This thread is supposed to be for New Things, and I fear readers (if any there be) will start to accuse us of actually always doing the Same Things and just repackaging them.

And, yes, there is some element of truth in this. We now have a large stock of Favourite Things, and we do like to do them regularly. But every little trip is pleasantly different, a gentle reworking of old themes.

The great thing about walking is that things are never the same twice. Different things are happening in the ricefields. The chickens are different. The cats are different. The guys playing pingpong at the outdoor table are different. The activities in the mosques are different. The little knots of people gathered around stalls or front porches are different. But the beauty -- that effortlessly pleasing blend of greenery, low-rise buildings, and red roofs -- is gloriously the same.

This is why I never tire of walking Yogya. The trick is to avoid the main roads, and stick to the back lanes. Yogya's major thoroughfares are full of interest, but roaring and traffic-clogged like those of any other sizeable city. Walk just a few yards off the main roads, however, and you're in a quiet and different world. You're in a village in the city. You're in an area that is set up for people, not cars. The little roads accommodate pedestrians, vendors, cyclists, and the occasional motor-bike (urged by ubiquitous signs to go "pelan-pelan" because there are many "anak-anak"). They're not big enough for cars. The time will come, of course, when this won't work any more. There will be too many cars. Already people are favouring perumahan on the outskirts, like ours, where the roads are wide enough for a car, and there's space to store it.

But at the moment, the villages are still very much with us, and our weekend route takes us through a succession of them. It generally culminates in breakfast at one of the many eateries in Prawirotaman. On weekdays our breakfast comes from a local stall by the roadside -- and very good it is, too. But once a week, it's nice to have a table and chairs, a newspaper, a good big glass of Java coffee, and something exotic like sandwiches or pancakes.

After breakfast today we took a becak to Kauman, another of our favourite parts of Yogya, threading our way through the lovely area surrounding the Sultan's palace. From Kauman we set off towards Jalan Malioboro, hunting for batik en route. What we particularly wanted -- five metres of not too expensive batik -- was actually not that easily obtainable, but after trying unsuccessfully at several shops (no hardship really, since it's always nice to hang around batik shops), we finally found what we needed in good old Mirota.

Why five metres of batik, you may be wondering. Well, having been unable to find top sheets for sale (I don't know why, but all the places where we've looked for bedding have offered fitted bottom sheets and a kind of duvet-like quilt for the top, which is way too hot for our needs), we'd eventually used the opportunity of our visit to Solo to buy a length of reasonably priced batik, which we'd cut into two and got a neighbouring tailor to hem. The result was a pair of individually controllable, cool, and very pretty sheets. Totally charmed with the success of this experiment, we've been on the look-out for material for a second set.

The branch of Mirota on Jalan Malioboro is packed with merchandise, and feels crowded even when it's not a Sunday in the middle of the holiday season. But it's a very atmospheric store. A lady sits quietly working at batik tulis. Javanese music plays. The air is full of incense. And they have lots of printed batik, which you can buy by the metre. So we spent an enjoyable 15 minutes working out which design we wanted.

As if all this was not enough to make a fine Sunday, we've also had several opportunities to feel very smug today. Yogya is running in tourists at the moment. The streets are packed. But as for us, we're locals. We LIVE in this fabulous and much sought-after destination. How lucky is that?

Postscript:

Lunch today was the remains of one of the "baby boxes" that are turning up at our doorstep with great regularity at the moment. Warming up rice and goat-meat gulai (curry) took us back to our camping days. And we rounded it off with one of our finds from the back-streets this morning: Pisang Molen Bandung. Think banana Danish pastries, and you won't be far off the mark. I don't think "banana Danish pastries" needs any further comment...