A touch of class

Wow! Only a week to go and I will be winging my way back to Jakarta. I just don't know where the time has gone, but I have been flat out with the flu, maintenance issues round the house, my day job, of course, and catching up generally. I still have a huge backlog of photos of great places and gardens I managed to visit in my last two weeks in Indonesia that I am dying to share with you, from my super-mini break in Bali after my conference, to three days R&R in Jogyakarta immediately before I flew home.

Just to get us in the mood and ready for more adventures in South-East Asia, this is the fabulous hotel I stayed at in Jogya - The Phoenix. It was so wonderfully atmospheric, I felt like I had been transported into the setting of a Somerset Maugham story.

Of course, the reason for me being in Indonesia in the first place was work-related, and my three days in Jogya were a little treat to myself. But, despite my oppulent surroundings, I remain a budget traveller at heart and love the challenge of finding great accommodation with character that doesn't break the bank. On the website this morning, the rooms here are on special from 501,000 IDR, which is only about $50 in Australian or US money. With so much to see in Jogya, including the wonderful temples of Borobudur and Prambaran, and the Sultan's Palace (all in coming posts) and reasonable flights from Australia, it is really worth a visit.

Hope you enjoy this photographic visit to The Phoenix!

My room was the closest balcony you can see on the right.

Doorway to the lobby area

Trolleys with cigars and brandy for the gentlemen and white wine on ice for the ladies. I  stayed in theme and enjoyed  pre-dinner gin and tonics in the terrace bar in the background, until I got hooked on their delicious non-alcoholic punch.

Love the magnificent urns adjoining the courtyard.

The fountain in the court

The restaurant

Fabulous attention to detail with the repetition of the phoenix motif on the door handles,

the table linen,

the banners overhanging the bed,

even the planters.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day June 2012

In case you haven't dropped by recently and are thinking this doesn't look like suburban Brisbane, you are right! I have been on unpaid leave from my regular job to complete a 75-working-day contract in an advisory role in Jakarta, Indonesia.

I have been home from my first instalment  for nearly a week now, and head back for another 8 weeks in a couple of months. However, my early winter garden is not particularly interesting and is in desperate need of weeding and tidy-up, while I have been flu-ey and not up to it, so I thought I might once again 'borrow' from the gardens I saw in my travels in Indonesia for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

The photos that follow were taken last Wednesday, my last day in Indonesia, which was Day Three of my R&R visit to Jogyakarta in Central Java. After a morning tour of the Sultan's palace or kraton, I still had several hours to lose myself and wander around the streets and laneways adjoining the palace, before plane-hopping back to Jakarta, then Sydney, and finally home to Brisbane.

A single bloom of Justicia coccinea above a bright yellow doorway.

Typical roadside food stall or warung

Becaks - a popular means of transport around Yogya.

You don't have to have a big garden bed to have lots of greenery in Jogya.

Love the citrusy croton against the aqua, and check out the great collection of Desert Roses Adenium (right). Together with euphorbias, which I included in my previous post, they were the most popular potted plants throughout the city.

The same aqua-coloured walls, this time with papaya or paw paw, a sprinkling of Desert Rose flowers and, I think the taller shrub with multiple leaflets is a Curry Tree. 

Love the intense blue of this pea flower

Yogya's batiks are traditionally in shades of brown - displayed here against the city walls.

(No blooms of note - but I have a weakness for doorways!)

Another collection of desert roses.

And yet another.

My doorway fetish strikes again. This one is illustrated with wayang shadow puppets.

Space is no impediment to a garden in Jogya.

A great collection including mother-in-laws tongues, cordyline, euphorbia, croton, and diffenbachia.

Meet the locals!

The boys!

Can you see 'Ginger's' shyer friend? (Behind the back right table leg)

Croton, euphorbia, diffenbachia.

Final glimpse - Jogya has vanished beneath the clouds, but the menacing Mount Merapi, about 17 miles to the city's north,  looms above them.  The name  'Merapi' means mountain of fire, and it is the most active volcano in Indonesia.

To see other gardens around the world  (without the holiday snaps and doorway photos), visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens who hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the 15th of the month.

Mixed feelings in Taman Sari

When I was younger and more idealistic, life was so simple: moral issues were black and white, and a happy ending seemed the logical outcome for all deserving parties. Nowadays, a good outcome is often a matter of compromise, and there is frequently a price to pay that can seem harsh and unfair.

Today is my last full day in Jogyakarta, and I find myself liking it more and more. My two big expeditions have been to the temples at Borobudur and Prambaran on the outskirts, but yesterday afternoon I ventured into the heart of the city for a brief visit to the ruined water palace, Taman Sari. The last thing I expected was to come away from the experience feeling deeply moved.

Taman Sari was built between 1758 and 1765 as a pleasure palace for the Sultan of Jogyakarta. The name means beautiful garden.  It was damaged first by war and later by an earthquake. My very first impression was of slight disappointment. The ruined buildings seemed scattered, and some were in poor repair with occasional graffiti. However, after looking through a few of the ruins on my own, I met up with a local who explained the original purpose of the buildings and the plans for the community that lives within the perimeter of the original palace grounds.

Taman Sari is listed  as a tentative World Heritage area, and UNESCO is going to commence a major restoration project over the next 2 years, but to do this, the current residents must be relocated. The settlement is known as Kampung Taman and many of their homes have been built in what was the garden's huge artificial lake. The first families move in about 5 months, and, in all, 254 families will be relocated to apartments 13 km away.

No one is more supportive of preserving historical and culturally significant places than I am, but as I walked through the lanes and streets that will be demolished, there was such a charm and sense of community that I knew that something precious will be lost, even if something wonderful is gained. Kampung Taman is a very artistic community, and they seem to love their gardens and potted plants. It will surely be difficult to adjust to apartment living and the scattering of their friends and neighbours.

Dovecote

Entrance to an underground passageway.

These buildings served as air vents for underground passageways.

One of the Sultan's family's homes.

Not-so-shy local

I love birds and cages, but not necessarily combined.  Love the painted boats on the top of this great cage.