5 Kuliner Khas Malang Yang Wajib Dicicipi

Membahas tentang kuliner, rasanya tidak akan ada habisnya. Terlebih bagi penggemar kuliner yang setiap berwisata ke suatu daerah memiliki agenda berburu makanan khas. Bahkan, ada beberapa orang yang membuat wisata spesial mencari kuliner. Mereka hunting info kuliner yang recommend, lalu menjadikannya sebagai destinasi wisata kuliner. Daerah yang cukup terkenal kulinernya antara lain Semarang, Bandung, Medan, Yogyakarta,  dan lain-lain.

Salah satu daerah yang patut diulas kulinernya, selain yang di atas adalah Malang. Kota apel yang telah menjadi tujuan wisata yang terkenal sampai mancanegara ini terus mengalami pertumbuhan di sektor pariwisatanya. Apalagi Malang merupakan salah satu pintu gerbang menuju kawasan wisata Gunung Bromo. Oleh karena itu, pertumbuhan penginapan di sana juga  cukup pesat. Atria Hotel Malang termasuk hotel yang bisa Anda jumpai di Kota Malang, hotel ini juga ada di website Traveloka. Jadi jika Anda hendak menginap di hotel tersebut tinggal booking saja secara online, lebih praktis, pasti dan murah.

Beberapa fasilitas unggulan bisa Anda dapatkan. Hotel bintang empat ini juga memberikan fasilitas menarik layaknya bintang 4 pada umumnya, termasuk kolam renang out door yang luas di lantai atas. Pemandangan indah kota Malang juga bisa terlihat cukup jelas dari lokasi ini.

Sumber gambar: atriahotelmalang.com

Sekarang, mari hunting kuliner khas Malang yang wajib masuk dalam agenda wisata kuliner Anda.

The Buried Fortress

If not for the occasional appearance in international headlines whenever Indonesia executes the drug convicts in the infamous Nusakambangan Island, the town of Cilacap in Central Java may easily be forgotten. It does serve as the main harbor for the prison island and many people merely bypass the roads and go straight to the harbor. Indeed, the sleepy town boasts little else than some beaches, and the domestic visitors often complain about the scorching heat. But a visit to a local attraction of Benteng Pendem (lit. The Buried Fortress) will reveal just how important this town was in the Dutch era when it served as a coast observation post to the passing vessels.

Mighty Tree on Top

From the jungles of Siem Reap in the midst of the vast Angkor Wat complex, I present you Ta Prohm. People may instantly recognize the images from Angelina Jolie’s “The Tomb Raider” film. This temple is small compared to the main Angkor Wat Temple, but it is magnificent in its own right. The forest is slowly taking over the structures by sneaking in its roots among the stones and crawling its way to the top. Of course there are concerns over the preservation of the heritage and the visitors’ safety. However, some people argue that such invasion could actually strengthen the architecture.

The mighty trees of Ta Prohm sits like cherry on top of the temple and they provide some shelters and cool temperatures. Besides, the photographers and photographer-wannabes will not be short of inspiration.

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More takes on this week’s photo challenge can be found here.

Candi Angin, Sekali Lagi

Kangen Jepara!

Pemikiran itu tercetus begitu saja kala saya sedang dilanda kesibukan kerja dan hati serta badan ini seolah berontak ingin kabur. Ya, kebiasaan saya jika kalut melanda adalah kabur, utamanya ke pegunungan. Teman-teman saya sudah paham akan kebiasaan ini. Nah, kali ini yang menjadi sumber kerinduan adalah Jepara, sebuah kabupaten tempat saya pernah bertugas selama 6 bulan dan selalu memanggil-manggil dalam mimpi. Ya sudah, pokoknya saya harus ke sana lagi! Maka setelah membeli tiket kereta api secepat kilat via aplikasi online, saya pergi dengan kereta malam Tawang Jaya yang berangkat jam 23.00 dari Stasiun Pasar Senen dan tiba di Semarang Poncol jam 05.52 pagi hari. Perjalanan lalu dilanjutkan dengan layanan travel Bejeu yang menjemput saya di Masjid Agung Simpang Lima Semarang. Jepara, here I come!

Alphabet: The Javanese Way

According to sixtyvocab.com, there are around 46(?) different alphabets or writing systems in the world today. This is, of course, debatable, since I hardly believe that they counted all the complex writing systems that many tribes or groups of people still use in Indonesia, India, or Africa.

Thanks to Sukarno, our founding father, we don’t have to struggle with studying the Javanese Honocoroko or the Arabic-Malay Jawi scripts and learn Roman characters instead. But it is heartwarming to see that many regional governments in the archipelago are trying to revive the local scripts by putting them on road signs or government offices.

On a recent trip to Yogyakarta, I encountered a few signs written in both Roman and Javanese letters:

Malioboro Street. The Javanese writing beneath exactly spells the name (I think).

Try this one that I saw outside Ullen Sentalu Museum. The writing above is actually in Roman characters but stylized in Javanese script. Can you read it? It’s ‘nDalem Kaswargan’ (House of Paradise).

I guess we learn something new everyday, ey? 😀

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More takes on Weekly Photo Challenge: Alphabet.

Eyes: The Presence & Absence

It was a sunny day in Phnom Penh and I headed to a site where one of the worst attrocities in the world happened: The Killing Field or Choeung Ek Memorial as it is known today. You know, it is amazing that every little detail matters and can drag you into a deep reflection as you walk around each point, observe each point, and try to absorb the aura of pain and peace. Even when you look back at each picture, there are certainly new meanings that you can write about. Here are a few examples:

The Presence

The Three Tiles

Can you name the events depicted in these trio images from the books of John, Acts of the Apostles*, and Genesis?

“Rumah Tegel” (The Tile House) was a tile factory in Lasem, a small town in Central Java, Indonesia, whose products once decorated the residences of the royal families and wealthy merchants across the island. The factory is now defunct but visitors are still allowed to come inside and appreciate some of the artworks that the owner families left behind.

At a corner of the terrace, I came across these images that serve as decorative coating on the tiles. I was puzzled at first before recognizing two of the images. The first one is taken from John 8, in which Jesus was writing on the ground when Mary Magdalene was about to be stoned to death and He challenged anybody who considered themselves not sinful to step forward and take the stone. Meanwhile the third one is taken from Genesis 3, in which Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Now I know that the second image is taken from The Acts of the Apostles*, but the number is unreadable and I cannot really make out the scene. Can anybody help me identify it?

• It turns out that the image at the second tile is not taken from the book of Acts. Instead, it depicts the scene in Revelation chapter 10. This book is also called Apocalypsis Ioannis, hence the abbreviation APOC. Many thanks Celina for your meticulous attention to the details. 😀

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Browse more entries in Weekly Photo Challenge: Trio.

The Three Towers

It was dawn on the day of Buddha’s birth, and the pilgrims and observers were walking towards the ceremony. I stood there from a distance, just admiring the three towers of Angkor Wat.

Oh Angkor, bring me to your stories of faith and inspiration.

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Other takes on this week’s challenge can be seen here.