Garuda Medan

(this entry started on 28th Mar 2009)

Garuda, a mythical bird of Hindu and Buddhist mythology is also the national airline of Indonesia. Garuda Plaza is also where I am staying with 14 masters in planning students and one colleague from USM on a study field-tour with Magister (masters) students of the Northern University of Sumatra (USU). Using the free Internet in the lobby of the hotel. This morning's breakfast was a disaster. No cups, no spoons, no food - it was all cleaned out by about 7.30 am and the staff were too damn slow to refill. And all this because of overwhelming support from Malaysian tourist. Apart from the small USM gang, there was one big contingent from another Malaysian university whom we encountered at dinner across the street last night and this morning about 100 trainee teachers from Terengganu were having a hearty breakfast before checking out.

At the Garuda Plaza, while waiting for the rooms to be assigned. See me in the picture?

Medan, we were told by the tour guide and the USU students, has a predominant Chinese population. But that is not very obvious even when walking around Medan's Chinatown. I went hunting for Chinese Noodles but was disappointed after about 1 and half tours walking around. Found a very upscale Chinese Restaurant but could not find the kind of kopitiam type shops with hawkers. I think the Indonesians were "forced" to assimilate into the Indonesia society, including chaning their Chinese names to Indonesian. But walking around on the USU campus and on the streets I could still catch snippets of Hokkein being spoken by both the older generation and some young Chinese-looking locals. (I discovered later from some of the USM students that there are places lined with Chinese restaurants in Medan)

I had always visualised Medan as a "small kampung". Hey, Medan is bigger than Penang. Population is 3 million. Like many cities, you will find the excessively rich and the downright poor. Corruption is rampant and Indonesia in infamous for being corrupt. It is accepted as a way of life by most but the previous Walikota or mayor of Medan is now in jail for corruption. So they are trying to fight it but it is difficult when you have to pay (we were told by the tour guide) about 75 million rupiahs (yes, you read it right) to get a priced job as a policeman. Yes, policeman are high up on the pecking order. Respected in fact with a princely pay of about RM600 or 2 million rupiahs a month. They are "respected" but also corrupt as all motorists will attest.

I inocently commented that the office is so packed with tables but no one is around. I was told that this is a common scene in government offices in Indonesia. Staff sign in and disappear for the rest of the day.

Soto Padang delivered to the office. Quite tasty but no vegetables, unlike Soto Johor which has lots of cabbage.

How much does a lecturer make? Only about as much as the policeman. Yes, RM500-600 per month. So most lecturers "moonlight" openly - either keeping multiple teaching appointments or open up their own business, even at their faculty homes. Long ago I was told that Indonesian lecturers will only get involved in a project if it brings additional income. Can't blame them. USU is a huge campus of 100 hectares with its first faculty starting about 60 years ago. The campus is minimalist and maintenance is obviously a huge problem. Rubbish is burnt on campus. I don't see a lot of polystyrene here and they use banana leaves on top of plates to minimise washing by hawkers. Plastic bags however is widely used. We passed a building under construction yesterday which appeared abandoned. Grass was growing all over and only the ground floor columns seems to have been completed. It seems the government has an ingenious way of funding projects. One year they will give you money for the foundation. Next year the columns for the first floor. And the following year, money for the first floor ...

(continued on 29th Mar morning, before leaving for Brestagi)

Ever had ganja-spiced mee? Last a lecturer from USU brought Ghani and me to a very popular stall (more of a shop) for Mie Acheh. When you first get to the front of the shop you are immediately impressed, not by the deco or building. By the huge number of tables occupied with customers. I estimated probably about 200 at that time. You can find Mie Acheh everywhere in Medan but this one is really special. I asked, "why is it special"? Our local counterpart says "people say they add ganja". It reminded me of the poppy seeds(?) they add to nasi kandar dishes in Malaysia. Was it good? Absolutely delicious. If you want to look for it, it's called "Mie Acheh Titi Bobrok" - titi is small bridge and bobrok means dilapidated. It is very close to USU campus but off the usual tourist traps.

Delicious Mie Acheh Titi Bobrok. Looks like Penang Hokkein Mee, right?

Bakso, which is a kind of meatball soup. Very peppery and full of fat. I merely wanted a taste. The meatball wasn't that good. I gave up half way because of the floating layer of fat. It seems you can get Bakso near the Sunnyville flats in Sg Dua, Penang. There is a version called Bakso Gonyang Lidah (wagging tongue) - can you guess why?.

While the other students were off shopping at the Pajak Ikan (fish market, which doesn't sell fish but clothes and textiles) yesterday afternoon, four of us went looking for unsual stuff. Had Sate Padang by the roadside. There are many such stalls everywhere and they are pretty earth-friendly. No polystyrene. They put the satay and ketupat on a sheet of banana leave placed over a small plate. So, they just have wipe the small plate with a cloth for reuse.

Sate Padang by the roadside - about 10,000 rupiah (about RM3) per plate of 5 sticks and a ketupat.

The day before our USU guide wanted to bring us to visit the Tjong A Fie mansion but it was close. Name sounds familiar? Well, this guy is related to the famous Cheong Fatt Tze of Penang. It seems Fatt Tze is the uncle of A Fie (not blood relations though). Fatt Tze was a big shot representative of the Dutch Colonial Government based in Batavia so Fatt Tze allowed A Fie to control the Medan trade, and according to locals, that was primarily the opium trade. So, yah, quite an anti-social guy but that's then. The mansion is being restored and is reminiscence of the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion in George Town, perhaps less opulent, but nevertheless impressive for its excessive wealth. We managed to get in from the "backdoor" when we saw workers doing renovation work. After a little pesistence, we met the guy in-charge of the renovation for a brief look inside. I even made a generous contribution to the restoration effort to the tune of 100,000 (rupiahs of course).

Tjong A Fie Mansion

(OK, the guys are waiting so will continue another time, checking out, 8.07 am 29 mar 2009)