10 things I love about central Java, Indonesia

Finally, my one week trip in the two cities of central Java–Yogyakarta and Solo–has come to an end. These seven days seem longer than they are and that’s always a good thing to feel when you’re having fun.

While my memory of Jogja and Solo is fresh, here are 10 things I’ll miss after leaving Indonesia. Items are ranked in priority and each deserve their own blog post.

1. Food

Food in Indonesia is cheap and good. Most noodle dishes that we had didn’t cost more than S$2. Their noodles are good and the rice dishes are yummy. I even had siomay which we thought were siewmai posing as meatballs.

Surprisingly, we had Peranakan food for two (three?) times during our trip. We accidentally stumbled upon Kedai Tiga Nyonya while being lost. The avocado juice there made me think I went to heaven. Those were the more expensive meals that we had.

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#FriFoto: Seeking enlightenment @ Borobudur

(Post written while still in Indonesia. Internet courtesy of Excelso.)

Taken on Day 1 at Borobudur. By the time we reached, it was about 4.20pm and I only had 40 more minutes before the gates close.

Our hotel was on the temple grounds so it was just a stone’s throw away from the temple–if you throw really really hard that is.

There wasn’t many tourists on that afternoon. One reason being it was really late and another being the rain.

I had the chance to circle some of the levels of the temple. But in the opposite of the righ direction.

When I was on top of temple, the place didn’t seem really big. Until I started circling the lower levels then I felt its vastness. But it wasn’t until I was sitting at the restaurant of the hotel, looking at it from the proverbial stone’s throw that I really realized how big it is.

I think it’s a methaphor for life. While I’m in the fish tank, I don’t feel that the world is big. It’s only until I step away from it that I can appreciate how large the universe is. Or something like that.

My first in my series of #FriFoto. Stay tuned for more each Friday.

Selamat tinggal, I’ll be in Yogyakarta

Translation: Goodbye (to those who are staying) or “So long suckers!” Just kidding.
Malay trivia of the day: Selamat jalan is Goodbye too but you say it to those who are leaving.

By the time you have read this blog, I’d be in Yoygakarta (Jogja, for short). Finally breaking my 7-week trip-less spell. Phew!

I’ll be away for 8D7N. We’ve only booked one night of hotel for the whole trip. That’s the hotel right in the Borobodur complex which also allows us free entrance into the temple grounds.

The decision to visit Yoygakarta (someday) was made somewhere in my last semester. I remember asking an Indonesian from my “stress-less sessions” about the place and she admitted she has not been there.

I’m not even sure where I’ve first heard of Jogja but it must have been from D. Perhaps it was during my Bandung trip that I learned of the place.

At the time of typing (07:51am), there is about 4 hours to our flight. I haven’t packed yet. I have a visual representation of the things I need to bring, just in case. But I’m not terribly worried, since everything can be bought during the journey.

What does Jogja have to offer?

A friend of my mom’s was very curious why I decided to go to Jogja instead of the more popular destinations such as Siem Reap. I couldn’t really answer her then but in case you are wondering, here are some of the things I’ll be doing:

Visiting ancient hindu temples at Borobudur and Prambanan. (Or as I tell my mom’s friend, “Something like Angkor Wat, but smaller.” correction: Jogja is advertised as the largest Buddhist temple on eartj. But, I still have no idea which is bigger.)
Watch Ramayana ballet
Eat lots of Indonesian food
Drink lots of avocado juice with chocolate syrup
Read an Indonesia/Malay book on round-the-world travelling (and review it)
Try to be spiritually connected to the heavens during sunrise at Borobudur (and feel sleepy doing it)
Meet some couchsurfers. (I’m quite terrified about this because my social skills with strangers isn’t terribly good.
Make a travel video of the trip: Very excited about this

Besides Jogja, we’ll be going to Solo/Surakarta, hopefully by train. There are erotic temples around the area. ;) I’ll be there, of course.

I’ll be getting a local SIM when there. Hopefully the microSIM for iPhone 4’s are available. I’ll update on Twitter or even do short posts when there.

See you in 8 days! (I’ll still have two scheduled posts for next Tuesday and Saturday. Stay tuned!)

Have you been to Jogja? Any recommendations?

2012 can’t come fast enough

This morning I realized that it is already the end of November but I haven’t finished writing this year’s new year resolutions!

It makes today’s prompt for BootsnAll’s 30 Days of Indie Travel blogging project even more funny. I haven’t made plans for my life but I’ve already made plans for travelling.

(Image from my TripIt app. Here’s a review of the Web program.)

Aside from the Chinese New Year tickets, the flights for the rest of the trips were bought on offer and I’m dang proud of myself for that.

Some of next year’s travel will be more challenging. For the two Vietnam trips, I’ll be going alone and I don’t speak Vietnamese.

But that also makes it more exciting because they’ll be like warm up for my RTW trip where I plan to visit many countries which I don’t speak the language.

Yogjakarta has been on my To Go list after I found out about the ancient Hindu temples nearby. I’ll be travelling with D, my travel buddy who I went to Bandung with a few years ago. (This trip also reminds me I need to visit Angkor Wat.)

The locations I’m going to are great for indie travelers because they aren’t really huge cities and you can cover a lot of the areas within a few days of wondering around.

Can’t wait for 2012 to come.

This blog post is part of BootsnAll’s 30 Days of Indie Travel Project. Day 30 (last day!): 2012 TICKET

Where are you going in 2012? Why is that place great for indie travelers?

The rest of my posts for the project can be found here.