2012 Bandung, INDONESIA

BANDUNG

3rd February 2012, we left Jakarta for Bandung. Pak Among, the supir came from Bandung to fetch us at the hotel. It was a Friday afternoon, and not the very best time to leave Jakarta for Bandung. As mentioned by Pak Among, Indonesians work half-day on Fridays. After the Friday prayers, the people of Jakarta normally drive out to Bogor or Bandung for the weekend. And true enough, there were lots of cars on the highway from Jakarta to Bandung. Driving in the famous Jakarta 'macet' (Indonesian for traffic jam) plus the pouring rain, we reached Bandung about 5 hours later, a journey that should've only taken ~3 hours to reach.

Muka bosan stuck dalam macet

Muka nak buat hal

Bandung - Accommodations

We stayed in Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers on Jl. Ir. H. Juanda. It was our second visit (the first for Mr Daddy) and we felt very happy to return. This time we stayed in the Superior Room. Unlike the Deluxe Room we stayed in the first time, the Superior Room seemed weathered. The room was of decent size, which was fine with me. The bathroom, however, was not up to expectation. The shower room was very smelly with stains on the walls, the bathrobe was obviously old and smelly and the standard bathroom kits were not up to SPG standards, in my opinion. 

** No pics of the room though.

Bandung - Sight-seeing

Tangkuban Parahu was the only place that we went for sight-seeing. We reached there at about 9.30 am or so, and there were still not many visitors. As usual, as soon as we stepped out of the mobil, we were flocked by the locals trying to sell us jackets, souvenirs, kuih-muih, etc. Biasa dah kan? So, buat dunno je.

Going up the mountain

A group of Jakarta cyclists

A family photo.. hehe

Pokok kulit ular.. nice kan

 But be careful.. If you start talking to them, they'll follow you wherever you go, offering help and advices on the best spot to take photos. Perhaps you need it more, instead of the souvenirs they're trying to sell, but... depends la. I prefer not to strike any conversation with any of them, unless you really want to pay an exorbitant price for a normal jacket that you could get cheaply at any of the Distros in Bandung town.

See that guy, already following Babah...

Bandung - Shopping

This time around, we didn't go Distro-shopping much, though. But still, spent some time visiting some of the fav outlets...
1) Jl Setiabudi - Rumah Mode
2) Jl Dago - Uptown, Episode
3) Jl Riau - Formen, Heritage

However, I felt that there has been a drop in quality in some of the fav outlets. Some kaoses (Indo for t-shirts) in some of the Distros looked old and smelly (more like the ones sold in bundle shops). Hurmmmmm....

Apart from the Distros, I also love Pasar Baroe. The textile shops are abundant and selling good quality kain at cheap prices. We went to this one shop and saw this 2 Malaysian ladies bargaining the prices and ordering a lot of kains. They even had a big bag ready to keep the purchases. From what I heard, they were buying kains for Hari Raya, and they're bringing back AT LEAST 2 pasang of kains for each family member. We too, bought a few pairs for Hari Raya, but they're all cottons. (I dig cottons, I'm going back to cottons now).


Paris van Java
Mr Daddy, for one, loved Paris van Java a lot. I believe it's because there's a MU Cafe there :-)

Family photo lagi yeay!!

..... and also the Cafe Halaman yang sedap. If you're coming from the main parking lot with the MU Cafe on your left, Cafe Halaman will be 3-4 shops on your right.

There's also a very cool music store, Duta Suara Musik that stocks a lot of good music. A staff introduced Mr Daddy to a local talent, Tulus, yang besh!! This was also where I picked  up Tompi's and Stevie Wonder's Concert for Mr Daddy (which could be very hard to find in Malaysia). Pendek kata, memang marvellous la ini kedai... 

Mr Daddy's finds

LEAVING INDONESIA - A PUNGLI ATTEMPT!!!!

Departing Indonesia at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, one has to pay the airport embarkation tax of IDR 150,000 (approx ~RM 42) per passenger. I wasn't aware of this initially, but luckily Pak Dani reminded us. So I had already saved IDR 300,000 for the tax to be paid upon check-in. I was not too sure of Ms Princess, however, but thought since she's just a baby, the tax is not applicable to her. Nonetheless, out of courtesy, I asked the guy at the check-in counter anyway. 

Me : Kalau anak kecil ini, harus dibayar tax juga?

Guy at the counter A : Ya. (without looking at me)

I panicked a little as I didnt have enough IDR to cover for Ms Princess' tax. Went to the next counter where Babah was checking in for Mama & Iqah. 

Me: Babah ada duit lebih? Untuk Inas tak cukup ni.

Babah : Duit sume kat Mama. Mama pergi toilet kejap.

Feeling unsatisfied, I asked the guy at Babah's counter the same question. 

Me : Untuk anak kecil ini, harus dibayar airport tax?

Guy at the counter B : ....... (not answering, not looking up at me)

Then I went back to my counter and asked again the same question (that's 3 times already),

Me : Anak kecil harus dibayar airport tax atau tidak?

Guy at the counter A : ....... (not answering, not looking at me)

Suddenly, a lady came up behind the guys at the counter

Lady saviour : Tak perlu, ibu. Check-innya 6 orang kan? Tapi bayarnya hanya untuk 5 orang aja. Jadi udah pas.

Bengkeknye aku time tu, rasa nak cekik2 je mamat Indo kat kaunter dua2 tu. Bijik mata aku memang dah nak terkeluar dah tengok dorang, tapi dorang tak angkat muka langsung. KO MAMPU nak pungli (read : Pungutan Liar - Indonesian for bribe or cheating people of their money) terang2an cam gitu?

One of the reference I just found out after the incident.... http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/ID-Indonesia-customs-currency-airport-tax-regulations-details.htm

Dah la perangai buruk pungli, flight delayed plak tu dekat sejam. B****K betul... 

The worst was... when we reached KLIA and claimed our luggages, I found out that the stickers on my luggage have been stolen. I normally would wrap my luggages, but since it was just a short distance trip, I thought I wouldn't have to...

I said that they have been stolen and not accidentally damaged by the other baggages, sebab the stickers were not torn but peeled off!! I could still feel the strong adhesives/glue on the areas of the stolen stickers. If the stickers were damaged because the bag was rubbed off with other bags, then the rest of the stickers would still be there on the bag (sebab glue tu kuat). Tapi yang ini, all the stickers were gone, peeled off in one piece. Arrgghhh memang bengang abis la kan... 

Masalahnye, the stickers yang hilang tu sume my fav stickers. The Deustchland sticker, the Neuschwanstein Castle sticker, the Scotland flag sticker, and my most favourite, the Czech coat of arms yang sangat colourful itu....  sighh... sighhh lagi... dan lagi.... Masih lagi terasa bengang dan geram everytime teringat.. 

If you're in my shoes, who do you think would do that?