10:01 p.m. - 2012-05-08
This day last week in Toba
Tuesday last week, was effectively our last day and night in Lake Toba.
We woke up around 9am, washed up, then decided to look for breakfast outside.
This time, we walked to the padi fields, more rural side of the island. That is turn left after leaving Horas Family House.
We basked in the fresh morning sun, and admired the clouds drifting over the mountains. We were in a happy morning mood and took photos.
We visited a bar which weren't open yet, passed by a Chilli restaurant which wasn't opened too, then we walked on and into a restaurant that overlooks the lake.
There was no one inside, except for a little 6 year old boy playing GTA 4 at a PC, among a row of other PCs.
We helped ourselves to glass bottled and canned drinks, and put the cash under a computer mouse at the cashier counter.
Then we sat down and admired the view of the lake.
Then a lady appeared. She owns or works at the place. We decided to have breakfast there and we ordered. The food was delicious.
I forgot what I had but it probably had eggs in it. I've never eaten so much eggs on a trip before.
During the meal, we saw an ang moh man swimming slowly in the lake, he was swimming from the other bank towards us. Awesome.
Then after breakfast, we split up. Me and F decided to continue walking around the island, cept in the opposite direction from our first time. While A, LY, Y, R walked back to our house, taking a shortcut through the primary school.
Me and F walked on under the hot sun. Once we advanced about 20metres, two guys on a motorcycle came up to us, and said, "Hey brother, where are you going?"
I thought they were hoodlums but luckily they weren't. They just wanted to offer us something, like magic mushrooms (oh we saw lots!) or maybe a ride somewhere or maybe food.
We declined and walked on...
Walk, walk, we came upon this L-shaped jetty that looked out into the beautiful mirror of the lake, where the mountains and clouds reflected off the smooth calm waters.
Must take photos. So we took several. Panorama and all.
Then we continued walking. We looked for the famous Swiss Bakery we saw on our 2nd day but we couldn't find it now, going in the opposite direction.
Instead we came upon two separately located "Samosir Island Swiss Bakery" signboards. I think that was in the resorts, as in the resort's cafes. Just like Toba Cottages had its own bakery. (Muffins, cakes, camarillo pies, we bought like 6 for only $7!)
Then me and F, we saw this postcard shop and we decided to buy postcards and send back to our moms in Singapore. We wrote messages and took photos at the little metal postbox.
A very cute little girl, she looks like the girl from Lilo & Stitch, she was sweeping the floor and she asked F to help her take a photo. Such a cute and obedient girl.
Then after that we continued walking... and we reached our Horas Family House, about 1.5 hours in all.
It was already afternoon. The weather was very warm. We lazed about inside the house till 4 or 5pm. I tried to sleep but it was so warm in the 2nd storey/attic.
We wanted to try kayaking but damm, somebody had rented out the kayaks at Toba. So we went swimming in the lake instead.
All 6 of us eventually were in the water, and we formed a symbiotic floating platform, where we all depended on each other to stay afloat without treading water with our feet.
A was so cold he shivered.
Then after swimming, we took turns to wash up in the toilet, and then it started to drizzle.
Me and F and R, we went out to buy some soft drinks and cakes from Tabo.
Then at 6.30pm, the mother of all fish feasts started - the Horas Family House Fish Barbeque Dinner.
We really didn't know what to expect. The Dutch owner, Berend Baker (I hope he doesn't google his name), sat down with us through the whole dinner and told us interesting bits about his life.
Meanwhile, the servers helped us BBQ the fish and just kept on serving the many dishes - we had keropok, fried eggs, nasi goreng, vegetable salad, BBQ fish, BBQ catfish, BBQ big flat fish with bones, BBQ big flat fish fillet, and many yummy sauces - sambal sauce, fish sauce, etc etc.
We just ate so much and there were still so much leftovers at the end! It was scary.
And we listened to B talk about his life... how he flew 1.5 times a day, every day in one crazy year, and about how he was trying to find a place to escape... and finally found Lake Toba serendipitously, through a work holiday in Medan.
There were other hilarious moments that happened during dinner. Overall, it was a great and memorable experience.
At night, i had trouble sleeping though, i think i was too coked up (from drinking coke during dinner) or too full of fish.
Oh yeah, B taught us how to debone a fried fish with our hands. It was the best fine dining lesson I ever need.
Teach a man to properly eat fish!
