Filtered twice thrice, and I still have a hundred and three ninety nine photos for this entry!
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The day started very early. We got up, had breakfast, and the mini van came to pick us up at 9am/ 8am their time.
Today's plan was to visit the Borobudur Temple.
Padi fields on outskirts of the city. And they have dragon fruits, tobacco, sugar cane, banana, papaya, cocoa, etc
Stopped along the river to take pictures. Idk why too -.-"
Where X = ster, lsea, ryl.
Cocoa, to make chocolate.
We finally reached the Borobudur. And we took a tram up to the temple.
Borobudur Temple from afar.
Found a picture online, of the bird's eye view of the temple.
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The day started very early. We got up, had breakfast, and the mini van came to pick us up at 9am/ 8am their time.
Today's plan was to visit the Borobudur Temple.
Padi fields on outskirts of the city. And they have dragon fruits, tobacco, sugar cane, banana, papaya, cocoa, etc
Stopped along the river to take pictures. Idk why too -.-"
Where X = ster, lsea, ryl.
Cocoa, to make chocolate.
We finally reached the Borobudur. And we took a tram up to the temple.
Borobudur Temple from afar.
Found a picture online, of the bird's eye view of the temple.
The complex of the Borobudur Temple is among the greatest and The Borobudur Templeamazing monuments that we have in the world today. The age of the temple is not yet discerned but there are assumptions that it was built between the seventh and eight-century A.D. The temple is actually a Mahayana Buddhist Monument situated in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.
Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. - wiki
You wouldn't be impressed until you've been there yourself. It's pretty much like the acient temples we visited in Cambodia. You have to know that these temples were built in the 8th or 9th century, which is like a thousand years ago. There were no machinery then. Every piece is put together by man power.
Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. It was only in 1835 that the whole complex was finally unearthed.
The first photograph of Borobudur by Isidore van Kinsbergen (1873) after the monument was cleaned up.
See how magnificent it is! And can you spot our parents...
This is the stupa, and there's a status in each of them.There are 72 openwork stupas that encircle around the circular platform of the temple. Each stupa has a statue of Buddha in it. The whole structure is built on a hill and is made of 55,000 square meters of lava rock.
As you can see, every thing looks brand new. That's because it's been restored.
Right: Cheryl with the giant stupa at the top.
And each level, they have an opened stupa for us to see the status inside. There's one in every stupa.
Right: I wanted to take a pic of the statue, and Cheryl's head popped up!
The most interesting part is that the whole temple was built without mortar. Knobs, indentations and dovetails were used to form joints between stones.
Reliefs on the walls...
We were arguing about this....
Please feel free to comment and tell me, what is this??
Daddy telling stories again...
They meant no vandalizing, but Cheryl refused to let me scratch myself -.-" I was itching all over thanks to the hot weather.
These are the pieces the had to puzzle them together.
Waiting area... where we were given drinks.
Next we drove by Candi Pawon and Candi Mendut. We didn't stop as it wasn't as impressive as the Borodudur, plus we had to pay to enter each of these places. But turns out, after reading wiki, it's quite interesting after all!
During the restoration in the early 1900s, it was discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region, Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut, are lined in one straight line position. It might be accidental, but the temples' alignment is in conjunction with a native folk tale that a long time ago, there was a brick-paved road from Borobudur to Mendut with walls on both sides. The three temples (Borobudur–Pawon–Mendut) have similar architecture and ornamentation derived from the same time period, which suggests that ritual relationship between the three temples, in order to have formed a sacred unity, must have existed, although exact ritual process is yet unknown. - wiki
Next stop is the Mount Merapi.
The last time it erupted was in 2006. But because it just rained, the sky was still cloudy and we couldn't see the volcano!!!! And we didn't have a tour guide or anything. So we were looking around aimlessly...Of the 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, Merapi is the most active, and has had at least twelve eruptions that killed people. The name Merapi means "Mountain of Fire". The volcano is considered sacred and every year a priest climbs to the top to make an offering.
High 2968 meters, it is located 25 km north of Yogyakarta.
The mountain erupts about once every 5.5 years and has killed as many as 1,600 people in 26 eruptions since 1930.
Until, the sky cleared a bit, and Cheryl spotted the Mountain of Fire.
ERUPTION of Monday 15th of May 2006
The volcano was sleeping soundly the day we visited.
Bumpy road...
Then, we went to the Prambanan temple.
Heheh... spot Cheryl.
Short cuts to restore the place -.-"
Took a short walk, and ended up at Lumbung temple.
We couldn't walk to the Sewu temple cause it's toooooo far away, and it was starting to rain.
Deer deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers...
Typical deer in the headlight look.
And one of them started walking towards us!!
Prambanan from a distance.
And guess what, it started raining cats and dogs! And we were all drenched.
The driver drove us to where we were supposed to see the sun set. It's at a palace I think. But the entrance fees was quite dear, and we won't be able to see any sun, obviously since it's raining -.-" so we left.
I'm not being ambitious, but this is the picture I found online of the sunset that we were supposed to catch at the Ratu Boko Temple.
Oh well. We missed the sunset at Cambodia too =(
Anw, we had super late lunch/early dinner at a shop along the way back to the city. It was 6+pm by then.
After walking in the sun for two days, I'm burnt!
Kor too... especially his forehead. Hahha!! Bangs ftw.
I wanted to go shopping at the mall we drove pass the night before. But we had no idea where is it, or what's it called. The driver drove towards Malioboro , and we managed to find the mall. It's called Galeria. FYI there's like only three or four malls in Jogja -.-
Four of us went shopping, while Kor went back to the hotel. In fact, only the three of us. Daddy waited at the coffee house.
We went Matahari, which is Indonesia's departmental store. And bought lots of bras. And Cheryl and I managed to get swimming costumes. We totally forgot to bring even thought I've did some research long ago, and found out that the hotel had a pretty swimming pool!
We spent a million bucks!!
Hehehe!!
Went to the coffeehouse to look for Daddy. And we had drinks.
Their bus stops are very atas. It's like a small room with chairs. You don't have to worry if it rains!
We usually shop for bras in Indonesia cause it's so much cuter and it's cheaper too!
This time, Cheryl and I bought lots of lacy ones. Polka dots and bows are for when we feel like acting cute. Hahaha!! And laces are when we feel sexy~~
Cheryl's on the left, and mines on the right....
Yup!! And Maybelline's mascara is cheaper there + they were having 50% off for the pink one. I've tried it in sg. So I thought why not buy more since i'll use them. And I bought compact at a cheaper price too.
I'm using L'Oreal's compact now. It's 30sgd at Watsons. But I bought it for 20 cause it's on sales too.
I don't like the Za one that I bought. Only got it cause of it's limited edition PINK cover.
More photos on facebook.
