:Medan-Lake Toba Day 1:

My first oversea trip for year 2012. Finally an oversea vacation after 10 months! Gosh! Again.. how did I survived these 10 months?! Time flies =] 

We woke up 3am in the morning to board our 8.45am flight. Duish! I really feel like a zombie. The flight is only 45 minutes and we reach Medan airport at 8.45am as well. Medan time is one hour late than Malaysia.

Hello Medan! My thought from my view of Medan town from inside the plane: Medan town looks undeveloped. So many tiny houses that looks like kampung house.

We had pre-booked driver, Mr. Jumadi and Mr. Wong Ryant. They pick us up from the airport and start our journey to Samosir Island.

We were stop at Dodol Donnie Sei Buluh Perbaungan for a quick lunch and some tidbits shopping. Honestly, the food stall here looks so unhygienic. So many flies sit on the foods, but the people there still enjoying their foods ignoring the flies as if the flies won't bring any danger. Having a sensitive tummy, I dare not eat but because I'm so hungry, we ordered Indomie. At least it is from packet. A bowl of indomie and a bottle of teh bottle cost me IDR14k.

We then continue our journey to Tigaraja harbor to catch a ferry to Samosir Island. The journey from Medan to Tigaraja harbor took us 5 hours. Other than Dodol Donnie Sei Buluh Perbaungan, we also stop by Double Bread Patent Cake Shop. I spent IDR100k here buying ting ting, teng teng, tang tang, tong tong. Hahaha.. funny name. It is actually peanut biscuits kind of thing.

Not forgot to mention, the journey was crazy. I salute indonesian driving skills. They just overtake using the opposite lane, hon here and there, speed and emergency brake the whole journey. To avoid vomiting, I sleep, it's also because the drive makes me dizzy.

Our journey then continue with a 45minute rides of ferry. Continue dizzy.

Reaching our villa! The ferry stop us directly in front of our villa =)

We stayed at Samosir Villa Resort which cost IDR350k/ night for deluxe room.

Our room facing the lake.

Nothing fancy. Just a basic room. But Samosir Villa Resort claimed to be the newest and nicest resort in Samosir Island. Perhaps. But mind you, there is no air-cond, considering the quite cold weather. But what disappoint us is that there is no fan too! Although the weather is cold, but I prefer to have a fan for air ventilation. We then requested it from the reception and they provide us one. Don't worry, if you had any problem with the facilities, just approach the boss at reception. He is a very friendly guy.

After leaving our luggage in the room, we head to the cafe for our tea time. I am super hungry that time. We ordered Seafood pizza and corn soup. This cost us IDR68k. The pizza is yummy!

After our tea time, we had 'fish spa'. From our room, we get direct access to the lake. The water is so clear that you can see many fishes there. But too bad, when I soak in my feet, the fishes ran away. LOL. We felt so cold to just jump in for a swim. Yes, you can actually jump in for a swim.

This is the area I love most. I enjoyed sitting there with the cold breeze, a glass of fresh juice (I ordered orange juice which is so super duper sour that I don't really enjoy :P) and the peanut cookies bought from Paten. They have lazy chair up there for you. Pure relaxation =)

About 7pm, the skies turned dark. We had a stroll outside to see what can we get for dinner. But after a short distance walk, the road is not lighten up anymore, so we walk back to our resort for dinner.

I had nasi goreng samosir which cost IDR69k, include a can of Bintang beer and a glass of juice. I felt that the rice is so spicy, but my friends say it is not. Err.. something wrong with my spicy tastebud. The satay is very yummy! Seriously I think Indonesian satay is better than Kajang satay. The fried chicken, as usual, Indonesian fried chicken - it is small and hard.

That's it for day 1. Stay tuned for day 2 :)

::Gonbei San @ Starhill::

Gonbei san! Another deal grab from Groupon.

The BF wanted Jogoya so much, but we know we must save money. So when I saw this deal from Groupon, we bought it with RM55/pax for a weekend buffet lunch! After all, it is just opposite of Jogoya, isn't it. Guess it won't be that bad, isn't it?

Here we are! Gonbei san is divided to 4 section (my own calculation)

Sashimi's .. I wish they had more choices. But these are thickly cut. Nice.

Oyster. Me love.

They have sashimi, oysters, sushi, raw egg, seaweeds, jelly fishes, teriyaki stuffs (grilled stuffs), salads, hot pot.

Next station. The main dishes (fried udon, fried rice, the teppanyaki's), miso soup.

The dessert station. We are too stuffed for this. Furthermore, i'm not tempted at all.

Oysters! Me love.

From the grill section. Tasteless. I wonder where is the teriyaki sauce.

Raw egg (I think its 5% cook) and cawanmushi. LCL had it twice (eeewww!). The cawanmushi is just normal. Nothing to be shout about.

We picked this.

And this.. fried udon, japanese garlic fried rice.

Teppanyaki. Over-cooked I think. Too chewy.. bite until tired, in the end we wasted the lamb.

And lastly the tempura's.

Overall, this would be our first and last time experience here. Nothing really impressive. That's what we get for what we pay for. Can't compare it with Jogoya, isn't it?  :)

::The Ribs @ Oasis, BU::

I just realize I had been missing for a month. Busy days :) 

Quick update.. and more to go today. 

The Ribs @ Oasis, Bandar Utama. I bought this deals from Groupon. Only RM30 for 2 pax! Comes with soup of the day and on the day we had this, we had pumpkin soup.

So this is the reverse pork burger. Very big portion and in fact, I chew until tired (I'm such a lazy eater). Something special but in my own opinion, I felt it is too dry and not juicy enough.

Restaurant was not too spacious and service was a bit slow due to lack of manpower. But friendly people they have there. Worth a try ;)

::LYJ Restaurant @ Sg. Buloh::

LYJ Restaurant. I'd been brought here twice due to work, and I found that the dishes are quite special. During the last CNY, the colleagues had proposed to come here for the famous 'Pun Choy', but we didn't manage to get the booking, thus skipped it. And now, when the BF ask to suggest some special place for family, I suggested here :)

Note that the price might be above average, but still worth a try.

Ginseng soup in teapot RM26. We find this method to be unique as the tea pot can help to keep the soup warm, thus we don't need to immediately finish the soup once it is serve.

By this way, slowly drinking the soup one cup by one cup, you won't feel too full too fast.

This is the meats taken out from the tea pot.

Steamed tilapia RM32. From testing, we conclude that this fish is soaked in hot salt water before steaming, as we find that the salty taste is well distributed. Not sure about that though. The specialty of this fish is actually the green sauce. Tasted a bit of sweet, sour and spicy, it is really appetizing. Somehow, I felt that this dishes is too pricey.

Braised pork ribs RM24. This is nice too!

Paku pakis salad RM15. The specialty of this is it's cold (it's a salad, of course), and the sour taste is appetizing. But also, it's overpriced.

As I mentioned, this place is quite pricey, but it's worth a try. We agreed that the dishes are special in a way.

Restoran LYJ

PT11, Jalan Perkhidmatan,

Kg. Baru, Sg. Buloh.

Tel: 03-61402678

Operating hours: 12pm~3pm, 6pm~11pm

::Pun Chun Noodle House@Bidor::

After the hot spring session, we stop by Bidor to try the famous duck noodles. I noted that they have branches in KL, but yet to try any of them.

The very nostalgic feel restaurant. It's almost 3pm, but it is still very crowded and we have to wait for our table.

"Wu Kok" which cost RM1.70 each. It is sold non-stop! Vice versa with the money that goes into the pocket of this uncle. Kaching kaching~~ way faster than what I earn sitting in office.

This is delicious. Crispy at the outside, and warm meat inside.

After waited for quite some time, they told us the famous duck noodles were sold out. *disappointed!* So we order some other noodles. Herb duck noodles.

Braised chicken feets noodles. Recently I kinda attracted (not addicted yet) to have chicken feets when the colleagues mention that it contains collagen and is good for our own leg. (LOL!)

Dry herb ducks noodles.

Overall, I would say that the noodles tasted just normal. Maybe someday I will drop by their KL branch to try their famous duck noodles. 

Pun Chun Noodle House

38 & 40, Jalan Besar,

35500, Bidor, Perak