Central Java’s triple S: Solo, Salatiga and Semarang

Feb 9, 2014 by Jessica

Every year, Solo and Salatiga are in my family’s year end agenda. The only two times (as I remember it) we didn’t go there were 1) when the family gathering was in Bandung, 2) during my first year in Melbourne and my parents came in to visit me. And both my brother and I had each a 1 red flag for not coming back “home” because of work. Funny thing is, eventhough we never lived in Solo we always refer going to Solo in December as “coming home”.

That being said, last December was my millionth time going to the grands (well maybe not that much). I always love going home, apart from those time when my dad preferred driving rather than flying. It’s always a pain in the ass in its most literal term. The travel time usually takes us 12-14 hours for 562 km, including 2-3 short toilet breaks, a quick breakfast and lunch. The pretty view along the new-ish tollway in Cirebon and some other areas along Pantura give a bit of zen but definitely not doing anything to my poor rear part.

Once you got to Salatiga or Solo though, it feels like a whole different world. Time seems to stop in these cities. The daily holiday routine will usually go like this; 8am: wake up time, 9am: breakfast (usually Soto or Noodle), 10am – noon: visiting relatives or going shopping, noon: lunch, past noon: going shopping or having nap then chatting about what to have for dinner, night: having dinner then more warungan or angkringan to finish the day. The next day same routine will happen with different kind of dishes to savour! Yum!

There are too many good food to enjoy in Solo and Salatiga for me to post. So if you’d like to know more about what to see and where to dine, shoot me an email or leave a comment below Enjoy!