Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra

A post from March 2013.

I did a crazy thing this year. I got off from Jakarta & booked my next flight to Bukittinggi, Indonesia only 3 weeks apart. Well, to some (read: rich people), this is pretty normal, but for regular folk like me, this is kinda crazy. With the money, work & annual leave situation. 

I didn't regret it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a relaxing trip. Just sit around & hang out with my 2 buddies. No pressure. A stress-reliever. 

Kawa daun, served in coconut shell

Of course, my favourite Indonesian travel agent (whom I have mentioned in my earlier post), Ade, brought us to this shop that sells coffee that is made from coffee leaves. And it tastes like tea - Kawa Daun, the name. To coffee lovers, this would be the most insulting kind of coffee that has ever existed but knowing the story behind it, you just have to forgive them & let it be.

It was during the olden days when Indonesia was still under the power of the Dutch. Their coffee beans were all being exported by the higher power & leaving them only with the leaves. And so, that's what the people use to make coffee.

Anyway, we had ours with tidbits - goreng pisang, cucur udang, tahu goreng with cili padi & another kuih which-I-don't-know-the-name-of. I kinda miss it tho. Eating & talking & laughing. Super fun time.

Later that night, Ade took us to his friend's wedding. So we had the chance to go to a Minangkabau wedding, in the land of Minangkabau! Yeay! Just do a Google on Minangkabau wedding ceremony & you'll see a whole lot of colorful pictures. 

It was the fanciest pelamin I've ever seen. However, the reception itself was kinda dull. It was the 3rd & last day anyway. They had no music, people weren't talking loudly, and the food was not to my liking. Good social experience tho. And of course, my first time going to a wedding in t-shirt, jeans & red Converse. 

I am definitely going back to Bukittinggi. I wanna try their mie ayam, murtabak, belut goreng, sate Padang & all the other food that I've missed out. 

Apart from the food, I guess what I like most about Bukittinggi is the view. Very scenic, very green, fresh air & so relaxing. I love it there. And the weather is cool too. 

Pantai Morib, Selangor

This was a post of mine somewhere in 2012, taken from my old blog.

Yesterday was one fine Saturday, and I really wasn't gonna spend it sulking at home. So I googled Pantai Remis & Pantai Morib. Both are beaches that's nearby the city, about 1 1/2 hours away. Google search for images showed me that the crowd of people are less in Remis compared to Morib. Also, Morib has a nice, decent recreational park and so I made my choice to go there.

Wearing my new and oh-so-soft tshirt from Addini, I head out for my adventure (yea, rite!). But of course, 1st stop - lunch. At Wong Solo, Ampang. Ayam penyet is the best! After all those crispy chicken are safely inside my tummy, I continue on.

Ayam penyet

As I was closing in to Cheras, I decided to drop by Spermajalang's crib. To give him coffee from Bali & to say hi. Yeah, kinda missed him. Anyway it was kinda early to head out, I don't wanna have to sit in Morib alone while waiting for the sun to set - I needed a place to crash. After about an hour of watching TV & getting to know his soon-to-be-lawyer housemate who is also good looking & rich, I continue my journey.

I had my Google Maps on, but unfortunately I was brought to an unfamiliar area - somewhere in Putra Perdana, Puchong. On a nice evening & very much no traffic at all, I am glad I got lost. Driving around, seeing new things. 

Almost decided to cancel my trip since it was already close to 6pm when I reach Putrajaya, but my feet just continued on stepping on the gas pedal. So there I was, driving through Dengkil, on towards Banting and finally reached Morib at 7pm.

The sun was absolutely amazing! I was so happy I got there in time before it disappears. There was a lot of people, but parking was easy anyway. I had about 20 minutes there - paid a visit to the loo & then walked slowly to a spot where I had a full view of the sun and the sea.

Masya Allah, it was so breathtakingly beautiful.

That's about it. I went home after Maghrib. The journey home was scary, coz it was very dark and not a lot of cars passing by. I didn't know the way, just went with the signboards - my phone battery was completely gone. After about an hour of driving in the middle of nowhere, I found myself at KLIA. Thank goodness!

So I drove home on my usual route. On the way, my stomach was growling, so I decided to visit Ely at work in Subang SS 15. A whole lot of food there, plus I needed some updates on our girl issues. 

All in all, I had a great day. Very tiring, tho.