Thanksgiving at The Phoenix, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Stepping back in time: The Phoenix Hotel in Yogyakarta: 
our special Thanksgiving happy hour in the heart of Java!

"Located in the heart of Yogyakarta near the popular Malioboro district, the historic Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta, a member of the MGallery Collection, is a colonial landmark dating back to 1918. With 144 elegant rooms and suites, each boasting a balcony and a fusion of Asian and European decor, The Phoenix Hotel features a restaurant, wine bar and terrace bar overlooking an open courtyard. An inviting swimming pool, indulgent day spa and modern conferencing facilities complete the exclusive experience." (Accor website description)

Happy Thanksgiving: So much to be grateful for!


We enjoyed our visit to the Malioboro district on Thanksgiving Day. What made it very special was happy hour at the famous Phoenix hotel, once owned by a wealthy Chinese businessman who built it as his residence. 

   

Arriving at the hotel by bicycle carriage. Toasting with Shirley Temple mocktails and Gin Slings, a cocktail created at The Phoenix originally for women but now enjoyed all over the world by men too!

We did not have time for a swim on this visit! Next time, we might stay here at this beautiful, old hotel which reminded us of Raffles in Singapore. We also could not find a turkey but enjoyed dinner at our hotel afterwards: steak on a hot stone and a game of pool!

A little horse ride around the village...Yogyakarta!

Papa has a good point. It is fun to re-live our trip over and over by looking at photos and putting them on our blog! Good point, Papa!

Studying Buddha's journey at Borobodur, with breaks for breakfast!

 Lovely Indonesian breakfast at our hotel, Manohara inside the Borobudur Temple compound area.

  Our private car takes us to the Hyatt Regency in Yogyakarta for some relax!

Welcome to the Hyatt Regency! The welcome drinks and jasmine necklaces, cool, fresh towelettes and wonderful service were so appreciated!

Chilling out by the pool was great fun! The boys figured out how to build a "wall" with their bodies at the top of the waterslide in order to get a huge flow of water to eventually zoom them down! Later Papa and I tried it with them...awesome! The boys had a ball with some kids from Perth, WA. On a side note, it is great that Frunty has not been traumatized by the Movenpick waterslide accident in Phuket where he broke his tooth! Although he is definitely more cautious of waterslide crashes, he still enjoys the fun they offer!

 The balance beam was a great hit as well! Good practise balancing and then lots of giggles falling off!

 Look at that happy face as Pit gets the ball in! The Hyatt has beautiful grounds to enjoy.

We have fun whether we are eating breakfast for 70 cents or something more luxurious at a buffet. It is best to shake things up in life so we always enjoy what we get!

Borobudur: sunrise temple visit with my boys!

We hiked about 5 minutes in the dark from our Manohara Hotel to the Borobudur temple with flashlights. We were all pretty tired but it was worth watching the sunrise at this beautiful world Unesco site. After we had a delicious Indo breakfast at our hotel and came back to study the reliefs. We also watched a movie about Buddhism at our hotel to help us learn more about the story of Buddha. We were very grateful for these Unesco experiences.

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Borobudur, Yogyakarta...sunset visit!

A last minute cancellation allowed us to stay at Manohara Hotel, right on the grounds of the Unesco world heritage site of Borobudur temple. This meant that we could walk 5 minutes over to the temple from the hotel whenever we felt like visiting. It sure made getting up early for the 5 am sunrise a lot easier and we walked with flashlights instead of having to drive from some other hotel. Similarly, we stayed very close to the Prambanan temples at a hotel called Poeri Devata. We found both hotels to have really great and professional service but the best part was being so close to the action. The Mommy had a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a solo sunset viewing of Borobudur but was very excited to get everyone over there the following morning.

Our Manohara Hotel, a center for Borobodur studies, was a gorgeous, garden walk only 5 minutes from the temple. No traffic, complete pedestrian, car-free zone...a relief in SEA where traffic is often chaotically hectic and exhausting.

A moment alone for the Mommy to re-group. It has been a very hard month with the loss of a dear friend...batteries were definitely re-charged in Yogyakarta. Thanks, Papa, for always taking care of us so well.

Happy Thanksgiving from Yogyakarta!

 Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta!

 Swimming breaks at our hotel near Prambanan called Poeri Devata. Excellent nasi goreng!

 A jeep ride to explore Merapi volcano which last erupted in 2010, killing 50 people. We paid our respects.

Early morning temple visits make naps in taxis a must! Great first day on our Yogyakarta Thanksgiving trip!