I've been in a state of uncertainty as to what to feature for the rest of the Indonesian posts. It's my own fault for delaying writing for more than a year after the trip took place, LOL. So yeah, the timing of my trip to Malang was back in September 2013 (boo.. the enthusiasm has obviously died down now)
 |
| Over Bali Sea, en route back to Surabaya |
After landing in Bali, I flew to Surabaya to pick up my parents. We three then flew to Bali for a 3-day vacation. It was their second time in Bali, and my possibly hundredth time (kidding ya, more like the 10th or 12th I kind of lost count). Since I've covered Bali a couple of times already (Plus, I didn't quite remember much of what I did there, I'd rather write about my short stay in Malang.
Our itinerary was Bali-Surabaya-Malang. After our Bali mini trip, parents and I flew back to Surabaya. My mom and I departed to Malang from Surabaya, leaving My dad in Surabaya. He decided to stay at our relatives' place there instead of tagging along with us to Malang.
 |
| Second floor patio at Kertanegara Premium Guesthouse |
Malang is the second largest city in East Java after Surabaya. Its population is a little over 800,000. Nice size, I'd say. And the main reason why I gave it a go was because my cousin was living there (and currently still is). I loved the feel. It was kinda homey. The size and atmosphere reminded me much of Purwokerto, a town in Central Java where I attended university back in 2002-2004.
 |
| Downtown Malang |
 |
| Our simple, cozy room |
As usual, I made a prior booking on the accommodation. The place mom and I stayed at was called Kertanegara Premium Guest House. This hotel is centrally located on Jl. Semeru #59 and has got a great deal of good reviews from its previous guests. And by the way, we were so lucked out then that Malang had Sunday market going on in town. They turned the main street to an arena full of merchants selling all kinds of goods and palatables. Yep, talking about the delicacy that locals eat here!
 |
| The guava juice stall |
We spent the whole morning and half of afternoon strolling the Sunday Market. My mom was super excited checking out every vendor that we spent a lot longer venturing the market than we thought we would. She loved looking at stuff at the clothes, kitchen wares, fruit and food stalls. What I remember best about the market was the fresh guava juice made on site that one of the vendors sold. You got delicious 500 ml of guava juice for 7500 IDR (about equivalent to 75 cents then). The smaller 240 ml was priced at 4000 IDR (40 cents). What a bargain for a healthful drink!
 |
| Sunday Market crowd in Malang |
I was just ecstatic to see my cousin again in Malang. The last time we hung out was when I still lived in Surabaya back in 2006-2008. Malang-Surabaya is about 93 km from one another, a distance that can be done in about 2 hours by land.
Speaking of Malang, it is very well-known for its apples. The area has high altitude tropical-climate, allowing the fruit to be grown by local farmers. If West Java has Bandung as a cool temperature region, East Java has Malang. It is definitely one of the places for you if you wanna live in a tropical place with some moderation in terms of heat.
 |
| Mine and cuz' boba at MOG! |
Wanna know one of the best parts of the stay? You got it, the fact that I was able to get my daily bubble tea fix! Kertanegara is only a 10-min walk from MOG (Mall Olympic Garden).
Malang, I miss you! and I do miss the moments I spent with my cousin there. She recently mentioned that she may be able to meet me in Bali this May -yep I'm going soon and I can feel that my count-down is getting closer! Fingers crossed that she'll make it happen! :)
Comments
Post a Comment