My First Time In Yogyakarta

My family and I went to my grandmothers house in Yogyakarta last month. It was

my first trip to this city. We went there two days after my sisters gradution
ceremony in Semarang. We arrived at Yogyakarta at night. We spent a week
staying in my grandmothers house which is 5 minutes away by foot to Malioboro
street.

In the first morning, we were still too tired after a long trip from Semarang to
Yogyakarta. So we decided to stay at home to recharge our energy. I walk around
the neighborhood with my sister just to experience how it is like to be in
Yogyakarta. There were too many house, I think, which made the space between a
house and the other was so small, even the road was also small that only bicycle
and motorcycle can go through.

On the second day, all of us went to Malioboro street. We saw so many merchant
with various of product which they claim to be a traditional product of Yogyakarta.
I bought some wooden figurine and T-shirt with the word Yogyakarta printed on
it, while my sister bought some leather handbag. My mom and dad were busy
choosing some merchandise to be brought home when we go back.

On the third day, we went to Taman Sari and Keraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat
to see some historical building in Yogyakarta. We took a lot of picture there. We
also took some picture of the building so we can check it again at home. We found
some place providing Yogya traditional food around the building and we jumped
in right away.

We spent the rest of our week in Yogyakarta by visiting some Shopping Malls
such as Jogja City Mall, Malioboro Mall, Hartono Mall and Ambarrukmo Plaza.
We realized that Yogyakarta turned out to be very warm during the day, that was
the reason why we decided to spend more time in air conditioned building like this.
 Fishing at The River
When I was in Junior High School, my father once took me to go fishing with him
at the river on Sunday morning. The river lies across our oil palm plantation. We
had breakfast first at home and then left early in the morning by motorcycle.

When we arrived in our plantation, my father parked the motorcycle under the hut.
He asked me to collect some dry wood and dry grass or leaves. When I already
collected enough wood and dry leaves, my father set a fire in the center of the
fireplace. He said that the smoke from the fire would scare some dangerous animal
like bear and boar to come closer to the hut and so it would make us safer.

After cleaning some wild grass around the hut, my father gave me a hoe and asked
me to dig some soil to find worms. When I already had enough worm, I brought it
to my father and we went straight to the river. We put the worm on the fishing
hook as a bait to catch the fish. As a beginner fisher, I cannot apply the worm on
the fishing hook well, and it look like it was about to fall of the hook, but my father
said that it was okay. I threw the fishing hook into the river and wait for the fish to
eat the bait, but nothing happened after a while. When I was about to get bored I
saw a big prawn was slowly walking in the water. I placed the fishing hook slowly
into the face of the prawn and move it up and down so the worm seemed alive. I
never expected it to happen but suddenly the prawn move its hand and grabbed the
worm on my fishing hook. I lift it very slowly and the prawn was still there
hanging tight on the worm until I placed it on the ground and I caught it right away
with my hands. My father was so surprise to see it. Before we went home, we
cooked it at the hut and enjoyed it together.
 Bro Time
After a year working in Australia, I finally managed to come back to my
hometown last month. It is in Cimahi, a city located in the west side of Bandung. I
spent a week staying here. During this time at home, I learned that my best friend,
Richie, had become a successful medic in the governments hospital in my
hometown. So I called him and we decided to have a Bro Time at the weekend.

Richie picked me up at 4 p.m, and he brought me straight to a new waterpark in

town which he claimed to be the biggest waterpark in Cimahi. We parked our car
in the parking area and walked straight to the entrance gate. There is a ticket
counter at the gate and we have to pay Rp.80.000 to get into the waterpark. Richie
paid for our ticket, he said it was a treat for me of his first salary as a medic in the
hospital. I thanked him.

We handed over the ticket to the gate keeper and he allowed us to enter. After that
went to a counter where we took the key for our locker. In this counter, we need to
give them something as the assurance if we want to use the locker, so we gave
them our cars key. They said that we will get the cars key back when we return
the locker key. After that we went to the locker room, where we changed our
clothes and get ready to swim. Before we enter the pool, we decided to rent a dual
swimming float, the price was Rp.20.000 and I decided to pay it. We brought it to
the pool and sat on it. After that we also swim and took some picture together.
After playing in the water for about an hour, we were so hungry and we decided to
go to the foodcourt. We order two plates of fried noodle and two cup of ice tea. I
paid the food as a treat for Richie. After finishing our food and drinks, we went to
the locker room to change our clothes and went back home at 6 p.m.
 Traveling Abroad
My first overseas trip was when I went to Thailand with my father. At that moment
I was still in Junior High School level and it was a school day off. My father took
this trip because he needed a data for his research about the legendary bird
Garuda, which turned out to be a legend too in Thailand. We spent only 1 day in
Thailand, but I already experience a lot of new things.

When we first landed at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, we got a taxi and
asked the driver to take us to the nearest hotel. He drove us to Windsor Suites
Hotel located on Sukhumvit Road. We went straight to the receptionist and booked
a room for tonight and tomorrow. The receptionist gave us a card that we can use
as a key to unlock our room. We went to our room and took a quick shower,
change our clothes and then went down to the lobby again.

From the lobby, we went out to the street. My father order a ride to a local driver.
It looked like a becak motor but a lot bigger and the people called it tuk-tuk. My
father asked the driver to take us to Chatuchak Market and find us a restaurant that
served Halal food for Moslem. Then we arrived at a small restaurant which turned
out to be owned by Indonesian. The owner was very nice, he gave us a free meal
when we were about to left his restaurant. He said that it was for our breakfast, just
in case we couldnt find any Halal food at the hotel. My father thanked him and
ask to exchange their phone number. Before we went back to the hotel, my father
took me around the Chatuchak Market. I saw so many toys that I have never seen
before in Indonesia. My father bought me one of those toys, it was rubber chicken.
It was so funny, because when we squeeze it, it will make sound just like rooster.
After that we went back to the hotel and go to bed.

In the morning, we enjoy free breakfast at the hotel. We had a lot of Halal food to
choose. I took a couple glass of free milk for myself. After that my father order an
Uber and ask the driver to take us to three archaeological sites in Thailand which
were Ayutthaya Historical Park, Ban Non Wat village, and the temple of Prasat Ta
Muen Thom. When we arrived on each destination, my father started collecting the
data. While my father was working, I walked around the historical site and took a
lot of picture of myself. We finished the job at 5 p.m, and we still have enough
time to head back to the hotel, took a quick shower and drove right away to the
airport. We went back to Indonesia that night at 9 p.m. My father and I were
exhausted but I was so happy.