At The Ramayana Ballet , Yogyakarta , the island of Java - August 2014

Yogyakarta, though not my hometown, it feels like home to me. The culture-rich city of Yogyakarta, was a sultanate before Indonesia became a republic. After Indonesia was free from the Dutch and Japanese occupations, an agreement was made and the Sultan was given the right to retain his power over his territory, and the sultanate is still recognized as the chief administrator of the special district to this day. Yogyakarta has gained popularity in the last 60 years from the two most prominent architectural and cultural heritage, i.e. the buddhist temple of Borobudur and the hindu temple of Prambanan where the famous Ramayana ballet is performed on an outdoor theatre during the dry season.

With my brother-in-law Budi, my friend Donnie, and our daughter Thalita, we drove 3.5 hours from Semarang, making some stops along the way at the Banaran coffee plantation for an espresso treat, then onto a famous stop along the road, i.e. the serabi stalls. Serabi is the word for mini pancakes soaked in coconut milk and palm syrup. It's one of my favourite stops where you'd find dozens of serabi sellers lined up along a stretch of 1/4 mile long. Under the makeshift shacks, they make serabi to order, right there on the clay grill over the campfire. Yumm....

We rested for a couple of hours at a friend's house in Yogyakarta, then in the evening we drove half hour across the town to the famous hindu temple Prambanan to watch the fabulous Ramayana Ballet. It was spectacular! Worth the trip and great time to spend.