Jogja: Day 03

Today we checked out from Ibis Malioboro and proceed to our second place to stay, Rumah Mertua. That morning, we walked along Malioboro Street to find something to eat. Since the Mall is not open until 9:30am, we decided to find something to eat first. There are many stalls along the road selling foods such as Bakso, Bakmi, Lumpia and Es Buah. But, we could not find anything that interests us. So, Syah decided to have one Es Buah and then we bought two Lumpia. Lumpia is actually Popiah here in Malaysia. Had our 'not really a breakfast' at the food court in Malioboro Mall later.

After checking out at Ibis, we took a cab to Rumah Mertua. A boutique hotel located 20 minutes from Malioboro Street and the first hotel we stayed in, it is more secluded. We found out about this place from a blog that we came acroos and we think that the place is beautiful. True enough, it is. The room is so spacious, nice and quiet environment. The people there are friendly too. We had our luch there, a set called Rijstaffel. A number of more than 10 dishes at a very cheap price.

Rested for a while, we then planned to visit Prambanan. But since time is not on our side, we change to Kraton. Upon reaching there, we didn't quite had the chance to go in since it almost closed. What we had next is the Beringharjo Market. A place to buy cheap batik, souvenirs and others. One thing that turns us off is that the cab driver told us that there are many pick pockets. We cancelled it and then were taken to a batik shop called Bu Karti.

Feeling dissapointed, and furthermore its raining, we headed back to the hotel. Had dinner there and the rain still doesn't stops.

Jogja: Day 01

On 31st January until 5th February 2008, the long awaited trip begins. This year,we plan to visit Solo and Jogja. Here are some of the things that I can remember and put it in the blog.

We reached LCCT around 5:00am in the morning. Just a few hours of sleep really annoys me. But the feeling did not bothers me as I'm looking forward for the trip. After check in our luggage, we had Mc Donald's for breakfast. The boarding time is 6:25am. Approximately 6:55am, we left Kuala Lumpur for Jogja. The flight took us 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Arrived at Solo Airport around 8:15am. Noted that this is the Indonesian time. The Malaysian time is actually 9.15am. Early one hour. So, now I will have to use Indonesian time instead of Malaysian time. One thing that shocks me, the airport is similar to Sungai Besi Airport. Though it delays us the landing time, due to the reason given that the traffic at the airport, there's nothing actually that makes it a heavy traffic. The airport doesn't have any metal detector door, a very old and small airport. Well, after check in and collecting our luggage, we headed to Solobalapan Railway Station to take a train to Jogja.

Upon reaching the station, the train to Jogja is at 11:40am. It will be another 2 hours to wait there before heading to Jogja. Since there's nothing much to do, even at the train station, we decided to change our plan and took a cab to Jogja for Rp150,000.00. Honestly, I am quite afraid of the Solo environment. There's small kids knocking on your car, asking for money. Poor kids. They should be at home studying.

At around 11:45am (I'm so lost even with the time), we reached our hotel in Jogja, Ibis Malioboro. Sight of relief as we register and went to our room. The hotel is quite nice. A very comfy look, cheap and very friendly staffs. We head out to check the Malioboro Mall, which was attached to the hotel. One of the earliest Mall, this mall is quite not the place for teenagers. There are three other mall in Jogja. Saphir, Galeria and Ambarrukmo. Across the mall is the Malioboro Street, where the long road were occupied with stalls selling shirts, souvenirs and etc. We went to Ambarrukmo, to check out the mall. Kinda new, it is similar to the BB Plaza in Kuala Lumpur. We had out lunch there, at a place called Hot Meal (Warung Bakar). Located at the lower ground of the Mall, it sure is special. The food is nice here. I had Smokey Twins and Syah had Lemon Chicken. For drinks, I had Berrymore Iced Coffee and Syah had a very colourful drink with jelly. What I can say is that this is actually a Blueberry Coffee. With the name, it might taste weird. But, I actually liked the taste. Hehehe..

After wandering around, we go to the other mall, Galeria to find Wendy's (Syah was looking forward for this when he first saw it). I bought a couple of CD's, which I can't find it in Malaysia. Feeling tired, we went back to the hotel and Syah had a foot massage. It cost Rp75,000.00 for 35 minutes of foot massage.

Around 7:30pm, we went out to check the Malioboro Street. As said, the long street were occupied with seller of t-shirts, belts, batik, frames etc. The price is quite cheap and you can bargain. But, do try to go as low as you can before buying. Don't ask and leave as they will yell at you. One annoying thing is that the Becak (trishaw) people always approaching you and inviting you to take a ride in their trishaw. They even follow you as you walk along the street. I really hate that. We'll, we managed to grab a few shirts a souvenirs for the friends back home.

Then, we head to have a meal at nearby stalls, Nasi Gedeg and Bebek Panggang. Hehehehe.. Bebek is actually a goose. So, just imagine eating a goose.. Hehehehe.. My first experience.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel, feeling tired and looking forward to the 2nd day of our trip.