Batu, Malang

Kota yang lebih rapi, tidak banyak orang dan kendaraan (dibandingkan dengan Bogor), begitu kesan saya tentang kota Malang.

A neat town, less people and vehicle (compare to Bogor) that is how I see Malang.

Saya hanya melewati kota ini dalam perjalanan saya ke Batu pada hari kedatangan saya dan kembali melewatinya di hari terakhir ketika saya diantarkan dari Batu ke stasiun kereta api.

I just passing it through on my way to Batu on the day of my arrival and passed it again on the last day when I was driven from Batu to the train station.

Kota Batu berlokasi sekitar setengah jam dari Malang kalau ditempuh dengan memakai kendaraan pribadi dan bisa jadi satu jam kalau dengan kendaraan umum.

The town of Batu is located about half hour from Malang but it can take an hour by public transportation.

Batu jauh lebih tinggi dari Malang sehingga udaranya lebih bersih dan lebih dingin.

Batu is higher than Malang so the air is cleaner and it is colder.

Perkara dingin dan hujan.. wah, Bogor kalah deh.

When it comes to the cold and rain.. Bogor is no match with this town.

Kalau tidak hujan sih dinginnya masih bisa saya tahan tapi kalau sudah hujan.. brrr..

If it doesn’t rain I can tolerate the cold but with the rain.. brrr..

Saya datang tepat pada musim hujan.. jadi ketika itu setiap hari rata-rata mulai dari jam sembilan atau sepuluh pagi turun hujan dan bisa awet sampai malam.

I came right when it was on rainy season.. so everyday it rained since around nine or ten in the morning and it could go until the rest of the day.

Kenyang deh saya kehujanan selama berada di sana.

There was no day that I didn’t catch by the rain during my stay there.

Yang lucu waktu kami ke Selecta. Berangkat kena hujan deras, sampai di sana hujan mereda, lalu deras lagi, kemudian berhenti, berganti jadi panas, mendung dan hujan deras lagi.

Funny thing is when we went to Selecta Garden. It was pouring down when we left, it drizzled when we got there, a moment later it got bigger, it stopped, became sunny, cloudy and followed by pouring rain again.

Jadi sehari itu saya berganti-ganti basah kuyup, lalu kering dan basah lagi..

So on that day I got soaking wet, dried and soaked again..

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Kemana saja saya selama berada di Batu?

Where did I go when I was in Batu?

Maunya sih langsung pergi jalan lagi setelah sampai di Batu tapi saya setengah mati kecapean jadi begitu kembali ke kampus Dessy, saya mandi dan kemudian ketiduran.

I wanted to go around the town once I got at Batu but I was so tired that once we got at Dessy’s campuss, I showered and fell to sleep.

Yah, pagi itu kereta saya sampai di Malang jam 10.30, setengah jam terlambat dari jadwal. Saya, Joy (teman sekampus Dessy) dan Dessy lalu pergi makan. Tengah hari barulah kami berangkat menuju Batu. Sampai di kampus mereka mungkin sudah lebih dari jam satu siang.

Arriving Malang. First thing to do after got off the train, kissing & hugging each other is having breakfast.
Joy (left) & Dessy (right) 

Well, my train arrived in Malang at 10.30 am. Me, Joy (Dessy’s friend who studies in the same campuss) and Dessy went to get something to eat. It was probably noon when we left to Batu. We got at their campuss maybe when it was around one in the afternoon.

Selain itu saya telah menghabiskan waktu selama hampir enam belas jam di atas kereta dengan tidur yang mungkin cuma empat jam. Jadi saya harus tidur dulu sebelum kami mulai jalan.

Beside that, I have spent almost sixteen hours on the train and got probably just four hours of sleep. So I had to get some sleep before we went out.

Bangun-bangun sudah sore.

It was afternoon already when I woke up.

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Pasar Parkiran

Parking Market or Pasar Parkiran

Ibu asrama Dessy dan keluarganya membawa kami keluar malam itu untuk makan malam di sana.

That’s where Dessy’s dorm lady in charge and her family took us out for dinner that evening.

Tempat itu memang dijadikan semacam food court terbuka. Tempatnya dihiasi dengan berbagai lampu yang ditaruh di pohon atau dibuat menjadi bentuk-bentuk lucu. Lalu ada beberapa atraksi seperti Rumah Kaca yang saya dan Dessy masuki.

The place is made into an open food court. It is decorated by many lights which put in the trees or made into funny forms. It has few attraction sites too such as the Glass House that Dessy and I went into.

Kami berdua tidak henti-hentinya cekikikan ketika berputar-putar didalamnya, mencoba mencari jalan keluar sambil beberapa kali menabrak kaca dan sempat harus berhenti dulu karena merasa pusing.. hehe..

We both couldn’t stop giggling while we walked in what felt like a maze, looking for exit as we bumped into the mirror and had to stop few times because we’ve got dizzy.. lol..

Makanannya sendiri sih tidak hebat-hebat amat. Nasi goreng yang saya makan malah saya anggap jauh dari enak.

Nasi goreng (fried rice) Rp.10.000,-

The food is not too special. I had fried rice and for me it was far from tasty.

Harganya terjangkau.

Serabi abon. Rp.6.000,-

The price is considerably affordable.

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Selecta 

Selecta Garden

Tadinya sih kami ingin ke air terjun Coban Rondo tapi hujan membuat jalanan menuju air terjun itu longsor semalam.

We wanted to go to Coban Rondo waterfall but rain caused landslide on the trail there.

Jadi deh kami langsung ke Selecta. Tiket masuknya lumayan murah untuk hari libur nasional. Dua puluh lima ribu seorang.

So we went to Selecta. The entrance ticket was considerably cheap for public day. Twenty five thousands rupiah a pax.

 

Tempatnya kagak hebat-hebat amat.. hehe, sori, bukannya mau menghina tapi saya sudah pernah mengunjungi taman bunga yang jauh lebih bagus dari ini.

The place is not amazingly amusing.. lol, sorry, I don’t mean to degrading it but I have been to a much beautiful garden than this one.

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Alun-alun kota Batu

Batu square

Tempatnya dihiasi juga dengan berbagai lampu hias. Lalu ada kincir besar yang sayangnya tidak sempat kami naiki karena antriannya panjang sekali dan Dessy sudah gelisah karena dia harus kembali ke kampus sebelum jam sembilan malam.. Cinderella benerrr..

The place is decorated by many lights. There is big ferriswheel that unfortunately we weren’t able to get on because of the long line and Dessy was nervous thinking she had to get back to her campuss before nine pm.. so very Cinderella..

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Museum Angkut

Museum Angkut (Transportation Museum)

Isinya segala macam alat transportasi.

It exhibits many kinds of transportation mode.

Karcis masuknya enam puluh ribu seorang kalau hari biasa. Kamera yang bukan kamera hp kena bayar juga lho. Tiga puluh ribu satu kamera.

The entrance ticket is sixty thousands a pax on weekday. Any camera which not cellphone camera got charged too. Thirty thousands for one camera.

Baru sekali ini saya masuk ke museum yang pengunjungnya harus bayar kalau bawa kamera.

That was the first time I went to a museum where visitors have to pay fee to bringing in their camera.

Kayaknya ini pake prinsip ‘aji mumpung’..

It seems they are making an advantage out of it..

Museumnya saya akui unik dan bagus banget.

I have got to admit the museum is unique and very nice.

Kalau anda suka sejarah dan mobil kuno, pasti demen deh sama museum ini.

If you like history and old cars, I bet you gonna love this museum.

Hujan lagi-lagi sedikit merusak kegembiraan kami. Soalnya beberapa bagian dari museum ini terpisah-pisah karena berada di gedung yang berbeda. Nah, untuk ke sana berarti kami harus keluar dan berjalan menembus hujan..

Rain once again kind of spoiled our excitement. It’s because some part of this museum is located in different buildings. We have got to go out and walked through the rain to get there..

  

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Begitu deh sekilas jalan-jalan saya selama di Batu. Maunya sih lebih banyak yang dikunjungi tapi berhubung waktu dan tenaganya terbatas (duit juga.. hehe) bikin ga semua target tempat wisata bisa didatangi.

So there the story of my traveling in Batu. Wished I could go to more places but time and energy were not (also budget.. lol) allowing me to do so.

Tahun depan saya akan kembali lagi karena Dessy minta saya menghadiri acara wisudanya.

I will return next year because Dessy asked me to attend her graduation.

Nah, tahun depan nasib sudah beda dong.. hehe.. jadi saya yakin ceritanya bakal jadi lebih baik..

Next year everything will be different for sure.. lol.. so I'm sure things will be much better..