Kal El

This was our final day in Indonesia before leaving home for good tonight. When on holidays, we would usually take the last available flight home so that we would have time for one final shopping spree or touring. Most of the time we would be stuck at the airport for hours waiting for the flight – silly eh? We were perhaps in a denial to leave our vacation behind, that’s the real reason actually.

Hotel Baron Indah Reception

The last day would usually be a sad and solemn day but not while we were in Solo because it was really a blessing in disguise. A wet day yesterday spent indoor, today we had the Hotel Manager, Bu Rani Febriana taking us on a tour of Solo! Yep, believe it or not she became our personal guide for a sightseeing and two drop offs at a batik and Srabi Factory in town.

Srabi Factory

The day started with a buffet styled breakfast (included) at the Baron Indah Café, packing after that and we were contacted by Bu Rani herself. She’d like to meet up and chat with us. Two hours later, after checking out and having lunch at the hotel we called up the reception to book their shuttle service to the airport. Moments later, Bu Rani called and offered to take us around Solo since our flight will be so much later in the evening. We were of course very delighted (we were wondering actually what we could do at the small Solo airport till late evening).

At approximately 3pm we hopped on the hotel’s van to Chempaka Batik and the Srabi Factory. We didn’t want to go elsewhere as I only had Batik in mind to be purchased from Pasar Klewer. However, since the cab driver’s warning at Beringharjo a couple of days earlier, we didn’t want to take the risk with our money and belongings. Chempaka Batik was good enough although it was a little pricey but quality wise according to Bu Rani, it was so much better than those at Pasar Klewer. We didn’t buy much except for a couple of sarongs and a shirt. Bu Rani however took us to see the many markets in Solo including Pasar Klewer (from the outside lah). Solo town didn’t turn out to be small at all. They have many markets selling very specialized and dedicated things (a market for batik, one for fruits, one for stainless steel homeware etc.) and some small scale emporiums. I think Solo was similar to Kluang town in Johore.

Inside Chempaka Batik's Compound - Very Nice Indeed

Bu Rani then sent us to the Airport, helped us get to the check in counter and bid us farewell. It was the nicest thing someone had done us in Jogja and Solo. We concluded that people in Solo (however scary they may look like, are really a bunch of nice people – how could we be so judgmental and label people as scary so easily lah? Teruk kan?) We had to wait another 2 hours before our flight. True enough, they had only two shops in the departure hall – one selling drinks and tidbits while the other souvenirs. Of all the places that we’ve been to, this on last souvenir shop had fridge magnets of Jogja – finally of all places, Thank God!

Solo Airport Entrance to the Departure Hall. Sampai2 Terus Departure Hall hehehe...

Inside the Departure Hall - I think the Airport is only as Small as my Condo Unit.

The plane to LCCT KLIA arrived at 19:20 hrs as scheduled and the time to leave Solo had finally come. It was a sad moment walking to the plane bidding farewell to this small town in this Javanese Island marking the end of our vacation. We arrived LCCT KLIA at 22:00 hrs local time.

The Flight was Empty... Nice!

We didn’t get to go to the late Suharto’s grave or Candi Ceto in Solo. We didn’t get to do many things that was planned for this holiday due to unforeseen circumstances (like me falling sick on the second day, bad weather yesterday and on our second last day in Jogja, the outdoor Ramayana theater closing, getting turned off and chickening out on Pasar Beringharjo, the Kraton closing when we arrived) but it was indeed a holiday spent with lots of joy and laughter. The most important and valuable thing was the quality time that we have spent together. It was now time to go back to our bust lives and continue working for another holiday perhaps next year and hopefully one before this year ends.

Goodbye Indonesia!

Being the last day in Jogja we were not rushing to get around for last minute shopping or touring. Instead we spent the morning at leisure and enjoyed our very last moments at the hotel having our breakfast at the porch of our room. There were another Mat Salleh couple having breakfast nearby at the pool. The menu that morning on our last day at Jogja was the same as yesterday's only that the traditional kueh was different. Familar looking Curry Puff and Bingka Ubi was served.

Later in the afternoon, in Solo, we had lunch at Moen-moen Steak at Solo Grand Mall. We both had the Hot Plate Chicken Chop served with potato and some steamed vege. It was ok, not that great though but since we were very hungry anything goes. I wanted to try the Fried Tempe and Fried Tofu from a next door stall but these were sold out. Sigh... I just could have enough of tempe while in Jogja... as a matter of fact even in Malaysia...yummy! With the Chicken Chop, we had a bowl of gigantic sized buffet-styled Es Buah at a nearby stall. An all you can take (not eat, stuff as as much as u can in that big bowl and don't come back for more unless you want to pay for another bowl buffet-style). It was also ok, not as great as our Ais Batu Campur or ABC.


Before going back for lunch we had some bread from BreadTalk (sorry by the time I remembered to snap pictures all the bread has gone into our tummy!)


The best meal of the day was from the candle-lit Nasi Padang stall a couple of blocks from our hotel in Solo. The stall, at a junction was quite packed with patrons when we arrived. From the picture below, you can see that what was left for us was egg , sambal hijo and some gravy from a chicken dish. We had 2 pieces of eggs each to compensate for the protein we did not get from chicken or beef that night. Muahahahahah! Believe me, this Nasi Padang was indeed the best Nasi Padang we've ever tasted. For a mere RM5.50 for two packets of yummy tasting meal, it was a real out of this world deal. Only the walk to the stall was not really pleasant as it was dark, eerie and the bechak operators were like owls staring at the two of us obvious foreigners.

Note: Due to a recent hard disk crash I couldn't continue the post on our final couple of days in Joga and Solo as planned.

After a really exhausting whole day tour of Borobudur, Prambanan and Kaliurang yesterday, we woke up a little late this morning and decided to have our breakfast sent to the room to be enjoyed at our room’s porch nearby the pool. We had the same set as yesterday and had a good chat about our amazing experience so far. We even laughed at the experience we had with the peddlers at Borobudur – their persuasion power was fantastic. Sellers at Prambanan were more civilized, perhaps because their stalls have some sort of grills separating them from the tourists.

More Photos of Rumah Mertua

We were dreading the idea of having to check out today and go to Solo. One, because it means that we are about to go home tomorrow evening thus ending our holiday and two, after seeing Solo on our first day we were not really looking forward and convinced to be there. KN mentioned that the people didn’t look friendly and I couldn’t agree more.

More Rumah Mertua Before we Left for Good.

After the luxurious breakfast nearby the pool, we started packing our stuff and called a cab to leave the happy memories at Jogja and to go to Baron Indah Hotel in Solo. The journey took about 2 hours. In Solo two hours later, we saw two huge malls on our way to the hotel. One was Solo Square and the other Grand Solo. Grand Solo was actually on the same street as Baron Indah only that it was at the end of the long stretch of road. We decided after checking in to go to Grand Solo for a late lunch.

Baron Indah is a 4-star hotel undergoing reservation and expansion when we were there in February. The rooms are nice and clean. It was with a really spacious bathroom with a bath tub. It has a café serving real nice food, I especially like the tempe goreng served in the morning.

Although we could really walk to Grand Solo we took a cab instead as it was starting to rain. We went to the food court and later hopped into Bread Talk. Before going home, we bought more local DVDs and music CDs. Grand Solo wasn't really as grand as the name suggests. It was more like Pertama Complex in the inside although it may look huge and tempting from the outside. We now wonder how would that worn looking Solo Square would really look like in the inside? Maybe like the Shah Alam PKNS Complex kot?

We returned to the hotel in a cab (again) as it was still raining. Took a nap and later was time for another meal hehehe. I saw a Nasi Padang restaurant nearby the hotel on the way to Grand Solo and wanted to try the place but KN was a little worried to walk in the dark streets so we asked the reception whether we can get Nasi Padang nearby. Lucky us, we were told that there was a Nasi Padang place a couple of blocks away. Even so, we had to walk in the dark and the streets in Baron are creepy! We had becak operators staring at us as though we were a couple of aliens.

Hotel Baron Indah

We were surprised to see the Nasi Padang place was actually a really small stall, lit by candles, but the place was quite packed with people. Since we were really hungry we decided to go ahead with the much looked forward meal (anything goes for Nasi Padang!) We decided to have the food to go and unfortunate for us there was only egg, sambal hijo (thank god) and gravy from a chicken dish.

Hotel Baron Indah Cafe

We walked back and had the Nasi Padang in the room. We spend the rest of the evening watching local stuff on TV and did not go to Wayang Orang as planned for it was raining real heavily and furthermore we were not convinced with the people there.

I would need a Banana Leaf Rice treat at least once a month, otherwise when the craving comes I could just irritably try to satisfy my cravings with viewing photos of Banana Leaf Rice on the Internet. Unfortunately staying and working in the heart of KL would require an extensive amount of traffic jamming and traveling to go to this favourite and best serving Banana Leaf Rice in the whole of KL and Selangor, Kanna Curry House in Section17, PJ.


I just love my rice soaked in lots of curry with vegetables forming hills on the banana leaf rice plus a serving of Masala Chicken, lots of Pappadom and the crazy tasting Salted Dried Chili. The taste would be out of this world and believe me, the after-smell of curry on your fingers even long after you've finished your meal is just heavenly!

This photo was taken by KN's friend from the AMC. He was on his way home near Bandar Bukit Raja in Klang on June 14th 2008 at 12:30pm and saw a large crowd by the road side. Being a photography enthusiast, he captured this original image and posted in the Alpha Community Forum. Scarrryyyyy man! It was believed that the man, A Thai national who was a Bomoh and a tattooist first killed his wife before committing suicide.