" I Left My Heart in a Kingdom...... "

I left my heart in Jogyakarta during my previous visit to this enchanting city, a place that has long historical background and the center of Javanese Culture. It was the center of the Mataram Kingdom centuries ago. Currently it is a Special District in Indonesia and the Sultan Hamengkubuwono X or the Sultan of Jogjakarta is the Governor of this lovely city.

I am in love with the cultural ambiance of the city with the locals who speak softly in Javanese languages some of them are quite perky, but always courteous with great sense of humor and great hospitality.  And this is one of the reasons why I long to return to Jogyakarta.

As I check in at the PHOENIX Hotel a Reception staff courteously greets me with a very warm welcome as he remembers me from my previous visit. So warm that it felt like coming home. I love this charming hotel that is conveniently located to city center. Dating back in 1914, the hotel had been a colonial landmark in the past and currently the hotel is adorned with stunning rooms and suites. I love my beautiful room that facing the guest’s pool as I love to swim a few laps prior to my sumptuous buffet breakfast at the Hotel’s restaurant.  Or sometimes if I feel like having a very casual breakfast, I could have it in the balcony of the hotel. So the choice is really ours….

Breakfast @ the convenience of your room's Balcony

Rooms by the POOL

The breakfast at the hotel features American and Continental Breakfast combine with local delicacies such as :
GUDEG (dishes made of young jackfruit, slowly cooked and is authentically Jogjakarta )
Tempe & Tahu Bacem ( Healthy dishes made of Tofu and Fermented Soyabean )
Opor Ayam ( Yummi traditional chicken curry ), Chicken Rice Porridge etc. 

The hotel also provides opportunity for the guests to try JAMU (herbs concoction). It has different kind of JAMU to keep you healthy and keep up with your stamina. A woman expert in mixing JAMU ingredients asks you what kind of herbs mix you would like to have, sweet or bitter, and what will be your activity for that day and she will make a special concocted JAMU for you.

                                               

The JAMU Lady

I have included a visit to tourism village of KASONGAN, this time, very well known as the village for the pottery crafters and where making pottery have been handed down from generations to generations. When you enter the village you will see pottery in different sizes and shapes in the yards of most of the houses. The burning furnaces are located in several corners of the villages and for the interest of the tourists the crafters will allow you helping them to shape clay into pottery in the furnace. It is a great experience to be able to do this, shaping a piece of clay for a pitcher, a cup or a plate and watch how the crafters create a more complicated figures such us “ LORO BLONYO “ or figures of a Javanese Bride and Bridegroom, a symbol of hope of domestic happiness and prosperity.

LORO BLONYO Symbol of domestic happiness & prosperity

Pottery Tea Set

                

Making Pottery

If you are looking for authentic experience in the villages, a day program where you can share activities with the villagers could be arranged in the Tourism villages.
We may arrange a CYCLING tour visiting different Tourism villages on the area. It is so divine to feel the breeze on your cheek while you are on your bike. To watch the boys bathing their buffaloes or to see a farmer works on rice fields. They welcome you to join their activities and share their lunch at the hut in the middle of the rice fields. It is their simplicity and sincerity that touch our soul and something that money can’t buy.

Bicycling around the peaceful villages

The village experience may include activities that involve more of your creative sides such as learning to play Gamelan ( Javanese traditional music ), batik painting or making Shadow Puppets. It will depend which tourism village you are visiting as every village has different features and special activities to offer.

Fun at the RICE FIELD

Planting Rice Padi could be fun as you do it together.... only in Jogjakarta

Try your creativity and make your own batik pieces

Learning to play Gamelan and see how talented you are

Creative Corporate program could easily be arranged in these villages. Amazing Race using different kind of transportation such as bike, traditional horse carriages and other public transportation combine it with modern gadgets such as GPS, smartphone and QR Code to find clues would makes the challenges more interesting. It should include challenges to complete tasks that involve the activities with the villagers such as working on the rice fields, making art objects or learning harmony by playing traditional music instruments.

The Corporate’s Master Chef kind of program would be quite interesting to be done in these villages. We could create treasure hunt games to find the black box that contains of traditional menu and ingredients each team should be cooking. Or we can ask the participants to hunt for the ingredients by shopping in the traditional market, and practicing their Javanese Languages. Celebrity Chef or Mistery Judge could be invited to evaluate their culinary creativity.  To be more challenging we could assign a cooking task utilizing traditional cooking utensils.

 Mouth Watering Foods cooked by your colleagues during " MasterChef" challenges

 The simple people always appreciate even the simplest touch we are extending to them. And how fun it would be if we could do a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) in the village such as to provide free public health services, Blood Donation or improving the facilities in the village by painting the school walls or fixing its fences. Or help them with preserving the environment such as planting new trees or cultivating the endangered animals ie Turtle etc. It will provide opportunity to share activities with the villagers and it is a truly rewarding experience seeing how grateful they are, beaming with our efforts.

Last but not least, we could create lots of fun in “ PASAR RAKYAT “ ( Night Market ) theme dinner for all participants of your Corporate Event in Jogyakarta. We could choose an interesting venue such as the BENTENG VREDEBURG a former Dutch Fort (16^th Century) that has been preserved and currently called MUSEUM OF BENTENG JOGYAKARTA features the stories & reminders of Indonesian’s struggle for independence.

All participants could be dressed up in LURIK SURJAN as the people in the street of Jogyakarta to enhance the “ Pasar Rakyat “ atmosphere.

The Courtyard of VREDEBURG Fort ( currently a museum )

 Street Food authentically from Jogjakarta

Lurik Surjan costume, a fashion for PASAR RAKYAT “ Night Market “ Theme Events

The ART Performers during PASAR RAKYAT " Night Market " Theme Events

We could arranged a wide variety of traditional food stalls to be featured during the dinner as well as street performers including Dangdut and Keroncong ( These are 2 Music Genre uniquelly Indonesian ) group music namely ORKES SINTEN REMEN by famous Jogyakarta musician, JADUK FERIANTO and as a highlight, we could feature modern version of Wayang Performance called WAYANG HIP-HOP that is so unique and hilarious. The puppet master is a rapper and instead of SINDEN ( traditional singers for wayang performances ) he will be accompanied by a group of singers who will be featuring popular modern songs to enhance the story. WAYANG HIP-HOP stories could be customized to suit corporate messages to convey to its staff during dinner in a fun and memorable way.

Seeing is believing…. So why don’t you contact your agent right now and get yourself to JOGJAKARTA….. with your loved ones or your business colleagues…..

You will not regret it….. and it will be one of your memorable trips ever.

Note : 
WAYANG is traditional PUPPET SHOWS. The puppets are made of Woods or Leather.

Normally they play the story of King & Queens of JAVANESE KINGDOMS, however, in WAYANG HIP - HOP the story could be customized.

DANGDUT is Indonesian Music Genre that will encourage the guests to dance with it. It will create a fun atmosphere as the musicians could also adopt a popular international songs into a dangdut music

KERONCONG is Indonesian Music Genre that originally adopted from the Portuguese  who came to Indonesia centuries ago.
The music is quite soothing, but many young generation of KERONCONG Musicians adopting International Music with KERONCONG Rythm which is quite interesting...  

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