May 18, 2026

May 18, 2026

Our hotel has a great buffet. The previous night I had the items I rarely get at home because they are not on Aimee’s preferred list, including Japanese Sushi and grilled Calamari. The breakfast was just as diverse. I took the opportunity this morning to try a couple items I have been on the lookout for. I had a bowl of Nasi Lemak, the national dish of Malaysia. I followed it with a bowl of Laksa Kari. The key word is Kari, which is the Malay form of Curry. That adds the spice flavor I love and had been hunting. Last night we went to the 39th floor rooftop for a drink of the locals beers Bintang and Bali Hai. We watched the sun set behind our nearby smoking volcano.

This morning we checked out and drove the two hours to the other big city in the center of Java, Yogyakarta. This region is the only one ruled by a king. In many ways Indonesia is a collection of widely diverse states and cultures. Despite the high cost of oil today, there is no shortage of vehicles on the road, especially motorcycles. Interestingly if you call their Uber (Grab) you might have to jump on the back of a motorbike. One reason there are so many vehicles is that the price of diesel is subsidized. It is merely $1.50/gal. That is part of the ‘resource curse’. There is no incentive to use domestic resources economically. Indonesia used to be an oil exporter and a member of OPEC. No longer. They are now an importer.

We had a bathroom break at a Batik craft shop. Batik is not only used for clothing but also for making beautiful art. The pieces we saw make our attempt yesterday look pretty childish.

We stopped for the day in the old part of the city called Kota-gede, or Big City. We first walked through the market where the local food stuffs are sold. Tropical Asia is so different than our own. There are blue Duck eggs and tiny quail eggs. The ground spices are not displayed in colorful bins like Morocco. Here they were recently dug out of the ground. It is 'grind your own' Turmeric tubers, Cinnamon bark and Lemongrass stalks. Sugar comes from Palm trees. And the fruits are all things you will never see at home. Snakefruit is called that because of the scales on the covering.

We then walked through the Great Mosque of Kotagede. It is the oldest built almost 500 years ago. It looks nothing like those we have seen in the Middle East. Its structure is Javanese with distinctive elements of Hindu and Buddhism. So much so that the entrance gate has the head of a Hindu demon, which is taboo in Islam. There is no minaret or dome anywhere.

We next explored the traditional Javanese music culture. It uses all percussion instruments called Gamelan. They are bronze instruments that are struck to make a sound. The instruments range from bells, to xylophones to gongs. Gong is a Javanese word. We listened to a bunch of young students play these instruments while munching on some local snacks. Then we were recruited to try it ourselves. A young Java girl taught me how to play the gong in a band. I was a slow learner but provided the encore sound at the end.

After lunch, we drove to our Yogyakarta hotel. After checking in, I drank a beer while watching Aimee swim in the hotel pool. One benefit of travelling in the Third World is living like a king despite a shoe-string budget.