back from bandung: part 1
after spending 4 days and 3 nights in lovely bandung, we are back...with a suitcase full of new clothes, and another full of dirty laundry. all in all, it was a fun trip, money well spent and time worth sparing. the first day started off rather slow, as we didn't really have any idea where to go. when we reached the hotel around 10am, we were quite tired as the day started TOO early for some of use. me, nazim and amin left melaka that day around 4am, so you can imagine that by noon, we were pretty tired. my parents and brothers met us at the LCC terminal and we all left on the 7.30 flight to bandung.
our first meal in bandung was lunch at this Sundanese restaurant, which was recommended by one of the staff from the hotel. we took two taxis from the hotel as we were'nt familiar with the other mode of transportations yet. lunch wasn't that great, but what was appealing was the place we had it. it was on a pangkin, and all of us sat bersila on the floor. so we managed to order our food, guessing some of the unfamiliar words to be what we think they were....like ikan gurame goreng to ikan kerapu goreng...apart from that, we had something close to a gado-gado, some tempe goreng and some ayam bakakak (which is ayam bakar). all of the dished were kinda sweet, as we later found out that sundanese liked their food sweet, as opposed to padang people whose food were spicier, and suited more to our taste buds. after lunch, we were quite hyped to see what bandung was all about, so we, just like the locals, boarded the angkutan kota, a doorless van with side-way seats, that serves similar purpose to those tuk-tuks in Thailand to a 'shopping place' as we clearly instructed to the driver. as we didn't know the names of the places to go, we relied entirely on the driver to bring us somewhere where we can shop. so, we ended up at a mall, which is just like any other mall in KL. at that point, i was a little frustrated, as i was expecting somewhere that had indonesian traditional arts and crafts or some factory outlets, just like what i've been hearing about before i went to bandung.
this is where we stayed
after a while, we decided to walk across to the building opposite the mall and there, i found what i was looking for - branded childrens' clothes at a very affordable price! but that didn't stop there, we later discovered more places like this, on the third day of our stay. after getting some things from that store, we went back to the mall and lepaked at starbucks where i helplessly dozed off on the couch for quite a while, totally oblivious to my surroundings. i could see amin was pretty bored by then, as he said "we came all the way bandung to hang around in starbucks?!" betul jugak...heheh..but i was too tired lah, and the air cond and the couch was so nice. :) after getting up from my nap at starbucks, i thought there must be somewhere else we can go to shop for more "indonesian stuff" but the guys said they're ready to go back to the hotel, except my younger brother. so me, mom and brother took a cab to "pasar baru" as recommended by the supir, while my husband, dad, other brother and son went back to the comfort of the airconditioned room in the hotel. when we reached pasar baru, my shopping nerves started to kick in as i saw so many shops selling colorful tudungs, scarves, kebaya materials and batiks. now THIS is what i'm talking about! i picked up some scarves (silk ones for about 10 bucks each) from that shop while mom shopped for some other types of tudungs (the ones that you just slip in and tadaaaa...all your hair in covered...like a mini telekung, but trendier). then, we went to a shop selling a variety of batik/sarongs and kebaya material which made us both stare in awe. they had such nice colored materials for kebaya, kurung, and batiks. unlike my mom, i normally take a longer time to shop as i'm not as impulsive buyer like is, plus, i also have to think about the *ching-ching*...heheh..so, finally, i picked up a 3-in-1 material (for bottom, top and selendang) to make a baju kurung/kebaya, one gendong (the cloth used by many indonesians to carry an infant), 2 batik sarongs (one to give away and one for myself)...and mom...well, she just bought whatever i got...times 2 or 3, minus the gendong. we left pasar baru after that, feeling quite satisfied with our purchases and decided to give our wallets a rest, for tomorrow, we planned on some sight-seeing stuff.
our first meal in bandung was lunch at this Sundanese restaurant, which was recommended by one of the staff from the hotel. we took two taxis from the hotel as we were'nt familiar with the other mode of transportations yet. lunch wasn't that great, but what was appealing was the place we had it. it was on a pangkin, and all of us sat bersila on the floor. so we managed to order our food, guessing some of the unfamiliar words to be what we think they were....like ikan gurame goreng to ikan kerapu goreng...apart from that, we had something close to a gado-gado, some tempe goreng and some ayam bakakak (which is ayam bakar). all of the dished were kinda sweet, as we later found out that sundanese liked their food sweet, as opposed to padang people whose food were spicier, and suited more to our taste buds. after lunch, we were quite hyped to see what bandung was all about, so we, just like the locals, boarded the angkutan kota, a doorless van with side-way seats, that serves similar purpose to those tuk-tuks in Thailand to a 'shopping place' as we clearly instructed to the driver. as we didn't know the names of the places to go, we relied entirely on the driver to bring us somewhere where we can shop. so, we ended up at a mall, which is just like any other mall in KL. at that point, i was a little frustrated, as i was expecting somewhere that had indonesian traditional arts and crafts or some factory outlets, just like what i've been hearing about before i went to bandung.
this is where we stayed
after a while, we decided to walk across to the building opposite the mall and there, i found what i was looking for - branded childrens' clothes at a very affordable price! but that didn't stop there, we later discovered more places like this, on the third day of our stay. after getting some things from that store, we went back to the mall and lepaked at starbucks where i helplessly dozed off on the couch for quite a while, totally oblivious to my surroundings. i could see amin was pretty bored by then, as he said "we came all the way bandung to hang around in starbucks?!" betul jugak...heheh..but i was too tired lah, and the air cond and the couch was so nice. :) after getting up from my nap at starbucks, i thought there must be somewhere else we can go to shop for more "indonesian stuff" but the guys said they're ready to go back to the hotel, except my younger brother. so me, mom and brother took a cab to "pasar baru" as recommended by the supir, while my husband, dad, other brother and son went back to the comfort of the airconditioned room in the hotel. when we reached pasar baru, my shopping nerves started to kick in as i saw so many shops selling colorful tudungs, scarves, kebaya materials and batiks. now THIS is what i'm talking about! i picked up some scarves (silk ones for about 10 bucks each) from that shop while mom shopped for some other types of tudungs (the ones that you just slip in and tadaaaa...all your hair in covered...like a mini telekung, but trendier). then, we went to a shop selling a variety of batik/sarongs and kebaya material which made us both stare in awe. they had such nice colored materials for kebaya, kurung, and batiks. unlike my mom, i normally take a longer time to shop as i'm not as impulsive buyer like is, plus, i also have to think about the *ching-ching*...heheh..so, finally, i picked up a 3-in-1 material (for bottom, top and selendang) to make a baju kurung/kebaya, one gendong (the cloth used by many indonesians to carry an infant), 2 batik sarongs (one to give away and one for myself)...and mom...well, she just bought whatever i got...times 2 or 3, minus the gendong. we left pasar baru after that, feeling quite satisfied with our purchases and decided to give our wallets a rest, for tomorrow, we planned on some sight-seeing stuff.
posted by fara-k @ 12:53 PM
3 Comments:
Fara,
Welcome back.....
You dah habis pantang? (not that you can't go kalau belum).
but .... time really flies.......
So, baby girl was left behind ker?
hi leilanie!
thanks, and yes, i finished my pantang way back in april. baby aishah was left behind, coz she's too young to travel. don't want her to get sick or anything from traveling. so your emilio has gone for OBS huh? i'm sure he'll have a good time, i remember i used to love OBS!
bestnya shopping!
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