whimsically.: Travelogue: Malang, Indonesia

This post took so long because after I got back, everyone I met up with asked me about the trip, and I got tired of recounting all the adventures I had 48972713 times. And it got tiring trying (and failing) to put into words the awe and wonder I felt on the trip. But I need to document this for myself, so here it is.

Malang was...unexpectedly fun. We went there with no itinerary in mind, expecting to just chill and take it easy. But the trip turned out to be adventure-filled and action-packed (although we did manage to squeeze in some time for pure lazing around). Kudos to daddy's local drivers and colleagues, who suggested fun/little-known places for us to go to and bringing us about.

Some highlights~

We bumped our way along mountainous pothole-ridden roads for hours everyday

The first attraction somewhere in the middle of mountains

I stayed awake during the long car rides for fantastic views

Sugar cane fields

Gunung Banyak, where the locals go to paralayang (paragliding)

Instructor preparing the parachute

Sailing off the cliff

Each ride costs only about SGD50! So tempted to do it on the spot. If only I wasn't wearing a maxi

Rice fields

Secluded beach

Hindu temple on an outcrop

Turquoise sea

I CAUGHT A SHOOTING STAR (♥__♥) Probably my proudest picture ever. Besides the one in the picture I saw another two with my own eyes. The night sky was AMAZING I do not think I will ever not be awed by a star-studded sky *starry-eyed*

Precious night sky view. Venus was beside the moon and jupiter was above the moon (we used the android gps app that identifies constellations and such hah)

Breaking dawn

Mount Bromo

Foggy mountains

We set off at 1 am and braced ourselves for a 2-hour long bumpy car/jeep ride up and down narrow mountain roads in utter darkness. It was all we could do to giggle nervously occasionally and chit chat to ensure the driver didn't doze off and plunge us all off the cliff. Braved the cold for more than 2 hours just to catch the sunrise; it was probably about 4 degrees cel and I was dressed in two thin layers. I thought my cheeks and nose and fingers were going to fall off and my hair turned into a bird's nest in the wind.

The sunrise made everything worth it

Gunung Bromo in the daylight

Making our way across the sea of sand to get to the volcano

Horses and their owners that followed us doggedly

Slowly climbing our way up

Steep steps to the mouth of the crater; it became impossible to climb after a while 'cause the wind got so strong we were eating sand and climbing blindly and the steps were slippery with ash and sand

Waiting for us to give up and ask to ride their horses

Which we did, in the end, although I must say riding a horse down a steep terrain is no joke. I kept wondering if I would topple over in front of my horse and get stomped to death

Sandstorm that started brewing right after we got back into the jeep, so thank goodness we didn't get stuck up at the crater

Farm visit!

Perfect weather in the mountains where the farm was situated

In love with the 55-300mm lens that daddy's colleague lent me ♥ it shall be on my wishlist...until someone gets it for me HAHA

Chilled at a cafe and tried expensive coffee. Aka "civet shit", according to Lingie. Apparently it's the most expensive type of coffee in the world.

SGD12; I think it's probably more expensive in Singapore.

Utterly sinful crispy pancake made up of butter, condensed milk, chocolate and margarine. IT IS SO GOOD.

Zoo visit! Taman Safari is in the mountains, and it's a drive-through zoo. This is a llama fogging up the car window with its breath in hopes that we would feed it some treats. Unfortunately we did not buy any on our way in.