There’s not much you could visit in Malang city, however surrounding Malang, there are many tourist attraction worth to visit, such as Bromo, which is known has the best view to enjoy sunrise, Selendang Biru beach, which still has the natural beauty of white sandy beach and Batu, the small town which look alike Puncak. Moreover, Malang is an interesting place for those who love Indonesian cuisine culinary.
On the last weekend, I visited Malang to attend my best friend’s wedding. Take an advantage at that opportunity; I planned to visit Batu and Bromo during my visit. Here are the places worth to visit when you’re in Malang:
1. Candi Sumber Awan & Candi Singosari
Years ago, Malang used to be the government center of Kanjuruhan and Singosari Kingdom. That’s why there are many temples found surround Malang, one of them is Candi Singosari. This temple is located at the center of Singosari town, near the road. The temple area is very small and there’s nothing much you could see as the most of the statue has been broken and placed outside the temple.Candi Sumber Awan is also located not very far from Candi Singosari, however the atmosphere is different, as this temple is located inside the forest, which you need to walk about 400 meters to reach the temple. This is the only stupa –modeled temple in East Java, according to the temple guard.
2. Coban Rondo Waterfall, Batu
Coban Rondo waterfall is located at Pandesari village, Pujon District (about 32 km away to the West from Malang). It took about 30 minutes to go to the waterfall from Malang. The waterfall itself is not very hard to find as there is path walk for visitors to follow, with the view of pine trees on the path side. The height of waterfall is about 84 meter. Visitors can enjoy the beautiful view of waterfall or even swim under the waterfall.
Historically, the word Coban means ‘waterfall’ while Rondo means ‘widow’. It is name under the legend of Dewi Anjarwati, by which the waterfall is the hiding place of Dewi Anjarwati from Joko Lelono, who tried to take her from her husband, Raden Baron Kusuma. Joko Lelono and Raden Baron Kusuma died during the fight, which left Dewi Anjarwati as a widow.
The entrance fee to the waterfall is Rp6,000 / per person or Rp2,000 for motor cycle. It is quite cheap and I think it is an interesting place for having a refreshing holiday.
3. Batu Night Spectacular.
Batu Night Spectacular is the new theme park at Batu, which open from 3pm till midnight. The theme park is located at Jl. Raya Oro-Oro Ombo 200, Batu. It offers variety of entertainment and rides, such as haunted house, swing rides, carousel, go kart, cinema 4d, etc. The entrance fee is Rp10,000 / person and for each rides you should pay another fee about Rp10,000-Rp12,000 / ride. You could also enjoy the lampion garden, which looks amazing and colorful at night. The theme park also has food court which offers various foods from Chinese to Indonesia food. On weekend, they have art performance at the stage in the food court and dancing fountain like in Grand Indonesia, Jakarta. It is a good place to spend the night with family or friends during holiday, just don’t expect too much with the rides.4. Bromo
Bromo is well known as having the best view of sunrise. If you’re planning to visit Bromo, you could rent a car from travel, which will pick you up at Malang at 1 am and drive you to the Mount Pananjakan to see sunrise. It only spent 1,5 hours to go from Malang to Mount Pananjakan. At Mount Pananjakan, you will be asked for entrance fee of Rp4,000 / person and Rp4,000 / car. To go to Mount Pananjakan, you could use regular car, no need to ride a jeep. But if you’re planning to see the Sand of Sea after seeing sunrise, you must rent the jeep.The sun is rise since 5-6 am, but if you arrived early, you will get better spot to view sunrise. My recommendation is when you arrived at Mount Pananjakan at 3 am, you go straight to the sunrise terrace (please bring flashlight as the step to terrace is very dark around that hour), unless you wanted to buy some foods or hot drinks at the stalls. Before 5am, you could find seats at the terrace sunrise and when the orange color starts to appear, go to the left – center side of the balcony. That is where the sun will rise. It can be pretty crowded after that, so you better save your spot first, especially if you wanted to have good pictures, without no strangers behind you. J The sun will rise on the front and if you turn right, you could see a very breathtaking view of Mount Semeru.
From the Mount Pananjakan, you could go to Sand of Sea to see the Crater Lake by jeep. The rental fee costs Rp300,000 – Rp350,000. At the Sand of Sea you have to climb up the steps to the mountain before seeing the crater. There are horses available to be ride if you don’t feel like climbing. It cost Rp20,000 – Rp100,000 / horse depending on how you are able to bargain *hehe*
5. Tugu Hotel
This is the most exquisite yet mystical hotel I’ve ever known. Tugu Malang houses a vast, priceless collection of antiques influenced by the Javanese Babah Peranakan (the hundreds-years-old mixed culture between the Chinese migrants in Java and the native Javanese). You’ll find many rooms filled with the historical pictures, statues and antique furnitures. The most interesting is each room has historical stories and even though you didn’t stay at the hotels, you can have a tour of the hotel with the real tour guide for free.6. Bakso Pahlawan Trip
Malang is famous for its meat ball (bakso) dishes. You may have taste the meat ball soup anywhere, but there is special menu, which you’ll rarely find in other places, Grilled Meat Ball (Bakso Bakar). You don’t eat them with soup and it tastes sweet. It costs me Rp5,000/ bowl and there are 5 grilled meat balls in one bowl. For the meat ball soup, it costs Rp1,000 / item. You can mix them with bakwan and tahu, also.Honestly, I don’t really like the grilled meat ball as it is too sweet for me, but it is always fun to try new food, right? The meat ball soup served here is better, I think.
The food stall is located at Pahlawan Trip street, near the Ijen area. Overall, the place is clean and the price is worthed, so just give it a try and enjoy Malang speciality food :-)
7. Toko Oen
During colonial times, Malang is awarded as the loveliest town at East Java. Until now, you will easily find places with Dutch atmosphere around Malang, one of them is Toko Oen. This Dutch café is famous for its homemade ice cream and bakery. Visit here for an afternoon break at Malang. The ice cream quite expensive range around Rp20,000 – Rp50,000 but the taste is real good.8. Inggil Restaurant
Aside from an ordinary restaurant, Inggil provides Javanese food and oldies atmosphere. The food tastes good, especially the mango chilly, but most of all what makes this restaurant extraordinary is it has pictures of old advertising and pictures hanging on the wall and antique stuffs like old radio, gramophone, and other stuffs. The price is not very expensive around Rp30,000/person. This restaurant is located at Jl. Gajah Mada No.4.
9. Sentra Keripik Tempe
Last but not least, you must visit this place to buy gifts for people at home. It is located at Jl. Sanan and there are many stores which sell almost the same items. The biggest one and located on the street side is Lancar Jaya. While others which is also famous and not very far from the street is Burung Swari. Price at each store may slightly difference but no bargain is allowed. You’ll find keripik tempe, keripik buah, bakpia and other snacks of Malang specialties. Price of the keripik is ranging from Rp6,000 – Rp15,000.
So I think that’s all about Malang. I will put separate blog entry for information of Bromo. Just wait for my next writing,ok?!
kisses,
Travellicious
