Sunset Mood

“If Jakarta is the business muscle of Java, Jogja is the soul” - Lonely Planet

I have to agree with the quote above. Strolling at Jl. Malioboro, there are stalls along the road, which to some people might see as chaos. But stay long enough, and you’ll know that it is Jogja, its soul.

While feasting over the street vendor satay, a becak driver told the greatness of the building, which was the presidential palace between 1946-1949. Right in front of it, a bunch of teenagers gather, some of them show off their skills of spinning basket balls.

Not far from there, right in front of Kraton, is the purest event for society: The Sekaten 2010 Night Bazaar. Aside from food stalls and textile product, there are games where people cheering with friends. There are Ferris Wheel, Swing Ship and Tilt-a-whirl. The later one worth a mention, since it is traditionally powered by 4-5 men, rotating the base plate. And they genuinely enjoy the labor, as they perform acrobatic show.

But not all all good soul. A warning sign of pickpocket is placed at the entrance of Mirota Shop. Pickpocket waraning also announced in the night bazaar. But that shouldn’t hinder you to recharge your good soul

And not all the soul are fortunate enough in their venture. Late night, we hailed a becak, driven by an old man. He definitely had a hard labor, taking the 2 of us uphill while turning, pushing instead of cycling. We decided to share a little bit more fortune to him at the end of the ride

In our last night in Jogja, we decided to spend the dinner at Angkringan, to experience the Jogja soul once again at night. I almost paid to the wrong stall, until the cashier gave a strange look before saying: “You’re not ordering from here, right? I saw you ordered from that stall.” It is Rp. 8.000 worth food, not much, but the honesty that came from heart that recharged our soul, exactly the reason why we came here at first, and why we will be back here.

The Phoenix, Jogja, 28 Jan 2010

“Star Cruise, Jogja, Manado?” It wasn’t us who travelled if not with last minute decision, even for our destination. Even until 1 week before, we haven’t made up our mind, hence no single ticket booked.

It is the lowest season of travelling this time of year, when people has just spent all they earned for the Holiday, so we have the leeway of having great offer at the last minute.

The original plan of road trip has to be cancelled. The weather is unfriendly at this time of year, with heavy rain expected along the way. And most of all, we are still recovering from all the hassle of our wedding. So we booked our flight one night before

Hotel is another problem, since we haven’t fixed our itinerary yet. With the same reason above, we crossed few places to visit. We want to have a laid back trip, instead of running here and there, catching trains and buses.

And after making our hotel booking at the airport, we finally sit at the Executive Lounge, splurging ourself with a cup of coffee, orange juice, and plates of food. We are ready for holiday

Tags: Wedding

I was sitting at the backseat of Honda City that pick me up at Noi Bai Airport. The last thing I would expect from a socialist country is a religious celebration. But how surprised I was to see that shops opens until late, and they selling Christmas accessories. The socialist is slowly transforming to capitalist country.

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Two days ago, I was rushing through Singapore Changi Airport terminals to catch my flight. Inside the monorail trip from T2 to T1 gave me time to catch my breath, and at the same time wish that, in my travel next year, I will have more spare time to spend at the airport, to enjoy a cup of coffee or just to watch people passing by, saying goodbye, meet the loved one.

The next thing I know is my flight is delayed for 1 hour!

Had I know that my wishes would be granted so fast, I would wishes to transit in this airport for flight to England.

Whatever your wishes is, I wish you a rocking 2010. May this Holiday recharge your energy with the loved one, and may next year bring you a more amazing places. I wish the same for me as well…..

“Vietnam is dangerous”

“The traffic is crazy, be careful when crossing the road”

“So many scam, make sure you wrote your price before getting into public transport”

The corporate slave in me was a little bit worried with those negative reviews found by Google. But not for long. Travel stories from friends, food reviews, and beautiful scenery found in the photos has woke up the travel bug, which soon overules the corporate slave, turning worry itu anxiety. And when my Singapore-Hanoi ticket was booked, its too late to turn back.

Traveling with elder makes me less tolerant to risk. It won’t be fun to stroll your luggage around, from hotel to hotel to check and find decent room, so I pre-booked all the Hotel for the whole trip. But we still have a lot of open itinerary, allowing for time for our soul to guide us.

We also believe that, the objective of the trip is to spend as little as possible.  As written in Lonely Planet, there are no awards for those who spent the less. So, keeping in mind the budget, we booked a quite decent Hotel, tour, and listed several good food and coffee shop. At the end of the day, we want to have stories to tell, and photos worth to remember.

So, finally, after all the stuff packed, I do another search in Google. This time, the travel bug see the other side:

“Halong Bay is heavenly beautiful”

“The paintings are unbelievably beautiful and cheap”

“The food is awesome”