2 for 2

This means that I survived my second Indonesian domestic flight. I flew Mandala, the only privately held Indonesian carrier to be EU certified in terms of safety--and I paid about a 15 dollar premium to do so. The inflight magazine gives me the impression that they are trying to put themselves in the niche between Garuda (full service) and Air Asia (barebones). That said, they could work on their punctuality--the plane was 30 minutes late, and because of traffic at the Yogya airport, we landed an hour late. Otherwise it was fine.

For whatever reason, though, my shaving cream keeps setting off detectors at all the asian airports--i've been forced to pull it out and prove that it is in fact shaving cream just about every time.
Having successfully taken the public bus to and from Jakarta's airport--a service akin to the New York Airport Service--a nonstop bus between the airport and the main train station, and one that worked effectively, I decided to do the same for Yogya. Big mistake--I either had no idea where I was going, or the train station stop wasn't labeled (probably a mixture of the two) and I wound up going on the bus' circular route back to the airport, where I promptly hopped into a cab. At that point I thought my time advantage (trying to beat the train from Jakarta) had faded, and I would be forced to wander Yogya looking for a place to stay, but fortunately, I was able to beat the train, and only had to go to my first choice--a place that is both nicer and with more amenities than my hostel in Jakarta, and cheaper to boot.

Tmw morning, I get to wake up around 415 to take a 5am tour to go see Borobodur and Prambanan--two temple sites near Yogya that are must sees--Borobodur is mentioned in the same breath as Angkor Wat as being one of the finest temple complexes in SE Asia.
The next day, I will probably spend the first half of my day exploring the town's historical sites, most of which close by 2pm and then take a breather before leaving around 10pm to climb up an active volcano, Mt Merapi, something that my friend suggested that I do, provided that I arrange it with a tour operator. Fortunately, there is no shortage of those to be had here in Yogyakarta.

As for Jakarta, people were right--its not worth spending more than two days there, and I am happy with my visit. It was fine for what I went there for, but if I had been there another day, I would have probably been bored out of my mind.

I still might stay there for two nights on my way out of Indonesia, as it is a convenient stopover point and is often used as a base for trips to go see Krakatoa--something which I may or may not do, because I have heard mixed things about the trip.