squeak. speak. roar!

My solo journey began when I checked out of Novotel and into Wisma Ary’s. The person who handled all my matters was Agung who later became a good friend and guide. The wisma sure has the weirdest decoration imaginable for a bathroom but all else, it’s really lovely. It was still pouring outside and I ended up watching Indonesian TV and chatting to Agung. From his stories about Bandung and Terengganu to Anwar Ibrahim on MetroTV - I thought it was really nice of him to keep me company.

My weird toilet at Wisma Ary’s. lol. Despite the weirdness, it was still a very functional toilet. Rates at Ary’s is Rp13,500 a night for a single air-cond room. Rates available here.

The corridors. It’s also got a lovely garden.

My jackfruit juice and orak arik. Orak arik is basically stirfried vermicelli with eggs, vegetables and chicken. It was simple and yummy!

Soon after the rain stopped, I took advantage of the weather for an adventure outdoors! I booked transport to Prambanan Temple. Agus, another receptionist who lives in Prambanan had made a call to his wife to check for the weather at the temple. How sweet!! Turns out, the tour I had booked meant hopping onto Agung’s motorcycle. We whizzed to the temple located about 18km from town. I didn’t regret it one bit because it was an excellent way to see the outskirts of Jogja. The journey took about 45 minutes, I was pretty nervous because I wasn’t used to sitting on a bike (this would be my third time actually!).

We arrived at Prambanan with dark clouds greeting us. Amazingly, it cleared slightly a while later. So I paid the entrance fee (US$10) and stepped into this amazing Unesco heritage structure that was actually damaged badly by the Jogja earthquake in May last year. There weren’t actually any paid guides for the Hindu Temple but enough signs to know which temples bears what meaning. Visitors are also not allowed to enter like previous time, seems the local authorities said it isn’t safe because the earthquake may have loosened the stone formations.

The view from afar. Well, actually there was a stone that says ‘Photo Point’ (or something to that effect) so it’s a first angle that most visitors take.

On the platform raised in front of the temple. The platform was built because visitors are not allowed to into the temple. So bring your best zoom lens!

Carvings. Due to the fence, I couldn’t get a better shot.

My only bright shot when the sun appeared momentarily.

Motorists getting their licences checked! I was almost worried cos I didn’t bring a single identity documentation around. I was technically, an undocumented person. lol.

We then head back towards the directions of the hotel. Along the way, Agung made stops for me to take pictures some awesome graffiti. The graffiti scene in the city is just amazing. From Mataram Street all the way to the bridge and between tiny lanes crossing to Malioboro Street were stencils, tags, mural and stickers. Turns out a bulk of the art came from the Jogja Mural Forum (JMF) last year and community projects were held to liven the city with colourful art with socially-conscious messages. Malaysia has much to learn from the Jogja where grey concrete is given some life :)

Graffiti! First witin the series actually.

It was promo for some Asian Film Festival actually.

Light my fire!

Girl with wings.

Kontra dominasi.

For dinner I tried ’siew mai’ which is basically meat dumplings, balled up cabbage, eggs, potatoes and bittergourd in a steaming pot where you pick what you want. It comes with peanutty, spicy sauce. Interesting. I also tried madura chicken satay. Madura is a place in Indonesia where dark, sweetish sauce is made. The satay is dipped in the sauce, smoked over fanned hot coals, then removed to be dipped into the Madura sauce again. The process repeats itself a bout three times. No wonder the flavours were soaked deep into the much shrunken satay sticks. lol. The ’siew mai’ came up to Rp5,000 and one ‘porsi’ (portion or 10 sticks) of satay was Rp8,000. I downed it all with es jeruk nipis (ice lime juice which is awesome everywhere). We went back to the hotel after dark and finished the day off with some crappy TV in the hotel. lol.

Newyorkarto. Haha. This shop sells awesome t-shirts.

Some satay fanning action for y’all. He was quite amused that I was taking so many pictures.

Madura sauce. Dipped. Smoked. Dipped. Smoked.

Mmmm. Chicken satay.

The big giant pot of steamed ’siew mai’.

‘Siew mai’ with sauce!