Jogja-Solo, One Millionaire Trip (3)

haha...back in action for my Jogja-Solo trip. I'll have to take 'n' years to finish the 6 day-5 night story...hehehe...bear with me, it really takes some time to flashback in order to capture all sweet memory about Jogja-Solo...


Day 3 ~ 28.07.07 (Saturday)

Ohayoo…
As usual, breakfast provided by hotel, two options here: fried rice or toast. After breakfast, as what we have planned last night, we went and did the price survey for trip to Prambanan. Uh…very effective indeed. Less than 20 minutes, everyone went back to the meeting point and we were able to get the best deal at Rp300,000 for transportation to Prambanan. We would be heading to Prambanan at 2pm. So, we still have plenty of time to capture some hot spots in jogjakarta – Sultan Palace, Kratan, Ngasem Bird Market and Water Castle.

Sultan Palace, Kratan
The palace was built elegantly. Everyday, 7am, 11am and 4pm, there will be a tea-serving ceremony for Sultan. The “dayang-dayang” (ho ho ho…not really young lo, they have been serving tea for Sultan from young time till now) serve tea for Sultan even he’s not around. It’s the traditional custom of the palace that has been practiced from old time till now. Normally, the king will be at Governor Office (sometimes, the Sultan could be in Jakarta for Parlimen meeting) in the morning till 2pm, then he’ll be back to the palace. That’s the reason why the palace is closed for the public at 2pm.

At Sultan Palace, you can see a lot of displays on tea sets, plates, bowls, etc, all gifted by other countries to the Sultans of different generations.

The most important thing we discovered here…the history of each sultan (or king). You’ll be amazed with their marriage experience, especially.
First 5 wives, 30 children
Second 20 wives, 75 children
Third 5 wives, 25 children
Fourth 5 wives, 80 children; 90 years old passed away
Fifth 3 wives, 9 children, 35 years old passed away
Sixth 6 wives, 23 children
Seventh 30 wives, 80 children
Eighth 8 wives, 41 children
Ninth 5 wives, 23 children
Tenth 1 wife, 5 chidlren

Water Castle
Well, water castle was once a special place built for the king to gather all “dayang-dayang”. No wonder the king all married with so many wives and children. Some parts of the building had been destroyed while some are still well-preserved. If you look at the design of the castle, it’s creative and unique. Fun to explore around.

Ngasem Bird Market
In bird market, you can see lots and lots of different types of birds are sold here. Smelly anot? Birds’ shit smell, sure have lo, with lots of chirping sounds which had form an unorganized rhythms, but nice one. Well, so many birds, who’s the buyer? Emm…Some buy to be kept as pets, some buy for contest, and some are for eating (cruel ya!!), all sorts of purpose.

Lunching…
Wow…today’s lunch was real COOL! Not eating in a proper restaurant but standing at a simple “ugly” stall in the Palace and eating. Don’t judge thing by its cover. The food were yummy…we ate a lot…mihun goreng, nasi & sambal, biscuit with don’t know what’s the filling and jeruk, the nice cooling beverage. Guess what, it’s only Rp25,000 for all. Ten of us eating, each one 2-3 packs of mihun or nasi…really syok la this meal! Where can you find things with 10 cent or 20 cent (in RM) in this world again? No impossible but pretty hard, isn’t it? we ate ice-cream which was originally made, taste heavenly, Rp2,000 per cup. After feeding our stomach, still left some time before our transport to Prambanan come. Haha…we borrowed a bicycle from an uncle who also enjoyed meal there, and we started cycling around the area…ho ho ho…just like go back to the kiddy time…

Prambanan
Our mini bus came, we were heading to Prambanan around 2pm. It took some times before we reached Prambanan…time to take a short nap to increase our energy level for more fun to come…

Went to Prambanan, with so many temples around, feeling myself like back to Angkor Wat again. There are four temples to be visited here, including Candi Sari, Candi Lumbung, Candi Sewu and Candi Bubrah. Most of the temples here had been destroyed, while some are in the restoration now.

Romantic Sunset
Yes!!! The sunset was fabulous beautiful. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…romantic counting down with ney-no for the sunset disappeared from the sky. Hahaha, seeing us counting down there, one of the foreign visitors also felt funny and laughing at us…but who bothered?!

Ramayana Ballet
After sunset, we are heading to Panggung Ramayana to view Ramayana ballet. It’s a worth-to-watch show (Rp40,000 per person). However, it’s best if you could read the story plots first to gain better understanding before the show start. If you were on the spot, you’d know why…so many characters, just look alike, don’t know who is who; suddenly this died, suddenly you see him alive; who is innocent, who is devil…wow…really made your head size double BIG! Well…two hours sitting there and enjoying the show, real confused and exciting!

Oyasumi...
After Ramayana show, it’s already 11pm plus. Haha…some of the team members were still very energetic, so, 6 of them heading to Bukit Merapi (Rp140,000 per pax) straightaway; while the remains, 4 chose to stay in hotel (including myself), enjoying the night view at Jl. malioboro, having McD and chill-out for beer in room. That’s life! Well, ganbatte ne, for those who took the challenge to conquer the Bukit Merapi! Tell you what, the bed and pillow in Green Gloria Guest house is real comfort for a good night sleep….oyasumi…


To be continued...