What I Think: Let's go Yogyakarta with Air Asia (Part 1)

Hello and Merry Christmas to all my Christian readers!

We had great fun, discover amazing things and visited extra ordinary places. That's to simply describe our vacation in Yogyakarta about a week ago.

We stayed at a hotel with friendly and attentive staff, a vast selection of buffet and situated at a good location.

We, Sara ,Sophie and I managed to visit this city courtesy from Air Asia. Actually Sara won two return tickets to this city last July. We made decision to go in December since Sara will only finish her final exam in late November and Sophie ended her semester in mid December.

Air Asia had given us an opportunity to visit and discover the wonders of Jogjakarta. Many would have thought Jogja was a dull place. I believe any new place is a fun place to explore as long as we know how to discover new things and make full use of it.

We left Kuala Lumpur at 12:00pm and reached Jogjakarta at 13:30hrs (Jogja time). The flight was on schedule and upon arrival, we were greeted by the hotel representative. It's been a long time since I put on my heels and it blistered a little. Since it's a long way to where the car was parked, I took off my shoes and walked bare-footed until we reached where our transportation was. Got in the car and it took just about half an hour to get to our hotel, the Grand Aston Hotel.

You guys know what we did the moment we reached the hotel? We went out to scout for some local food. We found one local cafe and it didn't look very welcoming. Very dim and lifeless atmosphere. But that didn't dampen our spirits. Both Sophie and I are quite adventurous when it comes to food trying. Sara was always a little skeptical but we know how to handle her. I ordered a few dishes for us, a plate of seafood fried rice, a bowl of chicken noodles, steamed shrimp in a crusted pastry and some chicken satay. All together (include the drinks) we paid about 20 Malaysian Ringgit. A very good price indeed!

The picture didn't do any justice to the taste of this noodle.

After that great meal, we headed back towards the hotel and hit the shower. We were so tired that the three of us agreed to laze inside the hotel and not doing anything. We made plan for the next day. I've shopped around for the best price to hire a car and a driver for a day. I finally agreed to a 10 hour tour (car/gas/driver included) at RM120.00. The tour were to include Borobudur and Mount Merapi.

The next day (19th.Dec ) we were ready at the hotel lobby by 10:50am. Our tour will start at 11:00am. The driver was punctual. He arrived on time but we had to wait for Mai (Sophie's Indonesian friend) for about twenty minutes as she got caught in a massive jam.

After a brief discussion with our driver, Yanto, we took off. Our first stop was Borobudur Temple. I was never an enthusiast for any historical sites but I made this place an exception. Everybody was saying you didn't see Jogja until you see Borobudur, so I decided to give it a go. It took about 50 minutes from our hotel to the temple. The entrance tickets was charged at RM50.00 per adult. Sophie got a fifty percent off since she brought along her student card. Since Mai is a local, her price was just RM10.00. After paying for our tickets, we were given each a bottle of mineral and a sarong where we had to wear as a way for respect whilst visiting the temple.

The temple was magnificent even while we were walking towards it. The color of the stone, the structure and the surroundings made it look even better. Only thing is, like I said earlier, I was never an enthusiast for old things, I simply didn't have the knowledge on how to appreciate the beauty of historical sites or some other relics. We walked around for about one hour and later on we walked down to where our driver was waiting.

Unlike the Borobudur temple, my eyes caught something rather quickly...and appreciatively. I saw a vendor selling satay, that skewered meat dipped in tasty peanut sauce. My eyes were glued. The girls tried their best to distract me but I won't budge. This, I am truly good at. By the look of it, I knew for sure it must taste like heaven. The way they sell the satay, remind me of how these delicacies were sold back home some forty years ago. A rather nostalgic moment for me. True to a T, it was heavenly delicious!

We left Borobudur roughly at 1.30pm and was heading towards Mount Merapi when an unfortunate incident happened. Our car met with an accident. Not our driver's fault. He stopped at a T-junction waiting for the traffic to clear. From afar we can see a motorcycle coming towards us at a killing speed. Sara and I were looking at the motorcyclist and both of us must have had the same thought, he's gonna collide onto us. True to our thoughts, he did. His motorcycle rammed directly at the driver's door. He fell on the ground with blood gushing out from his forehead and nose. All the four of us sat still, stunned by it while our driver took charge. He pushed hard to open the door (as it stuck after the knock) and went out to settle the matter. Lucky thing for all, there was a police on a motorcycle riding right behind the motorcyclist who knocked against us. The matter was settled in less than half an hour.

We were a bit shaken by the incident. It took us a while before everybody got the voices again. We stopped a while for lunch at a local restaurant.

We then made our way towards Mount Merapi, one of the active volcanoes in Indonesia. The last eruption was in 2010. Prior to that was in 2006. The locals believed it would erupt again in 2014. They said the sequel was every four years. We arrived at Kaliurang, the foot of Mount Merapi and paid a minimal entrance fees. Our driver drove up a little bit more and stopped us there. From there (I think the place is called Tlogo Puteri) we hired a willy jeep to climb up the mountain. We paid RP 250,000.00 (equivalent to RM75.00).

I can't describe how I truly felt the moment I saw the ruins, the massive empty black land still smoking caused by the staggering eruption and the eerie quietness surrounded us except for the sound of other tourists jeeps.

The little houses that once sheltered the villagers was a total wreck. Nothing escaped the wrath of the volcano. The livestock, vegetation and even human could not stop or escape from any of these catastrophes even with the most advance technology.

Used to be a village before the eruption

We stopped at the last stop, the bunker. We had little time to wander inside the bunker before the sun goes down. We tried to go inside but it was too dark and the bunker looked a little creepy. The time was about five something in the evening when the darkness fell. It was like ten p.m. The bunker was built in the hope that it could accommodate some of the villagers should the volcano erupt. It didn't work the way it was planned. We were told two people died in that bunker. One died right at the front door and the other person died in the bathroom. They didn't have time to escape. Nobody knows for sure if they wanted to stay at the bunker or they were trying to escape to the nearest village. It was tragic.

We left Mount Merapi at a little after seven p.m. I left the place thinking the welfare of the villagers. What was the first thing to do for them after succeeding in fleeing away from the volcano? They can't return to a place once called home, they had nothing whatsoever left for them to start a new life, the worse of all they could have lost their loved ones in that disastrous phenomena. What's there to live for?

This trip was an educating trip for me and the girls. I see how people live from a different point of view. I thank God for what I have and I am blessed to be able to grow up and live in this country of mine without much of natural disaster.

That's all I am able to write for today. I will continue with the second part on Dieng Plateau. A breath taking view from the highlands.

Enjoy the pictures below that we managed to snap at some of the interesting places.