Adventures living as expats.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Yogyakarta and Durian

Last weekend our good pal Tane and his family came for a visit from Hong Kong. Since Jakarta isn't much of a tourist hotspot, we headed to Yogyakarta for some relaxing and sightseeing. First on our agenda was a visit to Borobudur, a Buddhist temple built in the 9th century and the most visited tourist sight in Indonesia. The intricate stone detail was impressive and little Anaiyah (Tane's 1 year old daughter) was such a trooper even in the searing heat.

View from the top, it felt like 120 degrees
Anaiyah carried the umbrella for most of the day

Next on the itinerary was Prambanan, a Hindu temple built in the same century as Borubudor. Wikipedia lists it as the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia, but Jeff and I both thought it seemed smaller than Besakih in Bali.

When we returned to Jakarta, Yan and Tane surprised us on their last night by picking up a huge durian to share.

Bigger than Jeff's head!

We'd both been wanting to try it, but were too chicken to take the leap on our own. After seeing Yan dig in with uncontained excitement, I took a bite with huge expectations. I can't even begin to describe the taste - it was flat out the worst thing I've ever eaten. The pictures pretty sum up my opinion of the king of fruits. Even a shot of whiskey afterwards couldn't kill the obnoxious taste invading my mouth, nose, and throat.

Jeff managed a bit better and was able to keep down about 4 bites after being encouraged by Tane's insistence that durian is a superfood with amazing health benefits.

 

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