Yogyakarta 2011

oh ho ho this is one delayed post alright -_-' wrote about it a week after i got back but didn't think it was informative enough. now i guess is the time?

Alhamdulillah =) been given time off visiting around Malaysia and out thanks to the short semester break! hehe. I have just spent 4 days and 3 nights in Yogyakarta, tagging along Shazwan's family trip! It was enjoyable! Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogja) is an excellent place for sightseeing, hardly for shopping. The 10 of us arrived in Jogja's Adi Sucipto Airport at 9am local time (Malaysia is an hour later).

DAY 1 - 2/5/2011 (Monday)

10 seater ride

Muzium Kereta Karaton

outside the museum

 Our tour guide, Kak Dini brought us firstly to Kraton - the royal area where the Sultan's palace is situated. We visited the Muzium Kareta Kraton which is where they placed all the horse-drawn carriages used for ages! There is even one that is gold-plated!

Next, we checked out the Palace. The Sultan - Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana the Tenth still lives here and he has nearly 2000 servants! Oh! This is the reason why Jogja is a bit special to the extent that its known as Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta! Because it is governed by a sultan! 

musical instrument still used today

the ceiling in the Sultan's display area - chandelier was a gift from Holland

After our tour, we had lunch at Bale Raos - the restaurant is situated within the palace grounds and it serves the royal cuisines aside from the regular "makanan kota"!

Since the old folks were already tired, we headed to our hotel in the Borobudur district. It was an hour drive there and I slept most of the time! Only when I heard kak Dini's announcement about the area being the affected area during the Merapi eruption last year did I wake!

We stayed at the Manohara Hotel which is right in front of Borobudur temple. Last thing I remembered upon arrival was dinner and TIDOQ!

view from my room

DAY 2 - 3/5/2011 (Tuesday)

We started the morning with a few minutes walk towards Borobudur listening to the tour guide's explanation on when, how, where, why Borobudur. hehe. Borobudur temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the ninth century. It is 10 storeys high and we can only climb up to the 7th because the last three storeys were closed. Even the old folks climbed up to the 7th floor! hehehe.

Oh! Please note that within those bricks is just a hill! They built the temple around it and covered it up! In order to know the story of how Gauthama Buddha became Buddha, make sure you start from the first brick and go clockwise! Read the carvings on the bricks, they'll tell you the story =)

the first block 

one of the many buddha statues

group photo

where we spent the night

 After breakfast and all, we were all packed up, ready to head to Jogja city. On the way there, we made stops at a batik centre, silver making centre and had lunch at Sekar Kedhaton, an ancient building housing ancient furniture and really polite and soft spoken Javanese. Like really polite wei.

one of the many designs, this one is batik cop

dishes served at Sekar Kedhaton - they have the crunchiest acar and tastiest beef kicap!

group photo at Sekar Kedhaton

Since we were all tired from hiking up Borobudur, we get to check in our hotel earlier. hehe. In Jogja, we stayed at the Grand Palace hotel. We were scheduled for a dinner at this restaurant with the Prambanan temple as backdrop. It was amazing, SubhanAllah! We also watched the Ramayana Ballet, an event held exclusively to tell the story of Ramayana and his love, Sita as well as his nemesis Mahabharata.

DAY 3 - 4/5/2011 (Wednesday)

Alhamdulillah. Day 3 was one that I looked forward the most because we get to visit Mount Merapi, one of the few active volcanoes in the Java land. It is the same volcano which erupted just recently, late October 2010 killing hundreds and causing thousands to go homeless. On our way there, we also passed by Universitas Gadjah Mada, one of the oldest universities in Indonesia.

cold lava passing through the river. this is the same river that brought the hot lava from the eruption, straight into villages and homes.

Mount Merapi

 As we headed back to the city, Kak Dini was telling us how people still ignored the government's order and moved back to their homes around Merapi. I guess there is the sense of belonging no matter how dangerous and difficult the situation is.

Nasi Padang for lunch

 It was our last day in Jogja and we're taking the earliest flight out the next day, Kak Dini made sure we all get to ride on the horse drawn carriage from the Malioboro market to the hotel. Malioboro is the place to shop for cheap batiks but of less quality. We bought most of our batiks from Mirota Batik. 

 DAY 4- 5/5/2011 (Thursday)

The Jogja government imposes a 100,000 rupiah airport tax per person that you must pay upon entering the boarding hall. So make sure you don't spend all your rupiahs! There's also a souvenir shop where you can get Bakpia (Indonesian kuih), Kopi Jawa and teaaaaaa!

 All in all, Jogja has been very fascinating! I loved the old feeling I get there and how tradition is still strong. Oh, one obvious thing is that despite the fact that most are Muslims, they have a very Hindu-oriented culture. It's definitely an eye opener for those keen about history =)

Grand Palace hotel