Second day in Jogja was one that I had been
looking forward to since a month before we came. Silver shopping at Kotagede. It seems that Jogja has a specific district in
which they sell all sorts of silver. I have always been a silver enthusiast,
particularly since my sensitive skin condition doesn’t allow me to go anything
lower, lest I get rashes. We went to quite a couple stores. They ranged from
small to quite a sizable establishment.. There were some very VERY nicely made
jewelry. Untill now there are still 2 rings that I can’t seem to forget. One
was silver plated in white gold with engravings of little flowers as its head.
What was beautiful was that the engravings were a mix of silver, burnt silver
and a rustic black. Oh man, I haven’t seen anything like that anywhere else.
Another one was a silver ring with zirconia stones leading up to the crown
which was topped up with a dark blue precious stone. Both of these were less
than RM 100 (300,00+ rp) each. I feel like kicking myself every time I think
about it. I was too weary of my cash and I knew I hadn’t brought enough to
splurge on myself alone. In the end I bought a delicate silver ring with a
crown of white stones in shape of a flower. Simple for everyday wear, for
approx RM 40 (140,000 Rp). It was my own fault not to survey the silver prices
in Malaysia first before deciding to go all out in Kotagede. I was far from an
experienced jewelry shopper, and it was at this time that I cursed my family
for not having a data plan where I could ask their opinion. -_-v
As for my mom, the search was a bit
disappointing. She had given me some cash to get her a nice stoned ring. For
those of you with finger sizes 21 and up, I regret to inform that these are
almost impossible to find in Jogja. There was only one place that could enlarge
the displayed rings, but even that was at an extra cost. Others offer custom
make, but would take up to 10 days to finish. Precious time that I did not
have. I finally found her one Terqoise stoned ring which to me looked decent
enough (I was later to find that she preferred something more feminine but I
digress). Among all the shops that we visited, I strongly recommend HS Silver. Here we got to see how intricate
brooches were made by hand. They first create silver wire, which they then
shape into beautiful designs. Once you see the effort and artistry that goes
into a single product, you learn to appreciate the prices ^^. I also personally
felt that the make and choices there were of higher quality than the ones we
saw at the smaller shops. We could have spent the whole entire day in that one
store contemplating all the jewelry (sampai bersila atas lantai okeh… kau
mampu?). Silver plated brooches were mostly below RM20 (57 ,000 – 90,000 rp).
We hauled quite a few of those and coaxed the cashier to give us 25% off =).
By the time we were satisfied with our
treasure hunt, it was already time for a late lunch. We actually had to travel
quite far to Mbah Cemplung. It was quite surprising that there was a packed
restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We were made to stand at least 15 minutes
because it was full house. It was worth it though when the food finally came.
The menu was pretty simple, rice, chicken, cucumbers and chilli. But the
chicken was well seasoned and boiled to tenderness before being fried. The meat
was so soft, and it was dark in colour maybe due to all the spices they used.
Really good stuff. We came just in time, because right after we finished our
meal the workers were already busy closing up shop.
With a filled belly we continued our journey to Kasongan, the ceramic district, also known as landscaping and interior decorator heaven. I am so not kidding. Because ceramics are by nature heavy and fragile, none of us made a purchase here, but not for the lack of want, lemme say that much. The pottery was amazing. All shapes and sizes, for indoors, outdoors, wall hangings, you name it. And they were so cheap i swear i was going to cry. A full table set with 4 stools was only 400,000 + rp. I was not allowed to snap pictures, but i did get away with one, before i saw the no pictures sign. ehehehe. Because we reached kasongan at after work hours we were unable to find the factory where all the pottery was made. But spending even 20 minutes in that store will make you want to fully redecorate you home in a flash.
Our shopfest continued at Manding, the leather district. Here came our first encounter with
hoards and hoards of highschool kids probably on a class trip. I think there
were probably 5 bus loads of them, which will continue to haunt us on the next
few days to come. But lets focus on the shopping. Initially I had little
interest in leather since nega style ahniya, but Manding proved to have some
nice crafted bags, clothes and footwear. One particular piece was the talk of
our group, the Chihuahua bag, more affectionately known as Chi2 (left pic, with zafu's overexcited expression). This came in a
variation of colors and valued at around Rm 150.00 (550,000 + rp). However, Midah settled for a less conspicuous “pomerianian”
bag a.k.a pom2 for everyday use. She still dreams of Chi2 till this day, like
me with my rings *sobs*.
I think the largest chunk of our budget was
spent on the second day, seeing that silver and leather can be considered
pricey just about anywhere. Though I do believe the prices were relatively ok.
That night we went to dinner close to the
gas station, I don’t particularly remember the name of the store, but they
served meehun, which by the looks of it is just like any meehun in Malaysia,
but had a definite unique taste that settled well with my palette. We drank hot
ginger tea, which was really settling for our stomachs. We even had a little
excursion to the small snack store at the petrol pump where we fascinated ourselves
with the prices and variation of products unobtainable in Malaysia. (jakun
sungguh). By this time I was feeling very sorry for Putri’s mom who had
followed our shopping whims from sun up to sun down. We were very lucky that
she chose to drive us to wherever it is we wanted. For those without personal
transport it’s also possible to hire a rental inclusive of driver and gas for
around 500,000-600,000 rp a day if I’m not mistaken.
Day 3: More Shopping MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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