Solo-Yogjakarta Trip - Part 1

It was a spontaneous decision, my parents have asked me before to follow them to Solo, but due to work commitment I haven't been able to confirm with them. With only 3 weeks to go, I decided that it might be a good break to join them on this trip. The purpose was for me to get to know my relations there, as I'm the only one who haven't visited them as the rest of my siblings had done the trip.

Day 1 - Solo

The trip started with an early flight from LCCT direct to Solo. The 'Now Everyone Can Fly' airline does only 1 flight per day. Somehow the night before I had an overdose of caffeine, so I couldn't get a wink of sleep until the designated time of wake up at 3.30.

Pics above taken at the Antique Market, Solo.

At the Kraton Mangkunagaran, Solo.

Traditional Javanese Joglo Architecture

Picture of the Javanse Royal Family - pinjam kerusi je....

Gamelan at Kratan Mangkunagaran Solo

Aiman & The Lion Guardian of the Kraton
Lesehan - Pecal lele, burung dara goreng, gudeg, gurame bakar...sadly no bebek goreng

After 'muter-muter' session in Solo, we headed straight to Yogjakarta which is about 2 hours drive away. Arrived at the designated hotel only to find out that the travel agency had somehow f***ed up the accommodation arrangement, instead of a break in between, they have booked consecutive nights in Solo, hence our arrangment to spend the night in kampong has to be changed.

Day 2 - Kutoarjo (kampung )

My grandfather had three wives, the first one passed away leaving him a son, he couldn't stand the second one (also a son) so he left for Singapore, worked in Johore, then came up to KL and met my grandmother and had 7 offspring, which my dad is the eldest.

The son from the first wive had passed away, but his offspring lives in Jakarta. The son from the second wife lives in Kutoarjo, about 2 hours drive away from Yogjakarta.

Paddy fields along the way

Weighing scale used in Indonesia - these were the norm in Malaysia about 20 years ago

Tempe - staple food of the Javanese

My cousins - Mas Tegu & Mas Aris

The Clan
My dad & his step brother
Enjoying a moment on a beca
Your friendly bakso keliling man - the arrival of the tamu from Malaysia might have made his day or week, where he sold 22 bowls of bakso in one sitting

The whole clan

Power rangers - it's an eye opener to see the kids play, even though there's a language barrier, they managed to get along nicely with using action and gestures - a truly universal language

The trip have been an eye opener for me. From my point of view, their houses are all made of bricks with roof tiles / atap genting, where in our standard it was rumah mewah, but to them it is the norm and most basic of houses. They have to do loads of works for a meager return just to ensure their survival. Most of my cousins are on KB (Keluarga Berencana) where every family is limited to 2 offsprings, also due to the fact that they cant afford to have more than that. I wish that we could have spent the night in kampong, just to soak in the atmosphere. My cousins did say that they wanted to visit Malaysia, but the process of getting their passport would cost them almost half of their monthly income, this is due to the presence on calo (middle man) with their commisison in between (the cost of renewal in Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia in only Rm25)

Will continue in part 2....