Laid Back Lifestyle

Welcome to Indonesia!!!

If someone asked you what type of life you would like to have in this lifetime disregard the current place that you lived in, what would be your answer??? Well, apparently many people would answer the opposite from where they stayed right now. For example: people who stayed in villages, they would dream to live in metropolitan city; people who stayed in mountain areas, they would dream to stay near the beach, and so on.

For me, who was born and grown up in metropolitan city, once I stayed in mountain and village for about 3 years. That time I did not understand much yet about happiness, neither thought about it. Therefore, I found the place was terribly boring!!! But you know, I guessed millions people would dream of living in such place at least once!!! And yes, if you asked me now, I would still hope to go back there and stay there one more time. But forever? Perhaps not, because I still preferred to stay in tropical rather than four-season countries.

Horas - traditional greeting of Batak Toba

For the past 4 years I was lucky enough being able to visit and stay at the place of my dream. Recently I visited it for the fifth time. It took about 1.5 hours direct flight from Singapore to Kualanamu Airport in Medan. From Medan I still needed to take about two-hour car ride to Pematang Siantar. If went to Prapat (where the boat was docked to transfer to the Samosir Island), I would need another hour of car ride, plus about an hour boat ride to cross over the Lake Toba (the biggest lake in Indonesia). Yes, that beautiful place was called Samosir Island.

Samosir Island - Indonesia

Last year my relatives with families and friend built a place there to stay and I was very lucky being able to stay there for free and comfortably. The location was really good, about 15minutes walk from where we were dropped by the boat. It faced the lake (although not directly - you could go there in five-minutes walk), and at the back, it faced the paddy plantations. Depending on the season, sometimes it could be greenish and lovely. Sometimes it could be so dried. And sometimes you could see the plowing process using machine done by the farmer during plantation time.

Fresh and cooling mountain air :)

The air was cooling and fresh. There was no need to install air-condition inside the building. Just opened the door, it already felt like air-condition being installed (despite hot sun was shining above in afternoon time).

Front and back view :)

The rooms were simple and cleaned. Each was equipped with indoor toilet. If I were lucky, the room was even having balcony facing the paddy plantation at the back or big windows on higher floors that facing the beautiful lake. The highest floor was third floor. There was wifi as well although it didn't reach the back of the building. But it was good too so I could sleep early at night and having enough hours before the roosters started singing as early as 5 to 6 am in the morning.

Tell you, OMG!! At first I wasn't get used to it. When I visited Indonesia, many factors forced me to get up early in the morning. If city area like Jakarta, the sun started to rise at 6 am and by 7 am, the sky had turned bright and made the temperature warm. If the place that you stayed near the mosque (as majority of Indonesia population were Muslim), the prayers sound could be heard as early as 4.30 am. And another one was roosters sound.

It wasn't only one or two roosters around, mind you. Their numbers were enough to play orchestra from left to right. Hahaha... I felt like crying on my first night sleeping in Pematang Siantar, and started feeling regret of not sleeping earlier the night before. So when I reached Samosir, I told myself to sleep early - as early as 10 pm every night - to fulfill the minimum of 8-hour sleep, so I wouldn't get annoyed by the roosters sound, and instead, appreciated them more (no need to turn my alarm clock on).

Mango season now

Every morning when weather was good (luckily it was all good when I was there), I went for a morning walk at 6.30 am. I made a big round walking around the lakeside, with its ups and downs, passing by many guest houses, resorts, restaurants, shops, and so on. Not only that. There were abundance of fruit and vegetables trees too!!

Learn various fruit trees here (dragon fruit)

Durian, mango, avocado, passionfruit, candlenut, dragon fruits, winged beans, chilli, lemon, and so on. One of the motivation to walk that early was to find the fallen fruits from the trees. Hahaha.... You could always find a free one! :D But don't anyhow pluck the fruits of someone's trees. The owner would be unhappy with it!

Huge lemon - gift by the house owner :)

If you would love to have or even buy, you could ask politely to them. Sometimes they might just give it freely to you. But honesty was something that the local people there practise! Fyi, majority of people who stayed in the island was Batak Toba tribe and majority (93% of them) was Christian. It was generally safe to stay there. You could even leave your building wide open with vehicles being parked outside as no body would enter without permission, would never even think of stealing and robbing. They were friendly too. So it was another plus point to stay in the area.

Pork steak and beer Bintang from New Tomok Restaurant

The living cost was still very low (a plate of breakfast noodle cost IDR 8,000 (USD$0.60), a plate of pork steak cost IDR 40,000  (USD$2.90), and a big bottle of local beer (Beer Bintang) cost IDR 35,000 (USD$2.50). Batak people ate a lot of pork. Lomak - a local restaurant name - sold a very delicious babi goreng or fried pork - traditional Batak dish. Grilled fish and lobsters were also famous in the island. The main catch was their chili. It was spicy and delicious!!! So next time when you went there, please do not order "nasi goreng" or the famous Indonesian fried rice all the time!!! Instead, try any of their pork dishes and seafood!!! :)

Weekend market at Tomok

On Sunday morning I went down to the weekend market - near Tomok. You could find many fresh vegetables, fruits, fishes, even coffee powder there. Nearby there were rows of shops in traditional Batak house roof style selling shirts, souvenirs, sarong, Batik patterns clothes, shawl, etc. Just make sure to bargain and compare from one shop to another as they would open the price quite high and targeted much higher price to outsider and tourists.

Souvenir shops at Tomok

Motorcycle were available for rent. Not necessary to wear the helmet and it was not a very crowded place (except for the major holiday time such as: Chinese New Year period, Christmas, and Lebaran - Eid al-fitr). Just had to be careful as it was mountainous road that was full of ups and downs, some of you might not get used to it. You could explore the areas with it, or even on foot. Many beautiful spots in the islands and not forgetting the lake water sports like banana boat (when you're in a big group), speedboat, and so on.

Laid back lifestyle :)

For myself I would prefer to just relax in the building, reading books, and having cold beer. It was perfect for me :D

Banana boat - Lake Toba 

At night it was very quiet except for the animal orchestras sound. Hehe... When the sky was clear, you could see many stars above. Drop of rainwater sound was soothing too. But the lightning was too much only. Hahaha.... scary.... :P

Stone chair of King Siallagan

There was traditional Batak cultural performance too in the dancing show Sigale Gale, Stone Chair of King Siallagan, etc. You could even learn the dance there. Nearby the area you could also visit the Batak Museum, to learn more about their history, culture, lifestyle and so on.

Beautiful scenery from Hotel Silintong

Well, I might not be able to purchase a land there, build the house and spend the rest my olden days there but I had already been feeling very grateful for the opportunity to go there and spend many valuable times over there. Could not thank enough for everyone who made this possible (you know who you were!!!).

With this post hopefully you know where to go next time to experience such a laid back life that was not so far from Singapore!!! :)

Day 4 - Visit to L'Orient Japanese Winery - Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

D4 - 22 September 2018

Japanese breakfast set at Ryukan Kikori - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture

I started a new day with a well-prepared Japanese breakfast set from the hotel. Unlike other countries, Japanese served their dishes in various shapes and sizes of bowls, putting each dishes separately. They even provided the small stove and pan to fry the ham and egg right in front of you.

I mean, if western style, they tried to do things efficiently by cooking the egg at one corner with one staff attending to the task, so they did not have to provide so many stoves with so many pans catered to each guest. Anyway, I enjoyed the way they prepared it, plus the food tasted delicious. I had a cup of coffee at the lobby afterwards so that I could be fully ready to walk outside!!! :)

Beautiful nature and decoration surrounded where I stayed - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture

It was still early so I decided to walk around the hotel area alone. There was nothing better than having me-alone time, my favorite time while traveling. Just walked around, noticed the beautiful nature and the surrounding, took some photos, and just breathed, and smiled with my own thought.

The river behind the hotel area - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture

I loved walking by the river. The flow of the water gave me a peaceful feeling, serene. The road was quiet with only few cars passing by. Seemed like it was not a peak season in the area. While passing by the hotel, I occasionally saw few Japanese hotel staffs bowing down to send their guests off (by vehicle) - see the photo above. It was the way they felt grateful for their visitation and wished them a safe journey to their next destination.

I was just thinking, in Singapore, this would very hardly be seen as many hotels were under staff (one staff would have to do many jobs at the same time e.g. front office cum housekeeper cum bell boy cum night audit cum manager, and so on).

L'Orient Japanese Winery - Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

At 10 am we left and visited one of the Japanese winery available near the area. By cab, it cost about 2,170 yen (S$27) per one way. It was pretty expensive but convenient and fast. They had a shop in front where guest would usually enter and visit.

L'Orient Japanese Winery

They displayed their variety of wines produced with list of awards they received. The price list was there too if you want to buy. Wine accessories, snacks, etc. were also available for sale.

L'Orient Japanese Winery

Fresh grapes and varieties of wines were available for tasting. Some were free, some were payable between 300 to 500 yen per glass, depending on which wine that you wanted to test. There were about 4 wines for free tasting and grape juice. Two of them were sweet, I liked them. I tasted the Katsunuma Koshu wine (world silver award wine) and although not sweet, it was very flavorful and fragrant. I bought one bottle back home :)

With the owner cum President of L'Orient Japanese Winery - Mr. Takao Uchida

The above was the owner cum President of the winery - Mr. Takao Uchida. He welcomed us and showed us around towards the wine farm where he grew the grapes.

L'Orient Japanese Winery - Grapes farm at Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

The above was the grapes farm. He gave us two bundles of grapes (green and purple grape - one bundle each) as his appreciation for our intentional visit to his winery from faraway. Thank you Mr. Uchida. He also gave us 10% discount voucher that we could use when purchased any items in the shop.

L'Orient Japanese Winery at Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

L'Orient Japanese Winery at Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

He had to receive other group of guests. So he left us browsing the winery around ourselves. No one was there explaining things though. So we just walked around the area and mostly the production was using automated machine. Only few staffs were seen to run the machine and control the production.

Public foot bath using hot spring water at Isawa Onsen Station - Japan

Once done, we took cab back but instead of going back to the hotel, we went to Aeon shopping center located very near from Isawa-Onsen station. And before entering to the mall, we stopped at the public foot bath using hot spring water just nearby there (see the photo above). Wow!! It was so shiokkk!!! Meaning, very comfortable!!! There was a roof on top. And although the sun was quite hot, the air was cooling. Soaking legs inside was one of the best things to do to relax and enjoy. I wished we had such thing here in Singapore (and if it really existed, I guessed many people would not only soak their legs inside, but the whole body in hahahahahaha.... :P)

Japanese lunch inside the Aeon shopping center - Isawa-Onsen Station, Japan

Inside Aeon, there was supermarket, department store, Lotteria (fast food outlet), and many other stores available. We decided to choose what we wanted to have - the prepared Japanese food - from the supermarket. The above picture was what I chose for my lunch - assorted Sushi, assorted Croquettes (bread-crumbed fried roll), and a can of Asahi beer :D I was very full!!!

To let the food digest, we continued our free time by walking around the area and shopping :)

Dinner at Ryokan Kikori - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

We went back to hotel at around 3 pm. We packed our luggage and had a rest until around 4.30 pm. Again, I soaked myself at the hotel hot spring bath and took a bath there. We then had our dinner at 6 pm. Another Japanese dinner set was prepared and we opened a bottle of white wine that we bought earlier in the morning. The dishes were all fresh and nicely decorated. I felt very pampered with it. Simply beautiful and delicious!!! :)

Oyasumi nasai - See you again.. Good night :)

And like the other night, we had a walk after dinner outside and then it was time to sleep. As we had to leave early the next morning, therefore there was no continuous tea or wine chatting time after that. So, let me bid farewell here and see you again at the next post. Oyasumi nasai... (meaning: see you again.. good night!!!)

Journey to Merak and Sakteng: Day 5 - Sakteng to Mongar and Back to Bumthang :)

Beautiful Sakteng, Bhutan :)

The fifth day of our journey: Going back all the way to Mongar

We finally reached the end of our trekking journey. It's our fifth day since we left Bumthang. We got up at 4 am since we planned to leave Sakteng at 5 am. Just nice that the home-stay owner - Dikpa - planned to leave from Sakteng to Trashigang with his fellow friends. The night before he asked us to go together with them since they would arrange vehicle from the nearest vehicle road, and drive from there to Trashigang, which later on, they even drove all the way to Mongar.

The trace left from King's visit to Sakteng, Bhutan

It was such a beautiful morning. No sun and no rain. Perfect!! :) At least for me. K and I left the place first. From where we stayed, we walked to the right side, and went all the way up, passing by the small place housing few prayer wheels, until the view of the Sakteng slowly diminished. We had to bid goodbye to that lovely place and it would sure be missed.

Bid goodbye to Sakteng, Bhutan

For me, the terrain was really beautiful. I felt as if I was not in Bhutan. We passed by few more walls with prayer wheels where we could convey our prayers for the safe journey, and slowly entered to narrower pathway.

Beautiful nature path :)

Ohhh.... I loved this pathway so much. Although the road was not smooth (more like stones pathway), but you could see such beautiful scenery on your left and right, such as the red and white color Rhododendron, river streams, etc.

White Rhododendron :)

Beautiful morning mist :)

The morning mist added the already beautiful forest view :) The air was cool and fresh!!!

More prayer wheels on the way :)

We stopped sometimes and turned the prayer wheels when we saw it :)

Beautiful river streams :)

The river streams were so natural. Its sound was serene and peaceful. The view was just like what you often saw in magazine :)

Loved this walkway very much!!! Falling in love with it :)

I wished I could stay there so that I could go for morning walk like that whenever I wanted to. Oh my.... I fell in love with this place so much!!! :)

Many giant rocks on our way :)

They caught up with us so fast!!! :)

After a while Dikpa and his two friends managed to catch up with us. Hahaha... You could not compare my speed and their speed. They walked very fast as they were used to it :) We asked them to take over us as I took longer time since my both toes were paining from the strenuous hike days before.

Vehicle road in the process - Sakteng, Bhutan

There was road making process in the area too. In the future the vehicle would be able to pass through from Sakteng. That way, the trekking tour business would be greatly affected. Because otherwise, people usually needed one to two days to trek from Sakteng to Phongmey.

Our last stop after 2.5 hours walked from Sakteng, Bhutan

After 2.5 hours of walk, we finally reached the place where vehicle road was available. We waited there for some time until the Bolero arrived. We put our bags behind and sat inside. Many villagers took ride with no fee collected by the driver. How nice he was!!! :) 2.5 hours later, after passing by Joenkhar Teng, Phongmey, and Radi village, we were back to where we were from, Rangjung. It amazed us how we recalled back the day when we first started our journey, with no single clue on how to go to Merak.

Our way from Rangjung back to Trashigang, Bhutan

We stopped at Rangjung for a while before continuing our journey to Trashigang, and reached in about an hour time. Before having lunch break, the driver asked us if we wanted to continue our journey to Mongar since they changed their plan and headed to that direction. Since it would shorten our journey, we agreed and joined them back to Mongar. For that we paid a total of Nu 600 per pax.

Had our packed lunch plus desserts and tea at Trashigang town, Bhutan :)

Trashigang town reminded me of my visit with Luzee almost two years ago. I brought K to the place where we had dessert, just behind the big Mani Dungkhor in the center of the town. We ordered two cakes with two cups of milk tea and revealed our packed lunch there. We took a rest and visited toilet before continuing our journey. At 1.30 pm we left the Trashigang town.

Say 'Hi' to Mr Frog!!! :D

And as usual, we passed by the cute Mr Frog on our way back from Trashigang to Mongar :)

A beautiful soul at Mongar, Bhutan :)

We reached Mongar town at 5 pm. While K went around asking for hotel's fare, I contacted Luzee's adopted sister, Kezang, who was currently teaching in Mongar. On my previous stay in Mongar, we also stayed at her rented house, however, she was not around. She was going somewhere and left the empty house for us to stay. So finally this time, I met her in person. She was still so kind offering both of us to stay at her rented house. Not only that, she also prepared us a complete and delicious dinner and breakfast herself. Wow!!! I was so touched by her kindness. She was one beautiful soul that I would never forget. Thank you Kezang for your wonderful hospitality to us. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! May Buddha bless you always and shall we meet again one day!!! :)

End of journey celebration at Phuntsho Pizza, Bumthang. Yeahhhh!!! :)

So this would be the end of our journey. We went back to Bumthang the day after by bus. It took us a whole day to reach. Once we reached Bumthang, I dragged K to Phuntsho Pizza and we ordered large size of Spicy Mixed Pizza, only for two of us. Hahahaha... I definitely missed the taste of Pizza there. And as celebration, we also ordered my favorite Druk 11 for both of us. Cheersss K!!! Thank you very much for being my accompany for this wonderful journey. You're always the best!!! Thank you for everything you'd done for me. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! May Buddha bless you and your families always too!!! Love from Singapore :)

Journey to Merak and Sakteng: Day 4 - Relaxing day at Sakteng

Villagers put up the flag pole at Sakteng, Bhutan

The fourth day of our journey: Sakteng

We were woken up by the bright sun rays that entered through our window pane. We decided to spend whole day relaxing and staying in this beautiful village. Therefore, no need to rush and wake up early. We were just lying on the bed under the warm blankets, and getting a little more rest before I finally got up, rinsed my head with icy cold water and nice smell shampoo I carried all the way from home. 

Woahhh!!!! My brain was almost frozen and gave me a little pain!!! No choice la! The water heater was there but it did not work. They did not provide the portable electric heater too. So we could only wash up using cold water. That was one condition I had to bear when traveling in country like India and Bhutan. At least we did not have to carry buckets of water from downstairs. We were grateful enough :)

Chef K prepared delicious breakfast cum lunch :)

We both felt very fresh after a thorough wash up. It was time for us to fill our belly with warm and delicious food :) K was good in washing and cutting the ingredients so I let him starting it while I washed our pair of socks and hung it outdoor. Once I was done, I purchased 2 eggs from the grocery shop and mixed the cut ingredients to make omelette. K prepared bean datshi and we had it with miso soup (using Misty Peak glass - oh I wished it was the real Misty Peak lol!!!) plus K's handmade ezzay. Each of us had a big plate of all those food hahaha... I had become more like Bhutanese :P

Browsing Sakteng village with lollipop on our mouth :D

Sakteng, Bhutan

View at the back of the valley - Sakteng, Bhutan

At noon time we started browsing up the village. The weather changed to gloomy, but no rain. And just like in Merak and many areas in Bhutan, their houses were mainly built using stones and woods, with metallic roofs to prevent water to leek through. However, they usually built walls and had main gate to enter, just like many other farmer houses in Bhutan.

Stone walls guarded houses in Sakteng, Bhutan

Beer bottles used as walls or barricade :D Sakteng, Bhutan

Not only stones, beer bottles could also be used as walls :P

Such big houses they had, hadn't they? Sakteng, Bhutan

They made it to prevent animals from rummaging their belonging perhaps? Also to store woods for cooking cum bukhari, their farming products and equipment used. Small transports to collect things from fields were commonly seen there in the area.

Small transport entered the house in Sakteng, Bhutan

Green house within house compound area in Sakteng, Bhutan

Animals like horses, cows, yaks, dogs, etc. walked and stayed wherever they wanted to, throughout the small alley or near where the houses were located.

Animals lived together - Sakteng, Bhutan

Yaks, cows, and sheep were relaxing just like us :D Sakteng, Bhutan

We went into the building below. There was a huge giant tree not far from there. It must have been there for a long time. The building was quite new, made of woods, guarded with stone walls and wooden ladder for us to enter. The mani dungkhor inside were quite new as well. We turned the wheel few rounds and chanted our prayers.

Mani dungkhor in Sakteng, Bhutan

We walked towards river side after that. The road path there was not so smooth. We had to walk carefully and passed through many small streams.

Typical road in Sakteng, Bhutan

And played around among the yaks in the greenery :)

Jump among the yaks!!! :P Sakteng, Bhutan

K preferred feeding his hand to the yak :D Sakteng, Bhutan

We then walked through the stones area. Since we had nothing much to do for the day, I challenged him to find special shape stone in the area, however, we could not find. Then he suggested, why not bring the stone wishes back home, in miniature, as souvenir.... So I said, why not??? So there he went... Looked around among millions of stones finding few lucky ones who would travel all the way back to Singapore :D

Finding the stone wish miniature in Sakteng, Bhutan :D

After some time, he managed getting what he wanted. He was trying his best to find the small ones so that we did not have to carry it heavily and wearily. So he threw the base of the stone away and I was so angry because I found it beautiful. Hahaha... I was sulking and ignoring him afterwards just like a kid did not get the candy she wanted :P

Lhakhang or temple in Sakteng, Bhutan

We visited the temple nearby but could not find caretaker who could open the door for us. No one was there. So we left the place after circumambulated the temple. We were still in no-talking mode. I walked ahead of him and when I turned my head around, he was not there. Hmm... where did he go? Then I decided to play hide and seek. The village was a good place for that as it contained many small alleys to go through. Haha... :P I walked back to the village and found one opened corner where I could sit, unwind and update my travel journal.

Carrying wooden plank - Sakteng, Bhutan

It was a good place to sit. While writing the journal, I occasionally watched people passing by. I saw local people carrying wooden plank on their back and other two were trying to pull it up using the rope connected through their shoulders. I was thinking how manual the job they were doing. Due to the remoteness of the area, many machines that would easier their lives were not there. They had to depend a lot on their physical strength. And you could not live alone there. You needed people to help each other with the works. It was something that you found it rarely in outer world, where people had become selfish and did things only for their own benefits.

Kids after school - Sakteng, Bhutan

It was time where kids just finished their school too. So many would pass by where I sat. I managed to get the two cute kids above to take selfie with me :D And after some time, I saw K standing up there. He had finally found where I hid :P He told me that he went back to find the base stone that he threw. That was why I could not find him. And when I went back to room, I saw the stack of stones were there on the table :) So sweet of you... ^^

I continued updating my journal inside the room until the evening came. I started feeling cold again and asked K if we could make tea and have something to eat. I started to get hungry too. He went down and soon after came up with pot of hot ginger tea and two cups, together with two (already expired) cupcakes (yet we're still eating them) and a packet of (again expired) Wai Wai . We had them in our room. Ohhh... it felt like heaven!!! Thank you Kipchu!!! :)

Our wonderful dinner at Sakteng - Yak momo and ara with egg :D Loving it!!! :)

We went down to cook our Korean noodle for dinner. However, when we entered the kitchen, Leki was busy wrapping yak meat filled momo (dumpling). Woahhh..... I could not hide my excitement upon seeing it and asked him if we could try one. Hahahahaha.... :P They could not say 'no', I guessed, and once the steamed dumpling was done, they put one on our plate. We were chatting while he was preparing it and we were asking them about the rotten cheese, ara, and other things related to their culture.

Then they said they had local ara and asked us if we wanted to try. We definitely did not refuse their offer hahaha... And again, coincidentally, we had eggs (initially for our Korean noodle). So our egg's destiny was to accompany ara forever hahaha.... :P

After having one, they offered us more momos. It was really privileged to taste the local food made painstakingly with lots of love and effort by them. I had to make sure that they had enough for the family or otherwise I would feel bad. And to avoid feeling bad, K asked me to cook the Korean noodle for them.

Aha!!! What a great idea!! Barter lahhh!!! :D I immediately cooked it for them and the young daughter enjoyed it very much!!! She was so cute. She tried talking with us in English and sometimes helping her mom to translate words. I was very happy to see them happy and this way, all of us could fill our stomach happily. That was how our last night passed in Sakteng. We were very grateful for the host family who had taken care of our needs while we stayed with them. They even refused to get payment for ara that we consumed. They said, ara was made for giving to guest only, not for themselves to drink. We were very thankful for everything la!!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you! May Buddha bless you and your family with everything that you wished for in your life :)