We were ‘caged-up’ for 2 whole days and night at the newly refurbished Damai Puri Resort & Spa at Teluk Penyuk, Santubong for our annual ‘corporate retreat’ and let out only for sustenance, and at irregular hours; at that. We didn’t get to our rooms until well past midnight nor past our dense skulls as to the inane reasons for this exercise in corporate masochism. Whatever.

Such is the fun I’m having since getting back into the groove of corporate life after my Lake Toba Kayaking Expedition. *sigh*

As a sunset recalcitrant, I quietly sneaked out to snap this sunset. Such uplifting beauty and clarity outside contrasting with such demoralizing ugliness and muck inside is enough to make one reflect on the meaning and purpose of one’s journey through this life time. But sadly, perhaps not; for most.

Enjoy these ‘picture postcards’ and I trust that your weekend was endearing and not one you had to endure. Have a productive but meaningful week ahead irregardless.

Those who says that the journey is the reward have obviously not visited Medan which to put it mildly can be described as a big hole in the ground. It’s a big hole as it’s a city of around 2.5 million inhabitants being Indonesia’s third largest city (after Jakarta and Surabaya) and the regional capital of the island of Sumatra. Halim, a German who has lived there for 14 years described it less delicately as the ‘Mother of all shit-holes’!

We (Geoff, Elke, Chan, Lee Ali and yours truly) arrived on a short hour flight from Kuala Lumpur LCT to Medan Polonia International Airport which incidentally has caught fire twice in recent months, the last one being in December 2007! We made it out to the chaotic arrival hall with Mindy, Mel, JB and Halim waiting for us outside. Huey, our expedition leader would be flying in later in the evening and would meet us on the lake in his kayak the next day!

After sorting out the transportation we embark on the 140km bumpy and potholed drive from Medan to Prapat, Lake Toba which took us over 4 hours to get there due to the heavy traffic on account of Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday public holiday. From Prapat we took a ferry ride to Tuk Tuk on Samosir, the largest island in Lake Toba. To give you an idea of the immensity of Lake Toba – Samosir island is bigger than Singapore! Upon arrival at a guest house in Tuk Tuk, we set out to assemble our folding kayaks before the sun sets. Geoff, Mel, Elke, JB and myself managed to get our kayaks assembled before dark leaving Ali, Chan and Mindy groping in the dark to sort theirs out under the full moon and torches.

Anyway here are a series of photo montages with notes which briefly documents Day 1 of our Lake Toba Kayaking Expedition. The journey is the reward …and the adventure begins …

So after an entire day of traveling and waiting just to get there; we were all eagerly looking forward to paddling on Lake Toba at first light the next morning. But little do we know that an adventure as big as the lake itself awaits us …

Sunrise across Lake Toba from TukTuk. 21st March 2008

I arrived back in Kuching around noon yesterday and after taking a shower, lunch and a short nap; it was back to work in the office and I’ll need to hit the ground running as we have a “corporate retreat” this Friday and Saturday. Don’t let the word “retreat” fool you as I’ve been warned that it’s anything but a retreat. Why companies need to lie treat their staff with such candor is beyond me.

I’ve taken over a thousand photos over the past 5 days in Lake Toba of our kayaking expedition and it’ll take me a while to sort out my photos and I’ll need to find the time to share the photos as well the experience of our adventures - so bear with me.

Elke, expedition newbie, in her orange Feathercraft Wisper taking a moment to admire the sunrise before setting out from TukTuk on the 1st day of our kayaking expedition. 21st March 2008

It had been a challenging trip and I think we pushed ourselves pretty close to the limits of our physical and mental endurance. But we had fun despite the scary moments and exhausting as it had been; strange to say - we feel refreshed and reinvigorated now. It was kind of hard to ‘wind down’ after 5 days of hard physical exertions so yesterday after work I went to the gym to do some light workout. The general soreness everywhere is gone but the blisters on my fingers remains to remind me of the ‘ordeal’ we had been through. It was an unforgettable experience although I don’t think I can say “I wished you were there”!

Beautiful morning @ Lake Toba on the start of our kayaking expedition. 21st March 2008

It’s simply beautiful to be able to get away to do the things that brings us joy and happiness. And it’s simply beautiful to be back home too.

No! These are not photos from Lake Toba! I’m still paddling somewhere there on a Sunday but thanks to WordPress’s wonderful feature called “Post Timestamp”; you are reading it now when I posted this back on Wednesday! Bloggers users eat your heart out …

Anyway I just want to point you to my Chiangmai Kayak Expedition which I did with Huey, JB and Miriam back in 2005. Here are the stories that I posted:-

1. Damned the Dams!
2. A Bridge Too Far
3. Suds on the River, Evil Weeds and Fishermen on the Lake!

Happy reading!

I don’t like to plan too much or read up too much on places that I’m going to visit; I’d rather do that after my trip - to compare my own perceptions of the people and places compared to that of others who have experience the same place. I think knowing too much about a place before hand can take out the spontaneity and magic.

Lake Toba Kayak Expedition Route.

Anyway above is the rough map for the kayaking expedition by Huey and our kayaking adventure begins today! We’ll be setting out from Balige and after setting up our folding kayaks; we’ll paddle to Bakkara a distance of 32 kms away hugging the eastern shoreline of Lake Toba. Nice! Yes folks; this is a Good Friday!

We’ll be taking the first AirAsia flight out departing from Kuala Lumpur at 8.30 am and thanks to the time difference between Malaysia and Indonesia; we’ll be arriving in Medan at around 8.30 am also!

We’ll then be taking a bus from Medan to Balige where we’ll be setting out on Danau Toba kayaking adventure come first light tomorrow morning! Yeah!

All my bags are packed and I’m ready to embark on the Lake Toba Kayak Expedition when I arrive in Medan tomorrow morning on Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. As I’m travelling on AirAsia the luggage allowance at 15kg is barely enough for my packed folding kayak, a yellow Folbot Cooper (see pics) which alone weighs 17kg. (You can read a little bit more about my folding kayak here.) Therefore the rest of my other kayaking and personal stuff will have to be hand carried. What to do?

Bye for now folks as I have a flight to catch later at 7.55pm. Let the adventure begins!

A Friday sunset rainbow I found on the drive home. 14th March 2008 

We can be so caught up with work and situations in our lives that we tend to overlook the joys of the beauty there is that are all around us. Really.

A brilliant Friday sunset. 14th March 2008 

Another beautiful sunset in Kuching.

I decided to take it easy this Sunday knowing quite well that next Sunday it could be a grueling whole day paddle out on Lake Toba; and I would be loving it! So I decided not to go kayaking nor mountain biking (sorry Ian!) but instead chose to potter around the house and muck around with iTunes with my daughter exchanging songs on our iPods.

However by around 5 pm I decided to go for a short cycle around the neighborhood but instead came back well after sunset around 7.30 pm! Here are two sunset snaps.

A serene Sunday @ Sg Kuap, Kuching.