Batanes

Sabtang, Batanes

Indonesia - Taman Safari

Jakarta, Indonesia
December 12, 2008

Taman Safari is around 2-3 hours by car from the city of Jakarta. It's a very large and impressive complex. You really do need a car to get around the place.

There's the safari section where you can drive your own car, roll down your windows and feed the animals. There are lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, hippos, monkeys and lots of other animals in this area. After the safari car tour, there are still lots of areas to visit. There's the baby petting area, where you can pay the equivalent of 50 pesos to have a photo op with some sedated wild animals. There's an aviary, a reptile area which features some crocs, snakes, and komodo dragons, an elephant riding area, a penguins section, monkeys-swinging-around section, etc. There's also a cowboy-and-indians live show (in Bahasa Indonesia) that you shouldn't miss..

Best for: kids, and wide-eyed adults who think like kids.
Other pictures: View Dudong's site.

Indonesia - Borobodur and Mendi Temples

Jogjakarta & Jakarta, Indonesia
December 6-13, 2008

Candi Mendut is a Buddhist temple located 3kms from Borobodur Temple. I really liked this temple -- for some reason I felt really calm when I saw the big statue inside (There are 3 big statues inside the temple). There's also big tree just outside the temple with overhang roots where you can swing ala-Tarzan.

Candi Borobodur is another impressive Buddhist monument located 40kms from Yogyakarta. The temple was buried under volcanic ash and jungle growth for several centuries -- volcanic Mount Merapi lies just over the horizon. The last 2 layers of the temple are still buried underground. The restoration work is impressive though, and while we were there, there were workers pounding cement stones to recreate the old brick stone look of the temple walls.

*Note that Yogyakarta is around 12 hours by car away from the city of Jakarta. Borobodur can usually be visited as a daytrip from Yogya.

Jogjakarta - Day 2 - The Sultan's Palace

Jogjakarta & Jakarta, Indonesia
December 6 - 13, 2008

The Sultan Palaces had an underground tunnel that led to a prayer area for Muslims. The ruins of the Sultan's Palace exist side by side with everyday life -- you can see ordinary houses erected using the old palace as walls. Nearby is the old swimming area for the Sultan and his concubines -- Taman Sari. Around the area are also some art shops. Yogyakarta seems to have a vibrant art vibe -- even the graffiti around the city impresses!

For dinner, we ate at Cafe Via Via (Jalan Prawirotaman 30, Yogyakarta), a cafe that caters to the western budget traveller. Jalan Prawirotaman is filled with several hostels and guest houses -- a good place to start looking for budget accommodation in Yogyakarta.

Jogjakarta - Day 1 - Prambanan

Jogjakarta & Jakarta, Indonesia
December 6-13

The Long Intro

This is a trip that had been booked way before. When the date came nearer however, due to some misguided work plans, I had already spent several days/hours in researching possible booking, rebooking and entry options. The day before, those work plans didn't push through, so I had to cancel and ask for a refund for one of my rebooked flights. At this point, the plan was for me to just stay with the original flight schedules. But NOOOO! On the day itself (Friday), EDSA decided to have a hugh traffic jam, and Bok and I got left behind by the plane. Like those scenes in the Amazing Race, we tried to beg them to let us in the plane, but unfortunately, the answer was N-O.

Since Cebu Pacific didn't have daily Manila-Jakarta flights, we eventually had to:

• Book a next-day (Saturday night) Cebu Pacific flight to Kuala Lumpur, where we would need to spend the night...


• Book an Air Asia flight from KL to Jogjakarta (Sunday afternoon), where we would meet up with our Sunlife friends

The Pit Stop, Finally

Bok and I arrived at the Jogjakarta (Yogyakarta) airport, where I realized that really, Philippine domestic airports are heaven compared to the chaos here. Aside from the language barrier (no one spoke English), the luggage conveyer belt was a textbook case of "How Not to Build a Luggage Conveyer Belt". Or maybe "The Idiot's Guide to the Luggage Conveyer Belt". Really, the manual system of porters carrying the bags from the plane into the airport terminal is more efficient.

Bok and I finally joined up with the RLimpics gang on Sunday afternoon. They had already driven from Jakarta to Semarang and to Yogjakarta. Richard picked us up at the Yogya airport, and from then on, it was smooth sailing.

Looking back though, I think I did a pretty good job of appeasing Bok, shielding him from the initial hassles and making sure we only had pleasant memories of the trip. Haha.

Day 1 Highlights

• The Entrance Fee Fiasco at Prambanan (The temples are not as grand as the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia, but it is the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia. They do charge different entrance fees for foreigners and locals however.)
  
• Dinner at Gadjah Wong (Jl Gejayan no 79 D - Great ambience, yummy food)

For other pics, check out Dudong's site as well.