Jacqkie | Travel and Lifestyle

I never really mentioned about the Parangritis Beach I visited when I was in Jogja, so I thought this would be a perfect time to bring it up. When I was there, I was constantly surprised over and over at the number of excursions and the quality of excursions one can do in Jogja. I really think Jogja is underrated. I asked around whether there's any beach nearby that I could dive myself into, unfortunately, not quite. Some are either hours away, while another one a local favourite is the Parangritis Beach. It is a little special in a way, the sands are black and warm, it has a little story behind it, believed that the beach is the gate to Ratu Kidul's magical kingdom who has been controlling the southern sea. When I told some of the guys in my hostel that I'm going to Parangritis Beach, alone, they had the strangest of expression in their face, some convinced me to bike there with one of the rider, some told me not to go because it's too far, bla bla I...

I wanted to collapse Day 3 and Day 4 of Jogja together until I figured wow, I really shouldn't because Prambanan has a lot of information too. Borobudur and Prambanan are the two most famous landmarks of Yogjakarta. Tourists, travelers and other visitors in general come to Jogja and prioritize these two at their top of the list. So I too did exactly just that.  I visited Prambanan the day after Borobudur. This time, I didn't go through any tour packages because I was told that accessing Prambanan via public buses is feasible. Thank heavens that Sosrowijayan Street (where I was staying) is less than 5 minutes walk from the bus station (also known as Trans Jogja), so I hopped on to it and told the excellent guest relations officers about my intentions to head to Prambanan and they were so great at guiding on which buses to get into. Trans Jogja Bus Station Waited for the right bus in less than 15 minutes (excellent frequency of Trans Jogja buses too) and I was well...

There was one fine afternoon, as I was sitting alone enjoying the ample of time in my hands by the hostel’s balcony looking over different tourists with different accents and different features passing by, now a good friend who’s working in that hotel sat next to me and started chatting up with me about Sabah. As I was telling him all the ground info and rules he should know before coming over, I cut it short by asking him to pay us Sabahans a visit and he shyly nodded. The main reason why I cut him short on Sabah was because I wanted to continue our conversation on his beautiful home Jogja instead. I was ready with all my question, a little too inquisitive that way. The information from this paragraph is derived purely from our conversation so please forgive any misinterpretations. He told me that Buddhism and Hinduism were the oldest “religions” in Indonesia, mainly populating in Central Java of Indonesia. As the years passed by, where Arabic traders wheezed through all s...

After getting into the new job, my limbs were stretched to all kinds of far. I have been busy with a lot of things, projects, catching up with family, friends and just life in general. A lot of personal vacations and sightseeing were put on hold too except… I told myself that by hook, by crook or by any kinds of nooks I'd have to maneuver – YOGYAKARTA must happen! I bought the tickets in September, and just like most of us, AirAsia’s flight prices were real steal. Since I’d have to fly to Kuala Lumpur first, I had to get four flights in total, which totaled up to RM 339 inclusive of taxes. I usually travel light so it was no issue for me not to get any check ins, in fact, I would usually just fill my bagpack just half of its size so that I can have more rooms for personal shopping and some little souvenirs. I'm gifted for being able to pack up quite light when it comes to travelling. I usually decide to wear whatever I've just bought over my travels too. Singlet...