Post Bandung Stories..

Sigh.. hhaaaa... all of us are safely back home with broad smile, very thin pocket. We departed out from Bandung Hussein Sastro.. Airport at 5.30pm, 17 Jan and reached KL around 8.30pm. We travelled back by Indonesia Airasia flight - more less like Bas Budaya zaman travel KL-Kajang dedulu.. hehehe

Out of my two experiences of visiting Bandung, i would like to share with u guys out there..

Firstly, ask yourself before u depart to Bandung..
1. What is your main plan? - Shopping, Shopping n' visiting nice places, Shopping n' Spa? or mainly visiting?
2. If shopping, What to buy? Telekong Semayang? Pants and Shirt keje? Baju Anak? Jeans? Kebaya Sulam? Lace? Japan Cotton?'
3. If shopping n' Spa - Yup.. i did this... Very Nice.
4. If visiting, sorry i am not interested in this! Hahahaha.. Better find out from another blog.

My both trips to Bandung were mainly shopping trip. After 2nd trip few days ago, my view of Bandung has changed a bit. Dulu ingatkan Jalan H. Juanda or local knows this as Dago street lah yang paling best and happening, but this time.. i found new street which offers more and better selection - it's Jln Riau-Marthadinata...

Ok, let me tell u my itinerary..
14 Jan - Arrived in Bandung around 11am and pick up van from Hotel already there to fetch us. By 12 already in Grand Serela Hotel lobby. But since room not yet ready, so we had to pack our quarter full bags into hotel safe and we went out for lunch and quick sightseeing (at factory outletlah ni..) around the hotel... Me and family managed to come back around 1.30pm (after lunch n sightseeing) and checked in sstraight away. Our room was 202. But my 3 girlfriends only came back around 3pm, they stucked in the FO already.. aiyahh..

14 Jan 3.30pm, all of us took 2 taxi (Gemuh & Blue Bird) to Rumah Mode as our first destination since this FO is the most jauh from our hotel. This is a must for everybody coming to Bandung as this FO sets the standard of a goog GOODS sold in Bandung Factory Outlet. Nevertheless the price is a bit higher but they offer better system and arrangement for all items sold in the FO. Alah, mahal pun dalam Rupiah je ibu-ibu, so doesn't cost u much really. We were there til dinner time. I spent 1.5Million here for 4 of us.. Papa, mommy, Iman & Ilham.. hahaha. The dinner was in Dapur Sangkuriang - Sunda Food which famous with Gurame Fish Soup. Nice food - all in all only cost us IDR 150K.

15 Jan - as early as 8.30am, we already in the taxi to Pasar Baru. 6 levels alltogether and it's crazy.. u need at least 2 days to cover all the shops in here. Me and family spent around 4 hours til lunch time in this outlet, but my friends all spent til 4pm.. crazy. They came back to the hotel with full hands and thin pocket.

What i shoppe in Pasar Baru:

1. Interested in LV imitation handbag but none willing to give my price - so bye bye.
2. Seroja Jaya - at 2nd Floor. This Pak Hilus kedai jual mcm2 busana muslim, 2in1, 3in1, Kebaya, Sarung laki-laki. This shop jual baju kebaya sulam siap silk at affordable price, Kalau tambah kain and selendang, tambah skit lagi la. Ikut kata Pak Hilus, kedai2 dalam Pasar Baru pun ambik dgn dia jugak.. so try la.. go there and bargain for half the price offered. And buleh upah jahit terus.. dia ada tukang jahit bersama dia... upah jahit IDR100K only for 24 hours service.
3. Qatifa - Level 1 - was proposed by Pak Hilus to go to this small shop. Her telekung sembahyang here cukup panjang with my size and considerably cheap to.. All less than RM100 here..

Then, we went out from Pasar Baru as my daughters get cranky and hungry already..so we left for lunch in another Sunda restaurant in the hotel area.

But, what my friend bought?
1. Tudung Ekin or Mak Indon with the beadings- they bought like nobody business.. berpack-pack.. hehehe.. (sorry, Ed!)
2. Kebaya from any shop but the next day the came back for Pak Hilus and shopped Kebaya again... + tempah baju.
3. Telekung Semayang..
4. Baju Indon.. really cheap..
5. Fake handbags.. bag main-main..

In the evening, we just went to FO in our area.. we have Heritage, Oasis, Secret, StAmp, Cascade, Terminal Tas, Coral and Summit.. I would give thumbs up for Heritage for baju keje and baju-baju anak. Cascade for kasut and baju anak too.. Oasis - u can tempah your Jeans here.. need 2 nights at least.. they measure u, cut and sew.. and get it ready in 2days. Hehehe.. Terminal Tas - all handbags sold in here. U name it Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Coach, Bonia.. choose and pay! The rest - enough to fill your free time!

16 Jan - our day started with Spa at Roger's Spa in Jalan Dago. This spa opens as early as 7am and u can do hair, body massage n' scrub and manicure, pedicure etc here.. it's cheap weih.. i do hair treatment and massage + scrub = less than RM100 only! So do take a taxi and tell him to go to Roger's Spa - Jalan Dago. Roger's located opposite to Borromeus Hospital. Nice Spa really!

Then, my friends headed to Pasar Baru again - tak cukup-cukup lagi nih! and I went back to hotel to take turn with hubby. It's my turn to take care of the kids. But then, all of them wanted to go out. So we went out for Lunch in Simpang Raya - Nasik Padang in Jalan Dago and lazying around the small-small FO around the street. We had blossoms, grande and etc around here. Worth visiting too.. mana tau kot2 ada yang berkenan.. hehehe

17 Jan - we went for 2nd, 3rd round of FO checking around Jalan Riau-Marthadinata. Bought some more.. even the bags were full already.. ehehehe..

By 1.30pm, after having quick lunch in the hotel cafe, we checked out and the van brought us to Prima Rasa for Brownies and Lapis Legit Bandung. This is a local bakery where locals shopped. Taste? WALLAH.. really nice! I recommend this place!

Finally by 3pm, we checked in airport... all pictures will be posted in next issue.