SAMOSIR - THE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAKE [PART 1]

31st January 2017 ~ Right in the middle of Lake Toba, lies an island which is bigger than Singapore, Samosir Island. It is the fifth largest lake island in the world. The visit to Lake Toba will not be complete without stopping by at Samosir Island, to see and learn the lifestyle of the Batak people.

Majority of the Batak people here are Christians but they still practice many of their traditions.

As usual, we were greeted by rows of stalls selling souvenirs and the sellers calling the passers-by to stop and have a look at the items being sold.

We went to this place where we could see traditional Batak houses on display. We could not enter the houses though.

We then went to visit the tombs of the past Batak kings.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[MY MEDAN TRIP MAIN PAGE]

CRUISING ON THE LEGENDARY LAKE TOBA

31st JANUARY 2017 ~ When I was younger, in the 80's, one's greatest achievement could be their ability to travel to Medan and Lake Toba. Lake Toba would be THE must-visit place at that time, when not everyone could fly. I was finally cruising on the legendary lake many, many years later and I still considered it as an achievement for myself.

We were taking the boat cruise on the lake at about 9:00 a.m. to get to the island in the middle of it, called Samosir Island.

Here are some interesting facts about Lake Toba from Wikipedia:

• Lake Toba is actually a large volume of water filling in a supervolcano caldera (crater) after a very huge explosion when the content (the hot magma) had been emptied.
• It is the largest volcanic lake in the world.
• It is 100km long, 30km wide and 500m deep.

We were a bit unlucky as the sky that morning was cloudy and the surroundings were foggy. I bet the photos would turn up more beautiful if there was sunshine and blue sky. However, the air was cool and pure, and this would be the place to live healthily without any pollution.

[MY MEDAN TRIP MAIN PAGE]

PUAN SABARIAH'S LAST DAY IN SCHOOL

A farewell gathering event was held this afternoon by the people at SMK Taman Universiti to bid farewell to Puan Sabariah Zainuddin whose time had come to retire from the teaching profession. One more friend is going to enjoy her life and that made me very green with envy.

The angklung group was invited to do performance at the event.

They were also saying "goodbye" officially to Puan Rafidah Abd. Samat, the school counselor, who had been transferred to SMK(P) Sultan Ibrahim, or is well-known as SIGS.

fans are everywhere *sigh*

I am looking forward to another get-together session with other friends in a more private environment, and surrounded by a lot of food.