Bandung Trip (Day 3)

Tangkuban Perahu

On our last day, we checked out of hotel as early as 7am and the bus was on it's way to Tangkuban Perahu at 7.30am. Tangkuban Perahu was quite far from our hotel, about two hours drive. So, naturally, when we arrived there, I had to go to the toilet. I was shocked when the charge was about RM2 per entry for a toilet that was so dark, small, and unsafe in terms of the structure. For the bus parking area, you have to get on a van (that is operated by a company there) to get to the top. You aren't allowed to use any other vehicle than the vans provided. I don't know how much it costs coz it was arranged by the travel agent.

There're a lot of souvenirs sold here like key chains and necklaces that the sellers say are made of mountain rocks, miniature vehicles made of rattan and other types of wood, and of course, t-shirts. I bought two miniature vehicle for 50,000IDR and Mr.H bought lots of keychains for less than RM1 per pack. I noticed that they'd keep offering you the items and after negotiating, if you don't agree with the price, they'd walk away (or you'd walk away)...and then they'll suddenly come back to you and offer a final price and say "okay la abang. boleh kasi untuk pecah telur".

At last, we found the famous Durian IceCream!

It was quite cold so it was quite nice when Mr.H bought a "kuih" made of vegetables and flour. It tasted nice and I finished it before we went back down to the bus. Mr.H also bought two grilled corn, which I ate on the bus while he ate outside the bus, chatting with his boss. There was also packed-smoked-banana (pisang salai) sold outside the bus area, but Datin told me it tasted like the oil they used to fry them was used too many times. I don't remember the exact one word description of the taste.

After that, we went to have lunch at a restaurant just next to Rumah Mode. This was where Vouge sent our suits. Unfortunately, after trying them on, my suits and baju raya was my exact body size, without even an inch that could be pinched. Mr.H was annoyed and told me I couldn't wear them and Dato' laughed and said "Aik, marah je bunyi tu." My suit's skirts (one black and one white) didn't have any lining. Mr.H's suit coat was too short. Dato's suit coat couldn't be buttoned. And Datin's pants was the wrong size. We were all really disappointed  and didn't want to accept them. Our travel agent called the Vogue tailor. The tailor came almost an hour later (one hour waiting...that I could have used shopping at Rumah Mode), looked at the items, discussed about it, and he said he'd post it to Malaysia and we would receive it on Thursday (that day was Saturday).

Jacket for 159,900IDR

From Rumah Mode

Only after that was I able to shop at Rumah Mode. Since I didn't have much time left, I just bought a jacket for myself at the clothes section and a pair of sandals and two small ladies' bag at the handbag&shoes section. I was happy that we at last, found the durian ice cream (which I felt was hygienic enough to consume) that people blogged about. Delicious! But since I bought it at Rumah Mode's cafe, it was quite expansive. About 30,000IDR.

After that, the travel agent told us that if traffic was smooth, we'd have half an hour to shop at Kartika Sari, the famous bakery in Bandung. Unfortunately, the traffic was super congested. I was quite worried we wouldn't be able to stop at Kartika Sari coz I had planned to buy cakes from there as a souvenir for my kajang house, inlaws, and office mates. When the travel agent announced we wouldn't be stopping, I was super duper disappointed. OMG, I'm coming back to the Kajang house, inlaws, and office empty handed? How embarrassing and guilty feeling would that be?

As we were lining up to check in our bags at the airport, I saw a small shop inside the airport selling food. I went closer and saw that they had a few Kartika Sari cakes! What luck!

My favorite drink throughout my
stay there: Avocado + Choc

I ended up with 6 cakes: 2 choc brownies, 2 banana buns, 2 layer cakes (kek lapis). 6 cakes that made my arm sore coz I had to hand-carry them from Bandung airport to Malaysia.

The trip to Bandung was really fun. I wouldn't recommend people to bring toddlers coz there were a few cases that I saw (while I was shopping) of parents loosing sight of their toddlers cause they got carried away with shopping. There aren't many fun places for toddlers either. The games at Bandung Trans Studio might be fun for kids above 7 years old, I guess.

Anyhow, hoping to have a chance to visit Bandung again.

P/S: Finally managed to finish writing about this Bandung Trip which has been overdue for months.