Yogyakarta

7D6N FROM 26-DEC-2023 TO 1-JAN-2024

1
Contents Itinerary Overview 3
Itinerary Recap 6
Hotel Review 40
Expenses 42
Thoughts 45

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Itinerary 26-Dec to 27-Dec: Yogyakarta
28-Dec to 29-Dec: Magelang
Overview 30-Dec to 1-Jan: Yogyakarta

3
 26-Dec 27-Dec 28-Dec 29-Dec 30-Dec 31-Dec 1-Jan

7am Hotel Breakfast Airport train

Breakfast at Breakfast at Breakfast at

8am Hotel Breakfast Hotel Breakfast Merapi lava tour
Microbless Hayati Roti O
Breakfast at Cave Tubing at
10am Nepal Van Java Depart YIA
Heavenly Wang Goa Pindul
Borobudur Deposit bags at
11am Depart SG Kembali Museum
Temple hotel
Keraton Sultan
12pm Silancur Highland Vredeburg museum
Palace

1pm Arrive YIA Lunch Lunch at Hawker Lunch at Bale Raos

Lunch at Lunch at Kali Lunch at Phuket

2pm Arrive SG
Solaria Opak Food
Chocolate Monggo
3pm Airport train Ketap Pass
Museum
Check in at Prambanan
4pm Check in at Hotel Solo time
Hotel Temple
Museum
5pm Check in at Hotel
Sonobudoyo
Explore Magelang Dinner at Ichiban
6pm Gym at hotel
town Sushi
Dinner at Okid Dinner at Movie at Armada
7pm Dinner at Via Via
Cafe Jejamuran Mall
Dinner at Alun Dinner at Bale
8pm
Alun Timoho Resto

11pm Countdown in Hotel

4
Click for travelled
locations in Yogyakarta
and Magelang in
Google Maps! ☺

5
Itinerary 26-Dec to 27-Dec: Yogyakarta
28-Dec to 29-Dec: Magelang
Recap 30-Dec to 1-Jan: Yogyakarta

6
Arrival to Yogyakarta

7
 Lunch at Solaria

It’s been a while since my last trip

with only hand carry luggage.
Managed to pack a 6kg hand carry.
Had lunch at the Yogyakarta airport,
where the Maggie goreng was really
salty.

Museum Sonoduboyo Unit I

Apparently most of their museums close quite early

(2-4pm), so by the time we checked in and rest, this
was the only one we could still visit. There was a new
and old building for this and it’s not that bad.

8
 Dinner at Okid Cafe

Searched for a nearby

food place for dinner, and
the spaghetti was really
strange tasting. Janice
was really bothered by it
and was trying to figure
out what was so wrong
about it in the next few
days.
Despite the very average and unimpressive food, the live music and ambience was quite good.
The singer was also quite excited to know that we are from Singapore, his English was pretty
good and he shared with us that he’s been to Singapore etc.

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 Breakfast at Microbless

Thought we had to takeaway some breakfast but

decided we can spare that 15 minutes to dine in
prior to our private tour. The food took so long,
where they only needed to heat up the croissant.

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Tubing at Goa Pindul & Oya River

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We booked a tour for cave
tubing and sunset at
Prambanan Temple. It was a
private tour with just the 2 of
us.
Cave tubing was really chill
and in fact quite enjoyable. I
didn’t have high expectations
as Google reviews warned
that the place could become
really crowded.
There were mostly locals in
groups of 10-30. Not enough to
feel crowded, but enough to
get to people-watch those
who choose to jump off the
cliffs.
Although I can hardly hear the
guide most of the time, but I
do appreciate the efforts he
was trying to share with us
about the cave and places.
We were quite blessed with
good weather. Not rainy and
not overly hot/ sunny. In fact,
the guide shared with us it
hasn’t been raining for many
days, and I wonder if that was
how we could see the river
banks. The water was also
relatively clean, which was
pleasant.
Tubing at Goa Pindul & Oya River
There was also not much
information regarding how
wet we will get and the
availability of shower
facilities. But there is in fact
shower facilities (but probably
no hot water), so we could
have really swam, jumped into
the water, and showered.
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Lunch at Kali Opak

Loved the grilled fish

and ginger milk.

Finally, a really good

meal that made me
feel more confident
about trying their
local dishes and
feeling that I finally
tried something I
can’t get in
Singapore (in the
good way).

The place was also

quite nice (didn’t
manage to take
photos).

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A UNESCO site. We topped up
for a local English guide, who
was a bit… bizarre. He was
passionate and shared a lot.
But as Janice said, there was
not much narrative or context.
Just very descriptive facts
about the design and carvings,
and ongoing emphasis about the
damage from the earthquakes
and ongoing restoration work.
Prambanan Temple
Nevertheless, it was fun to have
the guide to direct us for photo
spots.
It was also cool to see that
there is an ongoing religious
ceremony. The guide said they
were mostly Balinese Hindus.
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Prambanan Temple

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 Dinner at Jejamuran

The real mushroom café/

restaurant in Yogyakarta!
It’s interesting and pretty
good. Quite popular among
locals too, considering we
haven’t been seeing much
meat-less options!

Breakfast at Hayati

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Borobudur Temple

Melting in the sun~

We booked a Grab
from Yogyakarta to
Borobudur (in
Magelang).

The ticket includes

the group guide.

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Borobudur Temple

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Lunch at Phuket Food

Settled for a nearby

Thai food, which was
quite legit and good
too.

19
Exploring our Hotel

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 Magelang town & Alun Alun

Had fun walking around the town and people-watch the locals~

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 Dinner around Alun Alun

Ate street food as dinner; Mixue ice cream, Kupat Tahu (a local dish with tofu and rice cake),
Martabak Telur (more like prata) and Martabak Manis (our min jiang kueh).

22
 Nepal van Java

Booked a car and driver for a semi road trip to the more mountainous areas (like Cameron Highlands
equivalent). It was quite foggy the whole day, though we definitely enjoyed the cooler air! I can
understand why they named this place Nepal van Java too, with the more unique features of the
mosque and Palestine flag.

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Silancur Highland & Lunch

Apparently no
restaurants
here, but there’s
always Maggie
noodles! The
driver was also
quite nice to
follow us
around.

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 Ketap Pass

Trying to imagine the

famous Merapi volcano
in the background of all
the fog.

There was also some

mini theatre and museum
that we checked out.

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 Dinner at Ichiban Sushi

Decided to check out the local mall at Armada Town Square Mall, had sushi for dinner, shopped
around Guardian pharmacy, and watched Aquaman in the theatres.

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 Vredeburg Museum

We headed back to Yogyakarta in

the morning and deposited our
bags in our hotel, before heading
out again.

I felt that this was the best museum that we visited, in

terms of learning a bit more of Indonesia/
Yogyakarta’s history.

We share similarities, in terms of colonialization,

WWII, communism, and civil unrest post-
independence.

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 Lunch at Hawker

Had to grab lunch before our

chocolate tour, and it was painful
trying to get a Grab out of their
traffic.

Proud of Janice/ us for managing

to order food in their hawker, and
it was the impressive cheap and
good!

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Chocolate Monggo Museum

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I am glad that they still
entertained us although we
were 30 minutes late.
The chocolate tour was more
interesting than I expected.
How the business was started
by a foreigner. How they have
local plantations and factory.
Decided to check out Jalan
Prawirotaman, which I have
bookmarked as a “hipster
foreigner street” to check out
at night, but it was way more
subdued than Clarke Quay or
Haji Lane.
We got to taste the original
cocoa fruit, and the raw cocoa
nibs before any processing!
There was also a final
chocolate tasting experience,
that felt like some fine high tea
experience.
We were apprehensive to
order Western food but the
food and pasta turned out
pretty good!
Chocolate Monggo Museum
The whole tour and experience
was more revelating or
educational than my other
times visiting those tea
plantations overseas.
Dinner at Via Via
Wanted to check out “Tempo
Gelato” as there are several
outlets in Yogyakarta and crazy
20,000+ Google reviews, but we
were too lazy to queue. It’s the
one time we really see a shop
so trendy/ popular among the
locals.
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Dinner at Via Via

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Merapi Lava Tour

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We visited 3 places as part of
the tour; some village, Alien
stone and the bunker.
The jeep driver doubled as the
guide. He was quite funny and
amused at how bad we are at
for taking photographs. His
English was also good.
Merapi Lava Tour
Again, it was foggy and there
no sight of Mount Merapi. And
while we mostly had fun,
sometimes there’s that pause
of should we be happily taking
photos at sites where people
have died in the past.
Kembali Museum
This was a lot smaller
than Vredeburg, and
too specific in the
details for us.
It was very empty and
we finished it easily in
perhaps 30 minutes.
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 Keraton Sultan Palace

Because we ended earlier than I think we both expected more of a

expected, we managed to visit the tour of the living quarters but it was
Sultan Palace. 95% about carriages used in various
time periods and also for different
The place was crowded with visitors occasions. Still quite interesting.
though, so we just skipped ahead.
Most had a guide, so not sure if we
were supposed to have been offered
one.
Lunch at Bale Raos

This restaurant was

interestingly recommended by
our Grab driver, which he
thought quite long about.

So the restaurant recreates food

that was served to/ enjoyed by
the royal family.

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 Lunch at Bale Raos

Janice wasn’t having much of an appetite, and it was sad

that the one dish we both wanted to try (which has both
fish and lontong rice) wasn’t available.

But the yellow desserts was really good! I can totally

imagine it selling out in Singapore, like a pineapple tart
pastry without the filling, and super soft and buttery.

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We went back to our hotel to
check in and to rest as Janice
wasn’t feeling too well.
I got bored soon, so started to
find things to do/ places to go.
Found a Bakpia place that had
decent reviews that was
within walking distance, and
there is also a supermarket
beside, so I can do my final
shopping.
After that, I chilled with a cup
of teh at our hotel café.
Solo Time
Went back to find Janice
awake and decided to go to
the completely empty hotel
gym before we headed out
together for dinner.
A chill and spontaneous way
to spend the last day of 2023.
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Dinner at Bale Timoho Resto

A good last meal

to end 2023!

It does look like a

lot of food!
Thankful that
Janice was
feeling better
with an appetite!

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After showering and in our
pajamas, we were too lazy
to head up to our hotel roof
bar for the countdown.
Pleasantly thrilled that from
L3 hotel room, we could
catch quite a bit of
Dinner at Bale Timoho Resto
The restaurant
was also really
empty.
New Year Countdown
fireworks (which should be
on Malioboro street).
Really curious how much of
it was from proper
organized events, and how
much was just bought and
casually setted off.
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We woke up really early to
catch the airport train at
6.30am, and also buffered
about 2.5h for the check in.
The check in counter queue
was short, but really slow. The
immigration was fast and we
had plenty of time to have
breakfast.
What was amusing was that
they started calling, through
the PA system, for our flight to
board at the gate 45mins to 1h
prior as though it was last call.
Back to Singapore
Thus, for our 9.50am flight,
almost everyone is seated at
9.23am and we landed at
12.41pm (instead of 1.20pm).
Didn’t think this was actually
possible.
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Hotel 26-Dec to 27-Dec: D’Kayon Hotel
28-Dec to 29-Dec: Puri Asri Magelang
Review Hotel & Resort
30-Dec to 1-Jan: Gaia Cosmo Hotel

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D’Kayon Hotel
 Bedsheets were old and
stained
 Not well vacuumed
 No hand soap
 Loose tap that is not fixed
✓ Has satisfactory hot water
Puri Asri Magelang Hotel &
Resort
 Not worth its 5-star rating
 Conclude that it’s
important to be able to
walk from your room to
hotel lobby to breakfast
venue etc. (they have an
internal shuttle service; it’s
that big)
Gaia Cosmo Hotel
✓ Nice room
✓ Nice common areas
✓ Glad that our last hotel is
the best one!
 Has body lotion, but the
shampoo wasn’t fantastic
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Expenses

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Flight
Air Asia flight from SG to Yogyakarta SGD 87 No check-in luggage
Scoot flight from Yogyakarta to SG SGD 167 No check-in luggage
Sub-Total SGD 254

Hotel
D’Kayon Hotel SGD 49 SGD 24/ night/ pax
Puri Asri Magelang Hotel & Resort SGD 103 SGD 51/ night/ pax
Gaia Cosmo Hotel SGD 88 SGD 44/ night/ pax
Sub-Total SGD 240

Expenses SGD 1 = IDR 11,600

Tour/ Ticket SGD 200
Food SGD 97
Transport SGD 89
Shopping SGD 66 Total:
Sub-Total SGD 452 SGD 946

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 Tour/ Ticket (per pax) >IDR 100,000
Cave tubing and Prambanan sunset tour IDR 970,000
Merapi lava tour IDR 500,000
Borobudur Temple ticket IDR 471,038
Expenses Chocolate Monggo Museum ticket IDR 112,500
(SGD 1 = IDR 11,600)
Food (per pax) >IDR 100,000
Tour/ Ticket SGD 200
Dinner at Bale Timoho on 31-Dec IDR 144,100
Food SGD 97
Dinner at Ichiban Sushi on 29-Dec IDR 138,600
Transport SGD 89
Lunch at Kali Opak on 27-Dec IDR 138,000
Shopping SGD 66
Dinner at Via Via on 30-Dec IDR 102,500
Sub-Total SGD 452

Transport (per pax) >IDR 100,000

1-day Car Rental with Driver at Magelang IDR 360,000
Grab from Magelang to Yogyakarta IDR 129,750
Grab from Yogyakarta to Borobudur IDR 107,500

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 ITINERARY
1. Activities
2. No Treks

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Thoughts 3. UNESCO Temples
4. Local Museums
5. Tour Packages or Not

AS A CITY
6. Cost of Living
7. Traffic and Transport
8. Walkability
9. Shops and Food
10. Economic Development
11. Inclusiveness
12. Locals
13. Safety

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ITINERARY
1. Activities
Prior to the trip during
planning, I already have the
impression that there is a lot to
do in Yogyakarta. It is not that
famous or developed as a city,
but in terms of nature, outdoor
activities, city sightseeing, we
already have quite a packed
itinerary.
2. No Treks
Despite reading a lot about
trekking Mount Merapi or
Mount Merbabu, we didn’t plan
for any treks.
Firstly, we were worried about
the rainy weather based on the
weather forecasts we have
been reading, and that it would 3. UNESCO Temples
be raining every afternoon like I expected a clearer tier
Singapore. However, during difference between the
our trip, there weren’t much UNESCO temples i.e.
rain or just very short showers. Borobudur and Prambanan
where the tickets are all in
Secondly, there seems to be USD for foreigners and the
several options for good local museums. But
scenery or sunrise views interestingly, the UNESCO sites
without any treks, which didn’t quite meet my
diminishes the allure and expectations.
necessity of a trek. But with
our schedule, we were too lazy Perhaps I expected the visits to
to go for any sunrise activities provide a greater cultural
anyway. appreciation and historical
lesson on the temples, but the
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS guides on both occasions
didn’t quite hit that for me.
The tourist attractions were a
mix of hits and misses.
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My only impression was being
thrown the names of the Hindu
gods of Brahma, Vishnu and
Shiva with little context as to
why or when there were
Buddhist/ Hindu communities
in Yogyakarta.
The guides also had the
constant emphasis that the
temples were damaged by
various disasters in the past
decades and years. And the
lingering question at the back
of my mind wondering how or
why their restoration work can
be so slow.
Also, there was the crazy
number of shops at the “exit”
at both Borobudur and
Prambanan. The rows of shops
easily amount to hundreds
selling the same souvenir
shirts/ bags/ crafts. I really
wonder how much they earn.
4. Local Museums
I enjoyed Vredeburg and the
Monggo Chocolate museums
the most. Followed by
Sonobudoyo, Keraton Sultan
Palace and then Kembali.
In terms of the maintenance
and also sufficient English
information boards, I enjoyed
most of the museums. They do
feel genuine in their intentions/
objectives to educate visitors.
These local museums also felt
more informative than the
UNESCO temples, and do not
charge a premium entrance
fees for foreigners.
5. Tour Packages or Not
We also had a good mix of
private tour packages and
simply just free and easy (with
Grab/ Gojek).
The tour packages are
definitely the bigger ticket
items in this trip. But I guess
we were quite satisfied with
the service we received for all
the private tours. In the private
tours the guides had good
English and rather actively help
us take photos.
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AS A CITY feel rather high SES during the But it’s at Malioboro Street
trip there. (like our Orchard Road) and
I feel that this is the 1st time I where quite a few tourist
can try to understand the level It does make me feel that attractions are located. It
of development in Indonesia Indonesia is rather worth always took quite a while to
through Yogyakarta and checking out for a cheap get in/ out of there. And we are
Magelang, despite previous getaway. always in the car, maybe it
trips to Bali, Bromo/ Ijen and would have been faster if we
Batam. 7. Traffic and Transport were on motorbikes.
The thing that stood out most
6. Cost of Living strongly was the bad traffic. 8. Walkability
With our Singaporean Like a <3km Grab ride can take Adding on to the bad traffic is
currency, it’s definitely 20mins. Average speeds seem the low walkability of the
cheaper in Yogyakarta and it to be <40km/h where there’s streets as a pedestrian.
feels luxurious to just hop on to lots of motorbikes and roads
Grab and walk in to restaurants not more than 2 lanes one-way. I never thought that the ease of
without having to consider walkability and pedestrian
costs. There’s a semi-highway infrastructure was something I
between Yogyakarta and will have to evaluate on.
Other than the flight, hotels and Magelang that was not too
tour packages that were all bad.
booked prior to departure, I do

48
Pavements and sidewalks
beside the roads sometimes
don’t exist. Even when they do,
sometimes, the bikes and cars
are parked or there are big
trees/ roots and you still have
to walk on the road anyway.
And there’s also a lot of small
roads, so it means there’s a lot
of roads to cross no matter
where you walk.
So Magelang actually felt more
walkable than Yogyakarta.
When we came across the
traffic lights in Magelang, we
were so thrilled to use the
“green man” because we
haven’t seen it elsewhere.
9. Shops and Food
Interestingly, there are a lot of
cafes. Yogyakarta seems quite
big on their coffees, and almost
non-existent bubble tea scene.
I thought there would be more
international brands/ Western
shops like Samsung, Uniqlo, 7-
eleven, but both their food and
shops are still really local. And
most are still individual
businesses than local
franchises/ chain stores.
10. Economic Development
Yogyakarta still don’t feel very
developed. Their largest
buildings are mostly hotels or
maybe some government
buildings 5-10 storeys high.
Passing by their universities or
hospitals/ clinics, there’s still a
long way to go to develop
better educational and
healthcare physical
infrastructure.
On the other hand, the
Yogyakarta International
Airport is clean and new, with
an efficient airport train
service to the city. Some of
their local museums are also
relatively well developed.
Do hope they are slowly, but
surely, developing for the
better! Although they really
need to work on their roads
planning.
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11. Inclusiveness
I always had the impression
that Indonesia is not that multi-
cultural / religious/ racial.
Hence it’s quite interesting to
realize the UNESCO temples
are Buddhist/ Hindu and their
popularity with the locals, as
well as seeing a church and
temple at the Alun-Alun in
Magelang.
I also felt that the locals were
really friendly towards us,
which add to the sense of
inclusivity.
12. Locals
The locals that we interacted
with were overwhelming
drivers; Grab rides and our
private tour guides/ drivers. I
think they don’t usually meet
many foreigners and were
quite warm and friendly. And
we easily entertain each other
with our English and
Indonesian skills.
It is also interesting to hear
from some of them sharing
with us their politics.
The upcoming elections; there
were lots of flags lining the
streets. And the current
Yogyakarta’s sultan who is also
the governor, who has 5
daughters and no son. And
how 1 didn’t see the point
voting because he feels that
there’s not much difference.
13. Safety
We didn’t spend a lot of time at
night outside, as it’s usually
dinner and going back straight
to our hotels.
Only at Magelang, we did
spend the evening walking
around their Alun-Alun (town
square), people-watch and it
was incredible how safe it felt.
Having such a young
demographics meant that there
were many kids under 12
playing in the open field, and
such an easy reflection and
accurate inference of the
safety.
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