After our Cambodian invasion last year, we decided to make this trip a yearly event which consist of countries from South East Asia (have to keep budget low to pay for PTPTN XD ). To make matters more interesting, Ai Ling suggested to make it a point to visit those places listed in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Having heard about Borobudur so many times from our guide in Siem Reap, Si Ya, we KIV-ed Jogjakarta until the right time came. The right time was when AirAsia had their crazy ZERO SALES and a quick check on Jogjakarta showed that it will cost us only RM 54 to go there. We all made our reservations without any hesitation.

Later on Bali was added into the plan and towards the end, Jakarta too forced it’s way in.

Over the months, Angeline and I plotted all POIs (Point Of Interests) for each stop we were making and in this case it’s the town of Jogjakarta aka Yogyakarta. Initially there were more points but due to time constraint only a few made the cut.

The day finally came and the trip started with the Penangites flying to KL the night before as there had been a major time rescheduling by AirAsia.

That forced us to be there a night before so that we can make it for our 7am flight. A lot of passengers did lodge complaints but as for me, the ticket was only RM 54. I had nothing to complain and i just readjusted accordingly but then again not everyone has the luxury of readjusting.

Which brings me to the point of having the advantage of staying near LCCT. Over the last few months, i had been traveling up and down to LCCT because of the 4 rescheduling AirAsia announced. Lucky enough, i managed to find the right combination for all 14 of us. Some from Penang, some from KL, some from Singapore.

The day finally came and first up were the Penangites which consisted of Ai Ling, Emily, Lasker, Elise, Angeline and yours truly. We arrived at LCCT close to midnight and the ordeal began. We had to wait for 5hours until we can check in. One by one the KLites appeared.

Some of us were so tired that the floor was good enough to become our temporary bed.

Pure back packing style, hahaha.

When the time came to check in, we used the autochecking machines and simply dropped our baggage at the service counters. That definitely eliminated the time of lining up.

For our first leg of the trip, Jogjakarta and Jakarta, there were 10 pax: Ai Ling, Emily, Lasker, Elise, William, David, Aaron, Daniel, Angeline and me.

As far as i can remember, it took me less than 10 minutes to be in dreamland once i was on the plane. Waiting seven hours and forgoing my sleep was a real torture. I am pretty sure the other nine dozed off fast once we were airborne.

Being all excited, i actually woke up 15mins later

After 2 hours, we finally arrived at Adisucipto International Airport. Jogja’s timezone is +7 thus being one hour behind of Malaysian time (+8). From the research Angeline and i have done, we walked out of the arrival hall confidently in-search of transportation. Unlike our accommodation, both of us decided to get a mini bus or a large van on the spot. After bargaining for a few minutes, the lady at the counter eventually reached our asking price.

The van came after half an hour and we adjourned to our accommodation.

There were so many places where one could stay and after looking at our overall budget, i decided to minimize our spending in Jogjakarta as well as Jakarta and keep it for Bali. The place i got is called Delta Homestay. I showed Angeline the photos before confirming the booking and she was impressed. But let me tell you that it looked even better when we arrived.

After a quick wash up, we were off to Borobudur. The journey to Borobudur was about 45minutes.

In general looks something like Siem Reap, having all modern facilities, proper roads, fast food, etc. Why am i pointing out this ? Well that’s because someone decided to challenge herself this time around by asking if its possible to get DSLR accessories in Jogjakarta. Just when she thought she has proven that it’s close to impossible, i showed her on googlemaps that there are camerashops.

I know this sounds weird but there’s a reason to it. Even Aaron (above) must be wondering WTFish am i talking about, lol.

We were brought to the nearest camera shop to seek for a Nikon D60 battery. Because Angeline left it back in Penang. So what do we learn from this ? If you did leave anything behind, whether on purpose or not, fear not cause the chances of you getting a replacement in Jogjakarta is very high. Hahaha.

… and the price is reasonable

Equipped with a spanking new battery, Angeline just couldn’t stop grinning when her D60 gave the first ‘chkkchakkkk’ sound on Indonesian soil.

We then walked to a nearby handphone shop and all of us got ourselves a local number. The operator we took was XL which is under the same parent company as Celcom if i am not mistaken.

Ai Ling was presented with a free number by me for being a prompt payer. She has always been the first to pay up for anything and that has always made it easier for me to do the planning for the trip.

We stopped for lunch on the way but i wasn’t too happy as i requested for something cheap and local. Instead we were brought to this gorgeous makan place in the sawah padi and the price were close to Malaysian price. Nevertheless we ate heavily as that was our first meal in Jogjakarta. The service was excellent and so was the bill T.T

After stopping for 40 odd minutes, we finally left for Borobudur.

… to be continued