Jogjakarta May 8-10, 2010

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency which could be considered a golfer's paradise, as it is set on a golf course and catering to all their needs.

 In spite of this it was beautiful.  I must admit our walks around the golf course were lovely. We were disappointed there was no fitness centre,  I guess golfers feel they don't need to be in particularly good shape.  The hotel itself was quaint and very tropical.  I felt I was in a Bogart movie.

Jogjakarta has a more rural, small town atmosphere.

 It is known for it's universities and students from all the Indonesian islands will come here to study.  Security was more relaxed and we felt more comfortable to explore the town on our own.

  Often meat is sold outside on the sidewalks.

 You can always find a stand somewhere selling food and cold drinks.

 Shops are often the size of a small garage located in the front of the family home.

 It was always humorous to see the  English signage.

Jogjakarta is located in the heart of Java.  This was a wise choice, because it protects the population against tsunami on one side and from the volcano on the other, giving them time to flee from either disaster. The natives refer to themselves as Javanese. For a while I thought the guide was saying Japanese, and couldn't figure out why!
Our guide took great pleasure in pointing out the world's most active volcano was located on this island!  In fact the temple we were going to tour was at one point completely covered by lava.  The island is also known for its black lava rock  and beautiful statues and carvings.

Our guide took us to a rural family home where we could get a first hand view of the quality of living, meet some people and share tea and sweets with them.  They cooked coconut milk until syrupy and poured in into a coconut shell where it hardens into a flat cake.  This is served with jasmine tea.  You take a bite of the coconut sugar and then sip the tea.  It is delicious.

 This is the front entrance.

 This is their well, thirty feet deep.  They are quite ingenious how they provide their comforts of living.  The guide proudly referred to it as the Flintstone house.

This is the inside of their home.  The kitchen area is to the left.

  They use propane, electricity and fire wood.  Although it looks primitive, it is actually self sufficient.  They will not be affected by power outage, which is more than I can say for most of us!

 Here is her wood burning cook stove where she cooked the coconut.  Please remember the temperature outside was 34 degrees celcius and one hundred percent humidity!

 Here you can see the cakes of coconut sugar.

Speaking of food... the food at the hotel was good.   Our guide suggested we try the restaurant next door and luckily we took his advice!  We were thoughtful enough to take our camera to share our dinner with you.

Very courteous and friendly staff.

 For an appetizer Al chose dim sum....delicious

I chose a spicy soup.... excellent.

  We became great fans of the local beer called Bintang.  There was no desire for wine in this heat!

 We both chose lamb and I can't describe how delicious this was!

 For dessert Al chose deep fried bananas sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese.  Sounds weird but tasted very good.

 I chose creme brulee and mocha iced tea, need I say more?  One of the things we miss most living in Korea is good bread, cheese and desserts.  We learned that Indonesia was able to provide these royally!  Al was especially taken with the desserts.  No matter what we tried, and believe me we tried a lot, they were all fabulous.

There is much more to show and tell about Jogjakarta.  However, I will need to get ready to do some grocery shopping.  I will be back shortly. 

CHEERS

Jakarta, May 6-8, 2010

Jakarta which means Victory City has a population of thirteen million people.  Except for a four year period when Jogjakarta was made the capital by the ruling Dutch, Jakarta has been and is again the capital of Indonesia. The nation's history is rich with the impact of the countries, including the Dutch and Japanese, that have ruled over it.

Although very beautiful, it is immediately evident this is a poor country.  Their money has suffered with inflation and is worth very little.  It was difficult to figure out prices when you are talking in the millions of rupiah.  Most of the people use motor scooters or motor bikes, it was not unusual to see families of four on one bike!  The amount of baggage one can balance on a bike was amazing, we saw one woman on a motor bike balancing a tray on her head that had a bottle of Tobasco sauce standing on it!!!  People are always selling things, and although they were polite they could be persistent.

We stayed in a very beautiful hotel called Hotel Grand Melia.  It had a pretty good fitness centre, lots of shops, restaurants and an art gallery.  We were very proud when we saw the gallery was featuring a Canadian artist Ken Pattern.  We bought a number of 2011 desk calenders called Jakarta on the River which will make wonderful gifts for our friends. 

We toured the Taman Mini Indonesia Cultural Park which featuring Indonesian history, Dutch colonial architecture and home styles from each of Indonesia's 27 provinces.  It was a very hot day 34 degrees celsius and 94 % humidity.

This was our guide, a very pleasant young man with a good sense of humour.

The Komodo dragon is the most poisonous and deadly species on earth.  It's mouth carries millions of deadly germs.

Sunsets are very short in Indonesia, but Al was very quick to have captured this.  Our stay in Jakarta was also short but pleasant.  Our next stop is Jogjakarta.

Bangkok, May 5, 2010

Al had almost two weeks vacation and we toured three islands of Indonesia.  This was not an easy or fast decision.  Our original plan was to see Australia, something both of us have always wanted to do.  After speaking with Marco, our travel agent and doing some research we decided this would be too expensive.  We then thought Viet Nam and Cambodia would be interesting.  Al especially wanted to see Angkor Wat. Marco spent one month trying to arrange tours for us with different companies but to no avail. We were beginning to think our trip was doomed.  However, we continued to research and decided Indonesia would be a good choice.

 Indonesia is called the country of islands because it consists of 17,000 islands.  This means Al and I then had to make more decisions as to which islands we would visit.  We chose Jakarta because it is the capital, Jog Jakarta because we wanted to see Borobudur, and Bali , because who in their right mind wouldn't?

Our route was Seoul to Bangkok (5 hour flight), a four hour wait in Bangkok before proceeding to Jakarta (4 hour flight).  We decided to take our time and stop overnight in Bangkok.  We were aware of the political unrest with the Red Shirts, but decided to take the risk.  There was no sign of trouble at the airport and flights were not affected.  We booked a room at an airport hotel called Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel, expecting the equivalent of something like the Holiday Inn.  Were we pleasantly surprised!
The security measures were strict.  Any vehicle entering  must pass a security gate where trunks are checked and vehicles are scanned for bombs.  When you arrive at the front door, military are there with machine guns and dogs.  To enter the hotel your purses and any bags are opened and checked any you must walk through a scanner.  We did not venture outside the hotel.  This was not a hardship though because the fitness facilities were great.  We also saw a young prince arrive with all his entourage.  Military were standing at attention all along the red carpet and throughout the foyer as the prince entered.  We did not take any pictures because we did not want to break any publicity rules.

We initially thought all the security in Bangkok was due to the recent political unrest.  We learned later in Indonesia that there were similar security measures at all the hotels where we stayed.

Now that we are back in South Korea and see the increasing violence in Bangkok we are happy that we missed it all. 

Cheers for now.  Can't wait to share Jakarta with you! 

  

Goyang Flower Festival, April 30, 2010

Al took Friday off and we spent the day with our Korean friends again.  After a fantastic lunch prepared by Sunjoo's mother we went to a nearby place called UBI Park.  The theme of this park included the Little Prince.  We were surprised this was the second park featuring  this character.

It started to pour just as we were starting back to pick up Sunjoo's son and head out to Ilsan to go the the flower festival.  Luckily, the sun came out just as we got there.  Although Al was grumpy because he did not take his umbrella as suggested by me, his mood improved when he dried up.  Ha Ha.

Here is a brochure describing the festival, just click on the picture to enlarge it.  

This is a major event in Korea.  We went on a Friday to miss the large crowds on the week-end. 

The festival is located in Lake Park, one of the more beautiful spots in Ilsan.  Goyang is the Korean name for Ilsan.  Unlike Seoul, Ilsan is a relatively modern city with wide streets arranged in an organized fashion.  It has an entirely different atmosphere just as Calgary has a different atmosphere from old Montreal.

Lake Park is man-made.  The water is crystal clear and this is a favorite destination year round.  I included a map of it to give you an idea of it's size.  Again, just click on the picture to enlarge it.

 

The festival itself included plants, shrubs, trees, bonsai, flowers, jewelry, paintings, furniture and crafts.  We were pleasantly surprised to see cottages built from Canadian pine.  I took pictures so Al can build a guest house for us at the lake.  He thinks I am joking!  

Anyway, I have learned how to load complete albums onto my blog.  So all you have to do is click on the picture and you can enjoy all my pictures.  Enjoy!