The Beautiful Toba Lake

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After getting up early in the morning, we can't wait to dress ourselves with casual clothes. With a camera we set out, driving in the direction of the Toba Lake, which we have dreamt of visiting for so long.

On our way we find a lot of traffic on both sides of the streets and people already busy with their business for the day. It is a surprise for me to discover how different the local streets are from their counterparts back in China: the roofs towering and steep and painted black with two spires on both sides. In a country like Indonesia where tropical rains often come down cats and dogs, this kind of roof is helpful to channel the rain water off the roof so that the house underneath can avoid being crushed otherwise by a large amount of water accumulated up there.

And I notice the women mostly don white head scarves. This is a multi-faith country, where the majority is Muslims.

After closing the car window, I was listening to the music – a beautiful piano piece – light-hearted with my eyes closing slightly. My stream of thinking unconsciously goes back to February 20, the first day when testing started. The little equipment room was packed with people – testing and O&M people from the customer, people from our cooperators, our testing, technical support and sales people. Testing instruments, handsets and terminals were all over the table. The native language, English, and Mandarin mixed with the droning of the fans in the equipment. The air was insufferably hot, and it seemed that the air-conditioning system had stopped working quite some time ago. Everyone was like a fast-running machine, and more forceful in their walking and speaking. That day began our furious work. We met with numerous problems. And I can't remember how many times we raked our brains for a test item or case, and were too exhausted to go to sleep late into the night or couldn't go to sleep anymore after waking up for no reason early in the morning. How many unexpected difficulties we met with? Or how many times did we burn the night oil and even forget about eating while working? Now all these are history – the problems and difficulties. Everything is sunny to me, like the warm May sunshine.

"Here's our outfield test site!" I heard somebody shouting. Yes, it's the place where we conducted outfield test. On one side of the road are rows of palm trees. On the other is a boundless tropical plain, all brightly green under azure skies. Not long ago, along this road in a dark night, our outfield test colleagues were driving, trying to locate areas not covered by mobile signals and testing the handover function. We should still remember how we felt that time.

The Toba Lake, our destination, is located at the suburbs of Medan, a city in Sumatra, western Indonesia. This largest lake in Southeast Asia is a most beautiful place. It features a major island in the middle, allegedly formed by volcanoes. During the three months we conducted test in Medan, engineers of our customers talked to us about this lake time and again, sparing no praise for its beauty, and suggested we should go there for a good time at the weekend. Someone even said to me, "You look tired. You should take vacation. And your team too. To enjoy life." And I would answer, jokingly, "Well, we're supermen, and we have no need for vacation!" In my heart, however, I said to myself, "Who doesn't like to have a vacation and enjoy life?" But I had to forget about it when I thought of the pressure – tons of pressure – from 1,600 test items. At least until the day when all the testing was done.

At last, here we are on our way to see you and be in your arms, beautiful Toba Lake!

Our car is ascending and we soon are driving among the woods in the hills. The road is winding its way, with the woods getting thicker and darker ahead. We see monkeys and squirrels climbing and jumping in the woods. This is a place uncontaminated by modern civilization.

After a sharp turn, an immense body of blue water comes into sight. It's the Toba Lake! It's welcoming us with its charming blueness. The low isle in the middle of the lake extends far and wide. There is blowing a cool, humid wind from the lake surface that refreshes me. I open the car window to the maximum, allowing in as much wind as possible.

The lake appears peaceful and serene. I am looking at the lake, appreciating very bit of it – its serenity and the surrounding scenery. It makes me forget my daily worries and concerns, and gives me the peace of mind I am begging to have.

Our car goes on along the snaky mountain road, with the lake view still in sight. In about half an hour, we arrived at the place where we want to stop. After getting prepared, we all rush to the beach. The water is so crystal clear and, where it's shallow, you can see fine sand shining in the sunshine and soft float grass swinging slowly there. The moment I dive into the lake, a feel of coolness goes through me! Then I turn over and let myself float on the surface, with my hands and feet moving slightly. I am half bathed in sunshine feeling warm. And I can enjoy the view of the near hills, where the thinly-populated trees are projecting their shadows onto the ground.

The taste from the same spring may vary from person to person. Who knows its good taste best? – not the person who is resting on a chair under a tree shade and can drink of the spring anytime he wants to, but an exhausted traveler who is thirsty and hungry after a long trip through the desert, or a farmer who is toiling under the burning sun.

Whoever he is, a person without suffering thirst and hunger neither knows how good a common meal and water can taste, nor does he know the real taste of life. As for us at Huawei, a little test certificate means a lot of efforts by many, and a bit of news about our success can bring us tremendous delight and excitement.

Oh, beautiful Toba Lake, please take away our fatigue with your clear and clean water, and refuel us with your fresh breeze!

source: http://www-hk.huawei.com/publications/view.do?id=2159&cid=4542&pid=127