As I have mentioned earlier on my previous post that I will be visiting Bandung, and so here I am with my annnoying sis... We flew with Tiger Airways since this is the most convenient and cheap budget airlines at all time. I've got the return tickets around SGD110 per pax. Good deal huh ??
And so the journey begins :
20th September 2014, me and Stephanie, my sis, safetly arrive at Husein Sastranegara International Airport at 11.05am. We managed to get the hotel to arranged a pickup for us from the airport. The journey from the airport to our hotel took us about 20 minutes. It was an interesting ride for us as we didnt expect the roads filled with hawkers selling all sorts of foods, stalls selling shirts, fruits and toys, and youngsters playing guitar, singing to the window of many cars begging for money. Well you don't get to see things like this in Singapore.
As soon as we checked in to D'Java Hotel, I tried to get the hotel to arrange a tour guide for but they aren't able to help. All they gave us were directions to Paris Van Java shopping mall to look out for a tour agent there. Good thing that the mall is just opposite from where we stayed. This mall reminds me of MidValley Megamall in Malaysia. There are varieties of shops there like MNG, Guess, Bershka, Stradivarius and many more. There's also lots of restaurants to choose from but we've failed to find any tour agent around. Feeling hopeless, we finally decided to simply rely on Tripadvisor. We hopped on the Blue Bird cab and told the cabby that we wanted to go to Rumah Mode Factory Outlet.
Rumah Mode are well known as the best factory outlet for shopping in Bandung. You can spot brands like ZARA, POLO, H&M, Guess and AX. All the items here looks authentic to me but the price aren't that cheap either. If you were to compute, the price after exchange is almost the same as in Singapore. It was a disappointment for me and Stephanie as we can't seems to find anything that we liked here. One thing I have to admit is the exterior of the place are really nice and we can't help ourselves taking countless of pictures.
Next we walk from Jalan Setiabudi to Jalan Dago with a whole stretch of Factory Outlets. Most of it are rather empty with basic wears and jeans than anything else. Stephanie is already starting to get a little moody with all the walking and browsing through clothes and so I decided to just end our evening. On our way back to the hotel, I spoke to a cabby, Pak Budiman, about getting a tour guide here and good thing he said that he can also be our guide for the next day and after discussing on the price, we immediately shared contacts. He told us to wait at our hotel lobby as early as 8.00am.
21st September 2014, after having breakfast, we both sisters waited for Pak Budirman at the lobby. We were disappointed to know that it is not him who will be our guide, instead he send his young son to drive us around. Knowing that his son is an inexperience guide, the whole day become a disastrous for us as he do not know where to bring us and keep on asking us where is our next destination. How should we know when we are tourist. Stephanie mentioned a few places from Tripadvisor that she wants to go like the Kampung Daun but he gave an excuse that it's to far for him to bring us there. Having paid RP700,000 just for the car and a guide, not including entrance fee for visiting places, I find it a total ripped of. And so we started our journey to Tangkuban Perahu.
Tangkuban Perahu is the biggest crater in West Java. It is called the Queen of craters of Mount Tangkuban Perahu. Price for the entrance fee is at RP 35,000 per person.
Next we went to the Strawberry Farm. I can't remember how much I paid for the entrance fee. Upon arriving, they will provide you with a basket and a scissors for you to handpick your own strawberries. Well, there's nothing much of a 'WOW' here as their strawberries are pretty small and the farm itself is nothing special.
After that, it was time for lunch. I can't remember where this place is but the food is awesome. Nice ambience too.
My guide is too lazy to bring us else where after that, our next stop was at Drago and Setiabudi for shopping thou we told him many times that we have already been there yesterday.
After our shopping, that silly guy brought is to Bandung Geologi Musuem. This museum is said to be one of the famous in Indonesia, which exhibits collections of natural artifacts discovered in this country. Price for the entrance fee is IRP4000.
By 3.30pm, I am already starting to get pissed with my guide as all he did was sleeping in the car thou we have paid for his whole day tour guide and the car. As soon as we entered in the 4 wheeled vehicle, he asked a stupid question again that there's no more place to visit, therefore should he just send us back to the hotel. By that time, I've already started arguing with him and all he did was acting dumb. Stephanie told me to calm myself and we ended up back to the hotel.
After shower, I called up the receptionist to booked for an in-house massage. I opted for their traditional massage and it was damn good. So far this is one of the most thing I've enjoyed after a tiring day.
Stephanie suggested to have our dinner at Paris Van Java since it's closer to our hotel. Both of us are to lazy and tired to go somewhere further. We found ourselves spending the whole night at Javana Bistro. This place is pretty comfy and great to chill out with live bands while sipping mojito and enjoying your dinner.
22nd September 2014 is our last day at Bandung. Our flight to Singapore will be at 12.40pm. After a quick breakfast, me and lil sis rush out to catch a quick shopping outside the hotel to end our final moments at Bandung.
Overall, Bandung is a nice place for woman like us who loves shopping. One can find lots of branded stuff that comes with a cheaper price that you can never get back in your country. This is because most of the factory outlets are at Bandung. Weather here is also good, not as humid as in Malaysia or Singapore. But do becareful to planned your holidays and not get cheated with the tour guides like the one I had which ended up bringing disappointment to my whole trip.
