Final week in Indonesia!

Yah, I've been slack with this baby I know.. but life is like that here in Indonesia.. laid back.. no priorities.. lots of rest and relaxation.. I can honestly say my level of desire to do much right now is minimal.. perhaps because I know in one month I am back to reality and back to Australia and begrudgingly back to work! February the 5th feels like a while ago but my first impressions and tastes of Jogja are still strong.. though what I know and feel of this place now is comforting, I do miss that thrill of arriving to a new destination and navigating through new streets, finding new places to eat, trying new cuisine, meeting new people.. However since we have relocated in Jogja for the last 3 weeks, we have found many new places to eat and hang out. In Feb you would still have to twist my arm to get me to eat out of the street vendor's little kitchen on wheels.. now, I am not so fussy and wow the food is delicious! How I will miss yellow rice with peanuts, fried egg, cabbage and sambal for breakfast. I crave the stuff.. It is an over generous serving and only 5000rupiah.. just over 50 cents. And just as good if not better than some food you'd find here in restaurants. The ease of getting your breakfast 'dibungkus' (take away) wrapped in a bamboo leaf and paper I will miss. It is beautifully presented every time you open your parcel once you get home. The call to prayer is somewhat of a staple of every day life here. I enjoy it more now that we don't live next to a mosque and enjoy the sounds resonating through the air, especially in the evenings. I will miss the magnificent views of Mt Merapi.. The guilty indulgence of getting a western meal a few times a week.. The freedom of the scooter.. the crazy chaotic roads... the friendliness of the people.. karaoke.. even at times I think i'll miss sticking out of the crowd, though many  times I have only wanted the opposite! I will miss the amazingly abundant amount of street art on every corner. Jogjakarta is a very characteristic, friendly and yes chaotic place to be but once you get your head around this place it is incredibly charming and easy going.
We had an adventure to West Java to a beach called Batu Karas, a reknown surfing beach. Though we cannot surf we spent a very fun couple of days relaxing by the water, body boarding and enjoying the rural countryside of Java. We visited the Green Canyon, a river that is enveloped by lush ferns & trees, the river is incredibly green. Unfortunately for us, the weather was too cool for us to swim (we have acclimatised!- the Indonesians who always complain about the cold were in the water and we refused!)We got on the back of a motorbike (ojek) to get to the nearest bus station and rode over a bamboo bridge overhanging the river- a blue sky, 630am morning sunlight, the green river and a mist rising over the water made for a breathtaking sight!The beauty is priceless and well worth the 16 hour round way trip.
I'm not sure what is on the cards for this week. I'm yet to make my way to Borobodor.. Should do it. Then we are off via Jakarta to KL to reach Phuket! A week of Thailand, 2 weeks of Vietnam..

 A favourite view of mine of part of Jogjakarta

Heading west

Batu Karas, West Java

Kembali ke Jogjakarta!

Back to it!
I recommenced traveling last Saturday, the 28th of May, after returning home for ten days to spend with family and attend the funeral of my uncle. Suddenly halting the SE asian travels was quite odd. I went from the 'organised' chaos, distinctive smells, warm to hot & humid weather, incredible traffic, motorcycles, litter, abundant greeenery, rice paddies, road side stalls and listening to a foreign tongue every day to a clean, quiet and well organised city where the weather had turned wintery. That said it was pleasurable to drink water from the tap, eat a bucketload of veggies & beans & not have to face the daily challenge of asking for no meat in my food and to see family was nice too, though in sad circumstances. Oh, and I managed to rest and get over my gastric illness that kept me bedridden in Phnom Penh. Will definitely get back to Cambodia another day.
Singapore was so clean, the weather was warm, the days weren't hampered by rain, the architecture really impressed me. I had no expectations but what I saw was nothing like what I could have imagined. I am used to the gritty SE Asia. Singapore, for the most part, never revealed itself to me in that way. Even when I stayed in little India, well sure it became a bit more hectic.. Perhaps this is just what I am used to now.
Singapore definitely showed itself to me to be a great, lively city to party in. The price however is not so nice. The Singapore dollar is not far away from the Australian dollar and this makes for an expensive night out. Transport was fair, well priced and easy to use. The consumerism in that city is over abundant and it is quite hard to think just a 2 hour flight is the poverty of Cambodia and so on. Designer labels, i-pods, i-pads, shopping malls beyond ridiculous, a casino where in you had to pay 100 Singapore dollars to get in. An extravagance I had never experienced yet myself in Asia.. although this ridiculous amount of consumerism & desire to have material possessions is not my thing, it was a great city to see.  And I can hardly talk, as I was treated to some of the finer things in life, such as a vintage 2002 bottle of Dom Perignon.. To think how hard and long people in the other cities I've been traveling through and living in would have to work to make that much money.. and I just drank it down. My usual feeling of guilt accompanied the drink but it was surely a memorable experience. And I didn't pay for it. I never could.

My only tip would be if you go to Singapore and head up to the new sky park, where the views are magnificent and the pool will blow your mind (though you cannot swim there unless you are staying in the hotel, you can still be voyeuristic and watch others swimming) and the views through dusk until night are incredible, do not pay for the observation deck. It costs $20 to get up to the deck. However if you head to the bar & restaurant there you will get exceptional service and the prices aren't too ridiculous given your prime view. Just head straight up to the bar, we ordered a  caraf of sangria for $38 (got at least 2 and  half drinks each) and a gourmet pizza for $22. Definitely do not need to visit the observation deck. because your view from the bar is beautiful enough. Plus to be honest once you're up there you could walk to the deck anyway, they only check your tickets to go up to the deck and from there it's all open space. The beauty of hindsight would have saved me $20.

So now I'm back in Jogjakarta. Where I managed to surprise my man by arriving earlier than he was expected. Caught him completely unawares and it was great fun to do!
Life back here didn't take too long to get used to. The language is coming back each day. The people here are so friendly. I've met up with old friends I had made in February & March, it's been great to see them again. Ventured up to the camp that my man has been living in and working in for the 2 months I spent traveling, it was a great community and I know he had a great time getting to know people up there. I loved being able to see where he had spent his time and meet his new friends. The rural countryside is just beautiful.
I will write more about Jogja later.

3 more weeks here until we leave for Thailand & Vietnam.