I scribbled a date to mark the day on my notebook. After a while, looked at it, then crossed the last number of 2016, and put a number 7 instead. It's 2017 already! A lot of things can happen in a year. 2016 was really great. It was a year I finally decided to go ahead and make one of my wishes came true. Life is not always about luck, it is about 'are you willing to take the risk and choose that option?'. That will probably sum up 2016 for me, and I hope there's more to come in 2017 and I can handle it wisely but not playing safe! IYKWIM.
I am so thankful that I got to travel quite a lot in 2016. :) Let's look back and remembering 2016 at a glance! Starting from January 2016. My college friend who's having a wedding on April 2016 said that she will have a pre-wedding photo shoot in Jogjakarta that month. Like many other photo shoot, she surely will visit the famous places at that time. That sounds so fun! I mean.. those places will be such an Instagram worthy picture. :P So.. she invited me to go or did I beg her so I can also join her?? Hehe.
I took a day off to go to Jogjakarta (could never able to save up my days off). Me, my friend, and her friend went there by a night train. Wooo! I've never been taking a train for a long trip. The train is so uncomfortable (yup, the economy one), with the hard-straight seat, but it's fun cause it's my first time. You can rent a pillow and a blanket. And there's also a little cafeteria in some compartment. What makes it so awkward is the seating position. You have to sit face to face with people. Imagine having to sit in front of a stranger uncomfortably in a 9 hours trip. *I'm okay*.
Some of the places I visited when in Jogjakarta were Gumuk Parangkusumo, Landasan Pacu, Malioboro (of course), and Taman Sari Water Castle (my favorite!). Gumuk Parangkusumo is a wide and pretty sand dune, but not a desert. The sands are actually the beach sands from the sea, it's in the other part of the sand dunes. Before I visit this place, I already saw many pictures of it posted in Instagram. But, having to see it by myself still surprise me. I arrived there in the morning so the sand is still so smooth, blown by the air overnight, no footprints, and so quiet. Baguuus banget! Baru gurun pasir kayak gini aja gue udah seneng banget ya, gimana kalo gurun pasir di Afrika Selatan! Huaaa. There was this big cute cactus. And there's also a swinging, and a not so high (but, I was afraid to get on because it's rocky) tower to look around.
Not so far from Gumuk, there's this empty long road, Landasan Pacu. It is actually a road used for planes taking off. And on the side of the road you can see the beach! I was there in the middle of the afternoon, like OMG the sun is up above my head. It was so hot and windy. But, didn't stop me and my friends taking a lot of pictures. She had to change to several outfits for her photo shoots (kebaya, etc). Imagine how it's even hotter for her with all the make up! :))
The last place is Taman Sari Water Castle. I've been to Jogjakarta maybe twice before with my family. And why oh why I've never heard of this place before??! This place is sooo beautiful. It used to be the royal garden for kings/ sultan in Jogjakarta. I always love old buildings. When you see them, and look around, you can not not imagining how was life before in the old times. There is this big pretty pool used for bathing complex, undergrounds tunnel, and a round platform with four staircases. The area of the castle used to be wider than what you can see now. Because some of the area is already being used for houses (kampung). There were many visitors when I was there. And that is because of the power of social media. :)) If I visit Jogjakarta again, I would love to visit Taman Sari again, wander around all day.
Okay, writing about Jogjakarta make me craves bakpia so muchhhh :(( I bought the 'famous one they said', and yes they taste so goood, especially the cheese flavor. I WANT BAKPIA. NOW. PLEASE?
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