exploring malioboro

ok...continuing with my yogjakarta post.
anyway, there is nothing to post about my life right now. the same old routine but just working in scorching condition nowadays.

jalan malioboro or malioboro street is one street you do not want to miss when you are in yogjakarta. bring your shopping list here and you can find all the souvenirs and batik you need.
this is the south of the road, this is where it begins. i did not even walk till the end. so i have no idea how long the road is, but i can tell you, it is LONG. we walked there for almost 3 hours and we did not reach the end.....but i think we should be almost reaching the end already. but we got too tired and hungry that filling our stomachs was more important then. and oh, money was running out as well.

shops and stalls along the corridor. your eyes go all fuzzy after a while because most of the things on display are almost the same.

the only mall along this road- malioboro mall. they have shops like body shop, athlete's foot, a supermarket, mcdonalds, pizza hut, j& co donuts, etc here. i think the bigger malls in yogjakarta are along the road from the airport into the city. i saw a carrefour there.

our 'exploration' brought us to a first storey store selling factory outlet good and i found my pair of crocs here.
ta-da. have been looking around for a while after seeing a friend wore it. i got it for around rm80. the shop also sold nice fit-flop slippers which are sooo sooo soo comfortable that i felt like i was floating walking in them. really nice and it was selling for around rm110 only. you will never get this price in malaysia. unfortunately i am not a slipper person.


besides beca, another common form of transport here is horse carriage.

this was dinner for us that day. nobody felt like taking in anymore indonesian food so we settled for something familiar.

we don't have this pizza in malaysia right??? it was good. love the dough.

bliss in phoenix hotel

welcome to phoenix hotel, yogjakarta. situated right in the middle of the city but you don't know it because you are housed in this glamorous colonial style building that is almost 100 years old.

aahh...i did not really feel like venturing out once i had entered. i am sure many expats call this hotel their 'home'.

it is just 5 mins walk to the famous malioboro street famous for its shopping for both tourists and locals alike. so there is nothing more i can ask for.
cars going into the compound will be checked for bombs. yup, then ran a scan under our van.

see that vintage car? well, it can still be used and is up for rent.

all the beautiful gowns lining the hotel in-house boutique. exquisite fabric. i want!

check-in desk

my favourite place of this hotel- the swimming pool. see all those balconies facing the pool. unfortunately, my balcony did not face this side ;( but i did have a dip there in the morning and there were only 2 of us. bliss.

the courtyard separating the old and new buildings. my block is new. the old buildings are those facing the main road.

the lobby

restaurant area where i had my buffet on my last night. was too lazy to go out because the streets were wet. see, i told you i refused to get out of this hotel.

outside the entrances of the ball room.

buah salak to welcome the guests. i think it is a local fruit in this part of indonesia.

every room comes equip with a weighing scale. hmmh....to see how much you have put on during your stay there??

deluxe king room. we slept 3 on the bed and the room was very spacious. every room comes with a balcony. forgot to take a picture.
the other 4 of my travel mates were in double room and theirs were quite small, there was nothing to shout about. i love my room.

they provide you a bath robe and this batik robe too.

so in short, i had a good stay in this hotel. i miss it!

on the way to yogja city

bye bye borobudur at 9a.m. and off we went to yogjakarta city.

since we woke up at 4a.m. for sunrise tour and finished our breakfast by 8.30a.m. there was nothing much to do there.

so we checked-out and got the driver to drive us to the city.

candi mendut, seen on the way out to the city. i heard from the video seen in the hotel that pilgrims stopped here before reaching borobudur for their homage.

the smoking merapi- smoking all year round.

the driver stopped us at a batik house for some batik shopping. gosh, the batik pieces were really gorgeous and exquisite. when my hands touched the cotton and i saw the vibrant colours, i was in love. unfortunately the price was not right. hahaha.....i don't want to make skirts or kebaya with them, i want to make baju kurung. but to make baju kurung, you need to pieces of batik (2m each). then price was quite high and it was difficult to find two similar pieces because each piece was uniquely made. save $$$
i love the white and blue piece. it would make elegant kebaya bottom right? you just have to get another piece of material of that blue colour for the top. Anggun.

anyway, i helped a friend get a kaftan here. she said those in malaysia are very short for her and i found this long one.

tada, i also found something for myself here. a tie-dye shirt. haha...guess how much??? only rm7!!! woo, what a bargain! i like.

everyone was satisfied after that batik shopping trip. it was then time to have some lunch.
they driver brought us to a buffet place....i think tours bring tourists here often. saw many tables were reserved for tour groups.

the food here was quite authentic and good, so we did not complain. there was quite a variety too. the satay was good.

the above dish is gudeg, traditional food of yogja. it is young jackfruit (nangka) boiled with coconut milk and palm sugar. we did not quite like the taste. i guess we were just not used to the taste. palm sugar is quite a favourite in this place i think. the hotel's welcome drink is also made of palm sugar with a piece of lemon grass. not my cup of tea as well.

borobudur

this is just going to be a post with lots and lots of photos of borobudur.

borobudur is a buddhist temple built in the 9th century and is the largest shrine in indonesia.

this is a miniature. there are 10 tiers all together and the walls of the lower tiers have stones carved with buddhim tales. the three tiers of stupas on higher levels have a statue of buddha in them while the largest stupa which is in the centre is empty.

can't help from taking this photo. one of my favourites actully. i think the three guys are japs. those who went into the temple complex via the main entrance were given a piece of batik to wrap while we who entered via the hotel entrance just walked in as we pleased.

ok that was me getting wrap in the morning to get ready for the sunrise tour.

the temple from about 70metres away. this is what you will see when you walk from the hotel.

this area was unfortunately closed for reconstruction purposes. these are the stupa tiers.


an exposed buddha statue in the stupa.




waiting for sunrise.

buddhism tales on the stones

applied some lightening touches to the photo after i found out there are so many additional effects you can apply on the photos after taking them with the new camera

someone told me this photo is eerie.

the mist in the morning. this should be the north side of the temple.

merapi is on the left.

hello borobudur sunrise

the sunrise tour in borobudur...hmmh....is it worth joining???
u need to pay 117,000 rupiah...that is about rm40....just to be able to enter the borobudur temple at 5a.m. and then stay on the second tier of the complex (that is the best spot according to the guide) and wait for the sun to rise from the east.

well, personally, i don't think it is worth paying the money. it was not as magnificent as the one i saw at great ocean road, australia.

the temple complex opens quite early for paying visitors i think, 6a.m. but of course the sun would have risen by then.

but the earlier you go, the better it is as it is less crowded and you have lots of opportunities to take photos at any angles you want and the mist covering the greenery is so beautiful.

you get a complimentary torchlight with the package and early entrance of course. we proceeded to the temple at 4.30a.m. local time.

you get light refreshment of a piece of cake and fried banana and tea/coffee.

sunrise on the day i was there. lightening of the sky from the east and the magnificent view of the merapi mountain. worth the 117,000 rupiah??

manohara hotel, borobudur

welcome to manohara hotel, the most convenient hotel to visit borobudur.

this is the only hotel adjacent to the borobudur compound. within 3 mins walk, you have already reached the magnificent complex and the complex is standing right in front of you. wow!!!

i managed to book the hotel by contacting an indonesian travel agent i found online. luckily he was trustable. i mean, i did not pay him any deposit at all. we just confirmed the details of my booking via e-mails and he said he would be waiting for the at the airport.

phew, luckily he was reliable and sure enough, i had the driver, transport and my rooms.


the hotel foyer. it is a resort like hotel.

greenery everywhere. this is the road leading to the lobby.

the balcony outside our room.


my room with 3 beds. sleep comfortably.

the bathroom with hotwater. it is only certified 2 stars i think, but i think it is worth 3 stars.

the restaurant of the hotel where had our dinner of nasi goreng.

i think this is nasi goreng magelang. not bad loh.

fried calamari. you can venture farther than the hotel if you are interested in sampling food from tiny restaurants. but the path is quite dark outside. please be reminded that the days start very early there and so it gets dark rather early, at about 6p.m.

although our driver said he would be posted at the hotel and we could look for him if we needed him to drive us out, we did not. of course it came with an extra charge.
some had instant noodles while we went to the restaurant.


a mini theatre showing a documentary of borobudur. it is informative watching the 20minute documentary. you will appreciate the architecture and significance of the temple.

glad i made the right hotel choice. it was really convenient and we did not have to pay entrance fee to borobudur. just tell the guard that you are guests there and you will gain direct entry.

now go and find your agent.