A Family Trip to West Sumatra

Afternoon fog in Puncak Lawang

2 days after I arrived in Jakarta, eleven of us -including my parents, all sisters, one brother in-law, three nephews and one niece- headed to West Sumatra. The plan was to visit Padang, Bukittinggi and the towns where my parents were born and grew up. The trip went great, my parents really enjoyed being back in their home towns with all their children and some of their grandchildren. But we had a bit of scare. The entire family narrowly missed (by just a few hours) getting caught in the earthquake in Padang.  Hotel Ambacang where we were supposed to stay was collapsed. Sadly, a number of people died there. 

September 30: Jakarta to Padang via Pekanbaru on Asia Air. Arrived in Pekanbaru at 8:00 a.m. only to find our rental cars were nowhere to be seen. While waiting for the cars (and the drivers) to arrive, we had breakfast at the airport restaurant.  90 minutes later left Pekanbaru heading to Bukittinggi to meet our twins cousins Y & Y who would then take us to Padang. Arrived in Bukittinggi around 4:30 p.m., 2 hours behind schedule.  

Our parents - Maninjau Lake at the background

We were just about to leave the city about 45 minutes later, when we felt a strong earthquake. After the earthquake, we continued our drive to Padang, but had to turn back to Bukittinggi an hour later after finding out that all access to Padang were closed by landslides from the earthquake. After unsuccessful attempts to contact Hotel Ambacang in Padang where we had our rooms booked for the night, we gave up and checked onto The Hills in Buittinggi. Later that night we learned that Padang was heavily damaged and Hotel Ambacang was collapsed where many guests were trapped inside. We were speechless and couldn't stop counting our blessings. Had the car rentals arrived on time at the airport to pick us up, we would have been in our rooms in Hotel Ambacang getting together with all our relatives who live in Padang when the earthquake hit. 

Songket making - Rumah Tenun Pusako

October 1:  Had breakfast at the hotel and stayed put until we got a confirmation that all our relatives in Padang were okay. By noon families in Padang decided that there was no way for us to visit Padang. Instead my mom's siblings would meet us all in Bukittinggi as soon as the access is available. We visited Ngarai Sianok (Sianok Gorge) and had lunch at Gulai Itiak Lado Mudo (young duck cooked in green pepper). After lunch we headed to Dad's hometown, Lawang to visit Puncak Lawang and his family house "Rumah Batu".  Puncak Lawang which is located about 1200 meters above sea level is the best spot to view Maninjau Lake. 

Traditional house in Lawang

On the way back to Bukittinggi, stopped by Bika Si Mariana for a sweet treat. Bika is a speciality from West Sumatra made of rice flour, grated coconut and palm sugar then baked in direct flames inside belanga (a type of kettle with a wide mouth but no lid). Dinner was Minangkabau cuisine again at RM Sederhana. 

Our dinner at Simpang Raya

October 2:  Walked around Jam Gadang right after sunrise while the rest of the gang was still in bed. Had breakfast at the hotel then waited for news from our families in Padang. By 2:00 p.m. my uncle In informed us that they just left Padang after waiting for 7 hours to get gas. Since our parents were too tired to go out and all the boys seemed to be interested more in playing with their notebooks, my sisters and I decided to go to Pandai Sikek, a small village not too far from Bukittiggi that is known for its fine quality songket.  Songkets are ceremonial wear from Sumatra. In West Sumatra, they are woven in silk and intricately patterned with gold and/or silver threads. We visited Rumah Tenun Pusako and was thrilled to meet nenek (one of the main players in Pandai Sikek tradionatlonal weavings) and her daughter as well as watch how a songket is made. Their songket collections are just fabulous. Each of us left Rumah Tenun Pusako with at least a piece of Songket. I decided to get one piece that has old Minangkabau pattern and color. 


October 3: Tired of having hotel food for breakfast, around 6:00 a.m., I walked to Los Ambuang that is not too far from the hotel to get Katupek Picak Tek Apuak for a take-out. After breakfast, hang out in the hotel, then went to mom's hometown, Simabur in Batusangkar. Since we arrived in Bukittinggi, our eyes were spoiled by the beauty of the sceneries of the countryside - a common scene that we enjoyed everywhere in West Sumatra would be either abundant rice fields or lush green of spectacular valley and mountains at the background. The ride from Bukittinggi to Simabur was no different.

Rice paddies in Koto Gadang

Lunch was a home-made traditional spread of Minangkabau cuisine at my mom's sister. We all agreed that lunch was the most delicious meal we've had during our trip. After lunch we visited our grandparents' graveyards, then drove to Batusangkar to re-visit Istana Pagaruyung (Pagaruyung Palace) -  my first visit to this palace was in the 70s. Unfortunately, the palace was still being re-built after the fire that totally vanished the building in 2007.  Dinner was Martabak Kubang (savory meat pancake Kubang stye) at Restoran Kubang Hayda. Kubang is a small village, 140 km from Payakumbuh where the maker of this dish is from. 

October 4: After breakfast at the hotel again, we went back to Rumah Tenun Pusako in Pandai Sikek before visiting Kota Gadang that is known for its fine silver crafts. Lunch was again masakan Minang but this time at Rumah Makan & Restoran Family. Hang out in the city, then had a delicious - or not so delicious if you don't like durian - Martabak Durian (a pancake stuffed with durian) for snack. Went out to get some Keripik Balado Sarina (spicy cassava chips) from Padang. I didn't get the famous Kripik Balado Christine Hakim per my aunt's recommendation who lives in Padang. It was a good choice. After having Sate Padang from a restoran that my uncle frequented to, we hang out and chatted in the hotel rooms until midnight when it's time for us to leave for Pekanbaru to catch our flights to Jakarta the next morning. 

Martabak Kubang - Yum yum

October 5: Checked out from the hotel at midnight then left Bukittinggi shortly after.  The drive to Pekanbaru was easy - but not for our cousins Y & Y who had to drive on the road with no sufficient street lights -. The drive was a lot more pleasant than the one we took from Pekanbaru with the rental cars. Arrived in Pekanbaru before dawn, went to our cousin's house to freshen up and had breakfast then on to the airport. By the time we arrived in Jakarta every one was starving so we decided to have lunch at Bakmi GM inside the airport before heading home.