic road..I didn't even sleep because there are so much to see. The fruit market was huge but we reached there almost 5pm so most of the seller has gone home. But we manage to get good price for avocado, strawberry, mango, buah salak and oranges.

Although it was an unplanned trip but it was a great one. Medan actually offer a lot of outdoor activities and for those outdoor junkie, this place is highly recommended. I wish I have time for the hiking, trekking, waterfall, river etc but we only have 3days. You can skip the town as there is nothing much to offer. Just go to the outskirt of Medan and you won't regret it.

We are off to KL but we'll be back to Indonesia soon! I like to go to Indonesia because there are a lot of places to explore and discover. Furthermore, it is near to home as my parents are not so fit anymore to endure long flight hours. Next trip Jakarta-Bogor-Bandung! Yeahh..

Kota Yogyakarta

The trip was 2 years ago but I haven't got the time to write anything on it. I know many has went to Yogya and I think the places we went will not be any different than the places that others went to. Since this is my first trip to Yogya, I thought that I will go to the tourist attraction that is considered as a 'must' if you go to Yogya. We went to Kraton..

The whole 'clan' is here...my son, friend, nephew & parents.

Then we also covered Prambanan Temple. Unfortunately, the budget is not quite there to include the night Ramayana Show at night. But I'll be back and this time I'll make sure boleh cover tgk the show.

After Kraton, we visit the Taman Sari or Water castle since it's just nearby. But honestly, nothing much and the place look so run down & there's no water in the pond. Luckily the entrance is less than RM5 so it's ok. Janji aku tengok.

 We also managed to go for a jeep ride to the Merapi Mountain, which erupted less than 10 years ago. The jeep ride although quite pricey was worth it. My son really enjoyed it so much and so do I. However my mom was not so happy after the ride as it hurt her back she said. Hahhaha...and she was so scare when we were at the mountain as she afraid that it might erupt anytime while we're there. Our 'supir' told us that his house was one of the houses that got destroyed when Mount Merapi erupted ...rumah nya keberantakkan...I quote...but it's part & puzzle of living here he said.

There we were, at the top of the bunker. It supposed to be a refuge for the villager when the volcano erupt. Unfortunately, some have died while waiting for someone to open the bunker's door.  

And of course, we did visited the majestic Borobudor. The one place that I have always wanted to go ever since I know its existent. I think this is one of the most significant places I visited after Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Not so much of people that day..probably because we visited the place on a weekday.

What make it more special is that I get to visit Borobudor with my son. He was just 2 years old during this trip & he managed to go all the way up to the top of the temple. We been on the road the whole day and never did once he complaint or whining about how tired he was. But that night he did slept early and soundly.

My parents also enjoyed the trip and love the place very much. 

I always wanted for my son to travel and see the world. I am willing to work hard to make sure I can afford to bring him to see places & expose him to people from different cultures and background. I am hoping that he will be able to learn to respect and appreciate the differences in others through all these travelling. 

Personally, I love Yogyakarta and I do hope that I will have the opportunity to go there again and this time, probably visit some of the places that I don't get to see during this trip. I learn to admired the beauty of the Indonesian people and their resilience through time of distraught and how the find the courage to fight back and rebuild their life after a natural disaster. I also found out that sustainability really a practise in Indonesia. As my mom said, if you are not lazy, you will always find a way to live in this land, which I do agree.

 During our visit, Indonesia going to celebrate their independent day and everywhere we go, we saw people putting up string and poles full of small colourful flag. When we asked the 'supir' what is it for and who actually instruct them to put it up? He said..it's just a way for them to celebrate their independent and they put it up because they want to and no one paying them anything for it. Make me think..such spirit has long gone in my own country. Thank you Yogya for the good trip and adventure for us and we will sure to come back.

Gardening

I am not one of those passionate or avid gardener unlike my brother & mom. I only start my luck in gardening when I am in Denmark. Why? Because the weather is nice enough for you to be outside even during summer. I started with flower then gradually tried my luck with vegetables. I think I manage to grow and harvest both of each. For the past 3 years we have eaten our own home grown carrot, potato, green peas, tomato, cucumber, strawberry, plum, blackberry, red currant and pumpkin. This year we plant the most type of vegetables including the one that I brought all the way from Kuching such as sawi, pak choi, khailan, bayam, chinese celery, ili padi, kangkung, longbean, terung dayak, butter gourd, bottle gourd & coriander; and we added few local vegetables including onion, leek, two type of salad, spinach, habenero & capsicum. Living here make me miss leafty vegetable so I really hope the one I have here grow well, abundantly and healthy. Keeping my finger cross..hehehe..

Ohh this year I only planted 4 types of flower..This here is where my hydrangeas are. I got two of it. I want to add another 3 with different color.

And my favorite flower, callalilly. This is the flower bed near to the bbq area. I am looking for white, yellow & purple/red callalilly to add to my collection.

I also have tiger lily...but no flower yet...will update once the flower blooming. 

New Chapter

I am back! I know it has been quite a long time since I last update my journey. It has been a very busy years as my commitment as a mother & researcher increases for the last 3 years. But after years of contemplating and procrastinating, I finally made the decision to move here. Closing the old chapter in my life and open a new one..in a new country. I guess things we mother would do for our kid. :)

So with my status of a part time researcher & fulltime writer, editor & a mother to a going to be 5 years old boy, gosh I believe it will be a one hell of a journey! So stay tune guys..as they say..life begins at 40s..(ada kaitan ka??? hahaha)