It was a hell of a lot of fun in Bandung. Turned out going with high-school friends filled the trip with tons of contagious laughs and utter insanity! I love how we look after each other's back till the end, rumour has it that you shouldn't travel more than 3 days to avoid dispute in the group. But thank God we were okay! 4 of us from the original 6, had the time of our life! Ceh lebih-lebih pula.
I must tell you guys that we got RM105/pax return flights KL-BDO! Sila jealous! I then got a Supir number from my office mate and asked my travel buddy to ring him up. It was fated that we had the cheapest vacation ever. RM1210 for transportation to everywhere we want to go and 4 days 3 nights stay in Hotel Unik, 2 twin rooms with breakfast! So it was RM303 per pax. Mama said it was really cheap. Yeah...nama pun Budget Trip kan. Rate 4400 x 0.34 = 1,496.00.
We packed lightly and went on board the earliest flight, 1 hour 20 minutes journey to Bandara Husein Sastranegara Bandung. For unknown reason, I was separated from my group and sat with a nice lady. She tagged along a big group on a business trip. They had one guy heading the group to specific suppliers in Bandung. I had a really nice chat with her, about travelling, life etc. Guess what, the morning got more interesting. I went to the loo to fix my make-up and seeing the green light, I opened the ladies' door only to find a woman squatting on the toilet seat! I can't erase her horror looking face from my memory. Oh my god...
Coming back to our adventure story, meeting our Supir, Pak L, was a new thing to us. We never had hired driver so we went guessing at the entrance. Mana satu kau ni hah. "Look if any of them got my name" said my friend. Wow I said to myself. Feels like we're in a movie.
But nope, Pak L didn't hold any name board, he just came up to us. Ah well.
First Day
Our itinerary for the day was to go straight to Pasar Baru, that was all. No rush.
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| Bandung city view from Pasar Baru parking lot |
Pasar Baru is a big mall, selling clothes, accessories, handbags, fabric, telekung/tudung, shoes, each in different floor (or they called it Lantai).
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| This picture don't do justice to the fact that we fought huge crowd down there |
My two girls wanted make baju kurung for their family so we went fabric hunting.
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| They quote us 'Pecah Telur' price. Pasar Baru was just opened when we got there |
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| Japanese/English cotton at RM30/4 metres |
Amazing that we were done in Pasar Baru. Starving, our Supir brought us to Simpang Raya for Padang cuisines!
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| Pleasant Simpang Raya Restaurant |
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| Pay by plates |
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| I just love Padang food |
Paid 154000 incl 10% tax. 5 plates of rice for 27500, 2 dendeng batokok for 25000, gule kambing for 17000, 2 telur 9000, 3 drinks 39000, terong teri 1 for 85000, perkedel 2 for 9000, oseng 5000.
We went to our hotel afterwards, to shower.
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| Random Bandung street-side. Some places have a touch of Dutch colonial architecture |
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| Bandung, Parijs van Java. Love the cool climate |
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| Could have taken Angkutan Kota, their common public transport |
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| Universitas Islam Bandung |
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| Kartika Sari HQ and Hotel Unik on a same street (or back alley?) |
Unfortunately our rooms were not ready so we went to Kartika Sari, the infamous bakery in Bandung, known for its mouth watering brownies.
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| My favourite! * squeal* Fruit tarts 4500 rupiah or about RM1.50 each |
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| and another favourite! Macaroons! Banana chocolate 6000 rupiah or RM2 per piece |
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| They're also selling traditional delicacies |
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| Too many |
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| ...and cakes, pastries, ice-creams, chocolates |
Enough with Kartika Sari, we went out to the main road, just to have a look and found Durian ice-cream!
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| Durian Ice-Cream. Too bad I don't dare to try for my stomach is the weakest |
They said it was extremely yummy.
Finally we got into our room. Least expected that the room would be a great value for money.
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| Our bedroom in Hotel Unik. Clean, comfortable and exceed expectation :) |
However...I repeat however...they've the most sensitive problem to any of us, water! The bathroom was so-so and we don't complaint much except for the occasional night water shortage and when the hot shower just decided not to work. Thank goodness we were all cool and laugh about it. Enjoyed taking photos of a friend in towel and shampoo all over her head.
All fresh, we went back to Pasar Baru! One of my girls decided to send the fabrics to Harmony Style 3rd Floor Block C2 for express tailoring. RM96 for a kebaya, custom made and sent to our Hotel in 2 1/2 days. This time we asked Pak L to drop us outside the mall.
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| Market just outside Pasar Baru, along the road |
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| The crowd and trishaw passing by |
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| A cart selling fried tofu |
We don't stay long in Pasar Baru. Not to waste time, we decided to visit Rumah Mode, a well known factory outlet in Bandung. Actually it wasn't that easy. We were playing the game I-don't-mind-going-anywhere-you-decide.
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| Along the way, we passed by a huge mansion. Gila apa |
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| Fried tofu in Rumah Mode. From that moment thereon, I fall in love with fried tofu <3 |
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| It just taste sooooo good |
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| Watching the making of my favourite drink, Cendol! Too delicious. |
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| We didn't get the chance to stop by this street selling jeans |
We had our supper in Baso Semar, Jalan Chihampelas Bawah.
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| Baso or Bakso 10000 rupiah or RM3.40 |
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| Mee Baso 100000 rupiah too |
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| Baso Special 16000 or RM5.40 |
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| ...and finally mine, Baso Tofu |
We had our official favourite Bandung drink, Es Kelapa Jeruk!
Before we went back to crash, we stopped by a 24-hours shop near our Hotel and I saw they also sell these:
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| Gas Elpiji 3kg approximately RM5. It's actually liquified petroleum gas (LPG) |
The type of gas street vendors carry around in their carts to cook.
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| These carts! |
What we bought in Rumah Mode:
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Rumah Mode's Calvin Klein, Esprit, Guess, Armani Xchange, Quiksilver etc. Average RM30++
Quiksilver 99,900
Esprit 89,900 |
End of Day 1
Read Day 2
Read Day 3
