Summer Indo Trip: Yogya Trips part 1

So, you know where we stayed while we were in Yogya. But what did we do while we were there? Apart from taking picture, that is.

Well... the first night, we went for a special dinner. Duh! Obviously we have to eat, like 3 times a day, but this one is special. Because the dinner was part of a package, which include a special dance performance, with the Grand Temple Prambanan as the background.

You might remember us visiting the temple a while back, during the day. This time, we did not go quite to the temple itself, but it was clearly visible, beautifully lit, serving as a spectacular backdrop to the dance performance.

The dance was actually a retelling of the epic story, Ramayana, albeit very much abridged. Eyang Putri informed us that in fact, the story used to be told over so many weeks, with every night the dancers dancing different (small) part of the story. Well, I guess it's hard to cater to the international (read: transient) audience with that kind of arrangement. Hence, we had the whole story in one sitting.

It was a beautiful performance, even Kecil was transfixed. She kept asking about the story. It was a good thing we sat right next to Eyang Putri, who was very familiar with the story. The highlight of the whole performance? Real fire burning (specially prepared) huts above the stage, serving as secondary backdrop. So cool!

When the dance was over, Kecil requested that she take picture with the Princess (Shinta). She seemed very much taken by the beautiful princess. Unfortunately, Shinta was standing right next to the Hanuman, of which Kecil was quite scared. So, we settled on one of the lesser dancers, one of the fish, as a matter of fact, part of Rama's mighty army.

The following day, after a leisurely breakfast, we went to visit the heart of the city, the Sultan's palace, the Keraton of Yogyakarta.
This is not to be mixed up with the keraton of Surakarta, which we visited 2 years back on our trip to Solo.

Although the 2 keratons are somewhat similar in design (a complex of low buildings amidst lush greeneries with plenty of open spaces), we immediately felt that the atmosphere was quite different. Here, in Yogya, it was definitely more crowded with tourists, but more than that, it was also alive! Of course, the liveliness might have something to do with the presence of in-house dancing 'academy'.

Indeed, within keraton, you can actually learn the traditional Javanese dance. I believe it was held every Sunday. While we were there, there was actually 'classes' going on, with groups of dancers trying out in one of the pavilion. There were many girls, but there were also young (and some not so young) men learning how to dance. Of course, the men learn slightly different movements from the girls. Why, some of their stances were quite acrobatic, involving some delicate balancing on single foot.

In a different pavilion that day, there was also a 'proper' dance performance, this time with proper costumes and such. Instead of large groups, the three performances only had a group of 3 dancers, a pair of male dancers, and one solo piece. Seats were available in front of the stage, however, you can always take a seat anywhere around the pavilion. It was a free and easy arrangement, which allows anyone to come and go as they wish, as long as they don't disturb the performance.

Now, Kecil had been watching all the dancing, both during classes and the performance, wide-eyed. So... it was no surprise at all that she repeated her request from the previous night: she wanted to take picture with the beautiful dancers. And so she did. Accompanied by Tante Lia, of course, because the Little Girl was just kind of shy.

Or, maybe she was still a bit scared of the big giant guarding the front door?

In any case, it was a good morning, and overall a very 'cultured' weekend in Yogyakarta, and it was not even over yet! We'll stop here first, and continue with part 2 of the Yogya trip. Cheers!