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When we went to Padang last month, we splurged on traditional Minang food that we missed so much, such as Sate Padang, Bebek Lado Ijo (with happy seasoning), many kinds of Sambal Lado and Gulai, and the special grilled fish from Lake Maninjau, grilled banana, and sanjai crackers. We took the opportunity to get Dadih or Dadiah, traditional minang water buffalo yogurt which is fermented in bamboo container covered with banana leaf.

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The last day Indi was supposed to wake up early for a game of golf, but the rain did not stop so everybody ended up waiting at the café and enjoying a prolonged breakfast amidst the rain. Finally, nearing 10am, everybody decided to cancel the golf game and boarded the bus to lake Maninjau.It was a long yet scenic drive to the lake. We passed by a vegetable market, and I thought that I had never seen vegetable that fresh before. But who wants to buy cabbages that have been sat on for hours?

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The second day we woke up and almost late for breakfast. Indi had a quick shower, I didn't and neither did Noe. Noe slept really soundly, and it was rather difficult to wake him up. But we woke him up anyway, and he was quite fussy in the morning because of this. Luckily, Eyang Kakung took Noe to swing in the playground and Noe's back to his usual self.After Nasi Goreng breakfast, we boarded the bus for a long drive to Bungus Bay. On the way, we saw a lot of unique sights such as graduation parade for religious schools and various kinds of decorated vehicle. After about one and a half hour drive we arrived at the bay and took the boat to Sikuai Island, a tiny island off Sumatra at Indian Ocean. The boat journey took us 45 minutes.

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Last weekend we did a short trip to West Sumatra. It was Noe's first trip to visit the land of his great-grandmother.We took Tiger Airways flight 222, from the budget terminal. Noe was really excited when he arrived at the terminal building, because it was so spacious. After checking in, we had breakfast at Han's café, before boarding into the plane. This is our first time taking a flight and had free-seating arrangement. The stewardess told us that we need to sit in the back in order to distribute the load of passenger evenly. I guess the plane won't fly if all the passengers sit in the front only, since the plane's nose would be too heavy to lift.

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There are two things that caught our attention during last week’s trip in West Sumatra. First thing is the unique signs that can be found along the way. Second is how vehicle here is always intricately decorated. Let me present to you the second thing: about the unique decorations on buses and trucks in West Sumatra.This is "Zafira" sticker decorated bus"Antoni " bus with an airbrush painting of a woman in hijab reciting Quran"Endra Arita" bus and "Alisma Artomoro" bus"Sobat" (Friend) bus, with an airbrush painting of a lavish house."Mataguti" (don't know the meaning) city bus.Airbrush painting of a minibus"Flexi" bus with airbrush painting of three people, apparently depicted from indian bollywood movie."Cimpago" bus with an airbrush painting of a countryside, an SUV, and a woman in tight dress.On the left, "Nan Kanduang" bus with an airbrush illustration of a valley scenery and a yellow porsche. On the right, "H. Benny" bus sticker illustration."Trisna" ("Prosperity" in Javanese) bus, with an airbrush painting of Borobudur temple."Bulian City" bus (means diamond) with an illustration of waterfall on the back side of the bus. The route goes from Bukittinggi to Jambi, Sumatra, IndonesiaWritten "Harmoni" with flash style sticker decoration"Rahmi Palimunthe" with an airbrush painting of a boy on a backside of a truck. Quite freaky.Finally Intergalactic transport made in Padang. Not really intricately decorated, but still.. unique

www.indrani.net original entry

There are two things that caught our attention during last week’s trip in West Sumatra. First thing is the unique signs that can be found along the way. Second is how vehicle here is always intricately decorated. Let me present to you the first thing: about the unique signs that are found along the way.There are many signs put up to discourage immorality, fornication and adultery. Usually, the signs are quoting holy verses from Quran or Hadith. For example, this one, which is similar to the one found in Mersing in our previous trip. It is translated as: "It is forbidden to be alone, a man with a woman, except that they are muhrims (such as parents or siblings). And women are not allowed to travel, except when accompanied by her muhrims. (Hadith Riwayat Muslim)". Sorry for the weird angle, we took it from a moving vehicle.This sign says: The culture of shame is a fortress against immoralityThis sign says: You are entering West Sumatra Province, the anti-immorality region We also found many signs that deal with drugs, such as this one. It is translated as: Let’s save West Sumatran generation from drugs. Watch out, drugs have seeped into education institutions as well!This particular signage (or rather a slogan written on a wall) is written in a military installation building. It says: NKRI (Unitary State of Indonesia) is an absolute value. My life and death: only for the red-white flag (Indonesian flag).This funny sign was found when we stopped by Payakumbuh to ride horse carriage. Basically, it’s a sign saying that a midwife named Mrs. Net is practicing here. But the sign seems to say that a midwife and an internet café can be found here.This is a banner in a graduation parade of an Islamic school that says: With our graduates, let’s build a generation that is Quran literate.