Borobudur, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

"License" to enter

So...what is Borobudur? As the ticket rightfully says - the BIGGEST Buddhist Temple in the world. Wikipedia describes it best :

Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.^[1] A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues each of which is seated inside a perforated stupa. It is the world’s largest Buddhist temple,^[2][3] as well as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. 

To know more, click Borobudur

I have been wanting to visit this world heritage place for sometime now but it has always been shelved when other places of interest pops up. Finally, we made it! On Nov 29, we step foot into Borobudur. It was built in 750A.D using architecture of India. The architect's name was Gunadharma.

We chartered a car for our day's tour. We intend to visit all key places within a day and leave the next day free and easy to tour the town. 

Yogyakarta township

Enroute to Borobudur 

Our transporter bought the tickets for us

It was hot yet drizzling, hence the cap & umbrella

Majestic and so inviting. Yet I felt at peace.

Do's & Don't!!!

As we did not have any tour guide, we went at our own pace and saw what needed to be seen and took some photos to remind us. 

Here at Borobudur, every wall tells a story. If I were to read and understand each and every wall...well, I would have been a historian and not a blogger. Hehehehehe....

The drizzle made it cooling to walk around but had to be careful as the floors were wet and staircases a tad tricky to climb. Some had railings while others do not. So, do hold on to the walls as you climb, just to be safe.

Below are some pictures which I thought was good to share. Enjoy ya.

Such precision even back in 750A.D.

Peek-a-boo.....the chinese will say good "Feng Shui". 

The stupors...

I just had to do it. Felt great.

After seeing my feat, quite a handful of visitors imitated my move. Copy cats!!!. Rocker57 asked me to act my age....oh well, let's just say I never left Neverland and that Peter Pan comes to visit once awhile. What can I say??? I am a lunatic?? Naaaah...just living my life and enjoying what I can when I still can.

But you have to admit it right? At 51, I am ok, right? No? Shhhh....keep your thoughts to yourself ok? Wakakakaaka....

On the way out, most of the souvenir shops were closed as we were early.

Seriously if you were to ask me, was Borobudur mesmerising, enchanting or captivating? Well, it didn't move me like when I first saw the Coliseum in Rome back in 2009. That sent goose pimples all over me. This monument somehow was just normal. Perhaps it could be because I've seen just too many in recent years. 

Don't let me influence you. Why not you go there and check it out for yourself? Perhaps, it may give you goose pimples...who knows?

Like all the places we visited, we bought a miniature stupor for our travel collection.

Borobudur gets a tick in my bucket list. How about you? If you have not visited, plan it now. And if you have trouble finding accommodations, why not try Grand Aston Yogyakarta Hotel.

Catch my next jottings on Prambanan Temple & Mendut as well as some food we ate. Until then....

Live to ride, Ride to live. Vrrroooooom!!! 

Grand Aston Yogyakarta Hotel, Indonesia

Picture credit to the hotel's webpage

Rocker 57 and I stayed here from 28 Nov - 1 Dec 2013. We were visiting Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Jaya, Indonesia. More about our Borobudur trip in the next blog.

For more information on Borobudur, click here

Following our Phuket stay at the Ayara Hilltops Boutique Resort & Spa in late August 2013, this 5 star hotel is also worth a special mention. Why? Simply because the entire hotel is smoke free and provides excellent hospitality, similar to that of Ayara.  Smokers caught smoking in the premises will be asked to pay a substantial amount of fine.

Blogger & Rocker57 at entrance to Grand Aston.

We were pampered from the time we set foot into the hotel. Immediately upon arrival, we were given refreshments and attended to promptly.

The room was spacious, warm and cozy.

We ate most of our meals in the hotel as we weren't so comfortable with what we saw outside of the hotel.

We particularly liked the special touch added to the hotel. Four swings just outside the hotel's coffee house cum restaurant and a cosy corner.

Cosy corner where Rocker57 & I enjoyed a cuppa each & watched a musician played the grand piano as well as a 4 piece live band on different days.

The restaurant has a wide spread of food & drinks for breakfast. We liked the indoor as well as the outdoor theme.

Awesome view from inside the coffee house. You can choose to dine outside.

Night view

The waffle & pancake section on the left, juices straight ahead. 

Main course section.

Ever smiling host that serves freshly made locally blended drinks. She explains what each drink is good for our health.

Of course I had to try. Not one but two as Rocker57 doesn't like the smell nor taste of both. I liked both and had them for breakfast the next two days. The one on the left is Kunyit Asam and the one on the right was Brotowali. 

Just to appease many palates, they serve 4 different types of sambal or as wikipedia puts it : 

(in oriental cookery) hot relish made with vegetables or fruit and spices.

I was particularly drawn to this local dish : 

After a small sample trial, I was hooked! Had it daily together with the locally blended drink. And, yes....this dish is called Bubur ( congee or porridge) Gudeg. It is pronounced as "goo dirk". So, what actually is Gudeg?

Our handsome Bubur Gudeg server.

According to him, a normal Gudeg consists of jackfruit, tempeh or fermented soybean compressed into cake-like and then sliced into smaller pieces (optional), krecek (beef skin), coconut milk or santan, ayam opor (Opor chicken is braised chicken in coconut milk) and half boiled egg. It is really a delectable delight. LOVE it!. 

And for the rest of the hotel....

The lobby with the unique stone sofa seats. 

Lovely fresh welcoming sight as you enter the lobby.

The facade as you get down from your taxi ride.

The lap pool is on the same floor as the gym & the wellness spa

I had a wonderful spa in there. Aaaaahhhh...

Flight and accommodations for two persons with Air Asia was only RM1,563.87 or USD421.90 based on today's exchange rate. Breakfast inclusive. With the right ambiance and commendable hospitality, it is worth every sen. (as in Malaysian Ringgit and sen). Travel time is approximately 2 Hours and 25mins from LCCT (now moved to KLIA2).

Do check out this hotel and be pleasantly pampered.

Grand Aston Yogyakarta Hotel
Jl Urip Sumoharjo no 37
Kec. Gondokusuman
Kota Yogyakarta
Special Region 55222
Indonesia

Tel : +62 274 566999

Remember to log in again on our trip to Borobudur soon. Until then....

Live life full & stay happy always. Take care!

Cafe 9, Section 17, Petaling Jaya

Yes, I know. I knoooow. I'm suppose to be back from hiatus but I went missing again. My bad. Was caught up with some pertinent and urgent matters. Also, really tough to get back into action after a looooong break. Sorry for the tardiness and THANK YOU for missing me :)

While I wait to recall from my failing memory bank on my 4 trips , see return from hiatus let's start with what I had yesterday which is still fresh on my mind. Honestly, I still have the lingering taste of this dish.

This, by far was my best dish yesterday. 7 condiments consisting of (from top left) bird's eye chili, shallots with ginger, some crunchy stuff I forgot to taste further or check what it was, diced lime, roasted desiccated coconut & roasted groundnuts. Mixed all the condiments together with the sweetened fish sauce and betel leave or daun kaduk in our local language (Bahasa Malaysia) as shared by my friend who really dabbles in cooking. 

The taste? An explosion of flavours from spicy to bitter to sweet to sour to salty and even umami or the 5th taste. I loved it!

Pssstttt...noticed how 'obedient' my buddies were? Waiting patiently for me to snap a picture before they can eat. Aaahhh...these two pals are priceless. That goes for all my other friends who knows I blog about food. 

Listen. I am no food critic nor food journalist, just a pillion rider who has a knack for good food and enjoys writing about my food trails. So, please do not take my word for it. Go check the food out for yourselves. I know that some bloggers have been taken to court for causing their eateries to loose business following the bloggers' comments. Personally, I always take everything with a pinch of salt. So, please Cafe 9, do not take me to court for penning my personal opinion which cannot influence any of my readers as they have a mind of their own.

My second favourite dish was the stirred fried glass noodle.

Comes with huge serving of vegetables & meat. Tomato, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, bombay onions, red chili, spring onions, minced meat, sliced meat, celery and prawns! The dish was flavourful and tasty. Recommended by the waiter. Good recommendation. Thanks!

The tomyum seafood came third on my list :

Ohhhh, don't be fooled by the clear soup. It is really sour & spicy. It gives you the "Muay Thai" 'kick'. Cafe 9 was lavish in their seafood. See for yourself...more below the surface. Strangely, when the soup is cooler, it tastes salty instead of the sour & spicy 'kick'. Hmmmm.....

Next on the menu was the minced meat with basil leaf.

This tastes good but too sweet for my palates. Am pleased with the huge servings of minced meat but disappointed with the lack of basil leaf. We had more of the french beans instead. A little lesser of the gravy would be ideal as the dish was swimming in gravy.

Followed by the fish cake:

The cake was springy and tasty but a little bit more of fish meat would make it more delectable. The chili complemented the fish cake but was again too sweet for my taste.

The four-angled bean was cooked just right. Crunchy and tasty. However, it was doused with an over zealous amount of gravy.

The papaya salad was a minor disappointment. Serving was huge with generous servings of peanuts and sauce. However, the sauce lack the tantalising sensation. A little too tame, very unlike the original Thai salads.

I just had to have Tub tim krob or red ruby for my desert. Definition by wikipedia ~~

1. Tub tim krob is one of the most famous Thai desserts, which is made of cubes of water chestnuts in syrup coated with red food coloring. This dessert is also known as “rubies” because of its appearance. Wikipedia

   
   

   

   
   

   I've had many bowls of red rubies in as many restaurants that I've frequented. This is by far the first I have eaten that has no jackfruit. The red ruby would have tasted better had the cafe put in larger pieces of water chestnuts instead of the red jelly-like thingy. I was disappointed with the dessert and did not finish the dish.

   
   

   Lastly, the cake. Incidentally, the cafe only had 3 different slices of cakes. My buddy chose this :

   

   
   

   Let's just say it wasn't worth the RM11 per piece.

   
   

   Please do not ask me how much because it was a treat. The meal was about RM43 after deducting her Groupon vouchers. So, your guess is as good as mine.

   
   

   By the way, we had two servings of the same good tea. Came recommended as well. The cafe leaves a pot of flask for you to refill.

   
   

   In all fairness, the food was flavourful but just too strong in each. I wouldn't mind going back for my favourite dish and the great cup of tea. 

   
   

   Cafe 9 opened just 9 months ago. Do go and patronise it and taste it for yourself. Nothing ventured nothing gain, as the saying goes.

   
   

   Details : (pork free)

   Cafe 9 "a taste of Thai"

   27 Jalan 17/45

   Seksyen 17

   Petaling Jaya

   
   

   Tel : 03 - 7932 2899

   Closed on Tuesday. Opens 10am-10pm.

   
   

   Hopefully, this will spur me on to pen the other long outstanding blogs.

   
   

   Until we meet again...stay happy and eat well.

   
   

   
   

Return from hiatus

After 13 months of hiatus, I am penning my first blog since 17 Dec 2013. Yes, it's been awhile. A long time in fact. If I were pregnant then, I would have delivered my child and it would be teething by now. Hahahaha.

Judging from the 50% increase in readership during my absence, I guess it's quite encouraging for me to start blogging again. Plus, I really have too much time on hand at the present moment.

So, what happened in the past 13/14 months? Well, I rode more of the Harley and lesser of ZacBoy. How come? That's because I have always been a Hell's Angel (in heart, that is). But mind you, am no angel. More of a devil. *straight face* Guessed it's the influence of watching too many American movies. Rocker57 (in case you are a new reader, he is my hubby) and I have been doing lots of travelling in late 2013 and entire 2014.

We visited Borobudur, Jogjakarta; Indonesia in Dec 2013 : Click Borobudur to know more.

Being my playful self, as usual.

Boracay in the Philippines on 20-23 June, 2014

Along Boracay beach. Awesome beach

 Perth - 29 Nov - 2 Dec

The devil herself outside of H-D Perth.

And then on 20-22 Dec, we went to Bangkok :

Entrance of H-D, Bangkok.

Of course, in between that...we have been vrooming around Malaysia, duh! And into Southern Thailand as well....hmmm...I think. Need to check my passport. Wakakakaka...age is really catching up on me... Age can really be a rascal when it comes to the memory bank. Because of the huge memory bank and lack of regular 'defragmenting', searching for a particular 'file' can be tedious and tiresome. Even just thinking about the 'search' is tiring me out. Hehehehe...

Look out for these blogs....coming out soon. They are currently being 'baked'. Till I get my bearings right i.e my writing momentum, this IS a good start, I guess.

Until the next time....ride safe and ride on. Full throttle ahead, bikers!!!