North Sumatran Precious Gem

There, nestled comfortably in the heart of North Sumatran mountains, lined by the town of Parapat and by extension, the city of Medan, lies the biggest freshwater lake in the whole of Sumatra, the sensational sparkling gem of Toba Lake.



I spent a considerable amount of my early childhood "consigned" (as my parents always swiftly and remorselessly put it, like a rented out old movie in the DVD store) at the Dharma Batama Graha Temple, a Mahayana Buddhist Centre in Parapat, just a few stone-throws away from the famed gem itself. Thus the Toba Lake has always retained a special charm in my heart. Daytime, it was the perfect racing spot with numerous kampong boys, as we struggled to outrun each other and plunge in (various creative styles and contortion - headfirst, toefirst, armfirst, buttfirst you name it) to rip apart its cold silvery surface. Come nightfall it turned into the perfect reflection spot, physically and mentally, when the round yellow moon winked jovially at its own mirror image on the glassy water, the air was still and the praying mantis chanted their songs in the velvety distance of the night. Sunset over the lake was priceless : the sky ablast with fiery red, and the water seemed to emit magical glow from within. I lay down and reflected on life as seen through my youthful eyes. Sometimes I wrote them down, at other times I proceeded to sit up on the cool wet grass to read my story books.



Even the average tourist harboring no soft-spot whatsoever towards the lake would be smitten by its quiet beauty. In the middle of the lake, there is Samosir Island, a tourist region where traditional culture prevails largely undisturbed. Toba Lake is the perfect destination for those looking for a short weekend to get away from the monotonous life routine.

Essential Information :

Getting to Toba Lake: Tourist mini-bus operators offer two different routes from Medan to Toba Lake. The quicker route is via Siantar (Pemantangsiantar). When there is enough demand a more scenic, but longer, route via Berastagi and Sipiso-piso waterfall is also available.




There are public buses and a daily train from Medan to Siantar. From Siantar there are public mini-buses to Parapat. Taking a public mini-bus for the whole journey from Medan to Parapat is not recommended since passengers are packed in like sardines and the journey takes over five hours. From Parapat ferries run hourly to Tuk-Tuk and less frequently to Ambarita.



An interesting alternative route would be to take a bus from Medan to Berastagi and then travel by bus (or buses) to Haranggaol, on the northern tip of the lake. A ferry runs, once a week, from Haranggaol to Ambarita. There may also be a ferry from Tongging (near Haranggaol) to Ambarita.

Accommodation: A good choice of accommodation is available on Tuk-Tuk. Ambarita is a bit too remote and quiet.

Food: The food at Tuk-Tuk is very good and much better than at Bukit Lawang or Medan. There are restaurants offering excellent beef rendang and western cookings.

Activities: Lots of people hire motorbikes but watch out! The roads on Tuk-Tuk are windy and twisty with plenty of potholes and blind turns. Accidents are common and could easily cost you Rp10,000,000, when you've paid for the ambulance from Siantar, hospital fees and bike repair costs. Much cheaper and safer are activities such as trekking and cycling. There are hot springs on the western side of Samosir island.


For more ideas on weekend getaway, visit weekend.com.sg.

Colourful Tibet

Our regular blogger has just returned from her three-weeks-long sojourn in Tibet. Here, she paints her impression on Tibet in words.


Tibet is a regiment of colours, colors that range across the spectrum, in every possible shade and variation imaginable. Tucked in between stretches of unforgiving grey Himalayan mountains, it is as if Tibet is trying to declare its existence with strong, loud colours : green, red, yellow, blue, pink, and orange - purple, gold, vermilion, ochre, maroon, and silver. Rows and rows of bright colorful praying flags stretched across the sky - wondrously contrasted against the brilliant cerulean backdrop with gentle white tufts of the cloud.



Colours adorn every structure and every corner, every hidden turn and conspicuous facade - colors enhance the mountains, the river, the trees. In the Jokhang temple, dark purple and royal blue tapestries lined up the ceiling, embossed at their sides golden, emerald, and silver brocaded trimmings.


On the walls of Samye monasteries' infinite chapels, splashes of mineral-coloured oil painting twirl and twist and turn to form mythological creatures and centuries-old legends. Buddhas and Taras, Arahats, and Boddhisattvas, llamas and karmapas - all illustrated, engraved, embossed, sculpted in the holiest of colours, such as deep, revered crimson or lustrous, glaring yellow - such are the colours worn by the chanting monks, who pray and meditate in multitudes.


And there are other colours too. Too subtly integrated into the life of Tibet, they're almost imperceptible to the naked eyed. The use of every other senses (including that of intuition, that inkling at the pit of your stomach) is therefore of absolute imperative. Such are the warm, heavily shadowed shades on the holy walls of Potala Palace, constructed from layers of cloth and centuries of history.

Such is the melting, buttery yellow of yak butter's lamp, the warm, slippery yellow that grease and grace every stone temple walls, every steep staircases, and wooden rigs, marble carvings and golden stupas. There exist the noble colours of devotion - exuded from the devout Buddhist pilgrims who prostrate days and nights, circumambulating on the smooth stone alleys in the old quarter of Lhasa. There are also the lighthearted, silky colours of innocence and simplicity of mountain nomads, as reflected clearly in their white, brilliant smiles. Truly, the whole tibet is ablast with strident colours I had never felt so blessed to be born with healthy eyesight.


And there, outside the man-made settlements, are the colours generously and grandiosely painted by the Nature itself - colours perhaps not as cheerful or loud - but infinitely more majestic, more breathtaking, and simply irresistible.


Purplish grey shadows of rocky mountains, accented sparsely with dry, rough bushes of green vegetation. With every crease and every fold of the mountains, colours change in powdery smoothness. Beneath these, the silvery sparkle of Yarlung Tsampu river : the very origin of the holy Brahmaputra down the south. And beyond that.... golden sand dunes, so deliciously soft and malleable, providing such healthy grounds for the robust abundance of willowy greens. Fluffy and fuzzy as seen from our jeep-window distance, like those short curly trees I used to draw in crayon colours beneath my kindergarten-produced mountains. Never had I imagined that fifteen years down the road, the very same drawing of my childhood would conjure magically in front of my very eyes - only now a million time grander and more beautiful, with ten-thousands more variation of colours my then simple crayon box would have never been enough to hold.



Experience the colours of Tibet yourself this coming weekend! For more ideas on weekend destinations, visit www.weekend.com.sg.

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Spotlight : Karin Dreijer Andersson, The Black Riding Mood

 You might think that I'm neglecting this blog. You're partly right, but it is because I live by a rule that is "when you have nothing to say, saying nothing is better than saying stupidities or to repeat yourself". When I read magazines and other blogs, I have the impression to suffer from enormous deja-vus, they're all with stripes, and Gucci and summer ... To be honest, this is the season that bores me the more and these days, fashion is the least of my worries. I've prefered to devote myself to the writing of my fifth novel. It's generally what I do when I am particularly deceived by the cultural releases, that is to say novels, movies and music. When I see a world, with the wonderful cultural inheritance we know, which, prefering easiness, releases movies such as The Red Riding Hood, that really motivates me to produce something better. But I have choosed this example because this turkey had a least an advantage : its soundtrack features an artist I really admire and who inspires me a lot.

 This lady's name is Karin Dreijer Andersson. The 36 years old Swede is the voice and the spirit of two amazing bands : Fever Ray, which signs the song The Wolf on the Red Riding Hood's soundtrack, and iconic electronic duo The Knife, with her brother Olof. Both might be unfamiliar to you if you're not into electronic music, but even if Karin and her projects are still very discreet, they have a huge impact in the contemporary world of music.
I ran into The Knife by chance, some years ago. At the time, my electronical universe was limited to male voices, either trip hop (Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps) or industrial, such as Hocico, Das Ich and other brutal lyricism. My only female experiences were Goldfrapp and Björk, who I regarded as the strangest of my tastes. So, the first time I heard a song of The Knife, it was quite a revolution.

 It looked like an alien encounter; you can't help but have the strong feeling that you have met something superior, something more intense. Let's start with Neverland, from their second album, Silent Shout (2006), it is an easy introduction. If you're caught, then you could dare to enter deeper in their unusual vibrancy and their universe, an odd mix of darkness, bitterness, childhood and fairyland. They quote David Lynch, Donnie Darko, Kate Bush and Siouxsie and the Banshees, but you can expect to find more from your unconscious than in any psychotherapy. But don't expect a classical relationship, because The Knife is not here to satisfy masses, and they're not afraid to shock your ears and your expectations. Silent shout is quite disturbing, and you will tend to prefer Deep Cuts (2003) and The Knife (2001), perhaps more academic. Their latest creation, Tomorrow, in a Year (2010) in association with Mt. Sims is even harder to reach (don't say creepy !), even for I who appreciate the sound of Matthew Sims. 

 But, what makes the band so unique is the voice and personality of Karin. At the same time very pure, but fragile, she is constantly at the limits of shrill and sweetish in her singing, which makes a huge contrast with her play on her appearance, very dark and tribal. While with The Knife, she liked to hide herself behind a plague doctor mask : but don't see any Gaga attempt here. The lady doesn't like mainstream attention. Nominated thrice at the Grammis (the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards), she never came, even when she had won several prizes. Her taste for costumes and her contribution to movies' soundtracks could remind of band Daft Punk, but Karin Dreijer Andersson is much more than a marketing mystery. She stands for women in the music industry, for the minorities, and succeeds in offering a rare mysticism to a world where music is devoted to money and fame.

 Her solo project, Fever Ray, founded in 2009, led her to throw the masks, and she adopted tribal paintings and somptuous costumes. Death and shamanism are the main visual themes, but loneliness is what stands out from the album. Many critics have qualified her work of "claustrophobic", but I quite disagree with the term, or we are putting a different meaning here. The music of The Knife recalled the countryside, dense forests of dark pine trees, large desert plain, and was more organic, even if cold, as those of Ladytron. With Fever Ray, Andersson migrates inside the cities by night, the gloomy interiors, the Platonician grottos with their lack of realism and their nightmares, finding Neverland again. With this new and outstanding aesthetism, she has decided to explore darker sides of her music, even if, for the moment, it is still close to those of The Knife, a fact that critics can't help but underline. But Karin is from those creatures who develop herselves without the look and opinion of the others, and her work is still the most sensible and remarkable innovation I've seen in music industry so far.

Katie Stelmanis from Austra - Nika Roza Danilova from Zola Jesus

 Moreover, she has opened the way for girls in electronic music, far from the clichés of the sexy djs of trendy parties (Miss Kittin and other IT girls suddenly turned musically inspired; that doesn't prevent them from having talent, don't make me say what I didn't). Now, the blondes with distorded voices are a new trend, and if they're not all of great quality, they still offer some good tunes. We can quote Canadian singer Katie Stelmanis, who acts both in solo and with band Austra, and Russian American Nika Roza Danilova, better known under the name of Zola Jesus. In the brunettes' side, Björk has found a spiritual daughter in Grimes, another Canadian singer. The common point of those youngsters is the dark mood, and they are often dubbed witches by narrow-minded journalists. Put some Rick Owens on them and they will consider them as the new IT girls ...
As for Karin Dreijer Andersson, no risk to find her inside the pages of a fashion magazine, even if her style is more interesting and intense than those of an Alexa Chung (seriously, she's cute, but who's that girl ?). Just listen to her music, like it or hate it. But find out that there is life outside of the filmography of Catherine Hardwicke ...

Claire Boucher aka Grimes - copyright David J. Romero

(If you know or own the copyright of one of this photos, please contact me.)

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Fujiwara Hitomi Top Asian

Fujiwara Hitomi Top Asian