Vacationing and traveling have become a routine for me and my immediate family, as well as my extended family, especially on certain days and times, such as long holidays at the end of the year and long Eid al-Fitr holidays. This year’s New Year 2025 I spent it with my extended family going to Tawangmangu. a place and area that is famous for its various destinations. Tawangmangu is close to the city of Karanganyar. Tawangmangu has also become my favorite destination with my family. because there are many destinations there.
One of them is Tawangmangu market. my mother and aunts will always take the time to stop by there to buy fruit. fresh and sweet squeezed oranges can only be found at Tawangmangu market, always the target of mothers at the market. besides fruit, my mother and aunts also buy crackers. various kinds of crackers are always available at Tawangmangu market. my father likes crackers, so my mother always buys many types of crackers in the same amount as souvenirs for my father when he returns from his hometown later. how happy father was when brought a lot of crackers by mother, usually he immediately fried the crackers that were still raw even though mother had just arrived home.
Another thing is there are flowers. if you enter the tawangmangu market, the first thing you see is rows of various kinds and types of beautiful flowers on each side of the aisle. mother will look around the aisle with sparkling eyes, because mother really likes flowers. I even do not hesitate to look and go around the entrance aisle just to see or take pictures of flowers. on this holiday, the things I like most when bought from the tawangmangu market are skin crackers and fresh strawberries. after the market, we decided to go to the upper area, the peak.
At the peak, we usually choose a place to relax like just sitting and snacking. the place that has become like a basecamp every time I go to the top of tawang mangu is located at the end. almost close to the uphill road to climb the mountain. because the location of the place is so high and close to the climbing area, making the place very cold, because of its location. the temperature there is really cold if you don’t wear a jacket or outer. especially if the weather is windy. I even thought, if I don’t go home quickly from that place I will freeze.
Usually in that place we spend it to chat casually while looking at the view from the top of the peak. sometimes also order warm boiled noodles and hot tea, or hot chocolate, considering the very cold temperature. the favorite menu of the older family members is fried foods such as tempeh flour. on this holiday I enjoyed all of those foods accompanied by desserts that we had just bought at the Tawangmangu market earlier.
The strawberries that my mother bought yesterday had thick and juicy flesh, although the taste was still sour and tart, but because I know strawberries with lots of water and thick flesh are rare, and of course with characteristics like that it shows that strawberries have special characteristics, many benefits, so I just ate them.
Routine after enjoying time at the restaurant and the relaxing place, I usually go down to the local residents’ strawberry garden. because the weather is cold and supportive for planting, so there are many vegetable and fruit gardens there, especially strawberries. when we went down to see the garden there, we met 3 cute kittens who were lost. as a result, my cousins and I played with the little cats while walking around.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the trip, our quality time with my cousins and 2 little cats had to stop because suddenly there was a fairly heavy rain. We jogged back to our relaxing place. Before returning, we didn’t forget to deliver the 3 kittens to their mother, who turned out to be meowing when the rain started to fall looking for her kittens.
Another destination that has just become my favorite on my visit to Tawangmangu early this year is Pak Pur’s satay stall. It is located on the side of an uphill road with a row of other small food stalls. I initially tried Pak Pur’s satay because of curiosity. The simple stall that wasn’t too big was so crowded with people that even the chairs and tables weren’t enough to accommodate the many customers. Because we were curious, our family tried to stop by Pak Pur’s satay stall for lunch.
Honestly, in my opinion, the place is a bit messy because the place where the satay is cooked is very close to the customer’s chairs and tables, making us customers disturbed by the smoke from the grilled satay. But that’s okay, because all of that is paid off by the results of the delicious Pak Pur satay recipe. I am the type who doesn’t really like meat, but there are some meats that I can still tolerate if made into satay, chicken. I ordered a portion of chicken satay. When it arrived, I was a little surprised because the appearance of the satay was very tempting. The meat is bigger and looks juicy, plus a small bowl of special satay sauce that has lots of small vegetables in it. Plus a portion of rice.
At first I just felt ordinary, because I knew this was just satay, the taste would definitely be the same as all the satay I’ve tried before. But at first bite I really didn’t expect the chicken satay from this stall recipe to be so delicious. The meat is thick and tender, the middle part of the meat is chewy and juicy. because it tastes so good I am excited to eat. until I added half a portion of rice because the rice is very delicious when mixed with the special chili sauce from the satay. even when the satay is gone I can still imagine the deliciousness of the meat in my mouth before. because my little cousin was not able to finish one portion of the satay, he gave 2 skewers to me and 2 more skewers to my other cousin. I was very satisfied and happy to be able to taste the most delicious chicken satay I have ever try.
well, maybe that’s all I can tell about my early 2025 vacation. overall the taste is certainly fun and satisfying, thank you!
By: AZAHRA AULIA SYAHIDA
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