Javanese Specialties
Posted On Monday, March 30, 2009 at at 11:27 PM by AlvinA few Javanese specialties constantly popped into our way wherever we went during this trip : the supporters revving their motorbikes during the Election warm-up, the "best-avoided-but-we-didn't" Bird Markets, the beckoning from drivers on colorful becaks and the big and furious rain storms in the afternoons - we would never forget the moment we stood in the pelting rain waiting to board the Air Asia flight !
The Man Himself – Meet Mr Java Man !
Posted On Friday, March 27, 2009 at at 6:12 PM by AlvinSolo, short for Surakarta is located about 60 km from Yogya and had long been a rival city state to Yogya; the train journey we took from Yogya only lasted for about an hour. Solo is equally famous for its many Batik merchandises depicting Wayang characters and we came across a few interesting examples. 
Solo itself has two Kratons but neither was very impressive and comparing to Yogya, Solo city had a greyness about it that did not entice us to stay too long. But the best was still to come.
Having visited his island, drank many cups of his coffee, looked in to his many heritage sites, we thought it was time to pay respect to The Man Himself – Java Man ! We took a short bus journey to Sangiran, 30 minutes from Solo and walked down the pleasant village of Sangiran where Java Man used to live. The museum was nothing to write home about but it felt good to visit the place where one of our great great great great ancestors once roamed, hunted, learnt to harness the power of fire and generally figuring things out (Sudoku not included) and developed his brains. A great day out !
Solo itself has two Kratons but neither was very impressive and comparing to Yogya, Solo city had a greyness about it that did not entice us to stay too long. But the best was still to come.Having visited his island, drank many cups of his coffee, looked in to his many heritage sites, we thought it was time to pay respect to The Man Himself – Java Man ! We took a short bus journey to Sangiran, 30 minutes from Solo and walked down the pleasant village of Sangiran where Java Man used to live. The museum was nothing to write home about but it felt good to visit the place where one of our great great great great ancestors once roamed, hunted, learnt to harness the power of fire and generally figuring things out (Sudoku not included) and developed his brains. A great day out !
Yogya And Buddha's Cosmos
Posted On Friday, March 20, 2009 at at 5:04 PM by AlvinShort for Yogyakarta, Yogya is the cultural center of Java and we loved it so much that we stayed for 7 days ! The main street – Jalan Malioboro was lined with interesting shops and vendors selling different Batik merchandises and garments. The word “Batik” is an ancient Javanese word meaning “to dot”. The dazzling choices of the many colorful Tee-shirts with different Batik patterns on offer, were just about the most plentiful in all the countries we have traveled in South East Asia. We gladly parted with our Rupiah for a few of these interesting garments. Here is the psychedelic Tee I bought depicting the Wayang character: Togog !
Our long stay in Yogya was occupied with many nearby day trips that of course included the Yogya Kraton (Sultan Palace), the famous Hindu heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan as well as the hill station village of Kaliurang that sat at the foot of the temperamental Merapi volcano. We also visited the nearby village of Kota Gede where Mandy bought herself an interesting silver Ramayana necklace.
Borobudur was deservedly one of the highlights of our visit to Java. The amazing monument with its many stupas, is believed to represent The Buddha’s vision of “The Cosmos” and the many levels of “Enlightenment” – my very amateur interpretations. The walls at the base of the monument are covered with a series of stone carvings ranging from royal dancing girls to depictions of the daily lives of the then royal courts. The structure reminded us of a similar stone platform representing the Buddha’s layout of the Universe called Doi Tong that we came across in Ching Rai in Northern Thailand, most interesting !
Our long stay in Yogya was occupied with many nearby day trips that of course included the Yogya Kraton (Sultan Palace), the famous Hindu heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan as well as the hill station village of Kaliurang that sat at the foot of the temperamental Merapi volcano. We also visited the nearby village of Kota Gede where Mandy bought herself an interesting silver Ramayana necklace.
Borobudur was deservedly one of the highlights of our visit to Java. The amazing monument with its many stupas, is believed to represent The Buddha’s vision of “The Cosmos” and the many levels of “Enlightenment” – my very amateur interpretations. The walls at the base of the monument are covered with a series of stone carvings ranging from royal dancing girls to depictions of the daily lives of the then royal courts. The structure reminded us of a similar stone platform representing the Buddha’s layout of the Universe called Doi Tong that we came across in Ching Rai in Northern Thailand, most interesting !
Hot Java And Fuming Bromo
Posted On Sunday, March 15, 2009 at at 6:18 PM by AlvinAfter a long day of :
- 1 early morning Dim Sum breakfast at the HKIA T2 潮樓,
- 3 hours Air Asia flight to KL,
- 4 hours wait at KL,
- 3 hours Air Asia flight to Surabaya,
- 0 on-board entertainment,
- 1 Nasi Lemak and
- 1 Nasi Goreng Special,
we landed in a deserted Surabaya Airport at 9 PM and made our way to our first night on the island of Java !
Malang
We could not wait to get away from the traffic jams of Surabaya after a Java coffee and more Nasi Goreng for breakfast and made our way to the friendly city of Malang by public bus. We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere of this almost tourist-free town - we only saw two map-holding old men looking vaguely lost here.
The town felt affluent and prosperous, probably through its coffee growing heritage. We walked around this leafy town and came across many churches built during the Dutch era standing side-by-side with modern mosques, as we relaxed and acclimatized to the Javanese heat.
The town felt affluent and prosperous, probably through its coffee growing heritage. We walked around this leafy town and came across many churches built during the Dutch era standing side-by-side with modern mosques, as we relaxed and acclimatized to the Javanese heat.
Bromo
After two relaxing days of wandering around Malang, we caught a bus to the transit town of Probolinggo and waited for a 20-seater van to fill up with passengers before it left for Ceromo Lawang – the town right on the lip of the Bromo volcano. Luckily it “only” took 3 hours (!) before the last two locals boarded the van and made up the required number of passengers and we were off !
An amazing sight greeted us when we got off at Ceromo Lawang - the Bromo and Batok volcanoes and the Sand Sea looked truly stunning ! Bromo is the one puffing out sulphur fumes.
An amazing sight greeted us when we got off at Ceromo Lawang - the Bromo and Batok volcanoes and the Sand Sea looked truly stunning ! Bromo is the one puffing out sulphur fumes.
We settled down in our room that overlooked these volcanoes and hiked around these volcano-lands for the next four days. We really enjoyed these prolonged un-hurried few days as most visitors only stayed overnight for the sunrise. The weather was very agreeable with warm days and cool nights. There were many different paths to venture around Bromo – we step-mastered our way passing lush cultivated lands, up to the Penanjakan viewpoint; we dragged ourselves across the Sand Sea where the volcanic soils were very loose; and we ended up with our calves full of cuts as we negotiated the many savannahs and shrubs on these beautiful lands. We watched from our balcony (with gallons of hot jasmine tea) as Bromo changed its many moods and colors during clear dawn skies, misty afternoons and dark stormy evenings. All in all, we spent a very rewarding four days here before moving on to Yogya.
