Y  O  G  Y  A  K  A  R  T  A

After the Hari Raya celebrations, my family thought that it would be nice for us to travel to Indonesia. The first thing that comes to my mind every time I hear the name 'Indonesia' would be Bali. However, this time around, we decided to go to Yogyakarta instead. Located in Java, Indonesia; it is known for classical Javanese fine art and culture such as the batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows a.k.a 'wayang kulit' as the malays or Indonesians call it. We went for a 6 day 5 night trip. Our initial plan for this trip was to just walk around and chill basically. None of this ''waking up at 6 am every morning'' nonsense. 

The Hotel

We managed to get a room at The Hyatt Regency. The room we got overlooked the outside pool, the dining area as well as some trees and beautiful flowers. The breakfast was a real surprise, there were lots of varieties for almost all tastes. All food items were labelled. This made it easier for us to differentiate dishes that contained pork or lard. It took me about three days to realise that there were no pork served because the owner was Muslim. So big bonus for us hehe There was an omelette maker, waffle maker, coffee/tea maker and much more to serve up a fresh breakfast. You could either have breakfast indoors and outdoors under their shady trees overlooking the second pool.  Many decided to have their meals outside as the weather in Yogya was not too hot and humid. As for the facilities, I wasn't able to try out the gym. Mainly because I was to exhaust from all the walking we did. Other than that, I was able to go for a swim and enjoy the cool water and lovely shade. Did i mention that they have a huge pool slide. It was very tempting though... My 20 year old ego self told me not to do so, otherwise the cute boy that was sitting approximately five chairs away from mine would laugh. PLOT TWIST ! Once I got up and putty dry clothes on,  I saw him sneaking off--- he made his way to the fun slide. Lesson here ladies and gentlemen, just go on the god damn slide. 

Prambanan 

Built by the Mataram Kingdom; known to be the rulers of central Java, Prambanan is known to consist a collection of massive Hindu temples (candi). The hindu temples were dedicated to the Trimuti i.e. expression of God as 'The creator' (Brahma), 'The Preserver' (Vishnu) and  'The Destroyer' (Shiva). Prambanan was huge. You need at least the whole morning to finish the whole area. It is the largest Hindu Temple site in Indonesia and one of the largest in SouthEast Asia. When we got there, we hired a tour guide. He brought us around the temples and explained to us in depth regarding the history of Prambanan as well as the stupa's and candi's. My family and I decided to visit Prambanan in the afternoon. (1) To avoid the crowd (2) To avoid the blazing hot Indonesian heat. The visit must not be rushed. You should take your time and enjoy the stroll as you are surrounded by beautiful ancient hindu architecture.It is definitely worth a visit. Especially to contribute to conservation and restoration. It is such a huge wonder to imagine how much dedication went into these temples.

Ratu Boko

Ratu Boko was named after the late King Boko. In Javanese, Ratu Boko means 'Stork King'. We visited Ratu Boko right after Prambanan to catch the sunset which is just a 10 minute drive from the Prambanan complex. I was such a significant hindu site and the scale was really impressive. First you would have to hike up to the temple gate, and this would take about 15 minutes. 20 minutes if you stop and take pictures of the surroundings. The hike up was not bad at all. It wasn't one of those hikes you do like in the jungle, this hike consists of stairs and inclined road which lead to the gates. The location is up on a hill. From the top, we are able to see the whole city. Once we got up, we sat down patiently and waited for the sunset. The sunset was beautiful and the scenery was simply breath- taking. Luckily for us, there weren't many people. 

Water Castle

Taman Sari Water castle/ Water Castle was a former royal garden. The castle consists of many areas such as the resting area, meditation area, defence area, hiding place as well as a workshop. Firsta, our booking agent was our tour guide for this. Once you enter the water village from the main road, you would be walking past houses before you can find nothing else. I suggest to get a guide beforehand to prevent yourself from getting lost. So if you get a guide from the entrance, it would save you the trouble. To be honest, the Water Castle was not much. There were just some empty rooms and some old pools ( basically where the royals bathe etc). We didn't take long there. 

Underground Mosque

Constructed in the 18th century by the Sultanate, he had created a man- made sea and small island buildings that are connected by underwater tunnels. The underground mosque was one of these. Today, water no longer flows in the tunnels. However, you are able to reach the mosque by walking through a passageway that was once full of water. 

Borobudur Temple

Known to be the world's largest Buddhist Temple, as well as one of the most greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. From our hotel, it was approximately a one and a half hour drive to a  two hour drive as the Borobudur Temple is located in Magelang. We were "warned" ok maybe warned is a bit over dramatic... We were told by many that Borobudur is really big and really really hot compared to Prambanan. The most frequent advice we got waste bring an umbrella and to not wear such revealing clothes to prevent yourself from getting a bad sun burn. Fortunately for us, it wasn't thaaaaat hot! Lucky us he he he Just to be on the safe side, I suggest checking the weather a day before so that you have an idea how hot it is going to be there. Lets say you forgot to bring an umbrella, don't you worry, they actually have umbrellas available for rent. We got a tour guide to help explain the history of the temple. He was very nice and informative. We asked him ltd of questions about the temple and about the history or Yogya and he could answer it all. He made the story of the Borobudur very very interesting and I honestly enjoyed the whole thing. It was simply amazing. In my opinion, what made the Borobudur experience fun (other than the architecture and scenery) was the steep stairs you need to climb to get to the next level and lastly to Nirwana/Nirvana (heaven i.e. top of the Borobudur). There were high tiers as well. It was challenging but it made the whole experience fun and interesting. 

Sultans Palace

It is a historical Museum. The kraton is one of the remaining kingdoms in Indonesia, where the king and his royal family stay. The compound includes a museum, balairung, gamelan performance stage, a royal mosque as well as a royal bathing place. 

Museum Seni dan Budaya Jawa

Food

Bakso - it is an Indonesian dish that consists of meatballs or meat paste served in beef broth and yellow noodles. They can be found everywhere from street vendors to tourist and local restaurants. My bakso experience was not too bad. I like the broth and the noodles but i didn't really enjoy the meat balls. Theres something about it that makes me feels a bit sick. I'd say it tastes like "Soup Daging" or 'meat soup'.

Ayam Penyet - It is an East Javanese cuisine. Fried chicken that has been smashed with a pestle against a mortar to make it softer. It is usually served with sambal, slices of cucumber, tofu and tempeh. Me not being a fan of neither tempeh or tofu, I had just the chicken and cucumber slices. 

Bebek Goreng- bebek goreng is also known as crispy fried duck. 

SJY