Arrive Yogyakarta March 2

I arrived here about 1:30 this afternoon. After a quick taxi ride I located my place, a funky artist's guesthouse and I booked my room. It is losmen (means guesthouse) Setia Kawan. (email:bedhots@hotmail.com). If you are travelling here and planning to stay in the backpackers area off Sosrowijayan Street this is a good choice, but book ahead because they are popular.
In fact you should book ahead no matter where you stay because there are many guys just standing around to latch on to tourists and try to convince them to go to particular businesses. I know this happens in other places but it is the worst I have seen.

I tried to find another place but between the many bad choices and the sticky street sellers I gave up and just booked the sleeping bus to Denpasar in Bali.

Then I went to check out the town. Once you are away from the backpacker/tourist area there aren't any of those touts on foot, just the ones with bicycle rickshaws and they are even necessary sometimes.

I crossed this bridge on the main street and had a good view of the little river and the many homes along it.


There are quite a few motorcycles here.


A main crossroad in the center of town.



It was 32 degrees here today. I read that somewhere but normally I don't even look. I haven't been cold since I left Ha Long Bay.

Another view of the main street.


Greening up the center street.






My room. I mentioned it was an artsy place and I will get a few more pictures today.



So, I am caught up on blogging again. I leave here today at noon for a 16 hour bus trip so I might not surface again for a couple of days.

Still in Singapore - just confused. March 1

This morning I poked around and did some laundry and by noon I was ready for another adventure so I decided to head across town to the Chinese and Japanese gardens.

I had only gone 2 blocks when I came to a place which claimed to make the best Biryani in town, Bismillah Biryani. They were kind enough to tame it down for me and I quite enjoyed it.


Then I walked past this vacant lot. Even in Little India they maintain all the unused space. Notice there is lawn instead of garbage and weeds.


A store which carries the traditional Indian clothing.


Lots of nice produce at the markets and herbs I've never seen before.


All the streets are narrow, colorful and full of shops.


Finally, I arrived at the Metro and off to the gardens. It was a much bigger park than I expected. I had to walk a couple of hours to cover all the sights and there is another trail closer to the perimeter just for walking.

This is the bridge to the Japanese part.




Thousands of open lilies in the lily pond.




There is a turtle pond in the Chinese side. The turtles usually jump into the pond when they hear you coming.


Here and there you can see the city poking up beyond the trees.




A quiet area in a bamboo grove. The whole park has lots of seating where you can while away hours.




These birds are hanging around everywhere like our sparrows.



This pagoda had nothing inside except a cement staircase to go out to view any level.



Here is a view of the park from the top.


Another view from the other side.


Up close and personal with a pigeon.


Looking down the staircase is a nice spiral.


So is looking up.


Confucius is just one of many honourable statues.

From here I headed back to the Metro to go home. I made an extra Metro stop to get a tasty supper and then rolled on home.

So tomorrow is the day I actually go to Yogyakarta, Java but since I am a day behind with posting I got mixed up.

Downtown Singapore Feb 28

My mission today was to book some forward travel arrangements and I headed out for the Metro to go downtown. Another street view I passed in Little India.

It seems obvious that the travel agent can't book anything for cheap and also that they won't/or can't book from country to country. I guess that is because the countries down here are spread out over a lot of islands and they have local airlines. He shuffled me off to Air Asia to book the first leg. They are known for their cheap flights. I got a flight to Yogyakarta tomorrow and one back to Kuala Lumpur near the end of the month. What happens in between is anybodies guess, it might be plane, train, bus or boat, but I will have to book as I go along depending on what's available.

Since I was downtown I started to have a look around. They have so much space built into the city and it is so green.

This looks like a residential area downtown called South Beach.

Pockets of high rises are scattered between older areas leaving lots of space.

This is St. Andrew's Cathedral.

Looking toward the front.

A former capitol building still used for government.

A modern building behind looks like a spaceship landing.

I took the river cruise. These buildings are the first Quay on the river and they used to be artisans shops. Now they are well maintained and are still stores if not workshops where people can wander, and stop for food and drinks as well. It is a nice contrast with the new city behind.

Victoria theater now but I don't know what it was in its day.

I like this view.

The Asian Civilisations Museum had tons of great stuff in it but it required a lot of reading to make anything out of it. I breezed through and saw it all though.

This is what I like about Singapore. You wouldn't know it but this is a small alleyway behind a hotel with a sewer running through it. In Singapore they plant flowers and any other country tosses garbage out there.

The pictures got a bit mixed up today. This is the boat for the river cruise.

Another shot of the old artisan shops.

Old warehouse along the river is now something else.

This is the famous quay where the young crowd go for nightlife.

A city view from the river.

These three towers are a hotel with a casino and restaurant shaped like a ship on the top.

This is the Esplanade, a performing arts center. The designers put two glass domes on top and covered them with metal shades. They were hoping the city would become known for these as well as Sydney is known for the Opera house. The locals made jokes about them. I don't think they are the hit they expected.

Well, I enjoyed this day too including all the large downtown malls. Can't shop on my budget but it doesn't hurt to look.

Glad to have those plane tickets finally and I booked one more night here, hate to leave actually but maybe that is just because I have been in less developed countries for quite a while.

I am having trouble getting my computer online here too, so I am still behind a day on posts.

Tomorrow I will be traveling but just a one hour flight. I am supposed to have wi-fi there as well.

Java, here I come.