Tina's wanderings around the world

When did I first learn about jamu? Eat Pray Love? Was it when we got married in Bali? My curiosity was piqued then. In the intervening years my interest in plant medicine has soared, and since we moved to SG where there's a significant population from Indonesia, and my proximity to jamu became imminently closer, I've been even more curious about jamu.  I stumbled across a jamu workshop as I searched online for things to do during a solo workcation to Yogyakarta. In amongst the batik and silver jewelry making workshops (is this place up my alley or what) was a jamu making workshop. Booked it quicksmart. Naturally I was the only student in my class today, made all the more significant as I discovered that mine was the very first tour these folks have done since the pandemic began! It's just two people, former tour guides at a company that went out of business, now starting their own business.  Resti met me at the entrance to Beringharjo Market, a hub for all things batik. Bur...

For my second visit to Indonesia, it feels right that it was Yogyakarta. Bali is almost in a world of its own, with its Hindu majority and temples and influx of tourists. Yogyakarta is an altogether different feel,  as an arts and culture hub of Indonesia, and with UNESCO listed Buddhist and Hindu temples, it calls. I mean, the city itself is not the attraction. It's the third largest city in Indonesia with a constant hum of motorcycles and it's not exactly an easy place to wander. Some cities, you can walk for miles but this one...I don't find myself wanting to walk all that much, and as Marcus says, when you're in a city full of motorcycles, walking is not a default mode of transportation. Which I find to be true here. Not many walkers around, and as a tall white lady walker, I attract attention. Which is not unfamiliar to me, but I never love it. There aren't many tourists that have found there way here yet, as in a lot of southeast Asia. And I may be even more a...