Jogyakarta (Jogja), Indonesia was the destination. It's the arts and cultural capitol of Java and also a short drive to Borobudur one of the largest Buddhist temples (or stupas) in the world. Mysteriously abandoned in the 14th century it was lost to the jungle until rediscovered by Sir Thomas Raffles in the 19th Century (he also founded modern Singapore while passing though the area) . Many say it rivals the temples of ancient Angkor in beauty and interest. I want to see it.
The travel companion was J, a coworker from San Diego also here in Singapore on a work assignment. The problem was, J wanted to come along on the trip but couldn't commit early because of some busy things going on at the office. So it wasn't until Wednesday afternoon that she could commit and by that time although flights were still available, they weren’t the best flight times and they weren’t cheap anymore.
Planning a route wasn't the easiest thing to do either. With limited direct flight routing available at the late timing, I found the best way was to take the 40 minute ferry to Batam, Indonesia then fly out of that airport though Jakarta and then to Jogja. This route also skips the high airport tax at the Singapore airport, and while Indonesian airlines are not known for their great safety records, the flights are cheap, or at least they're supposed to be. Usually about $30-40 USD for domestic Indonesian flights, some of the flight segments were up to almost $100USD by that time and the flight times were bad, too. It wasn't so much the money that made the trip less appealing but the way the flight schedule worked out. Arriving past 8pm on Thursday we'd have to leave around 6am on Sunday to get back for work on Monday, leaving Friday and Saturday only for exploring the Jogja and the temples. I still could have done it, but it was really down to the wire to make a decision and while I was flexible with my schedule and could have taken Monday or Tuesday off work as well, J could not. We decided to cancel the trip. I'll go another time.
Though this experience I learned to exercise caution when extending travel offers because people might just take them up and end up hijacking (unintentionally) the trip and while it's nice to travel with other people I really need to take advantage of my time here visit the places I really want to see.
Despite the canceled trip we were able to salvage the day. We still got on the ferry to Batam before noon with the intention of getting some good Indonesian food and massages. The food wasn't great (but then again, we ate at a KFC! yes. can you believe it? my first choice was to eat at a place called Lucy's Oar House but was overruled by J) but the massages were very great. We both got two. One and a half hours of traditional Indonesian massage and then one hour for Reflexology massage for just $14USD total is a pretty good deal. Plus we got two coconuts for about $1USD each. i thought that was a little expensive but whatever, we were on vacation. We got back on the ferry made some plans to meet some other friends for dinner. We had Beef Quay Teow (also sometimes called Beef Hor Fun) in Geylang, then bean curd form the store next door and finished with some durian. Looking back- not a bad day at all. I went to work on Friday.
Leaving Singapore behind. The view from the ferry
One coconut = 1 dollar
Chugging the entire coconut in one go may have been a bad idea. J is looking a little weary
Durian delights some and repulses others. 
stopping to smell the durian....actually that can't be a durian it's too big, and if you have to get that close to smell it then it's definietly not a durian. It's actually a jackfruit, also very spiky but not as famous or smelly as the King of Fruit- the Durian
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