It's been 5 years since I last ran a marathon. Ran, period. So when my friend asked if we could insert a run in our itinerary (runners hate the word jog, so I've been told by my brother before 😀), I was somewhat skeptical. I didn't think I could even do a 100 meter jog :D. Anyhow, I still packed up my running shirt and pants just to entertain the idea. They didn't take up much space in my luggage anyway. As for running shoes, I'd just use my daily sneakers. They ought to be able to take some tarmac pounding. Besides, it'd be more of a jog than a run. And my friend says that I should see Malioboro during the day and at night. The difference is night and day :D.
I believed we started our jog from our hotel at about 6:30am. Sunrise over here is around 6am. Way too early than I am used to. I normally wake up at 6:40am on a work day 😅.
Sunrise
Mount Merapi (on the foreground) and Merbabu (behind it)
That could be Mount Sumbing if I'm not wrong
It wasn't a CFD (Car Free Day), but people were out and about on their bikes, walking, running, doing zumba, playing badminton, having breakfast and the likes.
I must say that I am impressed with myself. We jogged all the way to the end of Malioboro and Kraton, with a few stops along the way for customary picture taking ⌣. Then we traced back our steps and returned to the hotel, with ample time for breakfast. My friend's GPS watch tracked 5.5 kilometers of run distance. Sweet!
Map to show the distance between The 101 hotel and Kraton, and where Taman Sari is.
Back for more... pewot tuuu! 😆
Locals taking the streets for a zumba dance routine
It is said that if one could walk from Kraton to the space in between the 2 fig trees while being blindfolded, their wish could come true
Facing Malioboro
Nol (0) kilometer
Chinatown?
Locals having breakfast
Obligatory picture on the bench
More street vendors along Malioboro
Outside of the Yogyakarta train station
Back at Tugu :)
After the run, we were famished and I got to try some local delicacies from the breakfast spread.
Sweet treats
Jamu Tradisional - tamarind, tumeric and beras kencur
Beras Kencur -- white tumeric
After making a few phone calls, my friend managed to get a car that we could rent. It meant that we could have the car to ourselves until it was time to leave on Tuesday. Excellent!
We decided to save Borobudur and Prambanan for Monday. A visit to these two historical sites in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list on a week day may not be as crowded as in the weekends. We were banking on that :).
So for today, our aim was to visit Kraton (The Royal Palace) and Taman Sari (Water Castle).
After paying for the entrance tickets, a Kraton personnel checked our tickets and ushered us into the palace compounds. He then started to provide an introduction of Kration. I looked at my friend in bewilderment and softly asked him if he had paid extra for a guide. Apparently he didn't. But it turned out to be a blessing because we got to know more about Kraton than if we were to go around on our own. We wished we had done so when we were at Taman Sari. Some back stories would make the visit even more interesting.
Back in Kraton
The story behind the wonderful garment worn for specific occasions
The 8th Sultan's cars
Taking cue from my friend on good photo-op locations :D
First, we went to the subterranean mosque
The imam area. Notice the sweat on my back -- it was that hot!
After getting back to our car, we headed to Abhayagiri Restaurant for another late lunch. We were given the option of buffet at 200,000 rupiah per head or ala carte. We chose the latter, trying our best not to go beyond the buffet price :D. Food selection was kinda limited, and in the end we each decided on nasgor (nasi goreng). However, the view pretty much made up for the 1 hour plus drive. I could only imagine when you could see Merapi stands majestically in front of you on a beautiful day.
Mount Merapi is just right there... behind those clouds 😬
This one just popped out of the paddy field
Taking center stage
It's there!
Nasgor sapi (beef fried rice)
A volcanic rock from the 2010 Merapi eruption taken from a "street between Yogyakarta and Magelang".
On the way back to our hotel, we dropped by Filosofi Kopi for a cuppa. Apparently it got its name from an Indonesian movie that bears the same title. While I haven't seen it, I love the nice ngopi ambience.
Latte
Everyone had to take refuge from the slight drizzle
Later that evening, guess what, we found ourselves back in Malioboro. LOL! We came back to check out Mirota Batik which is near Pasar Beringharjo. When we were here last night at 8:50pm, the store was closing. So tonight we hopped on a becak to get to there in no time.
A tight squeeze :D
We're here,,, for Hamza/Mirota Batik, Hehehe
Raminten
We were feeling slightly hungry, but I had to turn down my friend's suggestion to try out lesehan. I didn't trust my sensitive stomach :D. In the end, we ordered martabak telur and bakmi jawa from GrabFood when we got back to our room.
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