Memories on My shoestring : Yogyakarta & Surabaya : Part 6

19082012 - Happy Eid Mubarak! I was keen to see what activities they have in Jogja. I am very sure it would be very much different than Malaysia's. Last year, during Eid Mubarak, I was in Chengdu for my trip to Tibet and Nepal. I digress.

First, we went to have breakfast at the 5th floor, but not before we paid a visit to the rooftop.

There is a small swimming pool. Only kids can swim. Adults only have space to dip their legs!

Like the cushion colours! The customers can opt to have their breakfast outside.

For breakfast, the Hostel prepared ketupat (made from rice that has been wrapped in a woven palm leaf pouch and boiled. As the rice cooks, the grains expand to fill the pouch and the rice becomes compressed). Here, the palm leaf has been removed, and the rice is served.

Breakfast - ketupat, egg, vegetable, sambal (chili paste), chicken curry, and keropok (crackers).

After breakfast, we went downstairs. This is a mural at the ground floor. Also, wireless network was only available at the ground floor.

There is a map painted on the wall of the Hostel. Today, we are going to the Sultan Palace which is also known as Kraton. It reminded me of the Kraken in Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Haha!

After snapping the interior of the hostel, we made our move towards the Kraton. It was supposed to be an 18-minute walk but we reached there in about 15 minutes, and this was also because we stopped to snap photos too. The roads were quiet on the first day of Eid Mubarak. The shops were closed. The public Trans Jogja bus was not in sight. Even the bus stop for Trans Jogja was closed as in the shutters were pulled down.

A signage that states the do's and don't's during the fasting month (Muslims fast for a month before celebrating Eid Mubarak).

1) Be generous with your smiles
2) Restrain anger
3) Always happy
4) Fasting = Heaven
5) Not related of the opposite sex to keep a distance
6) Month of care
7) Prayers must be followed
8) Restrain hunger
9) Stop immoral conducts

After about a 10 minute walk, we could see the gate towards the Kraton.

There was a crowd in front of the Kraton.

The Kraton has 85,000 soldiers and they are lining up for a ceremony. The soldiers wore different colours and has names for their groups. Each group has their own flag, costumes, heirloom, musical instrument and weapons.

I asked this man what was going on. He explained and I tried to understand as best as I can - A ceremony to bring out the 'gunungan' is taking place soon. Gunungan = a triangular shape made from vegetables and rice (by the Palace) that will be carried to the Mosque and then the people will take the vegetables.

This ceremony happens 3 times a year - Eid Mubarak, Hari Raya Korban (Eid al-Adha = Festival of Sacrifice), Maulidur Rasul (The birth of the Prophet).

Here comes the 'gunungan'.

The guards fired their guns and the horses tried to run.

Procession heading towards the Mosque. It was very near to the Palace.

The look-alike buns are rice cooked in brown sugar. The below greens are long beans and chili. I am not sure what is at the top. Prayers were being read at the Mosque.

Once the prayers were finished which was in about 5 minutes, someone jumped towards the top of the 'gunungan' and pulled out the vegetables, and was scattered to the ground. Everyone was rushing to get a part of the 'gunungan'.

This person got some long beans and rice. It was believed that anyone who obtained a part of the 'gunungan' will have good fortune / income (rezeki) for the rest of the life.

The look alike bun = rice cooked in brown sugar.

The Kraton was closed for the day. There are only 2 districts in Indonesia that has a reigning royalty - Yogyakarta and Acheh. Hence, they are known as Special District.

Then, a staff from the Kraton recommended us to visit the Sultan's School of Batik. Walked through this lane which was in about 80 meters away from the Kraton to enter into a small house.

Equipment to paint batik.

This is the teacher of the Batik School, Pak Iman. He painted that picture of Ramayana and Sita. It was painted on silk cloth. He explained that the current Sultan is associated with the picture because he has 1 wife, whereas the previous Sultans have many wives.

The photos of the Sultan in Yogyakarta. The photo of the Sultan started from the 4th Sultan. The first 3 did not take photos as it was believed the life span will be shortened.

The below are batik paintings produced by the School.

The top 3 paintings done by the teacher. If I am not mistaken, the bigger paintings are being sold for Rp1,000,000 each. I noticed that the teacher painted colourful pictures and is daring with his colours.

Then, we were on our way to visit Tamansari (the Water Palace where the royalty bathed). There were lovely murals along the way. We reached the place after walking for about 1km.

The entrance to Tamansari. Entrance fee is Rp7,000 per person.

The water in the pool was at very low level.

Then, we took a trishaw back to Malioboro Street.

Back at Malioboro Street, we looked for food. The streets were not so busy. Most of the stores were not open. For lunch, we had gado-gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce) and fried noodles.

Thankfully, the place we wanted to go was open. It was Beringharjo Market. Only the first floor was open, which was a floor full of batik sellers. Pants, skirts, dresses, bags made from batik. Also, make sure to bargain to get a good price.

Saw an interesting looking delicacy. This is jadah bakar = made from rice and desiccated coconut. We bought 3 for Rp5,000.

Then, we saw otak-otak (fish paste)! We wanted to try how good the otak-otak is in Jogja, as my hometown is famous for otak-otak too! We bought 2 for Rp4,000.

Otak-otak with peanut sauce. The otak-otak is white in colour as no chili paste was mixed inside. Back at my hometown, our otak-otak is red in colour because of the chili. It is not that spicy, well, not to me. So, the verdict was the otak-otak is delicious! Very much similar to the one sold in my hometown!