This was my old post on May 2013 but I re-post it for the @VisitJawaTengah and @BlogJateng2015 blog contest. A little refreshing for my eyes to remind me the beauty of Yogyakarta and the lovely scenery it has. I'll make another new post but I love this post so much that I had to re-post it here. :D
Enjoy!


I was invited to come to Yogyakarta for my project last weekend, so I woke up so early in the morning on Friday and flew to the city by 7 a.m. (GMT+8) flight. Somehow I felt the flight was different with the last time I went to Yogyakarta (Aug 2011) for now I'd known much more about Nuswantara: the legend and the secrets the place holds. So I felt it was extremely magnificent to see all the hilly landscape of South Yogyakarta.

I saw from above all the strange sea landscape about 1-2 km south from the land, the weird form of hills on the savanna on the west, the magnificent volcano mountains of Merbabu and Merapi, all the range of mountains of Gunung Kidul, and finally I landed at Adisucipto airport at 7.15 a.m. (GMT+7). I was welcomed by the team and we went to Kaliurang area.


First stop was for breakfast. We went to Jl. Argo for SGPC Bu Wiryo (SGPC stands for Sego Pècèl or rice with vegetables and peanut sauce), a great place to eat traditional food since 1959 that became famous because of the students of UGM (Universitas Gajah Mada) that located near the restaurant. They even have live band playing at 8.30 a.m.!
The place really is legen--wait for it--dary!

Then we went toward north to the Kaliurang area. It's a high land of forests and villas, a bit similar to the landscape in Puncak, Bogor, West Java. They set a viewing tower from which we can see the top of Merapi volcano. But we didn't go there. This time we went to Ullèn Sentalu, a private property that made a museum of Yogyakarta and Solo Keraton (kingdom) heritages.


We were too sleepy and the museum wasn't open yet so we went first to the café at the back, having hot black java coffee and pancake. The pancake wasn't recommended tho. But I love so much the Dutch/colonial architecture, the high trees canopy and the chill air. It was both so old and so fresh that brought us to another dimension. It wasn't feel like being in Java at all.


At around 10.30 a.m. we started the museum tour that had to wait for 10-20 people per group. We weren't allowed to take any picture during the tour, so I couldn't share with you all the 3D paintings, old royal instruments, batik and sculptures they exhibited there. The tour was worth the price (IDR25,000 per person) but don't really believe all the history the guide say. Better wait for the extraordinary truth of Nuswantara, soon. ;)


After the tour we went back to the city and stopped at the original Gudeg Yu Djum near the SGPC and UGM. The place remained the way it was from 1946, with the traditional fire stove and big pots and everything else. It was so traditional, even the live band playing were already on their 50s-70s. They played old keroncong music. Another legendary place!


Next, we headed south to Ganjuran area and stopped at the Catholic Church of Divine Heart of Jesus, where Jesus showed himself to the people of Ganjuran and asked them to build a place for him there. People then build a temple for Him, similar to Hindu and Buddhist temple around, minus the difficult carvings. Inside, a statue of Jesus in Javanese face was placed.


We spent about an hour at the complex, took pictures and prayed in the temple. Afterward we washed our face at the holy water source at the west side of the temple. I think it was supposed to be the first step before going up the temple, like the wudhu water for Moslem, but we just did what we saw first. The church is also nice because it's open space with joglo architecture style.

We went to the hotel after that and I hibernated for about 12 hours for I couldn't sleep the night before. I woke up at around 6-7 a.m. the next day and spent the morning watching TV. They played We Bought A Zoo, Bounty Hunter and The Pirates of the Caribbean before we should go. We chilled at Viavia Traveler Café at Jl. Prawirotaman.



The café was really nice. It has a shop that sells local arts, crafts, toys, shirts and herbs. They also have travel agency around Yogyakarta and sells exotic food like shoarma with pita bread and curry with chapati beside Indonesian culinary. This is a must-go place to hangout. The neighborhood was small and cheap motels for backpackers so the prices are wallet-friendly also.


After that I had a chance to have spa massage at Jemari Menari at Jl. Suryotomo, opposite of Meliá Purosani, for 90 minutes. My masseuse had a strong power and I felt so good afterward but my friend's masseuse was a newbie so better ask how strong the pressure you want for the therapy. It was almost night already when we finished so we went to House of Raminten for dinner (more about it here).


We still managed to have supper at Gudeg Permata at Jl. Gajah Mada which starts to open at 11 p.m. onward. The place was on the pedestrian or they call it as lesehan. It tasted different than the other famous gudeg, and it also served wedang tapé. They are so worth trying. Still many other Yogyakartan food that I haven't tried, save them for my next visit. I went back to Bali on Sunday morning and, again, collapsed for a day.

I spent the rest of my Sunday watching marathon How I Met Your Mother Season 1 in my room because it was raining all day. It was also for my adaptation to be back to 'real' life as Yogya has a very different culture with Bali, especially the language people are speaking. I am kind of surprised how I could experience the culture shock even Yogya-Bali is only 600km away. That's the richness of Indonesia, I believe. :)