Yogyakarta & Grand Aston Hotel - Indonesia 2/9

After the three white knuckle landing attempts we finally made it to the ground and I couldn't be happier. Joy and I, at this point, were pretty exhausted and have been transiting for 26 hours, and the only thought resonating in my head was I NEED SLEEP...

Luckily, our driver from the hotel was waiting for us in the arrival area and our Indonesian exploration was set to begin. As we left the airport, familiar sights and sounds of south east Asia started to drum up excitement in my body. Joy was in awe of the traffic craziness - two lanes turned into four and scooters filled the gaps like grout in between tile; cars moved fluidly like they were doing the tango. After about 30 mins of driving, and about 30 near misses we arrived safely to Grand Aston Yogyakarta Hotel. Joy and I were elated to be in our first destination, and able to drop our bags and finally relax. The hotel room was big, the bathroom was modern, and the bed was like sleeping on a cloud, what more could we ask for.

Grand Aston Hotel Yogyakarta

We were exhausted but it was mid afternoon so we decide to venture out of the hotel and find some food. We walked down a few blocks to the nearest shopping mall, passing local textile shops and food stalls but none of us were brave enough to stop and try any of the the street food. What's great about these Asian shopping malls, is they usually have large food courts in the basement and this shopping mall wasn't any different.

I was excited to try the local food from Es Teler 77. I decided to get a local rice dish with fried chicken. I dug in and started chowing down, the flavors were hot, spicy, unique, like nothing else I've had before. Joy tried a bite and thoroughly enjoyed it, without thinking she mixed in the all the spices into the rice. Joy had a few more bites and her mouth was burning, and couldn't eat anymore as the pain from her mouth was becoming unbearable. I finished up the dish and was off to try something else. We scoured the mall for more food, and Joy finally found exactly what she has been craving: Nasi Goreng (fried rice) and Mie Goreng (fried noodle). We order some takeout for dinner and the next morning, and headed back to the hotel as we had an early morning the next day.

To be continued...