Malioboro Street in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is one of the main reasons many Indonesians tourists visit Yogyakarta. In fact, towards the evenings, this street with be packed with Indonesian tourists looking for good bargains. It is also a backpackers paradise.
The thing that struck me was the amount of motorbikes, they were equal to the number of motorbikes I have seen in Vietnam.. I was shocked to see the large number of motorbikes parked on the sidewalks. Luckily it is controlled so you still have areas to walk unlike in Saigon though you do have to walk by many tourists.
A bit of warning, there will be guys telling you about a batik painting exhibition. There seem to be 2-3 of them in Yogyakarta. Be careful, it is a scam. You will go to the gallery and they will show you some really nice batik paintings. Then they will try to get you to buy the most expensive one. When you do not bite, then they will find a nice batik and offer $100 USD for it using the story that students made them. The last tactic is that it is the last day of the exhibition but really it is just a rouse. They were there each day I was in Yogyakarta. You can get the same paintings for much cheaper if you have a friend help you.
Also, bargaining can be tough on Malioboro Street. They refuse to discount if they know you are a Westerner. That frustrated me and I even bought some shirts that ended up being one time use shirts, the decals wore off after the first washing. I even had a “friend” help me and that did not get me a decent price either compared to what locals get. Better off waiting until you get back to Jakarta in my opinion.