Yogjakarta, Indonesia
I flew from Singapore to Yogjakarta, Indonesia, which is on the island of Java. The "y" is pronounced with a "j" so really I went to "Jogjakarta." It's kind of Jakarta's little sister, and is the cultural capital of Java. Aftehr leaving the cleanliness and orderliness of Singapore, I was quickly reminded what a larger SouthEast Asia city is like: loud, dirty, and people hassling you everywhere! "Becak, becak?" is the cry you hear the most. The becak is a push bike with a cart on the front where you sit, and the poor Indonesian pants and struggles behind you to pedal down the streets. I had so say no no no no!
I arrived in time for an afternoon lunch, and since it was happy hour, I indulged i
n a few Bintang beers, which is Indonesian's lager. Due to the fact that my meal was mostly vegetables, I had my own room again, and because I'd been going non-stop for weeks...I crashed hard! Went to bed at 5! Woke up for a brief internet session around 11pm, but then back to bed, something I was entirely okay with - gotta catch up on the sleep!
The next morning I went to the Kraton, which is the Sultan of Java's palace. It was a huge let - down. I know I shouldn't have expected Versailles, but just looking at old war metals, stodgy photos, and tea sets was a little bit boring. I think there are much more ornate and interesting areas of the Kraton, but the public was not allowed to enter them. Poor us. There were also several sketchy people inside trying to tell me to exit here for a "special viewing room" or some BS like that. Finally figured out I was a sitting duck walking around all single-like, so I found a couple to team up with. No more problems!
I went with the couple to the Water Castle, which was more interesting than the Kraton, even though it was a lot smaller. Beautiful stone carvings and nice pools once awaited the sultan's pleasure as he soaked in the sun with his full harem awaiting him. Legend has it that the Portuguese man hired to create the Castle was murdered afterwards by the sultan in order to
keep his pleasure house a secret. Turns out the present day sultan is a modern fellow and has eschewed having concubines, and has only one life! I can't help but wonder if he feels disappointed. Another aspect of the Kraton and Water Castle that made them harder to enjoy was that they both have suffered damage in earthquakes, and rebuilding is slow-going.
Since it was so hot and we'd been walking through the hottest part of the day, I hired a becak to take me back. It was kind of sad, but I guess the men have to make a living, so I let him pedal/struggle me home.
That evening I met up with the same couple and we went to the Ramanaya Ballet shot. Dance is very important to the Javanese culture, and it was a very nice show. It tells the "love story" of Rama and Shinta, but was a strange love story, with kidnapping by monkey kings (?), deceit and in the end, she proves her love and intact virginity by fire. Yeah...I had trouble following too, the English story they gave us had obviously been pumped through the Google Translation tool 5 or 6 times. Eventually I just gave up on the story and enjoyed the gamelan music, which involved an orchestra with 50-6o instruments and a very
large percussion section that makes sounds from clang clang to very eerie. The entire ballet's narrative was sung by one lady.
The actualy dance style was different than what I was used to - lots of jerky, puppet-like movements and acrobatics as well. My favorite part was that the monkeys were played by 3, 5-year old kids. One was great - he'll obviously be a dancer. But there was one kid who just cracked me up - he had no attention span and would keep up with antics even when he was supposed to be still, and kept trying to sit in the laps of the adults. So cute.
After the ballet I parted ways with the couple and went to have dinner. I met a French guy who mentioend that the Premier League Championships were that night at 2am. Man U vs. Barca! So we had a few Bintang beers and found the only bar showing the game on a big projector screen. It was a skilled game, and Baracelona won 3-1 (if you didn't know). When the game ended I was so tired I could hardly walk straight, and I only had a few ours to sleep before my ride would pick me up for the next adventure in the morning.
I arrived in time for an afternoon lunch, and since it was happy hour, I indulged i
n a few Bintang beers, which is Indonesian's lager. Due to the fact that my meal was mostly vegetables, I had my own room again, and because I'd been going non-stop for weeks...I crashed hard! Went to bed at 5! Woke up for a brief internet session around 11pm, but then back to bed, something I was entirely okay with - gotta catch up on the sleep!The next morning I went to the Kraton, which is the Sultan of Java's palace. It was a huge let - down. I know I shouldn't have expected Versailles, but just looking at old war metals, stodgy photos, and tea sets was a little bit boring. I think there are much more ornate and interesting areas of the Kraton, but the public was not allowed to enter them. Poor us. There were also several sketchy people inside trying to tell me to exit here for a "special viewing room" or some BS like that. Finally figured out I was a sitting duck walking around all single-like, so I found a couple to team up with. No more problems!
I went with the couple to the Water Castle, which was more interesting than the Kraton, even though it was a lot smaller. Beautiful stone carvings and nice pools once awaited the sultan's pleasure as he soaked in the sun with his full harem awaiting him. Legend has it that the Portuguese man hired to create the Castle was murdered afterwards by the sultan in order to
keep his pleasure house a secret. Turns out the present day sultan is a modern fellow and has eschewed having concubines, and has only one life! I can't help but wonder if he feels disappointed. Another aspect of the Kraton and Water Castle that made them harder to enjoy was that they both have suffered damage in earthquakes, and rebuilding is slow-going.Since it was so hot and we'd been walking through the hottest part of the day, I hired a becak to take me back. It was kind of sad, but I guess the men have to make a living, so I let him pedal/struggle me home.
That evening I met up with the same couple and we went to the Ramanaya Ballet shot. Dance is very important to the Javanese culture, and it was a very nice show. It tells the "love story" of Rama and Shinta, but was a strange love story, with kidnapping by monkey kings (?), deceit and in the end, she proves her love and intact virginity by fire. Yeah...I had trouble following too, the English story they gave us had obviously been pumped through the Google Translation tool 5 or 6 times. Eventually I just gave up on the story and enjoyed the gamelan music, which involved an orchestra with 50-6o instruments and a very
large percussion section that makes sounds from clang clang to very eerie. The entire ballet's narrative was sung by one lady.The actualy dance style was different than what I was used to - lots of jerky, puppet-like movements and acrobatics as well. My favorite part was that the monkeys were played by 3, 5-year old kids. One was great - he'll obviously be a dancer. But there was one kid who just cracked me up - he had no attention span and would keep up with antics even when he was supposed to be still, and kept trying to sit in the laps of the adults. So cute.
After the ballet I parted ways with the couple and went to have dinner. I met a French guy who mentioend that the Premier League Championships were that night at 2am. Man U vs. Barca! So we had a few Bintang beers and found the only bar showing the game on a big projector screen. It was a skilled game, and Baracelona won 3-1 (if you didn't know). When the game ended I was so tired I could hardly walk straight, and I only had a few ours to sleep before my ride would pick me up for the next adventure in the morning.
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