On February 23rd, I had my first trip to Medan to attend the 7th KNSI (Konferensi Nasional Sistem Informasi) 2011 and for touristy thing. I took direct flight from Surabaya. After 3 hours on the sky, the plane landed at Polonia. Then, my friends and Mr. Lilik picked me up to Swissbel Hotel Medan.
A view from 17 th floor Swissbel Hotel
I scanned Medan through short journey from Polonia to Jalan S. Parman, Medan is a big city like Surabaya, with its own characteristics and unique culture. I saw a lot of skyscraper buildings and most of them is 4 or 5 star hotel, many viharas, churches, and Mesjid, waw… Too bad I didn’t visit Istana Maimun and Mesjid Raya Al-Mashun. At about 12 pm, we arrived at Swissbel Hotel, checked in and unpacked. We got room in 17th floor. Huge thanks to my friend Gressia, Mr. Lilik, and Mr. Gunawan for lovely accomodation during our trip in Medan.
At night, my friends and I went to Merdeka Walk to meet our supervisor. Merdeka Walk is located on Jalan Balai Kota, accross Grand Aston International Hotel. It’s a place to hang out, have a casual dinner, and do photo sessions.
Culinary Tourism
Bawal Steam...
Medan is one of best culinary tourism spot. A lot of delicious cuisine and tasty snacks can be found in the city. For Durian lovers, they will love Medan as many stores sell Durian and its processed, cake, bolu, pancake, ice cream, chips, you name it. Another delicious snack from Medan is Bolu, any kind and various flavor of sweet Bolu. Don’t forget to taste Bika Ambon in Chocolate, Cheese, Pandan, and of course Durian.
From main course section, Bawal Steam is a must try as well as Mie Aceh. Medan also provides the well-known Markisa Juice, Terung Belanda Juice, and Jus Martabe (Markisa Terung Belanda). We can bring home sweet tangy Medan beverages as gift by buying the juice directly (and carry in hand from Medan to your door) or by coupon. If we buy coupon, we can redeem it in some spots, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, and Semarang. A coupon costs Rp 90.000 – 95.000 for 6 bottles of Markisa Juice or 6 bottles of Terung Belanda Juice. Certainly, Medan still has other delicious culinary products to be explored and tasted.
KNSI 2011
The second day, we attended KNSI 2011 at STMIK Potensi Utama Medan. The conference began with registration at 8 am, followed by opening ceremony the next hour. In the opening ceremony, all of audiences sang Indonesia Raya and listened to holy verses of Surah Ar-Rahman. A number of VIP guests, such as government representatives, Kopertis representatives, program committee, and the head of committee gave a speech. IMHO, the speech was a bit too long. Then, a robot, constructed by undergraduates of STMIK Potensi Utama, hit the gongs to open the Conference officially. The conference was continued by Keynote Speech from Prof. Dr. Abdul Razak Hamdan, The Dean of Faculty of Information and Technology, Univ. Kebangsaan Malaysia.
From Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya, gathered in Medan
The main agenda was parallel session for writers to present his/her research. I got presentation schedule at 2.57 pm for 13 minutes. I presented a paper titled “Kerangka Kerja Evolutionary Community Of Practice” (The Framework of Evolutionary Community of Practice). The paper was submitted under my name and my supervisor name. Short summary about the paper can be found here.
At 6 pm, the conference was closed, followed by Gala Dinner at Garuda Plaza Hotel at 8 pm. I really enjoyed the dinner, the food was excellent, the singing session was very entertaining, overall gala dinner was prepared and presented well. BTW, my lucky draw’s number was mentioned and I brought home 8 Gb USB Flash Disk (penting yah…. hehehe).
Lake Toba on the Third Day
Yeay, visiting Lake Toba was one of KNSI 2011 agenda. I’ve never been to Lake Toba before, so of course I registered myself to join. A journey from Medan to Kabupaten Parapat (the city which directly adjacent to Lake Toba) took about 4,5 hours by bus. From Medan, we moved to Tanjung Mulia, Tanjung Morawa toll, Deli Serdang, Lubuk Pakan, Buluh Perbaungan, Sedang Bergadai, Tebing Tinggi, Pematang Siantar, and Simalungun. I saw the Toba Lake from the road on the hill. Subhanallah, it was beautiful and huge… We stopped at Hotel Inna Parapat. After lucky draw event (I was called again 
), lunch, and sholat, we continued our trip to Samosir Island by boat. I was excited, last time I got on boat was in 2000, from Jakarta to Pulau Bidadari.
A view of Lake Toba
Lake Toba is the biggest Lake in Indonesia, located in the middle of North Sumatra Province, it’s 100 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide. According to Toba catastrophe theory, Lake Toba was formed from super-volcano eruption at 69,000 – 77,000 years ago and it is believed to be the largest explosive eruption on Earth in the last 25 million years. The eruption created global and fatal consequences on Earth. However, the theory is still debatable among researchers.
The boat brought us from Parapat at 2 pm. Along the way, we were entertained with a great landscape of Lake Toba. Then, a group of children jazzed up the boat with their tuneful voices. My favorite was Situmorang. On the middle of our trip, the boat was closer to Batu Gantung. About an hour across the lake, we finally reached Tomok at Samosir Island.
With Sigale-gale
First agenda at Tomok was Sigale-gale cultural attraction. According to the tour guide, once upon a time, A king named Raja Marha had a son named Simanggale. The boy lost when a war occurred. One day, Raja Marha found a sculpture, Sigale-gale, which look very similar to his lost-son. The king commanded Shaman to move the spirit of his son into Sigale-gale so that the sculpture was able to dance. Unfortunately, the Sigale-gale danced for 7 days 7 nights only. That was the story of Sigale-gale. Then, the tour guide taught local dancing, while me and my friends took a lot photo sessions . From Sigale-gale, the group moved to the tomb of King Sidabutar. I skipped this because I don’t like visiting tomb.
Rumah Adat Tomok
After cultural attraction sessions, we had free time to shop (yeay…). I bought key chains, a wood-cuff, and local sarong from akar kayu. The sarong is unique and smells good. The merchant said, the sarong would sprayed more fragrant after being washed for several times.. OK, I was sold, hehe.
On way back to Parapat, the boat tilted because of rainy and windy weather. Alhamdulillah, we disembarked safely. After dinner, we left Parapat. I was slept along way back to Medan…
captured by Teh Ismi, waiting for the rest
Last Day
Packing packing and packing. As usual, I brought home more luggage. Contrary to my departure, I took indirect flights. My previous route plan was Medan – Kuala Lumpur – Surabaya. That was cheaper than Medan – Jakarta – Surabaya. Besides, I would have had chance to stop by the IKEA Mutiara Damansara (hehehe, dibela-belain 
). Well after due consideration, I selected Medan – Jakarta – Surabaya route.
Last but not Least
A great appreciation to all KNSI 2011 committee and STMIK Potensi Utama Medan for serving all guests very well. The event was a huge success. I really enjoyed the whole event from arrival at Polonia, KNSI 2011, Gala Dinner, to Lake Toba trip. Hope I can participate on next event.