Begin my trip by flying Garuda Indonesia in the Terminal 3, and this terminal impressed me, really nice one compared to the other Terminal, such as 2 and 1.

It was quite nice flight, but I guess the airport was quite busy, so my flight was landed almost an hour later than the estimated time arrival. Arrived in Adi Sutjipto airport, I directly take the rent car by Cahaya Transport, a very recommended one, but thing to highlight is they rent the car based on day, not every 24 hours, (contact will be listed at the end of the post).

This post with highlight of my trip in Jogja, begin with food!

Culinary

Gudeg Yu Djum

Once arrived in Jogja, we directly went to the popular Gudeg Yu Djum, which was kinda too sweet for me.

If you think the same as me, probably you can try some other popular Gudeg, based on my friend’s recommendation, Gudeg Bromo. And one of the most authentic Gudeg is Gudeg Pawon, which is really popular, some said it requires you to pre-booked your seats for about 2-4 days prior your arrival.

Warung Bakmi Ketandan

On the first evening, I tried one of the most popular fried rice (and noodle), Warung Bakmi Ketandan. This is more likely to be a Chinese Fried Rice, which has pork in it. The queue was a pain in the ass. It would be better for you to call them first and take your order directly. But the fried rice was really nice (or probably because too hungry to queue). It was quite shocking to know, that it’s been years (or probably decades) this stall run, what is more interesting is the lady in red has been cooking since she was a kid, and she was the most professional chef if you see compare to others.

Ayam Goreng Tojoyo

Another interesting authentic Indonesian food is fried chicken! Ayam Goreng Tojoyo is really really nice.

They serves not only fried chicken, but also other Indonesian food, such as fried Lele, Sour Soup Vegetable / Sayur Asem, also Paru Goreng (Fried Lung?). The price is also really affordable. Who doesn’t love cheap and tasty food, right?

Canting

Besides the traditional food, credit to my sister, she visited a modern rooftop restaurant, on the top of the Galeria Mall. She told me that the place was really nice and the food was quite good. They serves more to western food. What is more amazing is the vibes, since this place located on the rooftop.

Epilog Coffee

Another credit to my sister is Epilog Coffee. This was near my hotel where I stayed, Hyatt hotel. This a bit further from the city center. This is also another modern cafe, and more contemporary compared to other coffee stall.

Jejamuran

And finally, the most popular restaurant is Jejamuran. This restaurant serves all food made in mushroom.

But amazingly, the taste is really good. It doesn’t feel like mushroom, though. They also sell Mushroom chips, which is taste really nice, but it actually depends on which mushroom you like. Because, they sell three types of mushroom chips. Besides, they also sell canned-food made in mushroom. I just cooked it several days ago, and it tastes also nice. So, it’s a must to visit this restaurant!

What to do in Jogja

Moving on from food, Things to do in Jogja! There is so many things to do in Jogja. But there is also so many people do ‘what to do’ in Jogja. So it is important for you to make sure choose the right time and right place, since if not, queue will be a pain in your ass!

Punthuk Setumbu

One of the popular spot for sun rise, since featured in the Ada Apa dengan Cinta 2 Movie. Unfortunately, when I go there in the early morning, the cloud was quite thick, and I was late about 5-10 minutes, so not much good photo I take. Moreover, since this spot has been featured in the movie, there are soo many people here.

I was actually about enjoying sun rise in Candi Borobudur, which only exclusively provided by the tour from Manohara Hotel. However, a guy try to stop me and offer to go to a better spot (he said), it turns out, the spot that I had known before, Punthuk Setumbu. So, if you go to Manohara Hotel, and someone offered you, if it’s Punthuk Setumbu, it would be better for you to drive by yourself, because he charged about 50 thousand rupiah for his effort guiding you the way. Actually, there is a way to enjoy sunrise in Borobudur without joining the Manohara Hotel tour since it is quite expensive, you can go to the temple at 5.45 and you can enter the temple, once the tour also enter the temple.

Candi Borobudur (Temple)

The sacred temple, but also crowded during the holiday. So if you want to visit Borobudur temple, highly recommended for you to visit in the early morning, since it is more quite, and the weather is not that hot. What is the best visiting in the early morning is, there are not so many people around, so you can take a good photo! After visiting Borobudur, you can go to enjoy lunch with Borobudur view in Plataran, which is quite recommended by some of my friends.

Bukit Panguk Kediwung, Dlingo

Another place to enjoying sun rise is Bukit Panguk Kediwung. But, you have to be patient, as sometimes the fog annoy the photo.

There are so many similar spot like this, such as Kalibiru. So before you go make sure you compare them. For me, I prefer this because it is closer to my hotel, besides, it is also not really crowded. A friend of mine go to Kalibiru and queue for about 4 hours to take photo up there. So, if you go during the holiday season, just make sure you go on the right time.

Shopping

It’s not Indonesia, if you can’t shop. Well, the most popular place to shop is Jalan Malioboro/Malioboro Street with its Pasar Beringharjo / Beringharjo Market.

There are so many things to do in Jalan Malioboro, you can hire a pedicab and going around Jogja. They offer you really cheap price to visit several spots. Besides, you can also go with the Andong/Dokar/Delman (the horse with carriage). Usually, riding delman is much more expensive compared to Pedicab/Becak. But it’s not wrong though, to try if you have never tried before.

Malioboro now is more to be pedestrian friendly, Government tried to enlarge the sidewalk. You can take a good picture here!

Besides, you can also buy gifts in the street. BUT, make sure you are good in negotiating, begin with at least half of the price the seller offer.

Besides, if you want to shop batik, you can visit the Beringharjo Market! But, it was really packed when I went there. You have to be smart in negotiating too here.

The hot weather and no AC really  makes you sweat. To chill your body, there is one best spot probably, Starbucks Coffee! There is starbucks in the Malioboro street. So, for those who doesn’t want to shop, you can wait here, while your love ones shop.

Bakpia Pathok 25

Finally, the most popular gifts, is Bakpia Pathok. The good thing is you can have a try of the bakpia here. I recommend you to visit the shop which located in the factory, because.. you happen to visit the factory as well!

One tip, if you go to the store at the factory, you can get discount if you go on your own. Usually Bakpia Pathuk apply the end-marketing (if I’m not wrong) so they usually give tip to driver of the rental cars, or pedicab who brings you there. I really like this Bakpia, you should go here!

That’s all probably from me about my trip to Jogja. I stayed in Hyatt Hotel, which was nice, but unfortunately I would probably try another hotel if I go back to Jogja later. Hyatt was nice, but it’s kinda old. The best thing here is you can do so many things here. And almost every morning, there is an activity to do, I tried archery, and my cousins do fishing and stuffs, I also swim and jogged there, they have quite long jogging track. Hopefully for you who is looking for holiday destination, could be inspired through this post. Enjoy!

Notes:

Cahaya Transport: +628122712299

All pics was taken by me. If you would like to take and re post, please DO credit this blog. Thanks !