Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine July 2014 | Page 119

Travel | Malang

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© Aleksandar Todorovic / Shutterstock
© David Metcalf

Timor, Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi, Borneo
and other islands of Indonesia.
Indeed, I met many highly educated people
in Malang. John, our lovely doorman from
the hotel, had a perfect English accent
complete with a plum-in-the-mouth
intonation, which I found equally
surprising and charming.
My next adventure was on foot, a threeminute walk from my downtown hotel,
positioned at the main roundabout and
next to the city hall. I cut down a narrow
lane to Bird Street and discovered the
local market, Pasar Bunga (literally ‘flower
market’), which branches to the left for
birds and to the right for flowers. Many
varieties of colourful birds are for sale, such
as parrots, rare and exotic birds, and brown
owls, plus other pets including fluffy rabbits,
chubby guinea pigs and smooth snakes. If
you look for a small gap between the densely
packed shop fronts, you can catch a great
view looking out over the patchwork of
rooftops that hug the side of the Brantas
River, which threads and weaves its way
through Malang’s many villages.
Another interesting stop was the visit to the
Tradisional Oro-Oro Dowo market, which
means ‘long place of small spaces’. This local
market is over a century old, with a distinct
Dutch architectural style of planned shop
fronts and a bustling market inside. The
market sells a range of produce, clothing,
homewares, and just about everything you
would need bar the kitchen sink. I met a
lovely Indonesian shop owner who sang for
me in Dutch. “This is a song from 1943,”
she told me and handed me a song sheet.
“It’s called ‘Geef Mij Maar Nasi Goreng’.
Why don’t you come along to my English

Temples in Malang

Jago temple: A 13th-century Hindu
temple from the Singhasari kingdom,
located about 22km from Malang. The
original name of this temple is Jajaghu,
which means ‘greatness’, a term
that is used to refer to a shrine.
Kidal temple: A Hindu temple located in
the Tumpang district, 20km east of Malang.
The temple is composed of three levels that
are situated on a raised platform. At the
foot of the temple, three Javanese masks
depict the story of Garuda.
Badut temple: East Java's oldest surviving
Hindu temple is located in Karang Besuki
village, District of Dau in Malang. Badut
comes from the Sanskrit language, and means
‘the star of Canopus’, also known as the star
of Agastya, an avatar of the god of Shiva.