Yogya Re-visit : Sangiran & Ramayana Ballet

Ah...this is our 2^nd visit to Yogya within 3 months! Sometimes we do crazy things, this is one of them ;)

I'm the guilty person here, I pschyed the gang into going for a short escape from the prison walls that is the office (wow the description!). Poor Liza, she barely had enough rest from her umrah trip, and now she had to endure this, plus, there's some physical exercise involved, which we did not expect. Well we did expect it, but we thought it would be an easier one. What am I on about? Read on to know ;)

Sat 14/5/11

After just a few hours of sleep (ahem, we did a side project the night before, told you we are bunch of crazy people lol!) we met up at KL Sentral 7.30 am to take the bus to LCCT. Lesson learnt from my previous trip – no more taking the bus from 1Utama! So I thought this time I'd be safe from any drama. Boy, was I wrong!

That morning we had our breakfast at McD. The gang put their luggages beside them, except me, I don't know why I did that. I put my luggage slightly at the side, near a bunch of luggages of another group, but within my reach and sight.

After eating heartily our meals, I got up to take my bag, but lo and behold, it was no longer there! I panicked. All sort of things came through my mind, expecting the worse. No valuables were in the bag, just clothes and my camera charger- but of course, the loss would ruin my escapade mood!

So we searched for my luggage at the check in counters. I prayed that I'd find my luggage, and alhamdulillah, at the second check in counter, I saw a familiar luggage from a distance – although it was similar to other bags – black and without taggging – but somehow I was sure it was mine. I darted to the group – and grabbed my bag. But one of the men in the group stopped me – he asked me what I was doing?! He said that it was his bag that I was rummaging through. I told him it was mine and asked him to let me check it first. And it was true – it was totally mine! I immediately saw my comb and Lumix charger! Then I just stormed off without looking back. I didn't know how was his reaction, but at that particular moment, I was just relieved that I was reunited with my bag!

Lesson learnt from here – never leave your luggage out of sight even just for a few seconds – and keep it near you always. Don't put it in a bunch of other groups' luggages – that was careless of me!

After that episode, we went to the departure hall and I calmed myself down. We took off as per schedule and thankfully no more drama unfolded after that ;)

Arrived Solo at 12 noon WIB. It was scorching hot. Again, the line at the immigration counter was long and slow as per our first visit last February. But at least this time they opened 2 counters. We were then whisked away by our trusty guide from our first trip – Trihan. Our first destination was Sangiran – an early man site, which is also a Unesco World Heritage Site, no 593 on the list

Much to our disappointment, the so-called museum was a rundown place. We felt so sorry about the state of the display material, it felt like we were transported to the 80s era. The museum is maintained by the government, so perhaps that's why the place is a bit neglected. Ticket only costs IDR 3000 (RM1) per person and IDR 3000 for parking.

I wonder why it was chosen as a Unesco Heritage Site – or maybe the Heritage site is specifically for the archealogical site – not the museum. We did not visit the excavation site, as it is about 15km away. We were told there were new findings the day before our visit.

Sangiran man

Well, I searched for the answer and here it is:

The Committee decided to inscribe Sangiran site under cultural criteria (iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared and (vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria) as one of the key sites for the understanding of human evolution that admirably illustrates the development of Homo sapiens sapiens from the Lower Pleistocene to the present through the outstanding fossil and artefactual material that it has produced. More on the Sangiran Early Man Site here.

We were then so hungry by then, but we still couldn't find a decent place to tuck in. We found some bread that Razeif brought, so that sustained us for a while. Thanks Razeif! Finally Tri found a Masakan Padang place – Murah Meriah. We had our late lunch here – it was almost 4.30 pm WIB or 5.30 pm Msian time!

Our next destination is the Prambanan Temple Complex to watch the Ramayana Ballet Show which we missed during our first trip because yours truly mislooked the show dates – the day and month was correct – but I looked for year 2010 instead lol! Now we had to come back to watch the show!


Welcome!


The stage

Tix costs us IDR175K per person (or RM 61) We watched the full story version. There's also an episodic version of the dance. We arrived quite early at WIB 6.30pm, although the show would only start at WIB 8pm. The illuminated view of Prambanan Temple at dusk was simply breathtaking. Unfortunately, my trusty old Lumix camera didn't do justice to it – hope The Prince did a better job! My Lumix didn't do justice to the dance performance shots as well.


Tix counter

But anyway, we were entertained by the dance show – although we were wondering what was going on because there was no narration – nor did we have any brochures telling us the story behind it (although I did take a peek at the French tourist beside me who had a brochure – wonder where she got them. Oh btw, she had on a pair of lovely high cut Nike red floral boots – ah love 'em – wonder where she got that too)

Kasut Nike itu saya suka ^_^

Here's a bit of description of the Ramayana story (searched post-show): Ramayana story presented in this performance is similar to that engraved on Prambanan temple. The long and straining story is summarized in four scenes, namely the kidnapping of Shinta, Anoman's mission to Alengka, the death of Kumbakarna or Rahwana, and the meeting of Rama-Shinta.

The story begins when Prabu Janaka held a contest to determine the would-be husband for Shinta, his daughter that finally was won by Rama Wijaya. The scene is continued with the adventure of Rama, Shinta and Rama's younger brother named Laksamana in Dandaka forest. There, they met Rawana that was eager to posses Shinta since she was considered the reincarnation of goddess Widowati, a woman that he had been seeking for long.

Rama Wijaya and Shinta

In order to attract Shinta's attention, Rahwana changed one of his followers named Marica into a deer. The effort was successful when Shinta was attracted and asked Rama to chase the deer. When Rama did not show up after a while, Laksmana went to find Rama and left Shinta herself by protecting her with a magic circle around her in order that nobody would be able to kidnap her, including Rahwana. The protection failed to keep Shinta in the place since Rahwana succeeded in kidnapping her by changing himself into Durna character.

At the end of the story, Hanoman, the white, powerful monkey succeeded in taking Shinta from Rahwana. When she returned, however, Rama did not trust her anymore. He considered Shinta disgraced. In order to prove her virginity and holiness, Shinta was asked to burn herself. Shinta proved her holiness when she was not burned at all even she became more beautiful. Finally, Rama accepted her as his wife.

The Ramayana story is taken from here

Hanoman


The burning

Since our show ended late, we had asked Tri to phone our hotel – 1001 Malam for late check in. We only arrived at our hotel around WIB 11pm. Although quite lethargic by now, it was quickly gone when we saw the mediterranean-styled facade of the hotel and our lovely decorated rooms. We instantly felt cosy :)1001 Malam Hotel costs IDR 391.5K (RM 138) per room per night, which includes tax and it comes with breakfast

Our cosy room :)

We then head to our favourite Lesehan haunt – Citra Rasa at Jalan Malioboro – this was our third visit! We already knew the food there is good – so let's just go with a safe choice ;) We had nasi gudeg ayam, sup ayam, gurame bakar and nasi goreng istimewa. Nasi goreng istimewa tasted the best that night so we ordered a second helping! Then came Liza's favourite Pengamen – whom she requested her mandatory songs – by Keris Patih and Samsons. The Pengamen probably recognized us by now ;)

Nasi Goreng yg sedap!


Liza's fave Pengamen - nama dia Sutriso. Fave song: Demi Cinta by Keris Patih


His notebook :)

After a hearty meal and entertaiment by the street musicians, we head back to our hotel and hit the sack. Tomorrow would be another busy day!