An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
I was born and raised in the Philippines, a tropical country boasting of a variety of fruits. On top of that, I am more privileged to grow up on a rural family farm planting different crops and fruit trees â ranging from jackfruit to mangoes, to guava, marang, and santol fruit trees and the list goes on! Even in our yard, we grow pineapple, star apple, and sugar apple. However, we didnât have an apple tree!
I have never seen an apple tree in the Philippines. Was there even one?  Hmmm⌠None that I know of. So imagine how excited I was when I found out that we are going to go apple picking (my very first time) on our trip to Malang.
Malang is the second largest city in East Java, Indonesia. From Jakarta, it would take you around 15-17 hours by economy train. It was my first time to travel by train this long and I would not try it again. It was a promo fare, only around 200,000 IDR round trip. Yes, it was way cheaper than executive/business trains, but I would not recommend it. It was too slow and the seats were very uncomfortable.
When we arrived in Malang, I didnât expect that we were going to stay at Batu City. Batu City is one of the most visited places in Malang for its apple orchards. In fact, Batu is called the âApple City, offering several apple picking tours to visitors. There are are a lot to see and do in Batu, but apple picking is sure is included in everyoneâs itinerary.
Luckily, since we stayed at Batu City, we donât have to go somewhere else far to pick apples. There are a lot of apple orchards we can choose from near the villa where we stayed at. There are even apple trees in the front and backyard! Our host even offered a tray of apples when we arrived up until our last day.
 Apple farm just a few steps away from the villa!Â
  Orchard visit early in the morning!
  Beautiful apple tree flowers
 We visited a few orchards but it was only during the last day when we finally went apple picking. A farm girl myself, I am not new to harvesting fruits, of course! However, there was something really different about being in an apple orchard for the first time. I felt like a little kid. I could hardly contain the excitement and took a bite of the first apple I picked even when I was told it has to be washed first!
 It was a private orchard, not for apple picking tours filled with tourists, so we were the only ones there. Spell L-U-C-K-Y! The orchard was so huge. It was so fun to go around looking for the best- looking apple. We filled the two bags to the brim in only a few minutes! Of course, we brought to Jakarta with us the bags of apple we picked as well as apple chips made by the locals themselves.
My first apple picking experience was fun and unforgettable and I hope it wonât be the last.
 My First Apple Picking Experience An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I was born and raised in the Philippines, a tropical country boasting of a variety of fruits.