TRIP TO BOROBUDUR - DAY 3

11/12/2014

Our adventure was coming to a close and it has been a wonderful trip so far.  Our flight back to KL was in the evening.  So this morning after breakfast at the hotel, we checked out of the rooms.  The guide bought our pre-ordered Kek Lapis.....all home-made and freshly baked and they were still hot when delivered to us.

However it started to rain,  as we made our way to visit the Sultan's Royal Palace this morning-Kraton Ngayogyakarta.   Besides being part museum for Javanese culture this is also the royal residence of the Sultan.  The Sultan is the governor of the region of Yogyokarta. Among all the Sultans, the No 9 Sultan seem to be most popular as he was the one who struggle and pushed for the independence of Indonesia.

the classical  gamelan musical instruments 

There are many artefacts, antiques and family heirlooms around this pavillion and among them the chair use to carry  the Sultan and ...  

a giant bird cage where items such as kris, book, money etc would be left inside and then the royal baby would be place inside.  It was said that the path of his life would be determined by choice of the items which he choosed eg politics or knowledge or power.  

at the next pavillion, there is daily dance performance going on and these musicians are mostly women, who did this on voluntary basis. 

the traditional Javanese dance.. 

These ladies looked so elegant and we asked the guide..... and you know what..... the beautiful coiffeured hair actually are wigs!  

An open air pavillion.... the influences of the European and Chinese architecture..

These are galleries/rooms where the Sultan mementos, batik, currency were display and there is also a room dedicated to various gifts received from visiting dignitaries and royalties!  

The lights and marble floors all imported from overseas. 

The Bangsal Kencono or golden throne pavillion....interesting mix of Hindu, Buddhist and Arabic architecture....  

the red roof Hindu pattern, the gold Buddhist lotus petals at base of pillars and arabic calligraphy

the royal carriage.... 

ornate ironworks....note the "face"  which reminded me of the Death mask in Dan Brown's Inferno!

Chinese dragons but Javanese style...

Performers practising the wayang kulit- there is a show every weekend. 

These are the palace guards in traditional Javanese costumes and they each  carry a kris.  According to the guide, they do not get retire or pension but can continue working till death.   

guess what is this?  The lady on the right is the palace guide. 

another "face"...

Interesting display of the family tree of each Sultans - 

the leaves represented the daughters and the fruits represented the sons! 

The lunch for the last day was not provided, but we have requested the guide to recommend us a good traditional Nasi Padang meal.  It was still raining when he dropped us at the Restoran Sederhana Lintau.

The restoran is clean and bright and our lunch were already laid out. 

some of the dishes which we did not reject...... those which were not similiar or those that includes organs  were returned.

As usual, we were only billed for whatever food/dishes which we took ..

This is how the waiter serve the customers.... note the many dishes which he is carrying and putting on the table....

We stayed a long time as it was raining besides our flight home was in the evening.   However soon the restoran became busier so we made our way to the airport.   

The departure hall is much bigger than the arrival hall and there are ample seats around.   The airplane was delayed due to the rain and the flight back a bit shaky due  air turbulences.  The aircrash that happened after a week of our flight set me thinking about our flight that day.. it was raining too and I wonder at the safety procedures now because it literally seem that no sooner had the plane touched down at the airport and after all the passengers onboard had disembarked, we were allowed to board the same plane back to KL.

But thank God we did arrived safely back in KL.