Affandi

This is Affandi.

He was an impressionist painter in Indonesia in the 1950s, and we went to the museum that is now located in his house in Yogya.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affandi for more on his and his art.  It is a great museum, an we had a really nice time learning about his life and his work.

 



Paris!



 



inspiration!



 



graves for Affandi and his wife



Malioboro Road

 

We did a lot of walking and looking around Yoyga -- it's a great city!

Jalan Malioboro is the main road down the middle of town and known for all of its stores. That was our first stop! It was fun.. lots of batik and handicrafts, and other practical things too (like Zeric's replacement yellow shoes.. now orange!).

 

From there we took a horse cart (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.. not doing that again, but it was a nice ride, crediting the poor horse with doing his job very well).

 

 

Lunch was at Via Via.   

http://www.viaviajogja.com/

We had been here when we came to Yoyga in 2011 and remembered liking Via Via so much that we found it again.  We liked it just as well this time!  It’s a hippie crunchy restaurant with GREAT food.. including lots of great vegetarian options. We ate and ate and shopped and shopped. The store is full of funky crafts, most of which are made by local NGOs.  We bought loads of stuff.. even though we tried to control ourselves.. 

I didn't buy her.. but I should have!

 

There was a new play area at Via Via that had a magnetic wall puzzle with animals.  So cool!!

 

A few nights at the Phoenix

The Phoenix Hotel in Yogya is beautiful with its early 20th century architecture, and the fountain in the courtyard and the koi pond at the side of the restaurant.  The staff were fabulous, and the rooms were very nice.  We had been wanting to come here for quite some time, so we were happy to have gotten reservations for a few days..

 

And, there was an old Benz parked in front... ah, such class!

 

Very importantly, the breakfast buffet was huge.  So much food, including some really nice Indonesian selections too. I think my favorite part, though, was the sugar bowl!

Let's go to Yogya!

We decided to take Uncle Reuben on an adventure by rail!  It was cheaper than flying and what a great way to see the island of Java.. eight whole hours :)  So, we packed a bag of food and off we went.  The trip went smoothly, and though it was long, it was easy.  The train was (mostly clean) and it was nice to hang together and play cards and read.. and spend hours getting our eyes square on the the ipad!

waiting patiently for the train

This is mostly what we saw out the window.. with some villages and towns along the way.

Reuben arrives, and hits the ground running!

We were so super excited about Uncle Reuben coming to visit us in Indonesia!!  Very sorry that his journey was rough (nasty airline delays).. but we were ready when he arrived to show him as much fun stuff as we could fit in!  We started with Sunda Kepala (the port) and Batavia (the old Dutch part of town).  We had Bram, the amazing guide, to take us through and explain all of the history of the area. 

 

First, a visit to the boats.. the getting-on part was a little scary!

 

These ships are wood and built in the traditional way, and many of them do not have modern navigational equipment because the captains know how to use the stars.

The men who work on the ships, loading and unloading, have to be able to lift 100kg of (in this case) cement.  The work is really hard, and the cement really dries out your skin.

There are communities living around the port,

some people living with their whole families on small boats.

We visited the village where everyone had lots of questions for us..

Lots of smells all around us!

Our friend Ester joined us too.. and we made some new friends along the way :)

After the village, we went to where the old warehouses were..

they are now museums, and so fun to walk through imagining

all of the trade that happened there many years ago.



Zoey, Jaffa, Ester, Bram and Eben



 

Then we carried on the watchtower, which used to be the highest building in Jakarta. You can still see lots and lots.. but not like before where they could see any ship coming into the port.

We then headed to lunch at the Batavia Café, and then to the square to see what kinds of interesting folks were hanging around.  We were, of course and as usual, the subjects of many photos.. but we took lots too!

Another night out: SUSHI

We made sure to pack in as much time with friends before everyone left, as we were all pretty sad about having our crew dispersing all over the world. One of the celebrations was one of the best sushi dinners ever.. thanks to Kutty and his Japanese connection.  We all jumped into Celine and PJs big Volvo (with a number of bottles of champagne for the journey) and headed north to the port.  About an hour later, we arrived at a nondescript building that contained AMAZING FISH!

It was the first time most of us had seen a magnum of sake!

Fresh wasabi!!

So glad we had a driver.. as we were pleasantly stuffed and very happy after all that!

Dancing at EP

Some of our friends were brave enough to take a singing class, and their final exam was to sing at Eastern Promise, a local nightclub.  What a great night!! 

Our friends (in order, below) Marie, Francoise, Léna, and Céline rocked it on stage! 

 

Meanwhile, the rest of us drank (water of course) and danced..

and danced!!