Besties - From Bogor to Bandung

Enough of paragliding, we went up Puncak to have the famous Sundanese cuisine at a famous Sundanese Restaurant on the hill top. Oh wait, sorry! The Sundanese lunch was the day before.

After paragliding, we went straight to Bandung.

The view on the way Puncak - Bandung

Not using the new highway which connect Jakarta-Bandung, we followed the old road which has to go up and down the hill through Bogor instead. Just as we sail down the road, we missed the first intersection to Bandung and drove down the way to Sukabumi. Fortunately, we had the iPad 2 in hand and given direction from a very nice and friendly policeman, we made it back to the right path.

By chance, we found many durian stalls by the road side, so we stopped by for some! Duriannnnn time!

I *love* durian ^_^

After hours of driving…

Welcome to Bandung, Bil!

Taraaa it’s Bandung baby! That was my very first time in Bandung (yeah, after almost 6 years in Indonesia!). I always wanted to find out about what is there in Bandung that attracts so many Malaysian to go to. My mom, my sis, my aunts, everyonneeee goes to Bandung. They said it’s for shopping. Let’s see… wait! no shopping for me! I had just enough cash for something else, and shopping was never on my top priority. Well, we’ll see…

First stop in Bandung was to have lunch. Lapar gile kotttt, kita makan durian je dari pagi! This is it, the famous steak in town Suis Butcher. Memang sedap!

Frente's grilled sirloin with chef's sauce

Mine, tenderloin with cheesy bolognaise

We first drove down the most talked about Jalan Dago. Since it was weekends, the traffic was a bit shitty. Jalan Dago is well-known for it’s shopping spree! Well, most factory outlets are there. I didn’t study much on shopping in Bandung (cause I simply wasn’t looking forward for shopping!!). Hell yeah, the factory outlets look so alluring from the outside, like villas, like holiday cabins with beautiful landscapes and homey. Alhamdulillah, dugaan hari pertama tidak membawa ku masuk ke mana-mana FO.

Before it gets dark, we decided to find a place to stay. Thanks to Bang Agnes who had arranged an accommodation for us. Without any help from the GPS, Frente confidently drove up the hill of Jalan Setiabudhi to Hotel GH Universal.

“Buseeeett!! Is this the hotel?”

A very Victorian style hotel

And wait til we get inside…

I should have take some photos of the maids, their uniforms are very victorian-ish and cute.

“Doble bussssettt! I am Your Royal Highness”

Inspite of the little technical problem with the receptionist, we were brought into our room after about 30 minutes of waiting. But it was alright, I enjoyed the feeling of sitting on a comfy huge Your-Royal-Highness-kinda chair while admiring the interior of the lobby.

Frente is dealing with the receptionist

It seemed like we had to cancel all the to-dos in Bandung at night. The room was so gorgeously designed that we chose to just stay in, besides Frente was so worn-out after a whole day driving and flying (the paragliding) hehe. No Bandung street foods for dinner… we dropped down and dozed off in our princess-like beds.

Our princess-like beds

The next day, with full of enthusiasm, we checked-out the hotel after breakfast and put on our adventure hat and drove back down to the town. First stop was Cihampelas Walk. It was bad that I found TLTSN (The Little Things She Needs) shop. It is more or less like Vincci, but in a more funky and easy-going style. I successfully bought… 3 pairs of shoes and few sets of bangles. Damn, tak puas!

Next was, Rumah Mode. Who on earth had been to Bandung but didn’t know what Rumah Mode is?! I am not going to explain any further about what Rumah Mode is, but holy sheep, awesome!! Again, I successfully bought… a dress, a blouse and a vest. Alhamdulillah, only 3 items. But, whatthaaa?! Kata tanak shopping??!!! There goes!

Ibu Batagor. Kalau pergi Bandung kena makan road-side Batagor. MESTI tau!

Initially, I was trying on few very comfortable floral-printed cotton dresses in Rumah Mode which they didn’t have my size (busettt, emang rame yang seukuran/segede aku sampe abis bajunya?!), I thought it was fine, it means that I got to save my cash! However, Frente thought that I really should get those dresses cause they look so good on me (she said!), therefore we had our next stop at Heritage.

Dang, two more dresses safely tuck in the bag now. *happppppy!*

Getting souvenirs at KertaSari

I felt so overwhelm yet defeated by my own shopping-desire. Hence, I ought to buy some souvenirs for the others. The traffic was worse than ever, we stuck on the road for hours that we didn’t get to move to many other places. No Trans Studio, no Tangkuban Perahu (actually memang tak plan pon nak pegi sana… kemarin kan dah puas main dkt Dufan).

Lapar...

Cut the crap out, we went to The Valley for a late lunch. Frente memang beria-ia nak bawak I pergi sana, sebab dia asyik cakap pasal tempat2 best for dining + sightseeing in Bandung, it was like everytime we went for melepas-stress at Batu, it would reminded her of Bandung. So, there was The Valley – amazing! We had our lunch at the balcony of a restaurant-resort on the hill top, overseeing the view of Bandung, Subhanallah there was such a breathtaking moment.

Can't I get enough of pasta?

Over-looking this while having lunch

Next, balik!!!

Driving back to Jakarta. Daaa~