I love staying in places that make you feel like you’re living a different story.
This one in Jogja definitely fits the bill with its post-apocalyptic vibe and massive rooftop aquaponics. I swear, if Neo and Trinity were to retire from the dreary Matrix underworld and put up a hotel where they eat only what they produce, the Greenhost Boutique Hotel in Prawirotaman would be it.
The place has a sunroof that lets only enough sunlight in and makes you feel like it is always just about to rain. Every time I’d get out of my room I’d think about the green umbrella I left in Manila. The lighting at night resembles this “tainted” daylight. Maybe it’s to do with their aquaponics, who knows? But it makes me feel like an insomniac. The evening prayers broadcasted from the nearby mosque added to the surreal atmosphere.
For a week I walked around the place thinking, any minute now, Neo and Trinity—in grey, and not in their sleek leather coats—would barge out one of the doors on my floor, grab me by the arm and drag me with them from the dirty real world to the squeaky clean one inside the Matrix.