Mbah & Atok go to… Malang, Indonesia - Kontrakan Hunting Ends

Mbah & Atok go to… Malang, Indonesia

Friday 29 March 2024

This is Mbah’s and Atok’s temporary hijrah to Malang, Indonesia for one year, for Mbah to pursue her research at Universitas Brawijaya (UB). The original posting was published in Mbah’s Facebook on 29 March 2024 (with some editing and formatting modifications made to suit this blog’s style and format).


Kontrakan Hunting Ends

It took more days than we expected. It meant more days in the one room. The longest so far staying at UBGH for 5 days and another 6 days in OYO. A Ramadhan experience in a different yet similar land.

While AK went for his Friday prayer, I contacted the landlady asking if it is possible for us to move in. In the meantime, we have booked for another night at OYO. Confirmed that we could move in. The key, on top of the listrik meter.

We booked yet another XL grab car to transport our belonging. Just about enough to fit everything in one car. Again, AK followed suit closely on his bike.





R9 Sigura-gura. That’s where home is for the next few months. Away yet home for R9 is a cute little house. It has 2 rooms, 1 tiny dining room, 1 tiny kitchen and a fairly spacious living room. This house is furnished but we have yet to get the compor and kulkas. Those two are the most important.



The master bedroom is fitted with one master bed and nothing else for it can fit only that. The second bedroom has a single bed with a pull out and a cupboard. The dining has a table with four chairs and a sofa bed. The living room has a double sofa and a double sofa cum sofa bed as well as another sofa bed. Lumayan ya.



Upon arriving there, we put aside our luggage and started making the house a home. There were still cleaning to be done. The landlord had a few utensils that she would take later. I asked if I could make use of them. Again another yes. Alhamdulillah. Went through the utensils, separating what is needed and what’s not. A few trips of washing the utensils and yet to get all done. It looked simple. No, no and no.

By the time to break fast, I wasn’t finished yet. AK and I decided to go out for breaking fast. At the same time, we took our laundry - bedspreads and pillowcases for we needed them for tonight. We had es coconut murni and indomee goreng with eggs. Simple. The warong is just in front of the laundrette and the laundrette deserves its own posting.

Once laundry is done, off to Mr DIY for a kettle. A hot drink for sahur is a must.

The first night in a rented house after Notts back in 2008. Doakan yg baik saja ya utk kami dan semua kita. Amin.

Night2 kids.
Night2 all.

Comments

Post a Comment

Most popular in last 30 days...

Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java - Day 4

Image
Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java — Day 4: Cirebon - Jakarta Tuesday 16 July 2024 Cirebon was meant to be a short stop for the notable mosque visit yesterday. So we had an early start for  Jakarta today. And we started the day with a surprise, or rather Mbah pulled one.  Maybe it was Mbah’s conscience in response to the old man’s offer, or in the spirit of travelling, that we took the  beca (trishaw) to the train station. Mbah thought we could both ride in a beca , but I proved her wrong by filling one all by myself (it was tiny!); so we took one each.  The ride was only a fraction faster than the 10-minute walk it would have taken us but it was a window to local life. According to my driver, thanks to Gojek and Grab, people rarely take the beca anymore. On a good day, he could make around IDR60,000 (approx USD3.70). As life progresses faster, it is sad that some are inevitably left behind. Mbah arriving in style The Indonesian train history exhibit a...
Read more

Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java: Day 8

Image
Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java — Day 8: Bandung (Central) Saturday 20 July 2024 We woke up at 4 AM. It was dark and cold outside. The night temperature was reportedly 15 degrees Celsius here, possibly colder with the breeze. Our hotel was perched on a hillside facing east. We braved the cold, warmed by a mug of coffee, and sat on the porch outside, watching the distant lights in the valley below us, waiting quietly for sunrise. Alhamdulillah, never in our planning nor imagination did we foresee being able to travel the world and marvel at its beauty like this.  PPTK Cafe Bandung — best place with the best food on this trip Then it was breakfast time. It's back to yesterday’s PePeTeKa Cafe . And it did not disappoint. The food was good, probably the best we had on this trip so far. We had pempek , one of Bandung’s specialties, and liked it. The kuey teow goreng (fried flat noodles) and nasi goreng (fried rice) we ordered were also good. We dare say the kuey teow goreng taste...
Read more

Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java - Day 2

Image
Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java — Day 2: Semarang Sunday 14 July 2024 As we went through Semarang old town yesterday we said to ourselves that this part of town is a must-visit. However, the good Doctor had more pertinent obligations to fulfil, so the adventure started a little later in the day. However, it wasn’t any less wholesome. One of Indonesia’s almost constant feature that we like is its blue sky Lawang Sewu , once the base of the Dutch who ruled Indonesia, was explored as planned. It now belongs to the national train company, KAI, housing exhibits on the history of the building during its construction and restoration, as well as the history of train service in Indonesia from the Dutch era to almost the present day (the story seemed to end a few years ago; for example, information about the new Whoosh fast train was not there). Being a mild train enthusiast, I was more inclined towards the latter exhibit. Lawang Sewu has endless photogenic locations; just bring your creati...
Read more

Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java - Day 5

Image
Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java — Day 5: Jakarta - Bandung Wednesday 17 July 2024 The hotel included breakfast, but it was a room service affair. Nasi goreng was served and, while satisfactorily filling, it wasn’t exactly the buffet spread we had imagined. Still, Alhamdulillah. All fuelled up, we went out to yesterday’s promised park . Tebet Eco Park  is an island of tranquillity in the busy city of Jakarta. It was very well designed and very beautiful. Yesterday evening, there were lots of families letting their children run around happily. This morning, the park was mostly filled with people doing their morning exercises. There was a group of children from a nearby school on an outing. Children all over the world are the same: they were noisily being chaperoned by their exasperated teachers trying to get their charges into pairs and in an orderly line. With bemused smiles on our faces, we silently wished the teachers luck. All cities should have nice parks like this Tebet Ec...
Read more

Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java - Day 3

Image
Mbah & Atok go to… tour of Java — Day 3: Semarang - Cirebon Monday 15 July 2024 Travel must go on. Goodbye, Semarang. You've given us some very good memories, especially that little blast from the past in the antique market. InsyaAllah, we may yet be back. There’s at least one more place I’d like to visit if the opportunity comes knocking. Thank you for the sweet, memorable time you gave us. Nganti ketemu maneh, matur suwun . And so we continued on the Intercity to Cirebon , another major city along KAI’s track. As on the first day of travel, work must be kept updated. It can be stressful, especially when deadlines act like a noose around your neck, ever threatening to choke you to death. Better seats for working, and sleeping Gratefully, the train today was an upgrade from the previous rigid-upright-with-cramped-legroom seat style. Working in transit was a better proposition. So the better half plodded on for the next three hours while I productively slept most of the way th...
Read more