Backdate: Yogyakarta & Dieng trip Apr 2018 Day 1

9/4/18 Mon: WL, Jess and I went on a trip to Yogyakarta since our discussion from a year ago I think!? Bought SilkAir return tix for S$207.9 per person, and it was a 2 hours and 10 minutes flight in SilkAir's MI 152 to Jogja's Adisucipto International airport from Singapore, with meal on-board. *Also got the MSIG TravelEasy Elite travel insurance for S$29.5 each, and I changed S$600 into IDR (rate was S$1 : IDR 10400) for spending.*
We found Atok's driver package via Jess's friend's referral, and I emailed him places we wanted to visit, and he'd arranged them to fit into our 7-days program, and quoted us prices per day. *All in all, each person paid him about IDR 1,303,400 (S$125) for the whole trip.* The driver, Adit (he's younger than all of us) was waiting for us upon arrival, and he drove us to a small shop nearby to get our SIM cards from Telkomsel.

The sun was scorching! Adit helped us to buy the tickets into this UNESCO World Heritage site: Prambanam Hindu temple, that costed IDR 1000K for three tourists.

The original temple complex had more than 250 temples, and the highest in height was at 47m (Shiva temple). However, there was a major earthquake in the 16th century (and I think recently too) which led to the collapse and further collapse of some of the temples, and we still see the remains and ruins of what is left today.

The Roro Jonggrang temples had carvings and decorations on the walls depicting the gods and the Brahmins's receipts. We also saw the god statues of Trimurti Temples (main shrines) dedicated to three Gods: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the Keeper and Shiva the Destroyer.

We took shelter in the temples while taking photos, and it was cooling inside the dark shrines. *WL and his Elmo tsk~* Oh and there was this earthquake monument at one side that has a fallen ratna due to a 5.9 magnitude earthquake that stroked Yogyakarta on 27 May 2006. We visited other smaller temples around, and in the end decided to cycle to Candi Sewu (another side of the big park) to see the temples there as well.

WL and I rented a tandem bike, while Jess followed us around. *The sun was vicious, and even with sunblocks on, we were burnt!*

Yes we saw a deer cage, horses for leisure riding, and trams going around the park too. Rested for a while and we got hungry, so Adit drove us to a nearby eatery, parked right behind a padi field for lunch.

Nothing fancy, just Bebek Goreng (IDR 40K), Ikan Asma (IDR 75K), Capcay (IDR 30K), Nasi Goreng (IDR 30K) and es Coklat (IDR 25K) that costed us IDR 220K (includes 10% service charge). Then, we got to Tebing Breksi, a rather famous tourist spot for the insta-worthy views. There was a big "hanging chair" that lifts you up into mid-air, but nope I didn't take that haha.

WL and Jess were both fairer than me, so the sun-kissed marks were more obvious on their arms than mine. We walked up the stairs wanting to see more sceneries, and came across owls that we could touch for free. The owls were rather heavy no joke neh~ but it was fun being close-up to it. *Jess was terrified!*

Indeed, there were photo spots on the top, and a few which allows for Mt Merapi to be in the frame too. The sky was a bit dark though.

By the time we left and reached the dining restaurant Abhayagiri, which was said to have awesome sunset, it began to pour heavily! No picturesque sunset for us, and dining wasn't cheap either. We merely ordered Goreng Pisang, Merapi Mont Blanc, hot tea and Plataran bells (can't even recall what this is already~) for hi-tea, and the bill amounted to IDR 196,800. 

Goreng Pisang was fine, but the mont blanc? 不敢恭维. I don't know if it's a rule that Atok's agency have, but Adit didn't have any meals with us (except for once) throughout the whole trip; he would be smoking or hanging around with other guides while waiting for us to finish our meals or complete our activities. After that, he drove us to Yabbiekayu Homestay, where we checked-in into our Airbnb Bungalow 2 homestay for one night. (S$107.68 for 3 pax)

It was pretty dark at night while walking into our bungalow (rustic and "Bali feel"), which was one of the further ones away from the main entrance, but I enjoyed listening to the sound of crickets lol~ found it peaceful somewhat. Jess and I shared the double bed, while WL had a single one to himself. The toilet and shower was outside, and yes we saw millipedes (can't remember but hopefully no centipedes!) on the wall and grounds while showering... oh the down side to "being close to nature" sometimes. *The lights they had were so dim that we had to use our own handphone's light to brighten up the area while showering.*
After that, we decided to have dinner at Yabbiekayu itself. I had Mushroom Tongseng (IDR 60K, which was so spicy I'd regretted very much!), and the two ordered Grilled chicken marinated in some sauce (IDR 85K) and Ayaro rica bakan (IDR 75K, not too sure about the spelling as the waiter's handwriting on the receipt was not very legible either.)

There's a 10% tax, so the total bill came up to IDR 242K. 3 of us chit-chatted at night, had some ciders I think, wanting to know more about WL's relationship with WS lol, but he wouldn't spill the beans as usual~ tsk.