Have Perut Will Travel...: KNO Day 2 │ Tip Top Restaurant • Batik Hunt Pt 1!

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Thursday, 18 June 2026

KNO Day 2 │ Tip Top Restaurant • Batik Hunt Pt 1!

A Slow Morning Start

After a good night’s sleep, we finally woke up at 8:00am, still recovering from a week of flu meds. We took our time getting ready and left Helen’s lovely apartment at a quarter to nine. Down at the lobby, we hailed a fixed fare Bluebird taxi for IDR29,000 (≈ MYR7/USD2/EUR1) to our breakfast spot: Tip Top Restaurant.

Breakfast at Tip Top

Although Tip Top was barely a kilometre away, the lack of sidewalks meant walking wasn’t an option. Tip Top—founded in 1929 as Jang Kie before moving to Kesawan in 1934—has long been one of Medan’s most enduring culinary icons, evolving from colonial era dishes to Indonesian and Chinese favourites. Its old world charm mesmerised us the moment we stepped in. We ordered Bread with Ham and Cheese, Omelette Ham and Cheese, Fried Vermicelli Noodle, Cold Tea with Milk, Hot Coffee with Milk, and a Ystaart ice cream cake for IDR204,000 (≈ MYR47/USD11/EUR10). My eyes were bigger than my perut, so the first item was packed away. With breakfast done, the Batik hunt officially began.

Sun Plaza: A Detour Before the Hunt

We took another fixed fare Bluebird for IDR29,000 to Sun Plaza, thinking it had Batik stores — it didn’t, but the detour was still worthwhile. We browsed Adidas and Skechers on the third floor, then picked up Watson’s essentials for IDR398,700 (≈ MYR92/USD22/EUR19) at the lower ground floor. Back upstairs, we bought an NMIXX album CD from the tiny Studio Et 45 stall for IDR275,000 (≈ MYR63/USD15/EUR13).

Batik Stalls at Sun Plaza

We returned to the lower ground floor where Cat checked out a few small Batik stalls. The patterns were fine, but nothing truly caught her eye. The real hunt would have to continue outside.

BT Batik Trusmi: The First Big Haul

Leaving Sun Plaza, we walked along Jl. Pangeran Diponegoro and soon slipped into BT Batik Trusmi, our first proper Batik store of the day. The colours and motifs pulled us in immediately. After browsing through racks of shirts, blouses, and traditional cloth, we settled on two shirts, two blouses, and two folds of Batak motif cloth for IDR1,692,000 (≈ MYR389/USD94/EUR82) — a handsome first haul.

AGS Batik at Cambridge City Square

Our second Batik stop was AGS Batik at Cambridge City Square. With one solid haul already in the bag, we were excited to see what awaited us next. Stay tuned to find out how we got on there — the Batik hunt is only just beginning!