Long weekend in Medan

The idea came up when I teased my niece, saying that I'd take her mom with me on a trip and leave her alone at home. Hmmm, kinda cruel to tease a 3.5 years old girl like that. She wants her mom close to her everywhere she goes.. You can imagine how difficult it will be to train her being away from her mom.

To make long story short, I asked my sister to come with me to Medan, our home town, bring her two kids and husband, so our grandmother will be able to see her great grand children while she's still alive. Too bad my brother-in-law wasn't able to take his annual leave.
I booked plane ticket online. Air Asia sent me an e-mail, they were having promotions and if I'm lucky to hit the right date, the price will be very cheap.
The ticket to Medan wasn't available at low price on my chosen date, but it will be for the ticket for Jakarta. So for departure, I booked Mandala Airlines ticket.
Total cost for two adults, one infant, and one baby was around IDR 2.3 million only!
It was a month before we left.

The trip to Medan was alright, even though we couldn't get the same seat row. My sister wasn't allowed to sit in front, while I had first row seat with my niece. You can guess, my niece can't sit still. She kept looking for her mom. So I took turn with my sis to hold the baby while my sister was sitting in front. The baby didn't cry at all in the plane. Good boy, Eza.

We didn't go to recreation places, as the objective of this trip was to settle some personal matters.

Es Campur, Medan's dessert

Clam Satay, Medan's snack

Bangkok Trip: Recertification Day 1

It's Sunday, and we must get ready early in the morning for our recertification training.
Left hotel at 8.15 AM (it was instructed to leave hotel at 7.45 AM) but since it was Sunday, traffic situation was alright.
It was my first time I wore high heels for the whole day.

Had early dinner at Savoey Restaurant with the class. Our table was located at the back yard of the restaurant, which is by the river. The view was not that pretty, we only saw one big boat and some factories.
The food last night was better compared to this one.


After dinner, the van dropped us at Siam Paragon. Can't help it, I wanted to buy some underwear and lingerie there. I asked Melvin from Singapore to buy me jack fruit cracker and cashew nut since he was going to MBK Plaza.

After shopping, we went to Health Land again with boss and my two Malaysian colleagues. We had foot massage for THB 250.

Bangkok Trip: ASCS Day 2

Woke up a little bit late, but still manage to have breakfast. It was last last day of congress.
All the managerial level were having important meeting in the morning while the rest of us went to venue.
Nothing special, except I had to put up with my Singaporean colleague who’s originally from Philippines. I’ll post this experience in my other blog.

I went to find my surgeon and accompanied him during lunch symposium. Free lunch, baby, lol. The menu was not as much as we had last night.

After my boss came, we left venue early with my boss and Philippines colleague. Some of the exhibition participants have unpacked the booth. We went back to hotel to drop our stuffs, and then walked to Sala Daeng MRT station, headed to Siam Paragon.
Went back to hotel, picked up Philippines surgeons, then had dinner at Chinese Thai restaurant: Cosmo Thai. Had a great meal and good laugh from the joke that the surgeon made.

Went to Health Land, the same place I went in 2006. Had Thai Massage at THB 450. I felt bad because I didn't give enough tip to the masseur because I had no money left. I planned to take money from ATM but ended up borrowing money from my boss.

Fourth weekend in Shanghai: graduation and Hangzhou trip

Dec 8, 2008
We had our Final exam! After learning for the whole month, now it's time to face the last exam.

I passed the exam. Some of class mates must retake the exam due to low score in a few days.
We celebrated our success by having dinner at Hooters in Hong Qiao.
They were having 50% off for food for dinner between 5-7 PM.

Dec 12, 2008

The retake of exam was today. We also had our last animal lab.
At the end of the day, we had our certification handed over.
Dick gave us equipment bags to bring to our country.

It was a very important week for all of us.

My boss will fly back the day after. We spent the night by having dinner at Amy's Restaurant, Hong Mei Road area, across Xiao Nan Guo, and followed by massage in Fortune Hotel.

Dec 13, 2008

My room mate, Lisa, asked me to join her in a trip to Hangzhou. She'd visit her cousin who works there.
We were 30 minutes late. We went on the next train. It took 1 hour, ticket price around RMB 60. We were planning to come here in a group, to rent a car, and it would cost us RMB 500 per person!
The cousin took us for lunch and took us to look around the city.
There's lake in the middle of city. The view was beautiful.

We went back in the evening. Went back to hotel, then called up our Indian colleagues for having dinner together. They will treat us Indian food. We went to Darbar Delhi, Hong Mei Road area, across Xiao Nan Guo.

Third weekend in Shanghai

Today we have half day lecture although I didn't focus on the lecture. Yeah, I kept falling asleep during lecture. I felt bad.

The weather is better than yesterday night. After we got back to our hotel, we took some rest for 1.5 hours and went to Super Brand Mall, Pudong, again. It took 1.5 hours to get there because of traffic jam. I and Linda fell asleep in the taxi. We were so tired.
We had dinner at Tang Palace again. This time with different menu. No dim sum.

After the meal, we started to do window shopping. Well, not completely, cos we ended up carrying that shopping bag, hehehe.

I decided to buy a shirt for my niece and pijama for my little nephew in Uniqlo. I bought big size so they can wear it later on.
That's the christmas tree from Uniqlo in the lobby area of the mall.

After finished shopping, we walked to The Bund. Accross the mall, is Pearl of Oriental, the landmark of Shanghai. We didn't want to miss the opportunity to take some pictures.

The weather was so nice, I was enjoying our walk, even though it was quite cold. We arrived at Haagendazs ice cream shop and ordered Banana Split and another type of ice cream set. They have chocolate ice cream fondue, cost RMB 218! A family seated next to our table ordered that one.

We wanted to go home, but when we were out of the area, it's the back of the mall building, we found Hooters! The EBD team has been to Hooters for several times for their get-together-dinner. So, we decided to go there to check it out. After some drinks and chicken wings, we went home.

Wow, what a Saturday night!

Class dinner, Dec 5, 2008

Had class dinner at this Japanese restaurant in Warner Inn Hotel. They've got this grilled oyster with spinach and mayonaise sauce on top, served with the shell. Also grilled prawn with mayonaise sauce. It's "all you can eat" set menu. Yum, yum.










Had massage in Fortune Hotel, finished at 1.30 AM. Man, it's -1 degree Celsius! We jogged from there to hotel, but it made us having chest pain due breathing the cold weather. My nose was freezing and start running.

Class dimissed early (Dec 4, 2008)

Today there was a meeting with big boss and China sales team. Since my trainers must attend the meeting too, we finished our class presentation assignment right before lunch time.After that, class dismissed! Yippie.... My boss took us to downtown again. Rheina didn't come along because she had stomachache again.

Baron is waiting for his cake

First stop: Huai Hai Road, shopping at H&M, Sephora. Then went to Yu Yuan Garden again, just for sightseeing and ate some local delicacies.

For dinner, we went to a hot pot restaurant. It's called Dolar Shop, located in Bailemen Hotel (near Nan Jing Road), 20th floor.
This type of hot pot is individual one. So each of us can choose the type of broth we prefer. The ceiling is made from glass so you can see the sky. Too bad, not long after we arrived, the glass was covered by fog.





Today's weather is very very very cold. Windy too! But we managed to take some nice pitures outdoor :)

Shanghai Trip, Week II

Whoaaa, too busy to post my daily activities. Well, here's the summary of week II in Shanghai.

Nov 25, 2008

Dinner with boss and Malaysia Team at an Italian restaurant, La Famiglia, owned by a Korean. It's accross my hotel. I had Sweet Pumpkin Cream Soup and Seafood Pasta with Tomato Sauce (cost RMB 83). Yummy!

Nov 27, 2008
Went to small shopping center at Jin Hui Road to check out the bags and luggage. Want to buy laptop trolley. Ended up by buying two knit blouses (RMB 85) as it's so damn cold here. I plan to buy a coat, and some more knit blouses.

Dinner at a Taiwan restaurant, had Seafood Udon (cost RMB 25). Found a Turkish resto accross the shopping centre. It was windy that day. Imagine this: cold weather with wind, brrrrr.....

Nov 29, 2008

Went to Nan Jing Road. It's like Orchard Road in Singapore. Wow, a lot of people there. We can't even walk slow to enjoy the view.

Dinner at hot pot restaurant near hotel.

Nov 30, 2008

Shopping at Jin Hui Road, lunch at Turkish Restaurant, massage in Fortune Hotel Health Club.

Shanghai trip, Day 5 (Nov 20, 2008)

Today we have surgeons coming for 8th AETF event (Nov 21-22, 2008) held in our CCI building. There will be around 50 surgeons, from Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Japan.
My boss arranges a dinner for surgeons from Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Too bad my surgeon was stuck in traffic jam on his way back to Shanghai from sightseeing.

It was a nice dinner. A Shanghai culinary. My boss ordered vegetable and seafood so I can also enjoy the meal.

I must say that the dishes are interesting. There were Peking Duck, Fried Rice, Braised Pork (which I can't eat, of course), and some more other that I don't know the name. Total cost for 12 person meal was around USD 200. I'll get the name and address of restaurant later.

This afternoon, we went to animal lab on 4th floor to see how our senior staffs performing laparoscopy and open surgery so we have a sight about our task tomorrow.

New Eating Experience in Bandung (August 25, 2007)

Last Thursday, I went to Bandung after long time. I had meetings with two clients, at different places of course…………
The first one was at Raja Melayu Restaurant.
It was my first time there. The interior is modern look, but the waiter and waitress wear Malay traditional outfit. Lots of people had lunch there at that time.
And when I went to see the dishes they are serving…WOW!!!!!!!!!
Many varieties of Sumatera foods. It’s like Padang food resto, but they have more…. Cos they serve food from Aceh to Lampung, from the west of Sumatera to the East end of Sumatera.
Yum….Yum……They reminded me of my hometown. Unfortunately, most of them were cooked in coconut milk, or vegetable oil.
I didn’t know what to pick because any food I chose wasn’t allowed in my diet.

Oh well………….I went naughty that day, I had to forget my diet program just for 1 day.
I chose Pajri Nenas, Sambal Goreng Udang, Kangkung Masak Belacan, and Ayam Goreng Pandan.
Alam picked Rendang Daging and Gulai Kambing.
My clients picked Gulai Ikan Patin, Asam Iga, Sambal Ganja (!), Udang Goreng on a stick, and many other things.

I chose Ketan Hitam Float. It’s sweet fermented black sticky rice, grounded by blender, and they add one scoop of vanilla ice cream. Slurrrppp…….

Another place I went was Paris Van Java. Place to hang out with friends, to relax. They have lots of cafe there.
I met my client at Black Canyon Coffee. I think this cafe was originally from Thailand. They serve Thai dishes, and lots of varieties coffee drinks. When I finished, they said thank you in Thai.
Because the meeting was at 2 PM, we only ordered drinks. I order Blended Green Tea Ice with milk, and my client ordered Green Tea Ice with no milk.

Hmmm….Another new eating experience in Bandung.

Bandung Trip (July 10, 2006)

After awhile, I started my visit to Bandung again for work. Before, we relied on our Area Representative to get info on hospitals and clients.

Today, I went with Susan, Hansen, and Henry M. Susan and Hansen would install our PillCam System at a new big hospital. While I and Henry visited Hasan Sadikin Hospital.

After finished our work. We had our lunch, LATE lunch! It was 03.45 pm. Henry, who is familiar with Bandung, cos he's been living there since high school time, showed us a place to get a lunch.
Well, he brought us to Lapangan Gazibu for breakfast, we had Lontong Kari there.
Hansen ate Lontong Kari and Bubur Ayam!

Then for lunch, we have grilled chicken (Ayam Bakar). Tasty. I had Ayam Bakar, Tempe goreng, Ati Ampela, Lalapan, Sambal, n warm rice, with sweet ice tea.
Hansen, took two pieces of Ayam Bakar, and additional rice from Susan.

After resting for awhile, we went to Pa' Oyen for Es Campur. Nice ice, you will find avocado, jackfruit, young coconut, pacar cina, ground ice, and sweetened milk in that.

Henry challenged Hansen if he can finish up two portion of Bakso Siomay, if he can, Henry will pay for the food. At first, Hansen just smiled and drank his ice, but in the middle he said OK.
Well...............He finished 'em up!!!!! Bravo, only 2 hours after our late lunch.

Actually, I still wanted to try Surabi, Sop Buah, and buy Bagelen. But we needed to go home.

I was full. I bought Brownies Amanda. When I got home, I took some slices. Whoaaa, I didn't think I can sleep well tonight with this full stomach.

To Dian in Detroit, if you read this, I'm sorry my dear you can't taste Indonesian food.

This is how Es Campur look like

Spending beginning of Ramadhan in KL (oct 7, 2005)

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan

Welcoming our holy month 2005:

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan.

Would like to wish you all Happy Fasting. May Allah give us strength.

================================================================

It was my first time in life where I did fasting in other country, not being with family.
My head office held ISO internal auditor training on Oct 5, 2005. My office in Jakarta sent me, Henry and Selvi to KL. We were there during Oct 4-6, 2005. We stayed at Concorde Hotel, as usual.

On the first sahoor (early breakfast before fasting), Selvi joined us (she's a christian). It was 3 a.m.
I thought they would serve the food at the buffet, it turned out a set menu.
The food was nice, there were appetizer, main course, and desserts. Unfortunately, all of the food were cooked with coconut milk. It was unusual for us because for us, we only took light dishes and not oily food.
It happened for 2 nights in a row. There would be one vegetable dish and three meat dishes. Appetizer was soups and desserts were pudding or fruit slice.

On the second sahoor, the day after, it was only I and Henry. We suggested Selvi to take normal breakfast hour so she can have variety of meals.

The Malay food cooked with coconut milk can increase our cholesterol level and affect health. Poor Henry, he must stay for one week for additional training. I hope he'd be OK with the food.
When he got back to Jakarta, he said on the last day he only ate the fruits.


Our dinner in KLCC foodcourt

Seoul Trip: Day 6

Last day of the conference.....Pfewww...Some of the booth have been already empty....Few doctors only in the exhibition, and mostly Korean doctors....

I wish Gary dismissed us early. Nothing to do there. When we sit, he said why we lovely ladies just sit and watched while others were working. Well....There were five guys were already packing the goods and we would be just on their way. He kept telling me and Jeonine to do more sales, everytime! I'm bored to death.....Hahaha.....Just kidding. I know my responsibility.

They started to pack around 2 PM. Gary let us go at 2.45PM. Somchai hasn't came up yet from his morning tour. My feet still hurt. We carried a lot of stuffs back to hotel: brochures, newsletters, CDs. We haven't had our lunch. Since it was late in the afternoon and probably we would have heavy dinner, so we just ate the bread we took from hotel.

Went to "Wonders of Human Body" exhibition. Very very interesting! Just see my photo album. We found out that Somchai got lost to hotel.

Farewell dinner at some Korea restaurant.... Mmm, I'm not a fan of that. To me it's not a real food. No rice, only vegetables, kimchi, BBQ beef, and cold noodle at the end of meal. Jeonine shared her Bimbimpab with me.

After dinner, I and Jeonine decided to go to Myeong Dong. It's our last night in Seoul and Jeonine needs to buy souvenirs. Went to Myeong Dong night market with Kate, Ricardo, Jeonine, and Somchai by subway......There was only street fashion. No souvenirs.....Poor Jeonine, she didn't find what she was looking for. I bought 2 broches, Kate bought a pair of lovely earrings. Ricardo bought us Baskin & Robins ice cream. Very nice!

Seoul Trip: Day 5

September 27, 2005

Hotel has been provided breads, tea, and coffee since yesterday. I didn't take them, but I took bread today and save some for snack in the booth. The tea and coffee tasted awfull....Maybe the staff used hotel water to make tea/coffee, the water contains chlorine....Ewww.....We were late going to the booth. Kim was already there, and prepared the booth.

Lunch with Lynn and Jeonine. Ate sushi and tofu soup with many items inside: carrot, beansprout, fried egg, seaweed. TASTY ! I love it.

Won a doorprize from a pharmaceutical company. Gary got upset when saw us brought the prize......" Are you working or playing here???". Gosh.....Gary.....

Kate has made an apppointment for me at the foot massage shop in COEX mall at 4 PM. How nice of her....

After closed down the booth, we ran to the mall.....It cost KRW 30,000 for a basic foot massage, 30 minutes. Man......I'm doing this just for the sake of my feet. I'll have my spa when I'm back in Jakarta.

Jeong and Young took us to Suma SamChain vegetarian house for dinner. It was my first time to eat at a vegetarian restaurant. Then hung out awhile at Dunkin' Donuts....Because I can't go to the bar where the guys actually wanted to go.

Showed Jeonine how to use Friendster, LOL. She has the account but never used it.