Welcome to << MK:BLoG >> - v.10 - |
posted : Sunday, February 6, 2011
title : Day 1 Sunday - About Yogyakarta
Good morning from Yogyakarta!
Yogyakarta will be my first state of visit in Indonesia. Yogyakarta is affectionately known to the locals as “Jogja” aka Jogja, Yogya, Jogjakarta and is Java's cultural hub and the access point to the world-famous temples of Prambanan and Borobudur. This place is renowned as a centre of Indonesian culture such as traditional Javanese art, batik, drama, music & song and puppet shows. Jogja is also famous as a centre for tertiary education with the main campus of Gadjah Mada University here, one of the three most prestigious universities in Indonesia and the place that I will be studying in for the next few weeks. Jogja is served by a small airport, the Adisutjipto Airport. The flight from Singapore’s Changi Airport will take a little over an hour. It is a small airport, with only one runway and several plane berths, there are no sky bridges and all passengers will exit the aircraft and walk to the immigration building on the tarmac.    Dealing with Imigrasi was itself an eye-opener, there are only a few counters to serve the whole airport, and so it took nearly half an hour before reaching the immigration counter and you will be “scanned” by a Star-trek like scanner that flashed a kaleidoscope of colors, scanning your whole palm, fingers, double thumbs together and then your picture is taken by a web-cam like device. It felt like my DNA sample was being taken at the same time! It was a surprising complex identity verification system used here. We were met by student representatives from UGM and treated very well, the drivers politely helping us load our luggage and before long we were whisked to our new accommodation, the Dharmaputra Residence of the University Of Gadjah Mada University, UGM. It is of the few residential facilities that UGM has provided for students, lecturers and faculty's guests. Dharmaputra is located on Jl. Andong no.1, Baciro, Yogyakarta, next to Mandala Krida and about 3 km away from the University. Dharmaputra Residence consists of 3 main buildings. The northern building has 3 Floors with a dorm capacity of 94 rooms and the southern building has 73 rooms. The centre building has a small conference hall and a badminton court. There is 24-hr security, a parking area, a garden, a small canteen, a common lobby downstairs with the only TV in the whole residence. There is no kitchen or pantry area where you can cook; there is no access to hot potable water or a common study room. Each room is equipped with an air conditioner and a water heater in the toilet. Each room is somewhat like a single-room with an attached “common” area with lounging chairs. The pictures will explain better.    Common TV area       Toilet and shower It’s quite a comfortable setup, and after settling in, we headed out to our first mall, Malioboro Mall. It’s the first day and it’s a good idea to play it safe since the streets are still unfamiliar. This morning we got up early and discovered a wet market (pasar) near another mall that we intended to visit, it’s nice to feel and see the locals peddling their wares early in the morning, the market conditions are absolutely rudimentary. Water is still being drawn from wells; there is no electricity whatsoever, hawkers were hawking their stalls on the bare floor or just newspapers. Stalls wash their dishes and foodstuffs from stagnant pails of water and hygiene is nearly non-existent the whole market had Poor drainage and the area was wet, muddy and grimy. But assorted groceries such as fresh chicken, fruits, fish, vegetables, tofu, peanuts were being sold at absolutely low prices that are well within the reach of an average local. They were all really cheap and we enjoyed a cheap breakfast meal, a bowl of mie ayam at 5,000rp (S$0.72)!  Entrance to the market  Fried tofu, 500rp, (S$0.07).   Drawing water from a well.   Tussled up Chickens. |
