An Exciting Message from a Friend
While I was in Lokawisata, I received a message from one of my Malaysian friends asking me if I want to go with her tomorrow to Yogyakarta to pick-up one of the exchange students from the Philippines. Without any pauses and doubts I said my confirmation to go with her. The sad part is that it is just either me or Cristine can join the trip. Cristine was sad about the news since she also would love to go Yogyakarta. I also asked Husna if it is possible to go to Borobudur, then she replied no because it is too far from our destination. Sad but nevertheless it is still Yogyakarta I said.
Unexpected Road Trip Buddy
It was almost 9am when Zulfa, one of the students from UMP who is also one of the buddies arrived at MESS. Few minutes later the car that will take us to Yogyakarta arrived. It seems to me that it is a bit big for just the four of us. I then asked Zulfa if it’s possible that Cristine can join us since Mas and Pingpong went to Sunday Morning Market at GOR together with their Thai buddies. Zulfa said yes to my question. I hurried to Cristine’s room and knock. I told her that she can go with us. She was so elated about the news and quickly changed her clothes. To her cramming, she forgot that she needs to hang the clothes that she laundered. The trip took us 4 hours to reach the special region of Yogyakarta.
Shopping at Marlioboro
After spending a couple of hours in a seemingly long and winding road, we arrived at our destination. We are greeted with huge colorful flags waving along their highway. It is a bit different in Purwokerto because it is predominantly composed of 2 colors. The flags got me thinking if it is the official flag of the region for their king or not. Upon reaching Marlioboro (the shopping capital of Yogyakarta), I noticed a swarm of foreigner roaming the area opposite to Purwokerto. We got out from the car went several shops to buy some souvenirs for our friends and family in the Philippines. As we follow Zulfa, we see a series of stores selling cheap items. No wonder why foreigners and local tourists swarms this place. Unfortunately, my allowance is limited and as much as I would like to buy a lot due to the price of the item, I couldn’t. Anyway, I can always go back to Yogyakarta in the future with enough cash to shop.
Filipinos in Indonesia
After spending our Rupiahs, we ate first to fill our tummy. I realized that we have not eaten our lunch yet and it is already 4PM. We ate bakso paired with coconut juice. Bakso is a famous Indonesian dish made of meatballs, noodles and beef broth. After eating, we went to the airport to pick-up the exchange student from the Philippines. We arrived in the airport around 6pm. We waited for awhile since the luggage of the student got broken and she reported it to the airline authorities. Few minutes later, we finally meet her. Her name is Cerise from Pangasinan State University and she will be doing her internship in some of the big hotels in Purwokerto still under SEAMEO.
