We took a taxi to the Sultan’s Palace.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t go in since it was closed.  It seems a lot of the tourist attractions close around 2 pm.  That’s way too early for us!

There was a man who wanted to guide us.  Our guide took us to a shadow puppet place right near the Sultan Palace called Classic Wayang.  The shadow puppet’s design is made with a spoke of a bicycle.  It can take over two weeks to create it. 

The shadow puppet is made out of strong buffalo skin.  Then, an artists paints it.  The painting can take a week to make.  It can take longer if the puppet is larger.  One of the guys who does the artwork showed us finished projects. 

Jennifer really liked the shadow puppets.  She was thinking of buying one.  The guy said that since they live near the Sultan Palace for free they can charge what they like.  The guy wanted 450,000 IDR (about $45 USD).  We said that we might come back to buy it.

We walked to the Water Castle.  We almost didn’t get to go inside.  The guide talked to the guy who was closing the gate.  Somehow, the guy said we could go inside. 

It’s a palace that was built in 1758 by Sultan Hamengkubuwono I for the Royal family. 

It’s mostly ruins now because of an earthquake.  But, you can still see the pools and arches.  It’s interesting to imagine what it once was.  But, there’s really not much there to see.

We walked further on.  There was a shop selling artwork and shadow puppets.  The puppets weren’t the same quality as the Classic Wayang workshop.

Next, we went to the Bird Market. 

There’s lots of illegal animals for sell like owls, bats and snakes.  Ivan and Jennifer thought the bunny rabbits were so cute.  They are pretty adorable. 

I was more interested in the bananas that were for sale.  It does smell in the market though.

Our guide took us back to Classic Wayang.  Jennifer wanted to pay 400,000 IDR (about $40 USD) for the shadow puppet. 

The guy said he couldn’t sell it for that price. Ivan acted like it was all the money he had left.  The guy said there was an ATM nearby.  We started to walk out of the workshop.  Then, the guy agreed on the price.  The shadow puppet is named Rama.  The guy said he would e-mail Jennifer about the meaning of Rama.  Although, she still hasn’t gotten an e-mail from the workshop.  The guy rolled up the shadow puppet and wrapped it in cardboard.  He said it would be fine rolled up for months on end.

We said goodbye to our guide.  Ivan thinks he got a commission for the shadow puppet.  He did tell Jennifer that the quality was better at Classic Wayang.

We took a becek to the Alun Alun park.  Ivan and Jennifer rode ATVs.  I rode with Jennifer.  We went around the grass area in the park.  It was pretty fun!

Ivan read that there are two Banyan trees in the park.  Somebody puts a blindfold on you and you have to walk to the other tree.  If you reach the other tree while blindfolded, you will have good luck.  We didn’t have a blindfold, so Ivan covered his eyes with his shirt. 

The first time, Ivan was very far from the tree.  On his second go, he reached the tree.  I’m not sure if he gets good luck, since he failed the first time and then succeeded the second time.  I would have tried the blindfold thing if the trees were banana trees.  At least, then I could get a treat afterwards!

We went to Malioboro.  It’s the main street in Yogya (that’s what most people call Yogyakarta).  Jennifer found some nice souvenirs in the shops. 

We took a taxi back to the hotel. 

We had dinner at the Chandra Restaurant in the hotel. 

Ivan and Jennifer both had the tasty salmon with potatoes.  I had the Nasi Goreng with bananas.

We took a taxi to Hugo’s Cafe.  There was a lot of people in line.  It was a special event with Glenn Fredly.  We found out later that he’s an Indonesian artist who sings love songs.  The admission price was 100,000 IDR at the door and it came with free cigarettes.  The event was sponsored by a cigarette company. 

We walked inside and it was so crowded.  Ivan found a place by the bar.  He ordered two glasses of red wine.  The bar was really smoky.  The house band wasn’t too good.  Ivan thought that we should leave.  We had no idea who Glenn Fredly was. 

We took a taxi back to the hotel.  Since, it was late – we went to bed soon after.

We got a taxi to Malioboro.  We were running a couple minutes late for our 9 am class.  We got there about 9:17 am. 

We started our class around 9:30 am.  Ivan and Jennifer met the teacher.  I was just watching Ivan and Jennifer.  I had Ivan’s iPod to watch tv shows and listen to music.

There were many finished batik paintings done.  The teacher said we should choose one.  Then, we could trace it with a pencil on a piece of white cloth.  Otherwise, we could create something original if we wanted.  Ivan and Jen really don’t draw much – so they picked a nice batik painting to trace.  Ivan picked one with three geckos and Jennifer started tracing a painting with two cats.

The teacher set up the fire.

He placed wax in a bowl over the fire.  It would melt the wax down.  He showed Ivan and Jennifer what art object to use.  The object would hold the wax and it comes out of a little tip.  You have to put the wax where the lines of the picture is.  You can use lines or dots.  The wax only lasts a little while.  It won’t show up if you let it cool.  The idea is to have the wax showing on the opposite side of the cloth.  Ivan and Jennifer got a cloth to practice on first. 

It took a little while to trace the wax on the cloth. 

Ivan finished his picture first.  Jennifer was having problem with the wax.  It was cooling and she would put the wax on the paper – then it wouldn’t show up on the other side.  The teacher said he would help her out.  He told us to go get lunch at Bedhot Resto down the street.

We walked to Bedhot Resto.  Ivan and Jennifer got lunch included with the class.  Ivan got Nasi Goreng while Jennifer got noodles.  I had noodles with bananas.  The lunch was okay.

We walked back to the class.  There’s some awesome artwork on the walls. 

The teacher had finished adding wax to Jennifer’s artwork.  It was time to add color. The teacher asked what colors they would like to use.  If they wanted a certain color they would paint that part with paraffin or with wax.  The teacher applied the color of a dust like substance.  The substance created coloring in the water and then he put water on the cloth.  The painting would dry in the sun.  Then, the color would appear. 

Ivan thought that the teacher should explain why the colors would appear with the different color substances. 

Ivan and Jennifer kept adding more paraffin.  More colors would appear on their painting.  The teacher would always put the water on the painting and the colors would appear.  Ivan wanted to do that part as well. 

There were so many processes since sometimes certain colors would appear after several wax or paraffin applications.  It was very time consuming.

At the end, you can add cracking to your painting.  Both Ivan and Jennifer wanted this for their background.  It gave it a kind of tie-dye look. 

The teacher said we should walk to the Bedhot Resto.  He said we could put the paintings in boiling water and it would remove the wax on the paintings. 

It only took a couple minutes to remove the wax.  The teacher said they could hang it up in their hotel room to dry.  The class ended around 3:45 pm. 

Ivan and Jennifer thought their paintings turned out nice.  The teacher liked Jennifer’s painting better.  Her painting was simple with big cats on it.  The class was nice since they got a nice painting to take home.  It was a plus that the painting is very light and can be folded into a small square.

We took a taxi back to the hotel.  Ivan and Jennifer hung their paintings on a chair outside the room so they would dry quickly.  We chilled in the room for awhile.  Ivan and Jennifer used the internet.

We took a taxi to Gajah Wong for dinner.  There are three different areas you can choose to dine in.  They each have a different type of music in each one.  Ivan wanted the jazz room but the band wasn’t on yet.  We sat down in the room with music of Javanese Gamelan style.  The music was kind of annoying.  Ivan said we would switch to the jazz classical music room since the band would be on in a few minutes.  The third room has country music in it.

Ivan and Jennifer started off with Salmon Chowder. I ordered fried bananas in a light sauce.  Ivan had vegetarian lasagna. 

Jennifer got tagliatelli al fungi.  The jazz music was good. 

Ivan and Jennifer ended with a apple tart.  The food was alright. 

We took a taxi home.  Shortly after, we wet to bed.

We got a taxi to the train station.  We were headed to Yogyakarta.  Ivan and Jennifer bought Executive seat tickets for the train at 150,000 IDR each. 

We went to sit down on the train.  Lunch was included with the seats.  It was Nasi Goreng and a banana.  Jennifer kindly gave me her banana.  We all slept a lot on the train.  We arrived at 4:15 pm in Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogyakarta).

We checked in to Puri Artha Hotel.  It’s a great hotel with Javanese and Balinese artwork everywhere in the hotel. 

The pool area has a dragon near the pool.  The hotel is located a few minutes from the main area of Yogyakarta.

It was tea time in the Chandra Bar.  The tea and snacks are complimentary. 

I had Ivan’s yummy fried banana. 

We had lunch in the Chandri Restaurant.  Ivan had asparagus soup and salmon with potatoes.  I had noodles with chicken and bananas. 

Jennifer had the Nasi Goreng.  The food was good.

We watched tv in the room.  Ivan used the internet.  There is free wi-fi in the rooms and in the bar and restaurant.  A computer in the lobby is free to use for guests.

Ivan, Jennifer and I had the free breakfast buffet at Puri Artha Hotel on June 18, 2009.  I had bananas and yogurt.  Ivan and Jennifer had some toast and cereal.  Ivan also had some boiled eggs.

Ivan worked on his blog.  Jennifer and I watched tv in the room.

We had lunch at the Chandri Restaurant in the hotel.  Ivan had the salmon curry with rice.  I ordered the Nasi Goreng with Bananas.  Jennifer had Spaghetti Marinara.  The food was tasty again.

Ivan went to chill at the pool.  Jennifer read Season of the Machete by James Patterson while I worked on the blog.

We took a taxi to the main street of Yogyakarta called Malioboro.  We walked around to find the Bedhot Restaurant. 

It’s a restaurant with colorful artwork on the walls.  Ivan got the guacamole and the chicken porridge.  I had the banana pancakes. 

Jennifer had the chicken teriyaki.  The food was alright here – nothing special.  Ivan set up a batik painting class with the restaurant.  The class is held 100 meters away from the restaurant.  It was set up for Saturday (two days time).  We started walking outside the restaurant.  The guy we set up the class with came out.  He said that the teacher had something already set up for Saturday.  Ivan decided to do the class tomorrow.

We walked around Malioboro.  There’s a lot of souvenirs shops on this street.  We headed to the hotel soon after to get some rest.