Round Java Island -- Day 7 ( Part 1)

Today we have quite a lot of places to cover before we go to Surabaya, our last destination of this round island trip. The road from Malang to Surabaya is notoriously congested due to earthquake that happened two years ago which had destroyed a few stretches of the it.
So, we have a hard time deciding on our itinerary and we almost drop one temple ( since we have already visited so many during the past few days ) which later proved to be the most unique amongst all, in it's own very simple way.

Splendid Inn was where we stayed in Malang. It's located right next to the city hall. We have our breakfast here when the Marathon drumming was still going on strong since last night.

This is the entrance. It's like any of those old colonial style bungalow back home.

Corridor outside my room.

The reception counter is about 60 years old. Its leather finishing still gives out a glowing shine.Traces of the old owner and his collections are seen everywhere.

Walking around this place and let your mind travels down the memory lane.

Few corners showing its original decoration, memories of those good old days.

A real deer head hanging on the wall.

Portrait of the owner. Wonder if they are still around.

Entrance, to the lobby.

After breakfast, we visited the Tugu Hotel next door, which is a museum hotel displaying lots of collection by the owner. Certain part of the hotel is still under renovation. ( It was fully booked when we arrived last night. )

No idea what religion is being practiced in this hotel. They seems to pray to many different types here.

Rose petals gave a sweet fragrance.

They have a red and a green one too.

Romeo and Juliet ?

Care to sit around here for a lazy afternoon?

And this is Tibetan Buddhism.

I don't think they allow hotel guests to dine here.

A passage to another block.

A hollow smile ?!

Supposed to be from the Ming or Yuan Dynasty?

A statue of a monk (or Buddha ?) behind the red curtain.

Purple wall. It leads to a Passage to Egypt which is still under renovation.

This is where the hotel guests stay.

Buffet breakfast. Yummy.

A bit of everything, looks so interesting.

The Garuda bird.

After visited Tugu Hotel, we went for a city tour which will be shown in Part 2 of Day 7.

Round Java Island -- Day 6

If yesterday was a day full of activities, then today is a day we ate the most varieties of food ranging from durian at a road side stall, satay under a tree, cup noodles and fried duck near a paddy field, to a well-recommended restaurant in the town of Malang, our destination.

This lady is selling breakfast from door to door. Mixed vegetables in thick peanut sauce and some half-boiled eggs too. I peeped at her from my window. We bought some eggs from her and they were just perfectly done !

A closer look at how she mixes the ingredients together.

View of the lake from far.

There is a small courtyard outside our room.

Horse ridding services for rent.

Yeah !! Off they go for a boat ride.

Despite having breakfast in the rest house, we were just in the mood for food today. So, we started scouting around for food while walking along the lake-side stalls.
According to our host, this stall sells the best durian they have ever tasted after two years staying in Indonesia.

Yummy ! Smile for the camera !

Then we bought a pomelo, some bananas.....

...and apples too. Due to its cooling weather, this place is famous for apple farms.

We have seen this type of satay stall throughout our journey in most tourist spots. So today, we decided to have a try.

The sauce is mixed to the meat first before BBQ it.

When in Rome, do what the Romans do.

So we sat around under a tree while waiting for our food to be served. Some of us had quill eggs too.

Here they are. Chicken and rabbit meat satay. Rp22,000 for 40 sticks, comes with some ketupat. (rice cake)

With stomach filled up, we headed straight to Malang. Today, we have to cover the longest stretch of road for our round Java trip.

It's about 1.30pm and no one is hungry yet because of the heavy breakfast we had. So we decided to have a light lunch, maybe cup noodles at the petro kiosk will do.

Guess what? When we have a toilet-stop, we found a nice little wooden stall selling just what we wanted : cup noodles ! But it came with a small surprise too : fried duck!

Enjoying a scenic view.

Preparing the sauce for fried duck with tomato, chili paste, belacan, and lime.

Trust me, this sauce tasted heavenly good!

Instant noodles with baso, a type of meat ball. What a feast he ended up with instead of a light lunch !

Took some pictures before we moved on again. It's going to be a long day traveling.

After a long day, we bump into this World Record -The Longest Drumming Marathon, 121 hours non- stop! Wow!

This event was being held in front of the city hall which is exactly opposite our accomodation for tonight - The Splendid Inn. So, we had a whole night of free music ( in actual fact it' s deafening drumming ). What a chance of a life time ! Bonus for today again.

We had dinner at this restaurant.

Like the way they tied the kain batik.

Simple and cosy.

In Indonesia, rice is always served in basket like this.

We had some simple Chinese cuisine. Good !

After a satisfying meal, all ready for bed.