This was an end-of-year adventure~
Honestly, I rarely go on vacation. Maybe because I’ve been a home-body all this time, but sometimes it’s also because I didn’t even want to go. However, last month I took a trip to Jati Sewu with my family. My mother kept telling me about the place like “it’s so big, we can walk around” and so on.
Jati Sewu is a natural tourist attraction offering a variety of rides in Pengalangan Village, Gresik Regency. Gresik is technically a different city, but since it’s not too far from where I live, I thought why not just go for a little year-end adventure.
Now, when I said it’s not too far, I thought it would be at least a 1.5-hour long drive. Turns out, even with the busy traffic, the journey to get there was less than an hour. It's not that far from our family member's house, which usually takes us 30 minutes or even less. So it felt like we were still in our hometown area, but the address said it was already in Gresik Regency.
However, on the way, we passed several ricefield, and even a cow shed before arriving at our destination, which made me know it wasn’t my city anymore😁 Let’s explore!
The entrance fee to Jati Sewu costs IDR15.000 per person (less than $1). And as a side note, this was during the year-end holiday season. Normally, the ticket is only IDR10.000 on weekdays. The affordable entrance fee is certainly one of the reasons why this destination attracts people.
As you can see from the wooden sign I took, Jati Sewu offers a variety of activities (especially for kids) such as an outbound area, amusement rides, ATVs, and even a swimming pool. But I’ll save it for later, because in this blog I want to show the natural side of this place.
I didn’t expect that Jati Sewu would offer such a quite peaceful atmosphere. I could feel it despite the crowd, so I just wonder how calmer it would be if I returned on weekdays during the off-peak season. It’s said that Jati Sewu was built in a natural teak forest, which is where the name comes from, as “jati” means teak. This place offers a quite beautiful atmosphere and some fresh air (but we can’t avoid the sun even in this area😂 because technically, it’s still close to my city, so it was still hot)
However, there are joglo houses and gazebos where visitors can freely relax or take a break while enjoying the atmosphere. I saw several families spending time relaxing in those gazebos. And the streets in this place feel like small alleys, so some corners truly feel like it’s offering a village atmosphere. And I really like that!
because similar destinations like this tend to be super crowded, making it difficult to even take a short break. I also appreciate the abundance of plants and trees that they have, because it saves us from mr.sunshine for a little bit haha
The lake there also has a calming feel. Even just sitting in one of the gazebo and gazing out at the lake is very comfortable, surrounded by a gentle breeze. The good thing is that we didn’t even have to buy anything to be allowed to sit in the gazebo. I think I saw someone on the internet saying that visitors weren't allowed to bring outside food.
But from my experience, the staff didn’t even check our belongings. So I also found some people bringing their own snacks (including us😂). We still bought drinks and instant cup noodles there, but it’s nice that what we brought from home wasn’t asked to be left outside or anything like that.
I didn’t have any expectations about going to this place except for my mom’s remark about how big it is. Turns out, I wasn’t even get tired after strolling around🤣 we just couldn’t beat the heat, but the place it’s not as big as my mom had described at all😂
Regardless, I still enjoyed the short trip with my family. Spending an ordinary holiday like that to end the year wasn’t as boring as I imagined. And Jati Sewu is an interesting alternative destination besides malls.
I guess that’s all for now. This is too late, but happy new year everyone! Have you guys taken a good vacation at the end of 2025 or just done mundane things like I did? Let me know how your experience was :)
Anyway, thanks for reading as always!
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