[ Travelogue: Christmas in Yogyakarta! ]

Hello guys and happy new year everyone! It's my first blog post for 2016. Been slacking for too long cause I was supposed to get this up latest of end of December :(

Anyways, I still can't believe 2016 is finally here. Time really flies. I am sure everyone of you have already set your own goals that you're going to fulfill and have your own resolutions in mind to kick start a brand new year. Hope you guys will be achieving great and better things this year! So happy to share my latest travelogue in this blogosphere as the first blog post to start my 2016 blogging journey. My mom is the one who always execute my travel plan by checking and comparing air tic form various airlines and book it for me. What I need to do is just decide where to go and where to stay. It was always a pleasure to have such adventurous mom that is interested to travel around the globe with me. Even though is just a short trip, but I treasure every moment with her especially after I started working because we can only see each other probably twice a month. :'( Tagged HS along for this Christmas trip too.

Our destination for this trip is Yogyakarta also known as "Jogja" or "Jogjakarta". I find it very interesting cause most of the people around me including myself tend to mispronounce the name and I only got it right when I was there. What I can said is that 3 days 2 nights is absolutely insufficient for this vibrant city in Java, Indonesia cause there are still many tourist attractions that I can't make it there due to time constraint.

Flew by AA this time round and arrived at Adisutjipto International Airport at around 2pm local time. There are Terminal 1 for domestic flights and Terminal 2 for international flights. FYI, you guys can walk further down to Terminal 1 (approx 5 mins walking distance) to buy local SIM card since you can't find any in Terminal 2.

Hello Yogyakarta!

Our first stop - Sandboarding at Parangtritis Beach.

It's my first time trying out sandboarding and it was such a thrilling yet exciting experience. I am still out of words of how interesting it is. Adrenaline junkie out here, jot this place down and now is your turn to give it a try. You don't have to prepare anything as there will be rental service for skateboards at IDR 70,000 for an hour. So what you need to do is just go there and have fun! :)

Not forget to mention about the magnificent view over there. We were so lucky to be able to catch the sunset view as well.

Borobudur temple on the next day. A Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java that was built in the 9th century. It comprises of 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. It was the world's largest Buddhist temple and being classified as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. This also explains the main intention of why I am here at Yogyakarta. Been hearing tons of comments about this place and finally I am able to make it here. :) Entrance tickets are priced at IDR 380,000. You might think it's pricey, but I can assure you by telling you that it is worth every single cent that you pay.

Reach there in the afternoon cause we missed the chance to book sunset tour. Despite the scorching hot whether, it was still filled with both locals and tourists especially during December because of school holidays.

Meet-and-greet with all these cute Disney characters.

Hello Mickey!

Let the pictures do the talking..

...

We opted for Indonesian cuisine thus our tour guide just brought us to some restaurant that serves really good foods while we were on our way to Mount Merapi.

The schedule for that day itself was actually quite packed casue we visited Mount Merapi right after our lunch. The total of 2 hours drive from Borobudur Temple was so bumpy but it's worth it afterall. Mount Merapi is the most active volcano in all Indonesia and it has been erupted at least 68 times since 1548 whilst the last eruption was happened in 2010.

We joined the 4X4 Jeep tour that recommended by our tour guide at a cost of IDR 300,000. The tour itself took up to 1.30 hours and a driver will be taking you on a jeep to certain spots at the base of Mount Merapi.

This is us discussing who gets the nicest photos.

Stopped by " Alien Rock" for a picture. Nothing special about this rock, it's just because locals think it looks like an alien that has magical power.

Mama and daugther at Mount Merapi. The view behind us was way too breathtaking.

Last day in Yogyakarta. Our flight back to JB was 2 o'clock in the afternoon so we didn't really have much time to explore. After finish packing up our things, we decided to drop by Roaster and Bear (nicest cafe in Yogyakarta so far) and HS can get his daily caffeine crave fixed too.

Strolled around the street while waiting for the cafe that opens at 11 pm.

And tadaaaaa, we found some hidden gem along the street. This bowl of Mie Ayam for only IDR 10,000 and it tasted super awesome especially the springy noodles they have there.