November 7, 2010
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Medan Selera
Sitting in the office during the new month on 1st November 2010, I was corresponding with Lawrence who (I though was) in Indonesia for work. Months back, I promised my Indon friends that I would join them for an important fund-raiser they've planned. I email Lawrence to verify the date, expecting it to somewhere at the end of the month or in early December. To my shock and horror, I found out that the event was coming up that very weekend! Within just 5 minutes, I made the rashes decision of my life and secured buying tickets to and fro to Medan, Indoneisa.
The event was a fundraiser for their Full Time Staff, funding their salary and operations as they fuel their massive expansion accross Indonesia. Currently BB Indonesia has only two full time staff, one based in Medan and another in Indonesia. But with Companies popping up in Semarang, Bandung, Surabaya and interest in Papua, there is certainly need for not only a full time staff, but an entire office of able field officers to bring BB to more places. There is also need to start focusing BB Asia's resources elsewhere, which means Indonesia's needs to start learning how to stand on it's own feet.
Anyway, enough BB talk. My trip there was not for business. It was a personal decision as I wanted to support their event. And I know my bosses won't pay for this trip although I can technically claim travel expanses from work, based on their previous decision not to let me go for BB Singapore's 80th Anniversary Dinner. Oh well.
My flight took off from the LCCT at 5.30pm, via AirAsia on Deepavali Day 5th November 2010. It was a short 50 minutes or so, landing in Medan at ironically, also at 5.30pm. It was my first time finding myself in an earlier timezone than Malaysia, so it felt pretty weird. Medan has a small airport, making getting out of it fairly easy. I was amused at how their immigration officer function as some people were able to just walk through without passports being processed. I though even aircrew personnel needed to have passports stamped.. hmm. Right after leaving the departure hall I was greeting by a blast of horns from the nearby traffic, taxis and the whole world just exploded in frenzy. Ironically, the first thing that caught my eye was a Petronas petrol station. Found that pretty cool, didn't know they had a presence in Indonesia.
Left: Statue of Guru Patimpus, Founder of Medan. Right: Arapaima Gigas at a Javanese Restaurant we were at for dinner
I was picked up by Pak Saud, who was around with us for 2 weeks in Malaysia (Pak means Mister in Indo). Accompanying him to the airport and to receive me were Mr Ray Louis from the UK and Mr Ong Tiong Hoon from BB Singapore. It was a short 10 minute to Swiss-Bell Hotel where the two stayed and dropped off before I headed to Inn Place Hotel another 5 minutes away where I would be putting up for the next two nights. Lawrence was already there and I was surprised to find Tan Chee Keong there as well (he was due to fly back to KL in the next couple of hours having completed rekkieing Medan for his tuition centers upcoming excursion).
Left: The REAL gado-gado. Right: A typical durian "restaurant"
Left: Cambridge Apartments - the most expansive high-rise property in Medan. Right: Mr Ong Tiong Hoon (left) and Ray Louis (right) having a durian feast.
Left: Lift area of the Cambridge Apartments top floor. Every floor has a different design. Right: Penthouse view overlooking Medan on Cambridge Apartments
'Left: The food stalls along Surabaya Road. Right: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Appom
Appom makers making their signature snacks
Left: The senseless traffic of Indonesia where miracles happen every second. Right: View overlooking Medan.
Left: Terong Belanda - a local drink which taste like ribena. Right: Pak Wally and Mr Lawrence
My trip to Medan was really just eat, eat and eat.. since I did not have time to explore the countryside. Sure there were times when we had (unexpected and unplanned) meetings with a church and school officials, but apart from it's pretty much a test for the stomach and absolute pleasure to the tongue. Unfortunately, I cannot remember most of the names of the meals I had..
Left: 1st breakfast. Medan style wantan mee. Right: 2nd breakfast A dish which had ketupat and mee hoon with an Medanese taste
Left: A Batakese feast - almost all of the dishes were pork. Right: Kicap manis (sweet ketchup)? Guess again. It's pig's blood!
Left: Bika Ambon - a unique local cake. Right: The ultra rich in Medan (sorry, no pictures of the poor - in the city can't really find the ultra poor)
Towards the end of the day and the dawn of the night, we proceeded to Duck King Restaurant where the fundraiser was held. There I as not only treated to a wedding-class meal but also the speculars sights and sounds of Indonesia. The culture here is so rich and colourful. The beautiful voices of the traditional choir as well as catchy dances really made the night interesting. I even participated in a dance (twice) by going up on stage, first time to "donate money" in a dance of offering and the second time was just for fun with the top brass of BB Asia and BB Indonesia. Good fun.
Left: Creative drill display by BB Indonesia. Right: The bright colours, catchy chereography and fantastic music all part and parcel of Indonesia's diverse culture
At the end of the night, BB Indonesia announced that they had a profit of 70 million (Rupiah)!!! Which is about RM25,000 profit. Not bad for a start. Well done to the organisers for their painstaking hard works and labour.
Before long, it was time to leave Medan and Indonesia. I had to leave first thing in the morning as my flight was at 9.05am via Malaysian Airlines. I slept the entire flight (didn't even feel the take off). A really short trip, but a great eye-opener and learnt much from it. I'd probably be back again for other BB events and to see the rest of the country.
