JuSt HiT D bEaT and DaNCe LiKe NoboDy's WaTcHinG: July 2012

.:Graffiti is a norm in the street of Jogja:.

That was the tagline I saw on a wall in the street of ‘Jogja’ aka Yogyakarta during a trishaw sightseeing trip in the busy street of the city. Two and a half hours flight from Kuala Lumpur has landed me to a land rich with culture and warm people. I was so glad I decided to proceed with the trip after a friend cancelled last minutes.

For a relaxing holiday, 4 days 3 nights is just nice. I’m blogging in detail on my trip to Jogja so enjoy!

Day 1 I arrived at 8.35am from Kuala Lumpur and after grabbing my luggage from a cute luggage area, I bought a taxi coupon which is a small counter on the left side after passing the arrival gate. It’s still inside the airport itself. The fee from Airport to Jetis was 50K IDR.

After being checking into a homestay recommended by a colleague in Jetis, I rested for 2 hours because it was a long morning which I woke up at 3.30am to catch the bus from KL Sentral to the aiport continued with a 2.5 hours flight….

.:My Room:.

.:The bathroom is even bigger than my own room in Kuching!:.

At 1pm, I took a taxi 20KIDR to visit ‘Keraton’, the royal palace which is in the middle of the city. The entrance fee was 3KIDR + 1KIDR for photography fee. Right after I got the ticket, a guide get hold of my ticket and I knew he was going to made me hire him for a guide. Since I was undecided of what I wanted to do in Jogja, I agreed at 50,000IDR (I didn’t bargain). I was a little disappointed with how small the areas within the palace that was open for visitors comparing with Golden Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. Anyway he was meticulously explaining about the ritual, the history and the culture of the royal family in Jogja. I found the 3^rd King’s outfit awesome. Hehehe

.:Sight from the Palace:.

.:3rd King of Jogja:.

After the palace visit, he brought me to an art gallery but I didn’t find anything I like so I didn’t buy anything there, plus the prices were quite expensive for me. I then asked him to introduce a trishaw ‘Becak’ man for my visit to Taman Sari, a leisure water castle for the king. He asked a trishaw man to bring me to Taman Sari and some other places which he spoke in Indonesian Malay and agreed on a payment of 20,000IDR. This I had no regrets because he brought me to few good and reasonable priced Batik boutiques and art galleries. It’s pretty cool since I’m in Jogja to shop for nice stuff anyway and the prices in the boutiques are standardized so you won’t get the privilege or headache of bargaining. ‘I hate bargaining!’

At one of the Art Gallery, he introduced me to a local guide Pak Jari who offered to bring me around in Taman Sari for a freewill contribution. I liked him because he was a cheerful man and I can see deep inside his eyes, he loves his city very much. After the trip, I passed him 10,000IDR considering the trishaw man has to cycle me around at only 20IDR. The entrance to Taman Sari was 3,000IDR.

.:Taman Sari... the King will see the wifes from top floor:.

.:The bed of romance... hehehe:.

.:Me & Pak Jari:.

.:While riding on a trishaw:.

I was reading about the staple food of Jogja ‘Gudeg’ pronounced as ‘Gu-derk’ so I asked the trishaw man to bring me to a popular place. I bought him a set of ‘Gudeg’ with duck wing but he refused to sit inside and was eating in his trishaw. Oh well, as he wished. I’m sure he won’t be comfortable anyway.

.:Gudeg:.

He dropped me in the middle of town as he told me to send me back to Jetis was too far and suggested me to grab a cab. Seeing a lot of people was heading to a street, I asked him before he left on what street was that, he told me ‘Malioboro’ I had planned to visiti Malioboro on my last day so I took a slow stroll and grab a ‘Becak’ that wanted to send me to Jetis, where I was staying. We got lost a little but it was a good opportunity for me to look around Jogja. The fee he charged was highr than taxi which was 40,000IDR but since we got lost and I feel for him cycled me in the city with my heavy shopping bags etc, I paid him & said Thank You.

.:Parking Spot for Trishaw:.

.:Monument:.

.:Outside the homestay:.

At night, I went for my dinner at Kopitiam Oey right across the street from where I was staying. The eating place was very interesting for me as the name of the shop itself, bore my family’s surname! Food was OK but the coffee was great. The dinner damage was 53,000IDR I’ve never like Indonesian food too much so I didn’t have high expectation.