squeak. speak. roar!

I feel like I have so much to say about my trip. lol. I guess I will try my best to be as lucid as possible :)

The FOE workshop was real good fun. I met so many people and all so interesting. But I won’t be talking about that and focus on my travels instead. lol. After all, it was my travelling that had the best pictures. I will try my best to capture what I found so fascinating about Jogja. A brief background:

Yogyakarta was founded in 1755 and was the capital of Mataram kingdom when the Dutch came along. The Dutch granted the kings by title Sultan of Yogyakarta territory. Yogyakarta was also the scene of Indonesia’s most successful rebellions against the Dutch - firstly with Prince Diponegoro who waged a holy war against colonial rule from 1825 to 1830, and also serving as the capital of the newly independent republic after World War II when the Dutch reoccupied Batavia (Jakarta). [source]

Yogyakarta is located in south-central Java. It is surrounded by the province of Central Java (Jawa Tengah) and the Indian Ocean in the south. The population of Yogyakarta in 2003 was approximately 3,000,000. The province of Yogyakarta has a total area of 3,185.80 km². Yogyakarta has the second-smallest area of the provinces in Indonesia, after the Jakarta Capital Region. However it has, along with adjacent areas in Central Java, some of the highest population densities of Java. [source]

On my first morning there, I walked about a kilometre plus from where I was staying at Novotel, to the Jogja Monument (Tugu). Along the way I noticed that each of these villages tucked between buildings had a unique arch. I noted a few but I’m publishing just one due to space constraints. lol.

This is just one of the many war memorials found throughout the city. I wish I could tell you more but it was the weekend and nobody was around to assist me at this particular spot. Also, it was super gloomy, all my picture were really dark.

This is the famous Tugu. It was smaller than I expected but it was most certainly one of the better kept monuments.

Lessons for Malaysia #1: Advertise on road dividers!

Scenery from a bridge. Note the colourful houses (or I suspect to be a kindergarten because of colourful kiddy wall paintings)

I thought Jogja was pretty clean despite the rainy season. Also, I thought this was an interesting sign because it’s a stencil AND it was like Jogja for now, and later I’m going home for the Bersih rally later. Fated! :)

The first meal I paid for, some Japanese fusion thingy in a box from Bee’s (Japanese Bento-esque stuff) at Galeria Mall. I dare not eat warung (side stalls) food too early in the trip, wanted to train my stomach slowly just in case of anything.

One of the nights a few of us went out. I wanted to try the martabak and here is my special martabak having it’s oil drained. The martabak is a lot like our murtabak but their main ingredients are eggs, onions, mince meat and spring onions. Also, it is deep fried. The special martabak at this stall called Martabak Internasional near North Alun-alun Kraton (Sultan’s Palace) costs Rp15,000.

Soe’s mixed mutton satay. Chilli was hot! Costs Rp6,500 near entertainment centre Purawisata.

Jeff’s gulai. Curry mutton with rice.

Jeff’s puyuh goreng (fried pigeon).

Woohoo, live dangdut at Purawisata! It was quite disturbing to me actually. lol. Young teens singing for a buck with a crowd of leering men. Eeps! The singing was not too bad but there was one that was just yelling! But it was all good. Jati allowed me to try a stick of his keretek. Interestingly, I thought it was quite nice! lol.

The last day of the workshop was a visit to Borobudur Temple. This Buddhist temple has thousands of carving depicting Prince Siddharta’s life to Buddha’s to moral stories involving animals. It was amazing. Entry fee is US$11.

I realised I actually really like climbing and reaching high places!

The temple has no chambers for people to meditate. The temple is made up mostly of open space such as this.

Stupas facing the surrounding mountains. Inside each stupa is a statue of Buddha.

The only fairly clear shot of Merapi Mountain - the most active volcano in the world! After this shot, the mountain was covered in think mist. As Jeff said, the mountain is playing ‘hide and seek’ with us.

Bunkers are set up around the mountain. It is to protect those who did not evacuate quick enough from smoke, but not lava. This one at Kaliadem did not survive the 2006 eruption.

The houses in rubble. 17,000 people were ordered to be evacuated from the area in 2006.

Carrying grass picked from fertile ground for her cattle.

The gorge at Kaliadem created by Merapi’s lava.

Somebody positioned the rocks. Also, Jeff’s shadow.

I was happy when I took this shot. It shows that there’s always hope (and life!)after a disaster.

This is how a proper bunker looks like. Taken in Kaliurang.

Kabul Art Gallery on Jalan Timoho.

A close up of a person drawing with wax on a piece of bare cloth. It will become gorgeous batik painting after a few months I reckon!

One of the many batik paintings at Kabul Art Gallery. It was dim and I couldn’t get my manual settings right. I didn’t dare to take too many pictures either, it is a gallery must give a little respect, eh?

After this most of us left for our respective ways. Next posts will be mostly on my solo journeys around Jogja for two whole days!