Yogyakarta day 2.

Shopping day!
Breakfast of yummy Indonesian goodies and new fruits. The heart shaped beauty was a first for me. Salak is a pitted white flesh wedge of sweetness and crunch. Delicious. Another favorite next to mangosteen. Don’t worry, I will try the stinky Dorian fruit before I leave; promise.

Next more batik and the largest batik store I could have imagined. Followed by an expensive trip to the Yogyakarta gold palace. Holy moly, there was a lot of gold being sold. Maybe 50 people buying when their deli number was called that were helped by around 40 uniformed women all filling up jewelery baskets with 17k+ bangles, necklaces, and bobbles. Based on the sheer volume of high priced gold sales, I’d say the economy is doing well. Now the fun part, many adults and all of the children were fascinated by seeing a non-Indonesian woman in the store. I was definitely a novelty and worthy of stares, pointing and smiles. We all enjoyed the sense of surprise the children’s eyes showed seeing a Caucasian woman perhaps for the first time. It appears they thought I was a tv Hollywood character come to life and the polite sense of wonderment was endearing and welcoming. Eveyone was so nice.

Finally a visit to a craftsman who designs clothing and hand hammers parts of nature into the fabric to release their blessings, shapes and colors; giving each piece a spiritual name, blessings and beauty from Indonesias earth and nature’s art. Absolutely amazing and what a delightful man to purchase from.
You may be a lucky recipient of one of his pieces, as they were as impossible to resist as was he. His services even included packing and dropping off at my hotel after his shop closed. I promised him photos of all outfits on live models as despite his traditional methods, he is ready to embrace marketing via instagram.

Lastly, a safe trip to the ladies room where I was happy to see the custom signs keeping people like me safe and sound.

Tomorrow is the big adventure day! Stay tuned!Read more