banda aceh luckily the flgt back to kl from medan was alrite. it actually departed a lil earlier than schedule as everybody was already on board. i cldnt care less anyway, i was sleeping all the way through. hehe... reached home almost midnite, and i went straight to bed, and the week continues for me.... ******************** p/s: the photos will take quite a while, as the ixus that i had decided to play games with me at the most important part. will have to wait for kak tini to past me a copy from her camera tho. *winks*
like i said earlier, i went on to the trip without expecting anything to expect (makes sense? no? nvm.. hehehehe)
ridzal was nice enough to send me to the airport that thursday morning. yes, my darling ridz was in kl with his couple of frens that day and was lepaking over at my place on wednesday nite to catch the FA cup finals before departing back to spore after the match. the timing was just superb as i need to be at the airport by 6.30 to check in as my flgt to medan was at 8am. i thought he wld just drop me off at the airport and then, goodbye. he was just so sweet to wait till i went into the departure gate. thanks beb, u are the best!! *smiles*
reached medan an hour later, but it was still 8am local time. still too early to go anywhere, and i found myself a dun.kin donut cafe at the airport, and had my breakfast there. chatted with the nice people at dun.kin and asked them, what shld i do since my next flgt to banda aceh will be only at 1445hrs. they suggested sun plaza, which only open at 10am like any normal shopping malls ard the world, i reckon. they even suggested that the best and cheapest way to get there is by becak which would cost only abt Rp15-20000, equivalent to abt sgd3-4. that was pretty good, i think as it'll be an experience to take a becak. trust me, i never been on a trishaw before. well, if u count the history act that i was in way back in 1993, then, i've been behind a styrofoam trishaw before. hehe...
i was in dun.kin for 2 whole hours drinking my super hot tea, just the way i love drinking tea. the donuts selection they had over there were just massive. but it was still too early for me to have anything. and i still have my jemput-jemput pisang that i packed from home. hehe...
i left the airport at abt 10am, and straight headed for the becak waiting outside the gates and started my bargaining for the fare to sunplaza. i did pretty well, i can say. hehe. i took out my camera when the journey started and began to take some photos of medan city (which dont really look like a city). the 'driver' (whatever u call them) then suggested that we go ard the city area rather than just going straight to sun plaza unless i was to do some shopping there. since it was my first time in medan, so, i said, why not. at least, i wont be bored sitting at the mall drinking more tea at starbucks or whatever i mite be doing. we went round the city area, he brought me to the old grand palaca, to the biggest mosque in medan, and even to the whole stretch of street that sells marquisa juice and bika ambon (their delicacy, something like honeycomb cake), and even varieties of kek lapis. and being me, i am always clueless to grab those kinda things. hahhaa.. and i ended up getting 2 bottles of the marquisa juice. after abt an hour on the becak, i requested that i just want to go to sun plaza. i was just tired.
he dropped me off at the entrance of sun plaza. it was said that the mall is one of the biggest in medan, and still very new. with my two big haversacks, i went up the stairs and set my mind of going to a salon to get my hair done. well, did nuthing much tho, just the normal wash, cut and blow. it cost only abt Rp39000 or less than sgd8. and i was so glad that they actually took a long time to finish the whole thing. at least i dont have to think where to go next. hehe....
by 12.15 i was done with the mall, and i was still not very hungry and i literally dont know where else to go. so, i just decided to go back to the airport and wait for my flgt. i even slept at those seats while waiting for the plane to arrive. hehe.. boarded the plane feeling tired and sleepy and restless. mak and mak aton were in the plane. they were from jakarta, and made a stop over in medan to pick up passengers like me. i said my hellos to them and straight went to my seat and continue sleeping.
was greated by dekna and kak tini who had arrive the day before. and went straight back to their house. after resting for a while, and off we went again, to see banda aceh. did mahgrib over at masjid raya, the biggest mosque in aceh, and where the waves of tsu.nami actually ended. the mosque that stored thousands of the victims bodies unclaimed. the mosque is beautiful. the clock was still stating 8.50, thats when the tsu.nami happened.
the acehnese were picking up things, building back the houses that were ruined by the waves, building up the confidence they once owned, trying to forget that the waves actually gave them a surprise visit, trying to move on with their life without the loved ones around. u just need to be there to know, the hear, to feel the real atmosphere. there's something about it that i cant really describe in words.
oh, the wedding was really a grand affair. its really nuthing compared to ours in spore, or even in msia. the whole stage was covered with the velvet cloth, something that really potray the real acehnese traditional culture. it was massive. the food served was superb. i cant even see the table. the sporeans were invited to have the meal together with the couple and family and hence, the wide spread. i didnt even know which one to choose.
there were dance performances, one that i remembered was 'gedumbak'. the dance was about the newly wed couple celebrating their wedding day. their parents actually wanted them to marry someone of their choice, but the couple insist and manage to 'negotiate' with their parents that they really want to marry the love of their heart. or so, i was told. hehehe...
oh, i was even made the last minute mc for the day. how bizarre was that. hehe... but i had fun.
i went to the spa after the akad nikah on friday. it was really really dirt cheap. it consists of a full body scrub, and after showering, i was put into a sauna before a full body massage. after the massage, body mask was being applied to my whole body before i soak in the millk bath. the whole thing took abt more than 3hrs, and cost only Rp130000 or sgd24. how great was that. i was soo happy with the service too.
the trip ended on sunday, and i have to make my way back to kl, while the rest still had another day as their flgt was on monday. haekal (dekna's younger brother) took the same flgt as me as he had to go back to jakarta. well, at least i got company even tho it was till medan. till now, i was glad that he was with me in the plane. the flgt to medan was horrible. i kept on thinking that the plane was gonna crash anytime. firstly, it took off very badly. and seriously, i didnt have good vibes abt it. after the third occurrence, the pilot actually blamed it on the weather. the weather was actually fine. when the plane actually shake kinda hard for the 4th time, i actually grab haekal's hand and held it tight. anyway, haekal is way younger than i am *winks* if only i'm younger, i wld definitely go for haekal. hehehehe...