Sydney - Singapore - Solo

Photo 1: Incredibly tired with the Merlion

Photo 2: Singapore city lights

So, the journey has begun!
After spending a couple of relatively uneventful nights in Singapore (eating and window shopping) I finally headed off to Changi airport for my flight to Solo, Central Java. True to form, I managed to leave my document wallet on a counter at the free internet access area. Thankfully I hadn't realised I'd done this (saving much stressing on my part). We'd just begun eating lunch when I heard my name over the intercom. A little suprised, I went through my bag, trying to find out what I'd lost. Turned out I no longer had my passport, credit cards, cash, travellers cheques, boarding pass... So I went sheepishly down to the Information counter, thankful that I was in Changi airport and not elsewhere. Luckily for me a staff member had picked it up almost straight away and everything was in one piece. Phew! I hope I've learnt my lesson, though given the number of times I have done similar things...
When we arrived in Solo we had to make sure we got the correct immigration stamp for our visa. According to the information book we were given, that meant not going through the tourist line. So we stood in the line for 'Indonesian Citizens'. Ironically, for the first time in a while the tourist queue was the shortest, whilst the citizens line moved at snails pace. As we waited, plenty of friendly people came over with big smiles trying to direct us into the tourist line, as we evidently were lost and confused. We just smiled and tried to explain that we already had a visa, although I think only one woman actually understood that we weren't idiots! Eventually we did end up with the correct immigration stamp, so that was the biggest worry out of the way.
The taxi to Yogya was a lesson in Indonesian traffics rules - anything goes. I would describe it as organised chaos. We crossed the center line into incoming traffic, dodged around motorcycles, and had both cars and motorcycles driving the wrong way down our side of the road. And all without seatbelts. Having said that everyone seems to watch out for everyone else, and it was too busy for us to get up any real speed. The scenery was an ecclectic mix of farmers working in the fields, young men hanging outside the local warungs with their motorbikes, the latest and most expensive 4WDs, push cart vendors, old temples, rows of demountable roadside food stalls and luxury western malls. And of course plenty of motorbikes! The two notable motorbike scenes of the day were a family of four all on one bike, with their shopping (although it would seem that having 4 people on a bike is fairly standard practice), and a woman who had her kid holding onto the bike in front of her. So what? But this kid could not have been more than 2 and if it had let go, or slid off...
So that's it for now. Later today we head off to our ACICIS accommodation with all the other Australian exchange students, which I'm looking forward to. X