Bandung Trip ~ 9th Anniversary

Last week, for the first time in our parenting life, we left our 2 small kids in the care of our helper and moms, to go on a romantic "Hill-Top Resort" 4 days vacation.

Some Parents may have done this regularly; some may never want to do it. For us, it was a 50/50 thing.
I needed a break, but was sad to leave the kids. My hubby on the other hand, wanted to spend some exclusive time with me and was certain, time away from the kids would do all of us good.

Well, we set off after speaking to the helper who was all the more willing to let us have our alone time.  
Surprisingly, Adik did not cry. She only asked me cheekily if she could tag along and I explained to her again that Ummi and Abah are on a Honeymoon so NO kids allowed.

The city of Bandung

This city in West of Java strikes me off as Singapore 30 years back.  It looked alot like the streets of Malaysia too.

Airport check out was a breeze and we met our driver. 
We got this driver contact through a friend from Sukabumi who loaned us his own Driver for our 4 days trip.

We have to pay the Driver IDR150,000 + IDR50,000 = SGD20.00 per day for his pay and food.
The MPV cost us IDR300,000 = SGD30.00 per day excluding Petrol which we gave an additional IDR200,000 = SGD20.00

It cost us a total of SGD220.00 for the Car/Petrol/Driver which I felt was expensive for  a 4 days trip.  I don’t know what the market rates are since the Driver and Car are from a friend.

Money Changer

 

We needed to change about SGD$500.00 but the airport rates were really bad (8.50). Personally I feel, never change your currency at the airport. The rates offerend was worse than the one we went to in Singapore.  
Our Driver Mas Andeng than brought us to another Money Changer which was on the way to the hotel and there we got a higher rate 9.05. We changed our money there Pronto!

 

First day

After changing our money, we went to Alpha Mart to buy some essentials and headed directly to Padma Hotel.
The hotel is located on a Hill top so it was not the normal city hotel.  Cooling winds, exclusive and very suitable for Honeymoon couples. Staff there were friendly and Breakfast spread was Extensive and delicious.

Booked the room from Bookings.com.

The room was small, just nice for the 2 of us. After checking in the room, we washed up and did out Obligatory Prayers.  Then we went down to meet our Driver for Lunch. 

Someone recommended me to eat “Kampung Daun” Restaurant so we went there for Lunch. 
Kampung Daun Restaurant is on a mountain top and there was a waterfall there too. They served Sundanese Food.

 

 

We ate in individual huts amidst the cooling air and sound of the water fall. Something different from the normal Indonesian Restaurants and definitely romantic for Honeymooners and couples.

Food was nice but pricey. We ordered quite lot and even ordered for our driver. Bill came up to about IDR400,000.00 = SGD40.00. Lunch experience there was amazing and the Toilets were so clean.

From Kampung Daun Restaurant, our driver brought us to Rumah Mode and The Secret for shopping. I bought some Gap Kids for Adik and none for Abang. Nothing suitable for Abang.
I also bought some pyjamas for myself. Lots of branded wear there for adults and children but somehow, nothing much excites me.

We also walked along Jean Street to look at the Pasar Malam. Be careful of your bags as alot of Motorcyclist by the side of the road. I was afraid they might grab my bag, so I held on to my bag tightly. I also asked my hubby to walk behind me instead of in front of me. We bought some souvenier tee-shirts for my nephew and nieces back home.

We then went to The Secret. I prefered shopping there. Bought some pyjamas again.


After shopping at The Secret, we drove along DAGO street which was said to be famous for Cafes. However, on that Wednesday night, the street was so quiet and lifeless that we told our driver to bring us back to the hotel before we retire for the night.

 

Second Day

Woke up at 5.30am where the sun has rise.  Outside was bright. So different from Singapore when Bright only comes at 7am. We got ready and went for breakfast at 7am.

I loved the breakfast at Padma Hotel. They have Western Selections as well as Traditional Indonesian food. Really extensive spread. We sat on the outdoor sides overlooking the forested area. The sun rays were not too hot and we enjoyed getting Vitamin D.

After breakfast, our driver drove us to Kawah Putih. It was a long 4 hours drive from the heart of Bandung. No Traffic Jam on our way to Kawah putih. To enter Kawah Putih, we had to pay IDR200,000 = SGD20.00 for the car and the 3 of us which I felt was expensive.

We went up the Volcano and look at the Sulphur.  Over there we took some couple pictures taken by the locals which cost about IDR10,000 per picture = SGD1.00 per picture.

Air was so cold and when I was up there, I had trouble breathing as the air was thin and I have asthma.  It was funny because my hubby smelled the Sulphur and he got an asthma attacked as well. 
Both me and Hubby took turns to use the Ventolin inhaler. We immediately told our driver to drive us down.

Bring a sweater. Its cold.

 Hubby was also feeling dizzy so we left Kawah Putih and head down to the Tea Plantation. Our driver wanted to bring us to the Hot Springs, but becuse we were dizzy, we didn’t want to.  Instead, we visited the tea plantation and then the Strawberry farm.

 

 

 

 

The highlight of this trip must be the strawberry farm as we could eat as much as we want to and it was FREE. The strawberries were so sweet and red. It cured hubby of his dizziness. He became happy again.

Of course, we bought some strawberries to bring back home.  IDR50,000 for 1KG of strawberries. That’s cheap compared to prices in Singapore.

After The strawberry plantations, we drove back to Bandung City. It was a terrible Jam and I was feeling every agitated to be spending so long in the MPV.  Luckily, my kids didn’t come along as they would have been restless being stuck in the Jam.
One thing about driving around in Bandung is you must be patient with the Traffic Jamms.

We reached our lunch destination around 3pm at a restaurant called “Saung Kabayan”. Nice Sundanese Food  at reasonable price.

After lunch we headed to Pasar Bahru, a wholesale market for clothes,  materials, bags, shoes and Islamic Prayer Garbs.  It was totally pack with people and I really don’t know what to look for. I bought some telekongs and Hubby bought a white shirt for his Mosque activities.

We headed back to the hotel by 7pm. It was dark.

Nothing much we could do but to rest for the night.

Third Day

I woke up around 5.15am and I decided to go for a morning Swim by the pool alone. The Jacuzzi at Padma Hotel is heated to 35 Degrees Celsius so it’s rather warm. The fresh air was amazing. I swam and it felt good to exercise after eating so much for the last few days.

 

 

Swimming after 8am will mean swimming in a large crowd which I don’t like. I prefer to swim when there are lesser crowd.

We had breakfast at 7am and by 8.30am, we met our driver to go to Pasar Bahru again. The crowd was much lesser this time and I managed to shop better this time. I bought some blouse and long skirts and football jerseys for my son.

After Pasar Bahru, we headed to "Paris Van Java" mall to shop. Didn't shop much there. The mall has the brands such as Zara and TopShop. Prices were similar to Singapore prices.

We met a friend and his family for lunch where I tried a Sundanese dish “Tahu Bodoh” which was really Yummy!

 

We window shop more after lunch, than we went to Bandung Mosque to pray Zohor and Asar.  After praying, we went to buy some Indonesian Snacks to bring back for our family. There are many snack shops around Bandung for you to buy back to your hometown.

 

We headed back to the hotel by 5.15pm and missed out in the high tea at Padma Hotel again. Padma Hotel serves High Tea for guest at no charge from 3.30-5pm every day I think.

We rested and left the hotel again to meet our friends for Seafood Dinner at D’Coastal Seafood next to Rumah Mode. Dinner was yummy and inexpensive costing us about IDR500,000 = SGD50.00 for a party of 8 people. We ordered quite a spread too. After Dinner, we said goodbye to our friends and retired for the night.

Forth Day

We had breakfast and left for the airport as our flight was 11.05am. Try to be at the airport early as you never know when there will be a long queue.  That happened to us. We arrived at the airport around 9.45am and were shocked to see the queue being so long. We than found out that one of the X-Ray machines was faulty, so only 1 queue was opened.  Some locals did not line up and so our queue didn’t move at all, which was really stressful since I didn’t want to miss my flight. I missed the children terribly and was ready to head home.

Fortunately the officials speed up the check in process and we managed to check in by 10.30am. We took our flight back and reached safely without any delays.

Overall, Bandung is a nice place for shopping and resting.

However, the Traffic Jams are a killer and might deter me from going back there again.