Fun Staycation at Taman Simalem Resort, Medan

On the 2nd day at Medan, we prepared ourselves to visit the famous "Lake Toba" located outside of Medan, it is the largest volcanic lake in the world and is in Sumatra. The lake is so big that it has an island within the center of the lake, called Samosir Island. But, we're not exactly heading towards the lake itself, to get a better view of the lake, we went towards Taman Simalem Resort, a resort area located on a mountain next to the magnificent lake. We were sure enough, the view has got to be a whole lot better from above.

We took off from Medan around 2 PM, and the journey took us more or less around 3 to 4 hours of car ride. It is a long way to go from Medan to the resort, and the traffic was pretty much f***ed up. Road signs weren't much of a help either, we had to ask around the locals for directions as we kept on getting lost throughout the intersections. But we somehow managed to arrive earlier since we exceeded the usual speed limits though.

We planned on catching the sunset on the mountain by the time we get there. But unfortunately, the sun has already set even when we were still on our way there. So we just went ahead to our room to put all of our stuffs down and head for dinner before having an early rest after the long mountain ride.

So yeah, forget about the sunset, we're gonna rest early and prepare for an early morning the next day to catch the sunrise!

---

Early morning at Taman Simalem Resort, we woke up at approximately 5.20 AM, while getting ready to set off to catch the sunrise, we checked online to find out that the sunrise will be seen on 6.30 AM that morning, that gives us enough time to prepare ourselves to see the sunrise.

We got out of our room at 6.00 AM only to find out that the weather wasn't really that good and everything was foggy. We couldn't really do anything much besides praying and hoping that the fog would clear out as soon as possible. Seriously, our chance of seeing the sunrise has just gotten thinner.

Upon arriving at One Tree Hill, the said to be the best spot to catch the sunrise, the fog has subsided a bit, but it's still there, covering most of the lovely view of Lake Toba. We just sat inside the car while waiting for the sky to get brighter. And as time passes on, more cars arrive one by one, supposedly to catch the sunrise as well.

And since it was August 17th, which is also Indonesia's Independence Day. We celebrated it by bringing the flag all the way up there! The feeling was pretty good and as we brought the flag around, another group of tourists also borrowed the flag to take some photos.

Yeah, so in the end, we didn't manage to catch the sunrise, but we still took some photos there anyway. Afterwards, we head on back to the hotel to have our breakfasts, as to fuel ourselves before we start trekking into the forest, yes, you read it right, we're gonna trek into the forest!

Breakfast with a view

Medan Culinary Trip (Day 1)

On Friday 14th last week, I embarked on a 4 days vacation towards Medan with my friends. The main purpose of the trip was to go for a culinary journey throughout the city as it is a well-known fact that Medan has a LOT of delicious foods to offer. So you'd better get your stomach ready for all of the goodies coming towards your way!

Some quick bites at Starbucks before taking off towards Medan

The flight took off at 12.40PM (GMT+7) and the journey took approximately around 3 hours from Jakarta (CGK) to Medan (KNO). We arrived at Kuala Namu International Airport of Medan around 4PM (GMT+7). Kuala Namu International Airport is actually said to be one of the best airports in Indonesia, The Emerald of the Equator. And I gotta say that it does look clean and more sophisticated than most of the airports in Indonesia.

Just landed, heading into the airport.

Upon arriving, the weather sunny and clear, it was a perfect day to start exploring. Our friend came to pick us up at the airport and we headed directly to an eatery recommended by him. Just in time, as we were starting to get hungry.

Afternoon Tea Time at Lady Alice Tearoom

Holiday is over, and now I'm back to the daily routine of being stuck in classes again. Problem is, I still couldn't move on from the holiday mood.
Just imagine, the sea breeze blowing in every second, the sound of crashing waves, sun reflected on the white sands, and clear blue skies for as far as you can see. Then suddenly, BOOM! You blink your eyes twice and find yourselves waking up in class to the lecturer calling your name out for staring into daze in class. Man, how depressing could that be?!

Anyway, I will be updating you guys on my holiday from 2 weeks ago soon from Tanjungpinang, Bintan Island. It is a beautiful resort island located in Kepulauan Riau of Indonesia. Please do look forward to it!

Okay, so back to how I was feeling bored stiff and inattentive in class. I figured that I really needed to find something to get my good mojo back, 'cause you know, getting back in class after a long holiday can really turn you off. (Well, at least in my case, it does)

In the end, I finally got some friends to hang out with me, and we planned to catch a movie, Ant-Man, which has just been released not long ago. Yay! And so we head over towards Gandaria City, where the IMAX studio is available. Thankfully, traffic that day was pretty clear so we managed to arrive pretty fast.

There were several hours left before the movie starts, so we went ahead and had a tea time session at Lady Alice Tearoom, of which I remembered from my past visits that the chimney cakes here were very good.

About The Place

I'm pretty sure that most of you out there have ever heard about the famous fairytale, Alice in Wonderland. Yes indeed, within that story, Alice joined in a tea party, hosted by The Mad Hatter, after tumbling down the rabbit hole. With a pleasing combination of blue and white tones as well as a dreamy-like setting, Lady Alice Tearoom is here for those of you who would also like to relive the fantasy of having such a pleasant tea party.

Of course, they also have their main course menus here as well, but as the name suggested us with the word; 'tearoom', of course we had to take a look on how their  Tea Party Set looks like.

Lady Alice Tea Party (IDR 120k)

The Lady Alice Tea Party Set (IDR 120K) is a tea party set for two people, consisting of assortment of finger sandwiches, buttery scones with fruit preserves and whipped cream, chimney cake, custard puff pastry & fruits, any 2 choices of the homemade cakes on display, and a pot of tea with your selection of teabag.

Clockwise; Homemade Cakes, Custard Puff Pastry w/ Fruits, Chimney Cakes, Tea, Finger Sandwiches, Buttery Scone.

We got ourselves the cake choices of a Red Velvet Cake & a slice of Matcha Cake. And as for the tea, we chose the selection of Lady Alice Tea.
To me personally, the cake was a bit too sweet for my liking, and the texture was a bit too dry as well. The fragrance of the cake is pretty strong in a way that you wouldn't feel able to eat much of it.

On the 2nd row of the tea set, we have the famous Chimney Cake and the Custard Puff Pastry with Fruits. The Chimney Cakes had definitely worked their charm as always, the cream inside was just at the right level of sweetness. Even though I had remembered it as way much better before, it still managed to satisfy me anyway.
The Custard Puff Pastry was no less delicious than the Chimney Cake too, I liked how soft the pastry was, and the texture of the custard was divine, it spreads evenly inside your mouth. The fruits placed on top of it also freshens up your taste buds.

Down under the lowest tray, there was a Buttery Scone and some Finger Sandwiches. The smell of the butter from the Scone is pretty fragrant, and the fruit preserves bring up a freshening sensation to your mouth. Aside from that, the Finger Sandwiches were quite okay, but at the same time, they taste pretty standard as well.

For every tea time sessions, the tea has got to be superb. I would say that we have made the correct choice by choosing the Lady Alice Tea selection. The tea was fragrant and we were teased by the bits of freshness in the tea. It was simply a perfect touch to the set.

Location:
Gandaria City, Lot 211 Level 2
Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda
Jakarta, Kota Jakarta Selatan
DKI Jakarta 12240, Indonesia
Phone: +62 21 29236376

Opening Hours:
9AM-10PM

WiFi: Available

Find Me On:

Twitter // Instagram // Lookbook // Bloglovin'