Real Madrid to open soccer school in Indonesia

The Real Madrid Foundation has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Education League to open several soccer schools in Indonesia.

The MoU was signed by Indonesian Education League chairman Toho Cholik and Real Madrid Foundation director Julio Gonzalez Ronco, said Desi Purnawetri, an official at the Indonesian Embassy in Madrid, on Tuesday.

The ceremony for the signing of the MoU was held at the Real Madrid Foundation office in Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid.

Beginning next year, the soccer schools will be opened in several cities including Banda Aceh, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Samarinda and Jayapura.

Borobudur temple provides shuttle service for tourists

The company managing Borobudur temple, PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, has organized vehicles to shuttle tourists between Pabelan and Borobudur to help tourists circumvent the unsafe Pabelan Bridge.

Pabelan Bridge in Magelang, Central Java, became unstable after being hit by the cold lava flow, disrupting travel from Yogyakarta to Borobudur temple.

“The pickup vehicles are to demonstrate our appreciation and commitment to providing better services to visitors,” chief director of the company, Purnomo Siswoprasetjo, said.

Purnomo said the company had organized a 14-seat and a 40-seat bus and five cars with six to seven seats.

“The shuttle service will start operating today (April 1) from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” he said as reported by kompas.com.

He added that only tourists traveling with tour agencies could use the shuttle service for now.

“We will apply a similar system for local tourists, but this is still at the brain-storming stage,” he said.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 04/01/2011 6:33 PM

Cold lava river near Merapi becomes tourist attraction

Putih River in the Central Java town of Magelang, which recently sent cold lava flooding over some of its banks, has become a new tourist attraction in the area.

The river is among about a dozen rivers whose upper streams originate on Mount Merapi that were flooded by volcanic material during the volcano’s eruptions last year.

The river has been drawing the attention of not only local residents, but also from visitors from outside the town.

“I want to see with my own eyes what the [volcanic] materials from Merapi look like, especially because my house sits near a river,” Siti, 36, a visitor from a nearby town of Sleman, Yogyakarta, said Sunday, as quoted by Antara.

Siti visited a part of Putih River most flooded by the volcanic materials with her husband and children. She was worried that similar cold lava floods could threaten her neighborhood near Opak River.

The flocks of visitors has brought its own advantages for locals, who have started selling food and beverages and souvenirs to the guests.

“The earnings are not bad, especially on holidays,” said Joko, 25, who has been selling souvenirs and CDs containing information regarding the Merapi eruptions.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 01/23/2011 3:52 PM