medan march 2008 - tomb sweeping

before my death, im going to have to write up not just a will, but also a list of specific requests for my family to carry out as per cultural standards for "tomb sweeping activities".  This is of course assuming that I will have a standard gravestone memorial etc etc etc (tbd)...I spent the weekend in medan, indonesia a few weeks before the actual "tomb sweeping festival" (qing ming jie) to beat the annual reunion traffic of the south east asian chinese emigrants...the city of medan, exactly unchanged as i left it 10 months ago, exactly unchanged as my aunt left it 40 years ago, and even still unchanged as how my dad left it 50 years ago, has a cooler and less humid climate as compared to singapore/jakarta.  a definitive third world city not quite as run down as jakarta due to slower population increase but still bustling of human activity with trash, pot holes, dust, crime, poverty, and the one beacon of gravitational gastronomical chinese cuisine.  the more time i spend out here, the more i fill in the blanks as to my indo/chinese roots, family tree, heritage...and the invitation extended by my aunt and uncle to go temple hopping over a weekend of drinking in spore was an easy choice (call it maturity). 

(imagine equatorial blaze and the constant swishing of medanian slippers complementing the pajama style shorts and worn thin sweaty tshirt - both genders applicable)

my gramps likes beer, so we bought beer for him before we went to his resting place.  would my family bring me johnnie walker?  a laptop? shiseido face wash? a nail clipper?  honestly, i wouldn't have much criteria at all, although, as with my family, i'd set aside a fund for future generations to come and visit and understand/witness their family origins, if not just for global exposure, then forcefully for the food!  my goodness, i seriously did nothing but eat.  makan makan makan.  an eating tour that went off the charts of gluttony.  my uncle, the nibbling tour guide, the one who orders everything and eats nothing, rendered me close to asthmatic after vaccuuming down 4 meals a day, each 5-courses, at all of his childhood food stall favorites.  sweaty, swatting flies, straying away from 3rd world ice cubes, and dipping everything in chilli.  absolutely fantastic!

hokkien mie



beer for the devout muslims....



after first tomb sweeping...nasi padang made by chinese...(fish is famous)



i hit the gym 3x a day just to eat more....and boy was it worth it.  selat panjang!










then there's always dessert!



some meatballs the next morning....





gifts...gifts...unless i eat it all...




laksa and pecil after...




a popiah snack...





and then back to selat panjang again! nasi ayam, curry bee hoon

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"you're too pale...like a girl."  - enni budiman

personally, i think my aunt was jealous when she said that.  anyways, my aunt prepped me before the trip that the chinese women in medan are supposedly better looking than jakarta.  but rather than really check out the medanese goods, i spent much of the time analyzing indo female celebrities with their paler than norm skin, heavier than korean woman makeup and bigger hair than hairspray hair.  

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for the record - using the english words "USED LUBES" in a serious sentence has me close to giggles every single time. (call it immaturity)