YY I: Meet & Greet

Breakfast was kinda hearty-- soft-boiled eggs made with love by KH. Had some bread to go with it too. Since time was short, did not have much time to suck on the 'other eggs'. :(. One should never have to rush through a meal. ;P. Unfortunately, KH also did not sleep well the night before. Before you jump to any conclusions, I was not depriving him of his quality sleep. We suspect that the Mojito he took the night before had a role to play. At Changi, the check-in line for Jogjakarta was heavenly. Two long, snaking queues. It was the end of lebaran, so all the rich Jogjakartans were heading home with their multitudes of designer shopping bags. Miu Miu. Prada. Aigner. All a common sight. Luckily it was over in half and hour or so. Was fun going on a trip with Nic and POD again. Our last trip together was to Kuching. Nic had cut his hair even shorter. The couple must have an army fetish in the bedroom I suspect. :P.

The flight was not eventful. Just more passengers toting Burberry, flashing Dunhill and Schaumburg. :S. Was quite hungry, so KH and I shared a nasi lemak. Took them ages to actually serve it. And when it came, they had only a fork left. By the time KH finished the meal, the pilot was preparing for landing. The Adisucipto Airport is quite cute. The jam started the moment I stepped onto the tarmac. Can you imagine that it takes about 50m from the end of the tarmac to clear immigration and customs? Talk about compact. Arrival cards were only available at the counter. Imagine the chaos. There wasn't even a need for a baggage conveyor. They just dump it at one side. :S. Outside, we were greeted by Pak Bidi, our travel agent. Unlike in Bali where had a driver and a guide, our driver Pak Gadot had to multitask. Bidi just did the logistics and paperwork.

Jogjakarta2010-1

The moment we got into the giant van (they had thought that we were a family and would have tonnes of luggage), it started to rain heavily. That's the dry season for you. The weather's gone nuts. Lunch was at Ayam Goreng Surhati. Javanese fried chicken-y goodness. POD fell in love with the sambal terasi there. It's great if you can overlook the spooky faces of women in traditional makeup peering at you from the walls and the menu even. Her face was also plastered on a giant billboard on the highway. VERY HARD TO MISS. After filling our bellies, it was a fantastic jam to the Manohara Hotel located just inside the grounds of Borobudur.

Manohara

The welcome drink was a chilled jaggery concoction with a lemongrass stem. The hotel's made up of rooms sprawled across an area with winding stone trails dotted with mini lighted stupas and well-manicured grass. Due to its close proxiity to the site, it only has one storey. Outside of each room, one sees oil paintings inspired by the beauty of Borobudur. The rooms were a bit dated, but clean and comfy. Each room came equipped with a coffee table book on Borobudur. At the back, guests can relax on lounge chairs and admire the green landscape with the ancient stones looming not far away.

Manohara II

Before dinner, we walked to Borobudur and had a first taste of the peddlers there. Hawking their postcards, books and volcanic stone sculptures, they really were a nuisance. Come in the morning and they will tell you "morning price". Come in the evening and it will be "evening price". :S. Luckily they are not allowed inside Borobudur compound. We were quite late, so we could not make it up. We just lingered at the base went back to the hotel for dinner. Had some grilled fish, satay, fried chicken and fried rice with an accompaniment of a live degung performance. The vocals were too much even for me. The guy sounded like he was mourning the death of his favourite pet chicken. With a sunrise tour scheduled at 4:30am the next day, we quickly called it a night.

Jogjakarta20102

Comments

Derek said…
If you're down I will sure make breakfast for you. Eggs. In whatever ways you want ;P
Little Dove said…
Any breakfast made with love by KH would be the best breakfast in the world. Even it it's just a glass of plain water. Or one banana. ;)
Gratitude said…
sleep-deprivation, that's for sure! :P
+Ant+
nicky05 said…
Eat too much "Eggs", high cholesterol. c(:
Legolas said…
Morning price better or evening price?
fufu said…
wow wow wow...i always wanna go to borobudur!!!! damn gotta plan once i have touched down msia :)
-JJ- 黄天龙 said…
OMG you went to yogyakarta! i grew up in jakarta and i haven't even had the chance to go to yogya! how was your trip? :)
Twilight Man said…
Interesting! I will heed your 'evening price' shopping!
Twilight Man said…
BTW how many parts will your Borobudor post be?????
Jaded Jeremy said…
"...soft-boiled eggs made with love by KH." Goodness :)
Skyhawk said…
Nothing better than going vacation with love ones...
Shake Trees said…
looks like u had more fun having eggs than vacation. :P
William said…
@Derek:
Hehe. I like it when you make breakfast. But I draw the line at "sawdust". :P

@LittleD:
Water I get before bed, in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. 'Banana' also at those intervals. XD

@Grat:
No such thing! We were well-rested!

@Nicky:
'Healthy cholesterol'!

@Legs:
I did not find out.

@Fufu:
Touch down in Jogja instead. Haha.

@-JJ-:
Jogja is a 10-hour train ride from Jakarta. I would give that a miss. :P

@Twi:
Ermm... the bargaining can go as low as 60% discount or more I think... There will be 4 or 5 more parts!

@JJ:
Goodie!

@SKyHawk:
Yeah lo...

@Koala:
One has to 'eat'... :P

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