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YOGYAKARTA - It is October 8, 2008 in the morning when I prepare myself for a trip to the neighboring city of Solo. I do this because there are still some stamps missing in my albums. I do not collect points here, converted to money they are worth almost nothing and that 50 Rupiah discount on a bottle of iced tea of 3.500 Rupiah is something I am not waiting for as well. Those stamps however, I would like to have, so it occasionally occurs that I have to do some more effort for them than just the short trip to the local main post office downtown, at the other side of 'Malioboro'.
In the morning, even before half past eight, I was eating bread with an egg for breakfast when I was reading about the rapidly worsening global financial crisis. It was already cloudy, so the laundry would not be dry at the end of the day. It was only a few hours later before I left for Solo. Since it was clouded, it wasn't scorching hot at half past nine in the morning already. I hoped that I would get the protection of this thin layer of cloud cover at least until I reached Solo, the trip back could be done somewhere in the afternoon when if it had become hot after all.
Spectacular how-langing clouds formed over the open landscape. File photo. © indahnesia.com
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On the road to Solo it was cloudy indeed, a gray sky with a reasonable temperature. "Dutch skies", as that is called in the Netherlands. However those boring days without any sun are fairly rare here, they do occur for sure. And indeed they are boring because the sun usually causes a revival of activity. When it is about to drizzle during the entire day, people prefer to stay inside, not risking a wet suit and a shivering body from the cold only to go home to take a cold mandi.
The things I had to do at the post office would only take about half an hour. The ever smiling Agung from the department ritel filateli helped me with the material I was looking for after we wished eachother the best wished because of Idul Fitri one week ago already. From the post office I dived into the nearby Waroeng Steak & Shake where I had a bad experience a few years back. I got a 'steak' with a strong chemical taste. Now the piece of meat was of better quality. Good that I went back after all that time, because normally these kind of places leave nothing to complain, especially if you are in for a quick meal with reasonable prices.
Dark clouds over Yogyakarta on a file photo. © indahnesia.com
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After the quick lunch I headed to the shopping mall. However we have plenty of them in Jogja as well, I just have to be in the mood to look for a blouse or something, especially if you imagine that you will be followed by dozens of pairs of eyes with thick make-up in their face, the salesgirls at Matahari. After a short walk I didn't find anything that I would like, but strange enough I was getting hungry once again. At the time I as enjoying my mi kuah at the 2.5th floor of the shopping center I noticed that the western hemisphere had become dark with clouds. Time to go home it was, because I remembered I didn't bring my rain coat (more a piece of tarp).
Before I even realized it myself I was back on my motorbike, heading for the way out of the city. The nice two-lane road from Kartosuro to almost in front of my house in Jogjakarta is an ideal piece of road to speed up, for as far as you need it to arrive home a few minutes early. I did not have any expectations about being on time, but at least it was worth a try, remembering the raincoat that was still at home. Several kilometers outside Kartosuro however the road was just drying up from rain that just recently came down here.
Before Klaten the roads were still wet. The rainstorm seemed to be moving in the direction I was heading for as well. At least that was something positive. How I just wanted to see how far I would get. From the bypass under the city of Klaten it was just over half an hour before I would be in the city of Yogyakarta, where there are better places for sheltering than just along a main road in between rice paddies and a single row of buildings directly along that road.
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