Coffee and Culture - Cold N Brew Surakarta

Surakarta or Solo is a city in Central Java that is known for its reasonable cost of living. They also have this tagline “ Solo is the spirit of Java” that is true because the city is rich in history and a place where royals still exist. Despite the royal family not exactly governing the city again, their legacy still exists and is deep rooted in the city. There are also many interesting sights to see that I just discovered. Most importantly, I certainly didn’t expect to find an aesthetic place in Surakarta. I always thought this city to be small and similar to where I am currently living but I was wrong.

Strangely, in a decade living in Yogyakarta, I never bothered checking out this place despite it being so accessible by local commuter train. It is also reasonably priced but only the other day when I finalized my move, I took the courage to visit it with a friend of mine.

My train departed at 7:30 which was too early but I also got there around 8:30 when most things were still sleeping. This city was already bustling. Around that time, coffee shops opened and inter-city buses were also operating. So, I was surprised to see how bustling it was compared to the place I lived in. My friend and I decided that we should try walking around. We really have no destination, we just walked and only later in the day when I needed to get something done, we stopped by this amazing piquant cafe.

The Best Cold N Brew

Finally moving !

I thought I was gone for a week but two days away from home felt an eternity. I don’t know if it’s how I am feeling with the overall situation but I am finally letting go. I already shipped all of my boxes and I am no longer a tenant there. I didn’t necessarily bid goodbye to my landlady and the family, but she told me that we’re already a family and I definitely think so too. I’ve been living under their roofs for so long and they’re some of the people who could tolerate my quicks and are okay with me making noises late at night and such. For them not kicking me out is something. So, I definitely treasured our relationship and I would go back every now and then to visit them.

From there, I don’t know where I’ll be and I am trying to see if backpacking still fits into the new me. At the same time I have to focus again on my studies, spending time with my family and my niece. I also have a few business ideas lined up and renovation on the way. All this takes time and we’re halfway through the year! I felt like so much has happened and maybe this is just the way it was supposed to be.

How do you normally recover from a trip?

I don’t know about you but today I just woke up pretty late. For me,I also tried to consistently keep up with my schedule but there are times like this when though I woke up pretty early, I still fell asleep during midday. Then, I would head out for coffee and outside to familiarize myself with my environment again. That’s how I would recover and then go on with my day and find out ways to familiarize myself with the schedule that I set for myself.

Anyway, see you around as I am getting adjusted again and finger crossed, I’ll eventually find a type of schedule and routine that works for me.