Stories from My Little Escape (Part 2)

Bakso Malang Tandon

Before meeting Gilang, I took the time to have a delicious Malang meatball breakfast in the Dinoyo area. The meatballs were tasty and tender, making them very easy to eat. The fried meatballs were also delicious because they weren't too dry, so they absorbed the warm broth well. The broth itself was savory and delicious without needing any additional seasoning. It was simple, but I will always remember the taste.

Billiards While Waiting

While waiting, I decided to play billiards first. The place was nice, but unfortunately, it was too hot to play during the day. The name of the place is RIO, which is quite close to the hotel. I played for about 2 hours at a rate of around 25 thousand rupiah per hour. The place was quite family-friendly, as many people brought their families to play that day. It was a good way to pass the time and refresh my mind for a moment.

I’ve been meeting my best friend for over ten years.
It felt like it had been a long time since we last met, since last year when I stopped by Jakarta for a business trip, after which we hadn't seen each other for a long time. It felt warm and we talked a lot about each other's lives, laughing a little before taking a break to continue the day.

Dinner at Lalapan RRI

Around four in the afternoon, we decided to have dinner at Lalapan RRI. We ordered white snapper, squid, crispy mushrooms, bean sprouts, and water spinach. After waiting for about 15 minutes, all our orders came out. It was delicious because the sambal was fresh and not too spicy, making it enjoyable to eat.

Roketto Cafe

After we were full, we continued to Roketto for coffee. There, I ordered a cappuccino and continued to talk about life at length with Gilang while waiting for my younger sibling to arrive and join us.

Roketto Cafe has a comfortable place to work or just play with your laptop. There are many tables and chairs neatly arranged, making it suitable for doing work. Honestly, I was quite annoyed because my sister took a long time to arrive, but finally we were able to get together, and that annoyance slowly turned into an exciting moment because we took lots of photos together.

Jogging More Than 10 KM

Our fourth day began with a morning jog of more than 10 km, which made me happy, of course, because it had been a long time since I had gone for a long run in a city other than Yogyakarta. So, as a person, I didn't want to waste my morning sleeping in the hotel. I chose to run and have coffee at a cafe.

Initially, I had agreed to meet Marsya at the Toko Kopi Jaya cafe on Jalan Pisang Kipas, but when I arrived, there was no one there. Therefore, I decided to continue my journey to Marsya's house, which was about 5 km from the meeting place. Running that morning was quite enjoyable because Malang never gets boring with its beautiful scenery.

Along the way, I could see mountains lined up on the right and left. The weather was sunny, but a little hot with a cool temperature. After the journey, I finally arrived at Marsya's house. After meeting, we hurried to Fajar Baru.

Fajar Baru Shop

It's a pleasant place, especially for those who want to spend the morning with friends, because it's open and outdoors, so it can accommodate many people. In addition, the coffee is highly recommended for those who like tubruk coffee because it tastes good and is enough to start your morning. Unfortunately, there are no heavy meals like porridge, but don't worry, you can still order other heavy meals like fried rice. But not for me.

Lunch at Kopi Cengli and Bakso Kidul Pasar

After returning to the hotel and showering, we got ready to go and buy lunch at Kopi Cengli. My first impression was that the place was quite deep inside the compound space, where there were many food tenants. It has two floors and is quite close to the city center. We ordered quite a few items for lunch, such as sweet bread with ice cream on top and creamy srikaya bread. We also ordered an Americano to balance the sweetness.

After checking the map and seeing that it wasn't too far away, we finally decided to walk there. After walking quite a distance, we found that the place was quite crowded and there was a long queue, so we chose to return to the hotel and order online instead. It tasted quite good for Malang meatballs, although I thought they were similar to the Tandon meatballs I had tried before.

Dinner at Cotaslice and Trying Kopi Jaya

In the afternoon, after resting because we were tired, we decided to have dinner at Cotaslice, a pizza place. Eating at Cotaslice means having pizza that is quite cheap and usually bought by students to celebrate something because it is indeed quite cheap and located in the city center. We ordered pizza with meat toppings and a fairly sweet drink. TBH, it tasted ordinary, maybe because it was cheap and the location was strategic, making this place crowded.

In the evening, we went to Kopi Jaya near the tennis court. The review for this coffee: it’s quite creamy but not strong enough. It fell short of expectations for one of the milk coffees touted as the best in Malang. We also ordered potato wedges, which were surprisingly oily and not very tasty.