My Stories....: July 2009

Reached at Tangkuban Perahu...

1 June 2009 - Our destination was the famous tourist spot, located 28km north of Bandung, Tangkuban Perahu. We started early, left the hostel about 7:30 a.m. and took our breakfast half way to Tangkuban Perahu. Actually we were looking for light breakfast as we were still full after a heavy and delicious dinner at Restaurant Kampung Daun. Unfortunately, there was no light breakfast served. Only rice available...left us with not much choice but to have our brunch...

Along the way, it was packed with nice view...the hills were covered with tea plantations which the farmers creatively arranged the crops turned into unique designs rolling the hills.

Unfortunately, quite hard to see the beautiful patterns that the farmers created with their tea crops from this photo ....

We passed through the guard house and paid our entrance fees. Those who travelled by bus had to take the jeep up the hill but ones with own transport could drive to the spot. There were actually a few craters to be visited but we proceeded to the famous one, the Queen Crater (Kawah Ratu).

We reached Tangkuban Perahu at 10.00 a.m. The air was cold and breezy. The moment we stepped down from the car, we were welcomed with peddlers carrying all sorts of souvenirs. It was very annoying as they tried to block our ways to make their ends meet. One of the pedlars did not give up on us and kept on tailing us like an obedient slave...unofficially became the tourist guide ... kept stuffing us with the info related to Tangkuban Perahu including the famous folklore or legend of SangKuriang.

The panoramic view was splendid but the kids complained about the pungent sulfer smell. Also, we had to be extra cautious of the slippery loose sand covered all the place.

Notice the splendid panaromic view, the hill looked like a turned over ship...Also, note the lava and poisonous gas gushed out from the crater..

Walked to the view tower...

Viewed the panaroma from the tower...

We were able to view the surrounding areas from the tower. The peddlers were prohibited around this area. We were relieved as were freed temporarily from their hassled ...

We strolled along the street filled up souvenir shops. Since it was not a public holiday, the placed not really crowded and only a few shops were opened. I found that the souvenirs were not really attractive and quite costly... the items were easily found elsewhere...could be shops that carry special items were closed...

The peddlers street...

Some of the items displayed at the souvenir shops...

Another shot of the volcano after the peddlers street...

The areas were covered only with these plants...

The unofficial guide informed us that the plant known as bodhi ( hopefully, I got it right) could only be found here. According to him, those who consumed the leaves would remain young ...sort of anti-aging process...

Just thought for the day, Dayang Sumbi ( SangKuriang's mother) might have stayed young forever because of the plants...

Note : Those who visited Crater Domas(Kawah Domas) could experience the eggs get boil within 10 minutes. We did not have a chance this time, may be during another trip...

My husband had planned a trip to Jakarta and Bandung in Indonesia for quite sometimes. He even booked the ticket six months prior to our trip. We broke the news to our kids just two weeks before the trip. Everybody was so excited as it was the first family trip to overseas especially my first daughter. She even practiced her Indonesian languages which she picked up from the sinetron slot on TV3.

Apart from being excited, we were also worried because of the H1N1 outbreak. I kept on praying that none of us would fall sick and reminding my love ones to take care of themselves. We packed our luggage to minimum as possible to make space for our shopping spree there. The day, we had been waiting for finally emerged. Yes, 30 May 2009...Bon Voyage...Hail to Jakarta...

Our flight, MH722 was delayed half an hour due to technical problem. The kids were having fun except during the landing process. A bit of unpleasant feelings. All in, the two hours journey were very enjoyable. We passed through the immigration check point, claimed our luggage and looked for the driver (which my husband had arranged). A few telephone calls had to be made before we finally met the driver, Mr Supri alias Pakcik Janggut ( the kids gave him the nickname). We all loaded onto the 'Kijang' and headed to Bandung.

This was the scene at KLIA while waiting for MH722 flight. The kids were a bit restless...

The travelling time was supposed to be another two hours but the traffic was very bad that it took us more than 4 hours to reach Bandung. We checked in at the Wisma Wanita Hostel at 9 p.m. Our scheduled shopping to the Rumah Mode outlet factory was cancelled. The kids were flat and slept like nobody business...

31 May 2009, we woke early and get ready. The morning air was pretty cold but it was very refreshing...Mr. Supardi was already waiting for us. I was impressed with his punctuality and professionalism. We experienced our first Indonesia breakfast...quite tough to choose the food...

The first time tasted Indon gado-gado...not bad...consist of lontong, eggs, bean sprouts, shredded cucumber,tofu and fish crackers. Covered with nuts gravy.

My husband and I shared the taste of Indon gado-gado with lontong and the kids enjoyed the tapioca chips...After breakfast, we headed to pasar baru trade center. It was about 30 minutes trip from the hostel. Since it was still early, about 9 a.m., the traffic was smooth and not many patrons yet at the pasar (market).

It was not really a good idea to bring small kids to shop here as the alley between shops was about an adult size L. It was a bit annoying to me that apart from this, the drinks and foods sellers would also passed through the alley offering their products. It was more cramped than Pasar Payang in Terengganu. Anyway, the pasar had quite a lot of stuff to offer, namely from clothings, handbags up to textiles. The salepersons were very customer oriented. Maybe, it was still early in the morning that everybody was still in good moods or this was part of the culture...We headed to Level 3...textile corners...This area were spacious compared to the lower levels.

I would say the materials were good ranging from top qualities cotton, silk etc. I admired the imported cotton from Japan and French ...the design were elegant and the price were unbelievable much much cheaper than here...I bought a few pieces from Laksmi Textile...which partly were "ole-ole" for the relatives...

One of the scenes at Laksmi textile...

The kids were having good time while waiting for mummy shopping...

We left at 11a.m. and had our lunch at Nasi Padang Restaurant since my husband craved so much on the dishes. The rendangs were good and delicious but the kids could not take so much spicy food. So they ended up having fried chicken only. We had to reorder the fried chickens several times as the chickens were small ( either spring or kampung chickens).

Having lunch at Nasi Padang Restaurant. Look at the variety of dishes ... but only the fried chickens been sold out...

Next place was Selasar Sunaryo Gallery. It was located on a hilly side of Jalan Bukit Pakar Timur. Impressed with the architecture and landscape of the gallery. The welcomed gesture was two blocks (sort of square pillars) and connected with small pipings. The pipes had numerials of tiny holes and water sprinkled through the holes. The kids loved playing here and got themselves wet. I personally admired the "musolah" or prayer room. The building was designed in such a way inviting rays of natural lights from the surroundings... The gallery offered the art works of Mr. Sunaryo which mostly were based on thumb prints. The gallery also act as a public space for arts exhibition, workshops and performances. It was also completed with a cafe called Selasar Kopi. We spent a few hours here...it's worth visiting but a lot of areas were prohibited to be photographed...so we had to stick to the rules...

The main entrance to the Selasar Sunaryo Gallery.

The water structure welcomed us...

Inside the musolah or prayer room.

Notice the stairs were beautifully arranged to blend with the surrounding landscape...

The overview of
Selasar Sunaryo Gallery...

We left the gallery heavy heartedly...headed to Rumah Mode Factory Outlet. It was the popular shopping outlet well known to locals and foreigners. Since it was Sunday, the place was flooded with shoppers mainly the Jakarta folks and Malaysian...

The tips to shop was we took turn to look for our goods. First, I looked after the kids at a quiet corner (the outlet made effort to place settees and sofas for guests) while my husband roamed over men's apparels. Then, it was my turn while he looked after the kids...Ladies garments had wide varieties from casuals, formals to lingeries...however, personally I felt the limitations were the choices of colors (mainly either grey, black or white) and sizes (S,M,L but the sizes were one size smaller than here)...Good choice of fabrics...mostly cotton...Not much varieties on kids stuff...

Infront of Rumah Mode Factory Outlet

Later that day, we had dinner at Restoran Kampung Daun. Located at Lembang Hills inside the Trinity Villas. On the way, we passed through a lot of plant nurseries and strawberry parks.
The scenery were flushed of greens and luxurious villas surrounding the Trinity Villas. But the zig-zag road could only accomodate one way transport at a time. At last, we reached the entrance of the restaurant...Mr. Supri proceeded to the parking lot. The friendly waiter led us to the gazebo. Along the way, they had gazebos on the left and right sides of the roads. We were placed at the gazebo with white decorative curtains and complete with small pillows. A small stream of river ran behind the gazebo...enveloped us with a peaceful and relaxing environment. While waiting for our order, we strolled up the hill and made another fantastic discovery ... a natural water fall ... so serene...

We took our own sweet time to finish off our dinner...nasi ayam..(oops, forgot the menu). The food were so tempting and superb...It must be an authentic Indonesion delicacies...I guessed...Honestly, no regret....

By the time we finished dinner, we made another surprised discovery on our way out. The whole place was lit up by bon fire and massive candles...created a very romantic feelings which were very hard to resist...