Joglo Biru (the Blue House) in Yogyakarta

A year ago I was in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I was welcomed by Pak Ganis in his ancestral home, The Joglo Biru (the Blue House). Joglo Biru is tagged as a museum on Google Maps, it is situated up in the mountain and is about 30 minutes away from the city area. There was a cool breeze when we arrived and I was welcomed by everyone in the household and artists from SK Sanggar Seni Karawitan Gempo. 

Pak Ganis gave me a background about the beautiful home and the collection of musical instruments that was bestowed to Joglo Biru by the Sultan of Yogyakarta. Pak Ganis explained that the area of Joglo Biru is surrounded by farmland and after work the farmers would come to Joglo Biru to practice their music. The artists from SK Sanggar Seni Karawitan Gempo were at Joglo Biru that evening to welcome us. They also taught us how to play the gamelan. 

The gamelan is a the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up mostly of percussive instruments. It is similar to the kulintang instrument we have in the Philippines. The instrument they taught me how to play reminded me of a xylophone. Instead of musical notes you follow a list of numbers. The different instruments played together sounded like heaven. It brought peace. If ever you get to visit Joglo Biru I hope you get to try the gamelan. 

Joglo Biru is a beautiful traditional Javanese house. People would probably say it's "instagrammable". The house is divided into several sections: (1) The living area where you will find the portrait of the Sultan, this is also where the instruments can be found; (2) A library area where you can find the collection of books of my friend's father and traditional items; (3) Sleeping quarters; (4) A huge kitchen where they cook the traditional way (there's a dirty kitchen too); and the outside is a beautiful garden. It would be nice to spend a few days there and just be at peace. 

It's a hidden gem high up in the mountain and I super loved the cool breeze. I was sad I had to go back to my hotel, but because of the clean air and soothing energy of Joglo Biru I had a good night's sleep. I loved Joglo Biru because it reminded me a lot about my Dad's hometown, Lucban, Quezon. I'd love to explore more of Yogyakarta someday. 

Here's me playing the Gamelan (bravely) -

Read also: Playing the Gamelan in Yogyakarta

Thank you Pak Ganis, Pak Arya and Pak Suryo for the photos and video :)

CB//182 #StuckAtHomeDay/212 #WFH124 #StayHome #BeKind

Playing the Gamelan in Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta in Indonesia or Jogja as locals fondly call it is one of my favorite

places in Indonesia. I have visited this place a couple of times mainly for work,

but one must always find beautiful things to see during business trips. 

Back in 2013, six months after my heart surgery I managed to go up Borobudur.

It’s a 9th century Mahayana Buddhist temple. Back then they allowed tourists

to go up the temple. It was a slow process for me to go up the temple since it
was still dark when we started heading up and the steps were huge and
uneven. I safely got up with help from my friends from Pangasinan, JR and

Vanj. We reached the top just before sunrise. I reveled at the beauty of

watching the sun rise atop the temple. 

Six years after that trip I got to visit Yogyakarta again. This time we went to

Gunungkidul where they made me feel like a mayor! Students lined up the

street and gave a warm welcome when we arrived. 

My friend, Pak Ganis, always talked about his home in Yogyakarta - the

Joglo Biru or the Blue House and he promised to bring me there to visit

and have a truly local experience. I was honored to experience playing

the gamelan with the artists from SK Sanggar Seni Karawitan Gempo.

The awesome evening was organized and hosted by Pak Ganis at the

Joglor Biglu (Blue House) which is ancestral home. I was originally scared

to play since I couldn't figure out how they could play so harmoniously.

Eventually I got the rhythm and was able to follow the notes.

I heard that Yogyakarta also has beautiful beaches. I hope to visit again for a

vacation some day.

Achievement Unlocked: Climbing Borubodur

Last Sunday my dear friend Avel went around and asked everybody to describe Borubodur in one word. It was Juned who gave the perfect description on how I felt about Borubodur. He said, "Achievable!"

It was a mean feat for me and Juned to climb the temple. On the path to the temple I held on to Juned because it was dark and I didn't want him to stumble. Just as when we managed to get up to the frontage of the temple everybody disappeared and good thing Vanj stayed behind to assist me and Juned (thanks Vanj!). Both Juned and I were huffing from the steep flights of stairs from the entrance. We took a leisurely pace as we got up the temple.

Fifteen minutes later, with dirty hands and pants we surprised everybody when we showed up at the top of the temple. Ahh, photos were in order to mark our achievement. I realized though that it wasn't as difficult for me since I've been working up on my stamina and practicing on Hyatt Yogya's stairs paid off. I wouldn't have made it if you had me do it 2 months ago.

I love exploring museums, temples, watching about the histories of civilizations etc. and I originally wanted to be an archaeologist so I was beaming with pleasure the whole time we were in Borubodur. Watching the sun break in the day was an awesome spiritual experience. I just stood there in awe while take photos of the sunrise (check out the auto-awesomed photos here). It was one of those times I felt really happy I survived my heart surgery adventure.

Another thing that made the trip more pleasurable was being with friends from across the country and parts of Southeast Asia. The last seven years have truly been a huge adventure of opportunities for me. The best thing about my work was meeting lovely friends from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao! I feel like we celebrated our friendship with a jumpshot (see the auto-awesomed photo here!). I really didn't know if it was okay for me to jump, but jump I did!

One thing though that would have made me happier would've been to have both my boys with me since it was their birthday weekend. Ahh but I made a big surprise the day after when I showed up unexpected at home in Manila. Their look was priceless!

Oh Borubodur, I hope to visit again one day with Sweetie and Miguel!

Yogyakarta

It took me several visits to Jakarta before I managed to say the correct pronunciation for Yogyakarta (it's Jogjakarta), much to the consternation of my Indonesian friends. As a Filipino we were trained to pronounce words based on their spelling so I also found it difficult to remember that "C" in Indonesia is read as "Ch". I'm glad though that I have the opportunity to learn more about the other cultures in our region.

I managed to visit Yogyakarta for the very first time last week, but only for less than 24 hours. I asked Pungkas lots of questions about Yogyakarta all day (hope he didn't get annoyed haha). I learned quite a lot of things from him.

I was surprised to find out that Jogja has a Sultan. He lives in a palace which is at the center of the axis from north to south. The city was also built in a way that the Sultan can see across the city. Pungkas explained to me that Yogyakarta was supposed to be a separate country, but because of good relations they have with the Indonesian government, they have an agreement that it will be run by the Sultan.

I didn't get to see much of Yogyakarta since I finished work late. One thing I certainly enjoyed though (aside from the warm welcome I got) was experiencing the local cuisine. Pungkas brought me to Bale Raos, known to be the Sultan's kitchen. I loved the fact that the food wasn't spicy and tasted very similar to some Filipino dishes. Aside from the lovely food in the restaurant they also had a huge souvenir shop where I ended up buying another batik blouse (oh no!).

Hope to be able to come back to Yogyakarta again and have some time to visit Borobudur.

Thanks Pungkas for the warm welcome.