Ambal Trip

Oh wow, look at that... a post title! I never bothered giving a title to the past entries in this blog, but then I realized the permanent link of each entry would show the first few words in that particular entry... looked kinda stupid. So from now on I'll try to think of something to use as a title... though they might sound stupid just the same.

Anyway, here are photos from my recent trip with some friends to Ambal, a region in southern Central Java, to visit another friend who's doing her student community service. Thanks to my awesome navigating skills, we got a slight detour on the way so it took longer to get there than I had previously thought. Still, we managed to find and reached the place safely.


Ah, a typical scenery of rural villages in Java (and perhaps most villages in South East Asian countries), consisting a small road dividing a vast rice field, ending up in a dense jungle-like area where the villages reside within. And yeah, notice the pollution-free sky.


Putra stretching his arms after 3 hour drive. Could be tiring indeed. Oh, and this was taken in the local restaurant. When we got there it was the perfect time to have a lunch. And there's no other appropriate menu to have in Ambal than the infamous Ambal satay!


Waiting for the dishes to come. Dinaya (left) was really excited to see us visiting.


Chicken satay with peanut sauce.... yum! The only color photo in this entry, because BW wouldn't do it justice.


The food didn't last long. It tasted really good. Or perhaps we were just hungry.

After the stomach is full it's time to have fun! The first thought was of course to check out the beach since it's nearby, about 15 minutes drive from Dinaya's homestay. Fifteen minutes of torture for the car too. The road to the beach was so narrow the car had to literally force its way through the bushes.


Putra's car, looking really out of place in the landscape.


Ocean in sight! Hmm, but that beach sure seemed... plain.


Well, because it actually was. Multiply the above view by... well, uh, infinity, and you'd get a good idea of how the beach looked. How very depressing.


There's this lone coconut though. I bet it's depressed to death too.


Putra contemplating the essence of nothingness and all that shit. Perhaps.


Intan did pretty much the same. Oh, and you wouldn't know just by seeing the photos, but the wind was blowing pretty hard at that time.


The nothingness forced us to do stupid things. And believe it or not, this is actually harder than it looks. :o


After half an hour spent in the windy nothingness we decided to go back.


Hah, how's that for a negative space?


They weren't posing for the camera, but talking about someone who's always doing that kind of pose in front of camera.


A farmer watering his field.


We dropped by for a while in the seedling place Dinaya was working in. She and a couple other students are trying to grow various plants in an attempt to bring back vegetation in the beach. Yeah, that nothingness you saw before.


Whoops, it almost went out of the frame.


Ready to get back.

But then inside the car a friend of Dinaya said she lost her cellphone so we drove back to the beach to search for it. Well, actually more like she and a couple of her friends looking for it, while we wait for them around the car. ;) Turned out it was dropped on the seedling place so everything was okay in the end.


Uhm, yeah.


Reflections are funny. Notice the one *not* on the window.


Direct flash!


Some village women returning home after collecting firewood on the beach.


And this one was taken from inside the car as they were blocking our way. Thought this one would look great from the opposite side with the herds walking to the camera with a city car slowly moving behind them... but alas I was too lazy to get out of the car.

That would be all. Next friend-visiting trip would be... a mountain range, I think.