Hello 2016!
May this year be better than the last one,
filled with happiness, success, and lots of love!
My previous trip was super fun! After attended my brother and his wife's graduation at Makassar, me and my family (parents, brother and wife, a 9 years old niece and a 2 years old nephew, plus a baby sitter) took a morning flight from Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport to Juanda International Airport, Surabaya then we started our road trip to Malang and Batu. But first, we drove to Madura and crossed Suramadu Bridge to had lunch at Bebek Sinjay (which is a recommendation from one of our friends). Then, we drove to Malang and had Bakso Malang for dinner then we stayed one night in our relatives'.
Next day in the morning, we went to Batu and checked in to our homestay called Akbar Homestay which located about only 5 minutes by car to Jawa Timur Park 2. It was a really nice guest house (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, small kitchen area, and a living room) in a safe and peaceful area with super friendly hosts and lots of food stall near the house. After had lunch, we drove to Museum Angkut (one of the must visit place in Batu) and we're swimming in the sea of people, it was so packed and full of people because it's holiday season. Museum Angkut is so big, we spent a day to explore the museum and I don't know where they got all that unique and antique vehicles. It feels like we're traveling around the world and seeing typical vehicles from a lot of different countries.
Next day we went to Jawa Timur Park 2, Batu Secret Zoo and Eco Green Park which also a must visit place in Batu. There are in one area and it was super huge, it's an animal museum with lots of different and unique animals from all around the world. I've seen an animal that I saw on a cartoon before that I thought it wasn't real. Such a great place for us to know and learn more about the variety of animals in the world. After had a good rest for a little while, we went to Batu Night Spectacular or BNS (another must visit place), we rode some rides and had a little walk in a beautiful big lantern-shaped garden.
Our last day in Batu we went to Omah Kayu or Tree House, and it was my favourite place to visit. We have to climb up and down the hill to get in to the tree house. Even though it's crowded but it's not as busy as the other places that we've visited before. It's just a perfect place to sit, relax, and watching the amazing scenery.
We also visited Tresna Art, a Batik Shop with traditional interior design and unique Madura sculpture. Besides selling a traditional Madura Batik, there's something special in this shop. It's not just a regular shop because there's a little 'zoo' and garden at the back of the shop. I found a little way to the 'secret zoo' and there's mr. Turkey chillin with another birds such as eagle, parrots, cockatoo, and so many rare birds that I don't really know.
Before the trip was over we visited Masjid Tiban, a 10th floor masjid which built in 1976. This huge and majestic masjid is actually a 'Pesantren' or Islamic Boarding Schools. There's no architecture behind this building just KH Achmad Bahru Mafdloludin Sholeh as the owner and more than 200 santri or students made this building with any material they have such as brick and clay. But they made such a splendid work and it looks like a mix of middle east, Chinese, and modern construction yet a very unique interior design.
So it's the end of my East Java Trip and here I am back to normal routine, back to reality!
Looking forward to another fun and adventurous trip this year.
xxT
