The Night Crowd

Jogjakarata
45 minutes away from Borobudur and 2 hours away from Surakarta, the city boasts of a dense population. We reached JogJakarta late in the evening but were still greeted by many.

The streets are constantly busy with all forms of vehicles and people; young and old. So it took quite a while to cross them.

The local folks are artistic. They play traditional musical instrument with creativity and skill. The team attracted us and many paused and recorded their songs. This exemplifies the latent musical inclinations and talent of the Indonesians. In SMA N4 we noticed that the 'Anklung' was a popular musical instrument among the 'siswa & siswi'.

To attract tourists, they have this 'beca' ( trishaw) driven by a horse. We don't see this in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. But it reminded me of the streets in Salzburg in Austria where horses 'poo' and pee on the streets freely and without qualms. Then there is this group of cleaners ever ready to scoop up the dung; you wonder who the master is at times. Man or beast?

Here we see Mr. Rahim, Ms Tan SS, Puan Ainon and Datuk Haron waiting for their turn to cross the road.

The PTA chief with his spouse were with us on the trip and they enjoyed thoroughly.

The principal with Madam Ung and little Jeanne trying their fortune to hail the vehicles to a halt for them to go across.

All along the main street food vendors displaying local menu are popularly received by the mass. We did not get a chance to taste them... as little Jeanne felt at home when she saw McDonald's ! So to Mc D we went instead; regret.

The locals will just sprawl around the place feeling at home and savoring in the mouth watering dishes with pleasure. Some even had their sleeping children on their laps and ate happily.

The simple but functioning stalls are a source of revenue to local folks and could be a part time vocation for some.The corn is familiar to me but the sweets offered in one of the stalls was just too much for me.

I could not help but notice this derelict piece along the street.Much to be done here...

This seems to be a hit among the local youths. Dozens of them in groups cycled their way along the street in songs . It added cheer and an up beat atmosphere. Simple ventures, simple joys and simple needs. That's how life should be...taking in simple pleasures and finding joy even in the simplest of activities.Why be complicated in life?

My maiden trip to Jogjakarta.