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| Our morning assembly at hotel lobby |
Our second day tour (read more about it here and of our first day here) was started at 7 a.m. in the Santika Hotel's breakfast area. After stuffing our stomachs, we gathered in the lobby and Mr. Carey revealed the answer of first day's quiz. Mr. Tjahjono and Mr. Witdarmono each won a book. Then, we were ready to depart at 8 a.m.
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| The Fort Willem II |
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| Statue of Willem II |
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| The entrance |
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| Check out my style trying to capture something there! LOL. Image via Richard Leonardy. |
That morning we headed straight to Ungaran. Up on the hill, a Dutch fort laid on the left side of the road and we visited it. The 18th century's building had a renovation in 2011 and it looked great with white paint and exposed wooden structures. The fort is now used for police's barracks and health clinic--and it's great for taking pictures (thanks to the major renovation)!
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| Fort Willem II before renovation, built in 1786 (via dinustech) |
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| After the renovation |
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| The cannons facing the mountains |
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| On second floor |
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| The barrack |
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| The back building |
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| The courtyard, seen from second floor of the back building |
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| One of the corner I like |
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| The courtyard |
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| This building is now function for medical clinic |
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| This is the stairs to second floor in the front building |
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| The tour participants in front of the fort |
After the tour and some photo-taking sessions here, we carried on to Tuntang Station. Located next to Tuntang River, this station is no longer used for general transportation. Instead, it only carries tourists on the weekend wagon tour from Train Museum at Ambarawa back and forth.
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| Tuntang Station |
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| Tuntang Station |
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| I love how clean this hallway is! |
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| The Platform |
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| The railway, heading to West |
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| The railway, facing the East |
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| It feels like an outdoor lecture class somehow. Image via Richard Leonardy. |
We spent a great deal of time here, exploring the well-preserved small station and imagining how it was in 1811 when Governor General Janssen surrendered to the British troop, which marked the end of a beginning in Indonesia's modern history.
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| Across the river is the hydroelectric power plant, flowing from Rawa Pening Lake |
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| The hydroelectric power plant is the building painted blue |
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| One of the rooms |
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| The almost abandoned platform |
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| What a serene place.. |
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| The tour participants |
Another stop we made before heading to Yogyakarta was Kopi Eva in Ambarawa. We had lunch there and enjoyed the coffee from their plantation. I sat on the table with Margie, Mr. Carey, and Mrs. Nina Tandjung and we had great meaningful conversation there.
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| I love seeing those layers of blue mountains there! |
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| This is Ambarawa |
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| The Fort Ambarawa we passed through |
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| The bus situation. Image via Richard Leonardy. |
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| Kopi Eva |
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| The view we got at Kopi Eva |
Mrs. Tandjung happens to be very nice, humble, and cares a lot about the nation's history & culture, and I'm happy to know that she is involved in preserving it and spreading the spirit to the ladies and the youth. It is great for Solo to have someone like her!
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| At the restaurant |
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| Chicken Soto and Javanese Black Coffee. Classic! |
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| With beautiful Mrs. Nina Tandjung |
We said goodbye to Mrs. Tandjung because she wasn't going to Yogyakarta with us. As she went back to Semarang to catch her flight back to Jakarta, we headed South. Along the two-hour drive, I spent it by chatting with Margie while the rest of the tour members had their rest. We arrived in Yogya by 4 p.m. and checked in at Pesonna Malioboro Hotel. It is a really nice hotel, actually, located just behind the National Palace.
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| The Pesonna Malioboro Hotel |
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| This is our room at second floor |
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| The fresh interior of the room |
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| The hotel by sunset |
After freshened up, we gathered at the lobby at 5.30 p.m. and went to Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo Yudhaningrat's place in Jl. Ibu Ruswo. He is the husband of Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Bendara, the Keraton's youngest daughter, and we call him in short for Gusti Yudho. His royal house shares yard with a pharmacy high school, so there were some students still hang out when we got there.
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| Gusti Yudho's royal house |
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| Some of the royal carriage collection |
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| The house hallway |
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| Gusti Yudho's office |
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| Gong, part of the Gamelan |
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| Wayang Kulit puppets, stuck on banana trunk |
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| The other end of Wayang Screen |
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| The puppets -- so beautiful! |
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| Offerings for the performance |
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| Ki Roni Sodewo, prayed for the Wayang performance |
We were entertained for dinner at the royal house's dining room and we had one of the best gudeg (the local traditional food.)
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| Gudeg feast at the dining room |
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| Some of us, ready for the performance |
After dinner, we were ushered to the hallway to watch the wayang (the puppetry) performance. The play was about Pangeran Diponegoro (the "Geger Sepoy" act), which was created on August 30 and had performed only five times before. We had the privilege to had it played in our tour program!
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| The Wayang Stage |
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| Behind the screen |
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| The Dalang (puppeteer) started playing Wayang after given the small opening mark by Gusti Yudho |
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| The situation at HB II's court back in 1811 |
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| Some children love to watch this performance |
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| The Dalang's heavy duty; he works with his hands, voice and feet all at the same time! |
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| Wayang Pangeran Diponegoro |
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| The moderator, descendants of Pangeran Diponegoro, Mr. Carey, and Gusti Yudho |
After wayangan, we had a small discussion with Gusti Yudho, Mr. Carey, Ki Roni Sodewo (as Diponegoro's 7th generation descendant), and another of Diponegoro's 6th descendant. After the discussion we headed back to hotel to get our beauty sleep, and the story continues to Day 3 here (and check for more pics at my Instagram.)
