Yogyakarta - Ok Google, where's the art exhibition - 9/12/2015

Now I had a few days to spare I went about drawing up a list of things I would like to see in the vicinity, partly based off a map of local attractions that the hotel staff had given me on my arrival, and partly off some rushed internet research I had crammed to get a feel for what else was about the place.

First things first though, I had a phone to get fixed.

Google located the "Sony Centre" for me, showing me it's location on the map and also informing me that it lay about an hour and half walk away and was open today at 9am.  At 9:30am the lady on reception called me a cab and upon it's arrival, came out and instructed the driver verbally where I needed to get to. I backed this information up further with a visual representation on my phone map as he still seemed a little unsure. How could this plan possibly fail? As I watched my faulty GPS bounce around what I hoped was at least approximate to my actual location, we got to a point near to where I wanted to get to and I instructed the driver that it was ok to pull over and I would walk the rest of the way. I also decided that the speed that he was driving at anyway whilst trying to find a location he was also pretty unsure of, it would be far quicker on foot anyway. Once out the car it didn't take me long to find the address I wanted.

As it turns out, Google doesn't actually know as much as it thinks it does. It's like the office bullshitter in electronic form.

After staring blankly at the bars for a couple of minutes in mild disbelief, I resigned myself to the fact that part 1 of the day had been a wasted journey. Luckily I had more than 1 part planned and I set backtracking a little of the way I had already come to find the main shopping street in Yogyakarta, Jalan Marlioboro. Again what seemed like a short 10 minute walk when looking at the map turned out to be nearer 30, and as I started to sweat in the already powerful mid morning heat I passed by numerous cafe's and eateries, at any of which I could have got a timely and much needed drink, but also a host of any other additional treats if I hadn't chosen wisely so I just pushed on through. As soon as I got to Jalan Marlioboro. I made a bee line for a the local chain of kiosks and indulged myself in a frozen bubblegum flavoured slush drink, taking quick, sizeable gulps to try and bring my boiling blood back down to a regulated temperature.

AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH
ICE CREAM...HEADACHE.....MUST NOT..SHOW.....FOREIGNER..HAS...WEAKNESS....

Damn they really do hurt.

and Damn, I must have shown Weakness.

"Hello" came a voice to my right, "Where you from?"
"England" I replied, "and hello".
"How Long have you been in Yogyakarta" came the next question, which as always seems innocent enough until you analyse it some more. This question serves to see just how green you are, how ripe you are for the plucking.
"A few Days" I said, "I'm here for a few more" I said. Now this response is almost my standard reply now, indicating that I have been around just a little while so not closing the offer of sincere help or information if it's genuine, but also leaving me a time frame to be able to palm people off a little if it's something other.
"Have you seen the Student Art exhibition? I will take you there, it's a free exhibition....."
And there it was, right on queue, my internal alarm went off.
"It's o.k" I said, I'm here for a while, I'll just have a little walk and then I can always come back if I want to". They hate this, they hate not being to get you somewhere for the kill, for either a con or a commission, but they will always try a few more tricks.
"Ahh, but it ends today, it's your last chance before it moves on".
A travelling student art exhibition, thats possibly a new one. "It's ok, I may come back later" I said and just carried on my way.

Of course, there's always the chance that there could have been a genuine student art exhibition, that it could have genuinely finished that day and I could have genuinely enjoyed it if I had gone. There is always the chance that you are missing out on something genuinely interesting and representative of the community your visiting, but then again.....

A few steps later I made eye contact with another gentleman. "Hello where you from?, Have you seen the Student Art Exhibition?"...

Did you use to work for Mediaphone I thought? It was all starting to sound very scripted.

The fourth and last guy who I encountered added in the nice subtext that the exhibition was closing at midday so I wouldn't be able to come back later. All these approaches came within a 25 meter stretch of bizarre like clothing shops, and I really don't think that I was missing out too much, I just don't think I was maybe as green as that frozen bubblegum drink had made me look.

"Excuse me....mr" came at me again, but this time gentler, less sure, less demanding. "Do you have any time?"
"How much time?" I asked, trying desperately not to seem offish, but also struggling a little to drop my guard completely.
"5 minutes maybe?"
"I.we.. are students and would like to know if it would be able to ask you some questions, for interview".
I looked cautiously at the group that consisted of 3 girls and one boy, all with the look of hopeful expectation on there faces, how could you possibly say no?

"No" I said.

How harsh would that have been? Of course I smiled and agreed, these sort of experiences are the best you can have when you're in a new location, listening to people who are genuinely interested in learning about foreign people, practicing their own foreign language skills and making you feel at ease with your surroundings. The leader of the group (identifiable by her go pro device at the end of a stick) decided that it was best if I was a bit lower and soon pulled up a stool from beside us for me to sit on, or "be more comfortable" as she put it and she would film and take photo's as the other 3 took it in turns to ask me some questions. These were along the lines of where was from, why I had wanted to come to Yogyakarta, My favourite thing about Yogyakarta and what would I like to see change there. I can't remember the responses I gave, I tried to be clear without sounding like a Dutch accented Steve McClaren, but sometimes you are aware that english can be difficult for other language speakers to understand, partly because we chain words together when we speak and don't leave a gap between, so 2 or 3 words can easily merge into one. Still, I don't think I sounded dutch.

I scored 1 out of 6.

after barely 5 minutes they were happy to let me on my way. I gave them my details and asked them to send me the picture through later if they could. A really nice group of students who I'm hopeful will do well in life. No mention of an Art Exhibition was made.

And that really should be it for this entry....except.
Getting a little lost on the way back due to again relying much too heavily on my inaccurate GPS I ended up down a few streets that maybe I wouldn't have ordinarily taken. The minus side to this is again I spent what seemed like an age sweltering under the oppressive sun, but the plus side was that I came across what sure must be a contender for the best pedal car conversion of all time.

I would try and get this back to use in the UK if I could get away with it, but you know the you UK Tax department would have me over a barrel on the emissions part.

Part.