TAKING OUR TIME IN MALANG AND BATU
After a couple of days surrounded by surreal landscapes, we were happy to be back in the city, now surrounded by convenience and cafes.
For the rest of our trip, we stayed at a mountain resort in Batu, where temperatures dropped to around 10 degrees in the evenings. Over the next few days, we made forays into the Batu city centre and explored neighbouring Malang.
Malang and Batu are well known resort towns among locals, celebrated for their cooler climate, fresh produce and a mix of Chinese, Indonesian and Dutch influences that can still be seen in their food and architecture.
Perhaps that is why the cafes here felt familiar and comfortable. Aromatic coffee, friendly service, open air seating and views across the city made it easy to linger over a drink.
Among the trendy and design-forward cafes we visited in Malang, we were wowed by the high-quality pours at Kinji Coffee and Alura Coffee 2.0, where a cafe latte or matcha latte that could rival the best in Singapore cost only around S$2.
In Batu, we especially loved Concrete, where we had lunch while enjoying sweeping views of the city.