Jogjakarta Trip

Bonjour!!

I just came back from Jogjakarta, Indonesia..
and... I kinda love it there!
Especially my visit to the historical monuments ♥
On the 1st day, we went to Prambanan, which is an Indian temple built in the 9th century.
For Malaysian secondary students, you should see this word in your history text book ;)

Breathtaking, isn't it? :)

My uncle, aunt, me, mum and dad.
5 of us on this tour.
We travel around by van, with a tour guide.
(Spot him in the first pic)

The steps of the monuments. Steep like hell.

There was an earthquake that happened a few years back,
Prambanan temple got affected and the stones were dislocated.
Hence, the "sesated" stone above.

Due to the earthquake, this part of the monument is closed.
Under construction.

What a waste of historical architecture.

Epic pic of my uncle. Haha.

Our lunch by the forest ♥

The restaurant was damn ulu into the village.
For a moment there I thought the tour guide was gonna rompak us or something :P

Our lovely 5 star hotel, The Phoenix Hotel.
Very awesome indeed.
Was built in the 1800s

Looks abit like my house door..
So homely :)

Jogjakarta..
Conquered by Dutch for a long time
Hence the Dutch influenced chair.
They have this curve-shaped-thingy around their "beca" too.
FYI, "beca" is some vehicle with 3 wheels, will introduce soon.

I am in LOVE with this dress.

Our hotel's view during the night.
Lovely.

Mum and me.
Men-sampat-ing :)

The next day, we visited the sultan palace.
Kinda weird tho, wonder why tourists are allowed to go inside the palace.
Unlike KL's palace.. can see gate only.. =.="

Some costume the Prince wears.. so GAY lor.. (poor Prince)

Water, Gold, Fire, Wood.. did I miss anything?
FYI - Water (the crystal chandelier), Gold&Fire (the color gold and red), Wood (obvious answer)

I guess they didn't mention Earth
which is the foundation the building is on top of.

Notice the weird donkey-shaped ears the prince is wearing?
It has a meaning.
It means intelligence.. (If I remember it correctly)

Rp 1000 for a permit to take photos.
(notice the exception of batik museum)
and yes, I didn't obey that rule..
1000 rupiah is approximately equivalent to 37 sen.

This thing is located elsewhere around the sultan's land.
BTW, the buildings under the sultan's land has a different set of rules.
Yeah, different from the government's rules.
Yogyakarta's sultan has political powers too. In the parliament and everything.

This building has a great and interesting story behind it.
Notice the tall building.
The uppest floor (If I'm not mistaken) has a bed in it.

*I'm going to give you 10 seconds to think why*

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

*TIME'S UP!*

for those of you who is smart enough (or should I say, "HAMSAP" enough)..
it's for the sultan to choose women when they are bathing.
Enough said. ;p

"Cwe cute"
Haha, coincidence? :P

Uncle feeding me mi goreng! Haha.

Horse ride by the beach ♥

Our lovely dinner at our tour guide's boss house.
Weird.
Wonder why Indonesians are so open to tourists visiting their private homes.

Next day, it was the highlight of our trip to Jogjakarta.
We went to the infamous Borobudur temple.
It's a Buddhist temple built during the 9th century.

We woke up at 3.30am and got ready by 4am to head off to Borobudur.
(In order to watch the sunrise)
It was a 50 minute ride.

Breath-taking :)

Sadly, the mist is getting worse and worse..
Can't see the sunrise
SAD.

Still has a good view nonetheless!!

Notice the L-shape.
The bricks are removed in order to show us that behind those stones,
there are carvings in it.

A closer version.
Spot the carvings?
There is more, underneath those stones.
The L-shaped was removed in order to inform us tourists that there are actually carvings inscribed inside the walls.

This is an interesting one.
The carvings along this part of the Borobudur temple is explaining the Good and the Bad things thought by Buddism.
This particular carving is saying about Karma.
The right side of the carving is showing people gossiping about other people.
The left side of the carving is showing that the karma of gossiping is that you'll have an ugly face in your next life.
*HAHAHA*

Next, we went to Gunung Merapi, an active volcano.
It has erupted a lot of times before.
The latest was year 2006

We also went to the Volcano Museum.
I took some pictures of pictures inside the museum.. :P

Notice the hole?
It was built during "Darurat" if I'm not mistaken.
Some of the natives that were nearby during the volcano eruption hide inside it.
Guess what happened to them?
FYI, when volcano erupts, it not only emits dangerous hot lavas, it also releases a 300 degree celcius hot smoke that would kill any living thing that touches it.
And... when the smoke pases thru this "safe-hole", it in turn, transform this "haven" into a hot oven.
So, the people that hide inside this hole during the volcano eruption,
turned raw to well-done.
Nuff said.
*Shivers*

Can you see the title of the picture?
"Alone"
If I'm not mistaken, this cow survived the killer smoke.
Damn freaking lucky.
The wall saved it.

A place full of blackness, with a little green.
Miracle..?

Lovely restaurant we went for lunch that day ♥
During the night, we rented "beca" and toured around the city.

To and fro from hotel to Malioboro street and back again, 40 000 rupiah.
(About RM15)
A bargain, I must say.
Malioboro street is like some market full with traditional hand-made goods.
The cyclist were full with sweat after cycling for almost more than 1 hour.
Poor guys :P

Night time hunting for food.
FYI, Indonesians eat food during the night like that : -

(not really a clear pic, I know)
They sit down at some mat.. and eat =.=

Anyways, my 4 days 3 nights trip to Jogja is in conclusion, AWESOME!

Vintage Mercedes for rent for a tour around the town.. Anyone interested?
Full day - cheap price.
1 million rupiah please.. :P (RM370)
(some throat-cutting car rental service my hotel provides)