Merapi Garden in Selo Boyolali, the Northeast of Jogj

Hello readers! How was your weekend? Was it lovely? My weekend was filled with works but luckily I could have time to pick some photos from the time when I was in the northeast of Jogja and I can’t wait to share it all with you today! Yay!

So, long before covid-19 pandemic was in my beloved country, about a few months ago, I went to a city nearby. I was in Boyolali in Central Java. I was in this northeast of Jogja for a couple of days and stayed in a lovely area between Mount Merbabu and Mount Merapi named Selo. I stayed in a small backpacker's hotel with a great view of Mount Merapi. While I was staying there, every morning, I always took a moment to stare at the mountain blissfully. God is great. Nature’s beauty is really beautiful.  Sometimes I wonder how it feels to live in such a lovely place and let the chill wind in the morning caresses my hair every single morning.

Selo, the northeast of Jogja, has some touristic places to visit. It takes about one and a half hours to Selo from Jogja. This place is pretty famous amongst climbers for they can climb both Mount Merbabu Mount Merapi from this area. There’s also a place which has a camping area. Besides, this place also has places for you who just want to chill and enjoy the day.

I arrived at the backpacker's hotel at 10 AM. It was fantastic! My hotel room had an excellent view. I could just open its door and windows and voila…Mount Merapi was there, right in front of me. It was freaking awesome!!! After being mesmerized by the view in front of my hotel room, the first touristic place I visited was Alam Sutra. 

Alam Sutra? What is that, Eunike? Well, if you love the deck view sort of thing, this could be your place. It has a building made of bamboos and woods which looks like the famous Eiffel Tower. This place once was so viral in social media amongst the youngsters here. The tower is built pretty close to the edge of a cliff but still in a safe distance of course. There was no other visitor when I reached this place. Frankly, it made me happy because I could sit on one of the decks which were pretty close to the cliff. Sitting there put me at ease. I could hear the sound of the wind danced between leaves while the bird chirped happily and hopped from one branch to another one. The fresh air touched my nostrils and I was in a feeling of total peace.

Welcome to Alam Sutera in Selo Boyolali in northeast of Jogja

Feeling at ease sitting on the deck of Alam Sutra's "Eiffel Tower"

Look at that! Mount Merbabu looks awesome, doesn't it?

After having a nice moment at Alam Sutra, I started off to Merapi Garden. This touristic place was built in 2018. Paying IDR 5,000 for its entrance ticket, you are welcomed by a combination of a lovely garden and a great panorama of Mount Merapi. When visiting this place, what I really liked was its flowers and plants. They made me want to have a green thumb! I liked finding out some plants had their own name planks. Unfortunately, not all plants got it when I was visiting this place. It would be cool if each planted plant has a plank to describe it. My next favorite thing is—I am sure you know what it is—the scenery of Mount Merapi seen from Merapi Garden! Yay! Let’s give applause to the mountain!!! OK, that’s a bit too much…and I, FYI, understand why many youngsters go for Merapi Garden. This garden has multiples photo spots that would look cool for their Instagram feed.

Welcome to Merapi Garden

Taking picture at Merapi Garden

Mount Merapi and Merapi Garden. Can you find me there?

Purple flowers and Mount Merapi

My first day in Selo was perfect. If you are in Jogja and you would like to climb Mount Merapi or Mount Merbabu you can go to this northeast of Jogja. If all you want is just a relaxing vacation on the weekend, this place is okay as well. Make sure you visit this place in summer so you can see the two mountains better. Many homestays are available here. During my visit, I didn’t see a lot of restaurants but there were some that served Indonesian food. If you want to get some snacks, there are few mini markets as well in the area.

The view in front of my backpacker's hotel room in Sel

I’d share with you about my second day in the northeast of Jogja in the next blog post. For now, tell me about your favorite place to visit for a relaxing vacation. Why do you like going there? Please share on the comment section below. I’d love to read it!

Thank you for reading this blog post and visiting my blog. I really appreciate that. Hopefully, someday you can visit Selo, readers! Enjoy the rest of your day and stay safe!

Hello readers! Jogja has nice weather and today is my second day of working in the office. The company I am working in divides us into 2 groups of people in which each group will have five days of working in the office and five days of working from home. This is applied for about a month and I just finished my first part of working from home.

I was so excited when getting to know that each of us would have a chance to work from home. My mother was so happy to have me as a companion at home.  For me, I do think it will help us doing social distancing better.

Within five days of working from home, I did manage well the term "working from home". My 10 to 5 was exactly the same as the office hour we have during the covid-19 pandemic. I even skip one of my favorite things to do at home, which is taking a siesta. Even though I fancy siestas, I didn't take any in those days. I thought I might get or take some tasks to be executed in my afternoons and my prediction was right!

I don't know if I would be this excited if I had to stay at home and work from home for a longer period of time. Spending time mostly at home somehow push us to be creative. Working at home after weeks maybe won't be enough for us. Watching Netflix for some hours non-stop maybe is fun at first but what about doing it every single day for a long period of time? Would it be enough to keep us contented?

Conversations keep going and people keep on talking about what they did while staying at home. Based on what I heard or listened to, people around me did one of these things:

I am sure millions of people have their own ways on how to seize their 24 hours of staying at home apart from working from home. I also believe that sometimes boredom and even loneliness creep in, moreover if you live alone. Yet, I am sure too that many of us have more time to spend with the family. Maybe this is our time to realize how much we love our family members and how precious our family is for us. Sometimes routines make us forget how good our life is.

Although many of us experience work from home, a lot of people in Jogja still have to go outside so that they can earn money. As an example, let's take a look at becak drivers. Becak or pedicab drivers have no choice but to continue working. If they don't get any passengers, they don't earn any money, the same as the online motorbike drivers. If these drivers don't take any orders from their clients, they will bring home no money. If they have some savings, they can use their savings for their daily needs. What if they have none?

Covid-19 pandemic maybe enforces us to stay at home. It might push us to think and rethink, to contemplate on what matters the most for us, how we live our lives, and how we are as human beings. Some people probably can stay at home for weeks and keep on working from home. Some others might have no choice but keep on working outside of their house to make a living. Whatever it is that we have to deal with, let's hope that we all are able to take care of ourselves well not just for us but for our beloved ones as well. I am sure those who love us expect us to remain good and healthy. 

I am curious about you. How you feel about staying at home and what points to ponder that you get from that. Feel free to share your thoughts or experiences in the comment section below. Who knows what you share will encourage or inspire someone out there.

Thank you for reading. Warm regard is sent to you from Jogja. Stay safe, readers!

Someday, when covid-19 pandemic is behind us when a beautiful day is about to begin, maybe you have a plan to be outside to enjoy the day. Staying in Jogja gives you plenty of choices on how you would seize your day as a tourist. One of it is having a me-time in Batu Papal.

Located in Sleman, Batu Papal is on Jl. Candi Ijo (read: Jalan Candi Ijo, Candi Ijo street (Eng.)). This touristic place is near Candi Ijo (Ijo Temple). Once you are done visiting Ijo Temple, you can go a bit further to reach this place. Batu Papal is like a mini garden I’d say, but it has a great view of Jogja from the top of the hill and some nice photo spots.

What I really like about Batu Papal is its cool view of the landscape down the hill.  You can stand near the fence or sit near the fence while enjoying the view. Look down and you can see rice fields look like a green carpet. The houses look so tiny so are the trees. Listen to the sound of nature. Let the wind caresses your hair while you are enjoying the moment. It’s so relaxing!

When I visited Batu Papal, the place was still quiet. Other visitors I saw were only a couple who sat far from the fence. I took some minutes to sit near the fence and embraced the moment there. I made time to contemplate; thought about my life and what I’d like to do next to seize this precious life. For once, I really thought it was romantic sitting there seeing the great landscape with a special someone.  I don’t know if you would find it romantic, but I really thought it was so sweet sitting there feeling grateful seeing nature’s beauty with your special someone. It’s like… you know that kind of feeling when you want to share something with your beloved one because you believe things are better when they are there with you. But hey, if you are there alone, don’t worry, it’s cool too. You can have a me-time for positive self-talks or search for the right spot to take pictures.

About taking pictures, Batu Papal has spots for it. It has kind of a 1,5m height mini-stage in which you can stand, pose, and get yourself in frames. It also has a love sign low-level mini-stage for taking pictures. I didn’t try any of them because I thought I got better places to put nature’s beauty in frames.

There’s a price for nature’s beauty seen from Batu Papal but hey, it’s affordable!! It costs only IDR 5,000. This Batu Papal area has a parking lot, toilets, and a stall as well in which you can buy some drinks or ice cream. The mini garden with lovely flowers is upstairs and it has as well a swing. Oh wait, wait… All of sudden I assume this place can be one of your places for dating! Yay! Bring your girlfriend or your boyfriend here and you can talk about the future or the flowers or what to do in Jogja or how you both can take a great selfie there!

So, once you are in Jogja and are exploring the area of Ijo Temple, make sure you take time to Batu Papal. Right there, while the wind is playing with the flowers and the fresh air keeps relaxed and happy. Oh, by the way, if you’d like to have a me-time, where is your favorite place to go? Please share it in the comment section below and thank you for reading my blog.

Who wants to enjoy pork dishes in Jogja raise your hand! Yay! Today I’ll introduce you to one dish which is perfect to warm your body while the rain is falling. It’s soupy and it’s savory. Can you guess what it is?

It’s a bowl of pork meatballs! Yes, this time I would like you to know about a mouthwatering dish called bakso babi. Bakso babi is the Indonesian language for pork meatballs soup. The bakso babi that I’m so enthusiastic to share with you today is from Bakso dan Sate Pak Har (Mr. Har's Meatball Soup and Satay).  Located in Nglarang Lor, Godean, this pork meatballs soup is a must-try-dish.  Starting at 8 AM, people come here to have this one in the morning or during the lunch hour.  They visit this place to enjoy a bowl of pork meatballs served with slices of cabbage, noodles and slices of pork meat. 

What is so special about the bakso babi of Pak Har? First of all, the meatballs are pretty chewy but soft enough for the elders to bite and enjoy. The second is the soup itself; the soup is savory and the aftertaste is smooth – you will not taste any onion in your mouth (many meatballs soup has strong onion aftertaste). Slices of meat they put in the soup have light aroma of pork which I really like. I prefer less pork aroma to the strong one.   The last good thing you can always underline is its price! It’s so affordable!  A bowl of bakso babi only costs IDR 7,000.

Apart from the pork meatball soup, Pak Har also has another menu which is pork satay. Each pork satay costs IDR 3,000 here. You can eat the satay with rice or as a side dish for your pork meatball soup. While having the dishes, you can have as well tea, orange or lemon tea as your choices of drink.

If you would like to visit Bakso dan Sate Pak Har in Jogja make sure it’s not on Monday. This place only opens Tuesday to Sunday.

So, what do you think of this pork meatballs soup? Do you think you would put that on your culinary adventure agenda while staying in Jogja? What is your favorite pork dish? Feel free to share it with me and other readers in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope, someday, after the battle with the covid-19 pandemic is over, you will be able to enjoy Jogja as much as I do and put Bakso dan Sate Pak Har in your must-visit-list.

Price:

Starts from IDR 3,000 (food)

Starts from IDR 500 (beverage)

Open Hour:

08.00 AM

Address:

Nglarang Lor 01/10 Sidoarum Godean Sleman

Phone Numbers:
+62 274 6497649
+62 82134346749 (Whatsapp)