It elates me to put this fabulous trip as the first entry of my first travel blog. Incidentally, this was my Christmas trip - a gift, from someone close at heart. A week prior to travel, I was told this Christmas I would be taken to a special place as a Christmas gift for 2008. I was not told of where I would be brought to - only snippets of clues -
1) Legendary Creature
2) Honey for my Honey
3) Cosmic Corners
and a lovely red and gold strip patten as clues as to where I would be going. Prior to the trip, I researched and read up on the region, trying to solve the puzzles. Eventually I ended up several wrong destinations until the final clue "You have to jog to reach this place." With the help of some study in Asian Phonology, I finally realised we would be heading for Yogyakarta - and where the Borobudur Temple was situated.
After a week of anticipation and amazingly fun puzzle solving, we finally board a bumpy Garuda place (Clue No.1 - Garuda - Legendary Creature) and reached Yogyakarta on a lovely afternoon. We hitched at taxi and arrived at our place of stay for the first night - Hani's Villa (Clue No. 2 - Hani for my honey).
The villa is reminiscent of a Javanese Bamboo house. From the outside, it looked a little traditional and my immediate reaction was filled with excitement as I have never seen any infrastructure like the one put before me. It was a beautiful house. What was more amazing, was the interior - the layout, the bed, the LCD TV, everything was as upmarket as a 5 star resort.
We had dinner that very night at the famous Hani's Bakery, which served authentic European food in a very unlikely city of Yogyakarta. The night was spent star gazing, watching TV and playing with Chipalees, the resident cat. It was splendid being able to live in a nice villa surrounded by padi fields and the echoes of mating frogs and crickets resounded in an orchestrated unison.Morning brought about some of the nicest pastries for breakfast, and a quick trip to the Kraton for our morning excursion. We left the villa at about 9am in the morning and headed towards the city. The Kraton in simple words, was the palace of the Sultan who reigned in the earlier eras in Yogyakarta. The palace was well conserved with the beautiful architecture intact. As I laid my eyes over the carvings and scriptures on the buildings, I saw a beautiful red and gold ribbon strip laced the entire roof structure of the main hall (Clue: Red and Gold Pattern). We hopped by a souvenir shop and slurped some local bottled tea, bought a nice souvenir before we closed our visit at the Kraton.
After the Kraton, we made way to Yogyakarta city to have a browse of what the city life was all about. It was like all other sprouting third world cities - a cosmopolitan mixture of new buildings and olden ones. Amidst the grumpy traffic, there were carriages and modern vehicles, adding to the unique flavour of a growing city. We walked along alleys, checking in on shops selling spices, stationary, souvenirs to MacDonald's - instead of French Fries, they have flavoured rice wrapped in cones, reminiscent of a coned ice-cream. The city was dusty and noisy, very bustling and yet in an orderly fashion. It wasn't difficult for us to grab a taxi back and before long we were back at Hani's Villa ready for the check out.
After a quick shower, we took a long ride across the city towards the legendary site of Borodudur - one of the greatest Buddhist temple in the world. However, we have checked in for a sunrise visit, so we kept the temple site visit to the next dawn. Meanwhile we checked into a really nice hotel - The Saraswati Hotel.
A small boutique hotel this was, it had everything you need in an accommodation - from a nice restaurant with accompanying nice native music, to a beautiful swimming pool laced with fountains. The rooms were immaculate - you have all the fundamental amenities from coffee making stuff to a most comfortable daybed along with the Queen Size sleeper. We spent some time resting in the hotel before heading out for dinner - The Amanjiwo.
Dinner was beautiful at Amanjiwo - one of the signature Aman resorts - albeit very dear, the palate was probably one of the best I have ever eaten in all my trips abroad. The bill came up to about USD200 for two but it was worth every single cent. The ambiance, the food and the service were all topnotch. We browsed around the resort and looked at some of its beautiful abodes - everything was alluring - and it has to be, given the nightly rate of over USD1200. After dinner and a quiet stroll, we returned to Saraswati to retire early for the night.
We woke up at 4.30am the next morning and was brought over to Borobudur temple site. Words alone cannot describe the magnificence. It has to be witness and felt to be able to feel its grandeur. It was history in concrete form. The temple is squared on an enormous flat land with Buddhas in Stupas built on each of its levels all the way to the top. And the four corners of the temple converges into one like that of a pyramid (Clue No. 3 - Cosmic Corners)
The stupas, the carved Buddhas, the temple steps and the glorious sunrise - these picturesque memories will leave a permanent mark in my mind. We spent an amazing 2 hours at the temple site examining its history, deciphering the fables carved on the temple walls and experiencing its tranquility. Before we left, we touched the one of the Buddhas in a stupa and made a wish - and mine, wishing aloud, will be for happiness and success to be the person who brought me all the way from home to this temple to see its magnificence.
After our visit, we checked out from the hotel and headed very reluctantly back to the airport to depart for home. Along the way, we stopped by the Suriati Chicken Rice Restaurant for lunch before flying home. The food was utmost delectable, and they serve chicken heads in their chicken dishes!
A two hour flight home saw us back to Singapore. It was a short three day two night trip, but to me, this will always be the trip I remember - the day we touched the Buddha and amidst our jest and laughter, genuinely wish the best for each other.
This is the best trip amongst all I ever had. I will never forget it.
Read: The Borobudur Magnificence
After a quick shower, we took a long ride across the city towards the legendary site of Borodudur - one of the greatest Buddhist temple in the world. However, we have checked in for a sunrise visit, so we kept the temple site visit to the next dawn. Meanwhile we checked into a really nice hotel - The Saraswati Hotel.
A small boutique hotel this was, it had everything you need in an accommodation - from a nice restaurant with accompanying nice native music, to a beautiful swimming pool laced with fountains. The rooms were immaculate - you have all the fundamental amenities from coffee making stuff to a most comfortable daybed along with the Queen Size sleeper. We spent some time resting in the hotel before heading out for dinner - The Amanjiwo.
Dinner was beautiful at Amanjiwo - one of the signature Aman resorts - albeit very dear, the palate was probably one of the best I have ever eaten in all my trips abroad. The bill came up to about USD200 for two but it was worth every single cent. The ambiance, the food and the service were all topnotch. We browsed around the resort and looked at some of its beautiful abodes - everything was alluring - and it has to be, given the nightly rate of over USD1200. After dinner and a quiet stroll, we returned to Saraswati to retire early for the night.We woke up at 4.30am the next morning and was brought over to Borobudur temple site. Words alone cannot describe the magnificence. It has to be witness and felt to be able to feel its grandeur. It was history in concrete form. The temple is squared on an enormous flat land with Buddhas in Stupas built on each of its levels all the way to the top. And the four corners of the temple converges into one like that of a pyramid (Clue No. 3 - Cosmic Corners)
The stupas, the carved Buddhas, the temple steps and the glorious sunrise - these picturesque memories will leave a permanent mark in my mind. We spent an amazing 2 hours at the temple site examining its history, deciphering the fables carved on the temple walls and experiencing its tranquility. Before we left, we touched the one of the Buddhas in a stupa and made a wish - and mine, wishing aloud, will be for happiness and success to be the person who brought me all the way from home to this temple to see its magnificence.After our visit, we checked out from the hotel and headed very reluctantly back to the airport to depart for home. Along the way, we stopped by the Suriati Chicken Rice Restaurant for lunch before flying home. The food was utmost delectable, and they serve chicken heads in their chicken dishes!
A two hour flight home saw us back to Singapore. It was a short three day two night trip, but to me, this will always be the trip I remember - the day we touched the Buddha and amidst our jest and laughter, genuinely wish the best for each other.
"Four cosmic corners converging to one,
as of our hearts beating as one."
as of our hearts beating as one."
This is the best trip amongst all I ever had. I will never forget it.
Read: The Borobudur Magnificence
