Assalamualaikum,

Before I go in depth into my travels, here is a list of my itinerary for your convenience.
The only flight I know that goes from Yogyakarta to Malaysia is Air Asia.
We took a flight out from KLIA2 in the morning, 630 am.

DAY 1

Taman Sari (Used to be Sultan's royal garden)
Hutan Pinus (Pine trees, beautiful)
Puncak Becici (View point - a bit of trekking)
Jurang Tembelan (The flying perahu)
Kebun Buah Mangunan (View point, the same view as flying perahu.)

Malioboro shopping at night (hotel's free shuttle)

DAY 2

Borobudur (the oldest Buddhist temple)
Gereja Ayam (from AADC2)
Merapi Jeep Tour (going up close to see volcano)

T-shirt & Batik shopping at night
Look-see at alun-alun

DAY 3

Prambanan Temple (Hindu temple)
Sewu Temple (Buddhist temple)
Shopping Batik & Bakpia
Tebing Breksi (View point)
Ijo Temple (Temple on a hill, the view is amazing)
Ratu Boko Palace (AADC2 but also very good to see if you can catch the sunset)

Ramayana Ballet Show at night (recommended!)

DAY 4

Timang Beach (Gondola)
Jogan Beach (Waterfall connecting to ocean)
Indrayanti Beach (a popular beach among tourist)
Kukup Beach (similar to Bali's Tanah Lot)

Planned to go Malioboro, but rained so heavy unable to go out

DAY 5

Stadion Maguwoharjo (football stadium)

Amburuksumo Mall (Unplanned; because flight was delayed from morning to evening time due to an incident at the airport).


Other places that you can go:

Kalibiru (we didn't go because we went to Becici already. View is nearly the same as Bukit Tabur)
Goa Pindul (Cave Tubing)
Goa Jomblang (Caving to see "cahaya surga")
Other noted temples like Plaosan, Kalasan & Barong.
Fort Vredeburg (we passed by but didn't stop to go inside)
Beaches: Wedi Ombo, Ngobaran, Krakal, Baron & Sadranan (snorkeling)
Gumuk Pasir (sand dunes)

On the coming posts, I will be writing in detail about my trip and how much the fare of entries, parking and etc.

Follow my other Yogyakarta entries:
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (Planning Stage)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 1)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 2 - BOROBUDUR)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 2 - GEREJA AYAM & MERAPI)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 3 - PRAMBANAN COMPLEX)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 4) - COMING SOON
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 5) - COMING SOON

Assalamualaikum,

Recently, me & FF went to Jogja and posted a bunch of pictures on our Instagram. We were taken by surprise when a lot of our friends contacted us via whatsapp and FB (my FB) asking us about places we went to.


Although it wasn't the first time we were asked about our travels, but this time, the amount of people who asked about our Jogja trip is a lot more than we had experienced before. Apparently, many of our friends had Jogja for their upcoming travel destination.

FF had always love going to Indonesia ever since I brought him to Bali and then to Jakarta-Bandung and afterwards to Medan. The diversity of people and cultures, the lives they lead in the vast land of Indonesia appeals to him. So, going to Jogja was definitely on our plan.

One day, FF told me, "Cuti Chinese New Year book la pegi somewhere. Lama cuti, sia2 je tak pegi mana2." For FF's kinda work, he has more or less 2 weeks to go somewhere. But, it is after all CHINESE NEW YEAR. The flights to almost everywhere were crazily expensive! About RM1,400/person to Bali, RM2,000 if I'm not mistaken to Chiang Mai/Siem Reap/Korea/Japan. After many many time spent on tickets scouting, I found out that Lombok and Jogja are two places which has the most reasonable prices during CNY.

FF immediately agreed for Jogja. Why? Borobudur, enough said. My mom has been pushing us to go to Jogja. She knows that both FF and me love to explore a place with stories and she has been telling us to go there since long ago. And so, we booked the tickets to Jogjakarta. Air Asia. To be honest, I have always tried to steer away from AA. Because a lot of times I think the price is not that cheap after you add baggage and food etc. Trust me, Malindo is better value. Anyway, we took AirAsia because I have about 50,000 BIG points that I redeemed from my share tradings. My flight fare and our food were free. We only need to pay for FF's fare, the checked in baggage from Jogja and our airport taxes, about RM500+.

Note: In Jogjakarta, the bag system is pretty strict. The guards will make sure you have one hand carry and one small cabin bag going into the plane. If they suspect your bag is heavy, they will weigh your bag. I've read in other blogs about this too.

Naturally, after confirming, it's time to study where to go and most importantly, transportation. There is no Uber or Grab in Jogjakarta. Instead, they use Indonesia's most popular online rider app, Go.

In one application, there is everything. For cars, GoCar. Motorcycles, Gojek (widely use in Jakarta). Food, GoFood. And etc. But since we want to have our own supir, I use our best friend, Google. I got one from Google, one from Mom and one, while we were in Jogja. Standard price for car and driver in Jogja is 500k rupiah per day. Our supirs' names are Agung & Agus. Both has their own charm but I think we saved more with Agung, whereas Agus has more experience with foreigners.

In terms of knowing where to go and such, I've actually been following local travel sites for some time and already have in mind places that I want to go. Will be posting about the itinerary in the next post. Bear in mind, my itinerary is done to cater my wants and needs. I will tell you some sites that I did not go, but may interest you to go.

Follow my other Yogyakarta entries:
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (Synopsis Itinerary)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 1)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 2 - BOROBUDUR)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 2 - GEREJA AYAM & MERAPI)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 3 - PRAMBANAN COMPLEX)
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 4) - COMING SOON
IFTravels: YOGYAKARTA 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2017 (DAY 5) - COMING SOON

Assalamualaikum,

I am blessed to be surrounded by people who are really nice and care about me. Alhamdulillah! Thank you Ya Allah!

While we were preparing our mind for Hajj (which in the end was not our time yet according to Allah), a friend gave us some books regarding Hajj. One of it is a book by Ismail Davids, "Getting the Best out of Hajj". And I must say, how absolutely insightful, informative and is THE perfect book to get you ready for Hajj. Couple it with watching his video on Rituals of Hajj (here), and I assure you, your mindset will change.

Today, the very last flight will depart to Jeddah for the Hajj season. We are here at home, having come to terms that it is not our time yet since the last 2 days. And I received this from my sister's mother-in-law (via my sister)...they are residing in US,

 I immediately felt touched at her gesture. Perhaps because few days before the last 2 days, we had news that our chances in going to Hajj was 80%. We got everything ready. But nearing to the day, our chances seemed bleak. That was when I watched Ismail Davids' video and his words about Allah's will for our Hajj journey soothed me. Up til today, I feel calm. I'm looking at days ahead of me now and move on. We will have our chance to go, it is all up to Allah. We have done our best, but Allah knows best. Thank you Aunty for the kind words and reminder!

Looking back, even when we were uncertain whether we would go for Hajj or not, our friends keep encouraging us and giving positive words, mostly at the lines of, "You absolutely will go."
One of our friends (who has gone for Hajj last year), gave me tips and told me to keep calm and help me through my stress about Hajj (in the early preparation).

Ya Allah, I feel so blessed with the friends that I am surrounded with. Thank you for bringing them into my life. As much as they pray for me and wish me well, I wish the same for them too and pray that they are given the same blessings that You have given me. Amin.

Rezeki tu Allah yang tetapkan.

Apa yang kita ada di dunia ni semua adalah rezeki.

Perkara sekecil mata,
Mempunyai eyesight yang sempurna itu adalah satu rezeki dari Allah.
Orang lain mungkin tak ada penglihatan yang sempurna, terpaksa bergantung pada cermin mata.
Ada yang buta warna, bergantung kepada cermin mata yang spesifik pulak.
Ada yang tak nampak, dilahirkan buta atau dibutakan di pertengahan hidup.

Tetapi, walaupun seseorang tu ditetapkan buta oleh Allah, ada pula rezeki lain yang Allah beri, mungkin lebih dari orang lain.
Dia mungkin ada talent yang orang sempurna penglihatan tak ada.

Antara rezeki yang kita selalu overlook, ialah parents.
Kita ada both parents masih hidup itu satu rezeki daripada Allah.
Ada mak sahaja pun satu rezeki.

Yang dah tiada kedua orang tua, mungkin rezeki dia di tempat lain.
Rezeki dia mungkin pekerjaan dia yang mulia.
Pekerjaan yang menjanjikan dia pahala lebih byk daripada orang lain.

Segala apa, sekecil apa yang kita ada ni ialah rezeki.
Tapi, tentunya kita manusia. Kadang2 kita ingat, kadang2 kita lupa.
Cuma, harapnya kita selalu la ingat daripada lupa.

Bila kita sedar & appreciate dengan rezeki Allah bagi,
sentiasa ingat & bersyukur,
masa tu kita akan rasa aman & bahagia dengan hidup kita.

Moga kita semua sentiasa tenteram, aman dan bahagia dalam hidup ini.
Amin.

God, please let me go to Hajj now...
I want to be closer to You...
I want You to guide me...
I want You to guide my husband...
I want You to show us the true meaning of our lives in this world
And to guide us to succeed in the Akhirah...

Assalamualaikum...
It's mid August. We are waiting for our Hajj call..not quite sure whether we are able to join the Hajj this year..but somehow I have a feeling we might. Insyallah. If God wills it.
Thing is, I've been doing readings on Hajj etc..and I still think that my knowledge of Islam is so below par compared to say, FF.
He seems to be relaxed...not that much preparation..I guess due to the fact that one of his friends have gone for Hajj and he himself have gone for Umrah like..8 times?
Meanwhile..I have only gone for Umrah once. And I feel that I'm lacking A LOT in myself, in my knowledge.
I now might be a little depressed. My morale is down. I think so little of myself. I have been feeling that I am not a good mother..I can't teach them properly..I see the kids playing but when it comes to studying, when I try to teach them..I know nothing.
Thank God that I've not felt like wanting to hurt myself like I used to...
I'm tensed up. Right now I feel like going somewhere and just be by myself alone. I used to do this..go to the park behind my house and just sit on the grass alone. Calm my thoughts...just be with the nature. I remember it soothes me.
Lately, so many things on my mind. Clouding. FF doesn't understand..he's too busy. Besides, he thinks I'm just lazying around all day.
Am I?

I don't know. Things like this makes me feel like I'm stupid.
I'm writing nonsense.