Ivy's Travel: Medan Trip Part 1

Last week I went to Medan with my entire small family during QingMing period. If you are not aware of what is Qing Ming or mostly known as Cheng Beng, it's the day for remembering and honoring to one's ancestors. Normally, people will go to the graves of their departed ones and pay respect.

I was born in Medan, yet I know so little of the city. My parents moved to Jakarta when I was a baby, age 1 to be exact. Ever since, I have only flew back once when my grandma passed away around 15 years ago.

The trip was short, and though I practically had no childhood memories or whatsoever about the city, it was nice to pay visit, to see around the town I was born in. Since there are 6 of us, our relatives lend us a car with driver for us to look around. Mom and Dad took us to our first home, and along the way, mom and dad shared memory stories of their hometown.

They still regularly flew back to Medan at least once a year, but it was our first time the whole fam along with hubs and my sis in law flew back together, so the trip felt different. It was so sweet to see my parents happy faces when they poke each other whenever they bumped into the old streets or the place they used to go. Nothing beats childhood memories, right? 

Semarang street, mostly known as Medan Chinatown. The streets turn to be food heaven in the evening until late. Hawker stalls selling variety of Medanese pride such as cah kwetiau, chong fan, beehon curry, etc, ready to make you drool, in and out.

Bihun Bebek Apheng

Fried Cong Fan. So gooood!

Fried crackling pork

Sate Padang Ajo

One of the yummiest martabak found at the end of Semarang street. Moist, generous chocolate & peanuts sprinkles. Sinfully yum!

The next day, we went to one of the most famous noodle in town since 1932, Bakmi Hock Seng. With several branches in Medan, we went to the one in Bangka street hoping for lesser queue. Obviously, we were not that lucky. It was impressive how people willing to queue for quite long for a bowl of their famous hokkien mee (egg noodles with seafood and pork).

After waiting for almost 40 minutes, starving and sweating from the heat, we were served with a very small portion of noodles. It was delicious, but the portion man! And it cost 38k! Freakin' expensive for such small portion.

Moving on to what not to be missed when visiting Medan... Durian! Their durian is the best! Really, they don't call it durian Medan for nothing. It was gooey, moist, sweet but not overly sweet with a hint of bitterness. It was very very good!

There's a lot of place to eat durian in Medan. The most famous one would probably Durian Ucok, but our driver took us to Inang Durian as it was closer to our next destination. Fine by me, coz you can get delicious durian anywhere as long as in Medan.

They could deliver to your home/ hotel for minimum purchase. If you want to take back to your hometown, they will wrap it in a seal box and rest assure no durian smells would be noticed. The large box would fit around 13pcs (whole durian) and cost 350k. 

Inang Durian
Jl. H. Adam Malik - Glugur By Pass (Medan)
Ph. +62853 7013 5642/ +628126556091

You can ask the price first, but everything in Medan is so cheap. The 6 of us ate 7pc and only cost 150k. While in Jakarta, the one at Mangga Besar street normally cost 50k each and not even half as good as the one in Medan.

Just looking at the pics itself is enough to make me want to fly back to Medan. Anyway, part 2 Medan trip will be continued in next post...

Next: Ivy's Travel: Medan Trip Part 2