Wednesday, 6 February 2008: Eve of Chinese New Year
This morning, we left home shortly after morning prayers for the airport. I wasn’t too worried that our flight would be delayed by ten hours as suffered by Aunty - as our flight originated from KUL unlike hers which originated from flooded Jakarta – and thankfully we did depart and land on time. We were lucky that our bags were among the first to be out: Bandung airport is tiny and there is no conveyor belt; instead there were airport workers sorting out passengers’ bags and arranging them neatly by the side for passengers to collect. We didn’t ask for assistance from any porter as we didn’t have any small change. We quickly cabbed it to the hotel – probably one of the earliest passengers out of the cramped airport – and as luck would have it, we managed to check in immediately. I purposely chose a different hotel than the one we stayed in last CNY.
After prayers, we walked over to Pasar Baru Trade Centre. It was quite near (we had to endure more than half an hour of angkot ride each way from our hotel last year). However, what we gained in distance, we ‘suffered’ in another form of challenge: scaling the steep stairs of the bridge that crossed over the railway track. I’m sure the bridge was sturdy and had been well used for it was creaking and groaning and at times, seemed to be swaying under our weight. We had lunch first before hitting the market.
The market sells mainly shirts, embroidered blouses, t-shirts, Muslim prayer attire, head covers... as usual, its main clientele is the female population. I stayed back alone after Mummy and Abah left for the hotel to rest and after wandering around, found a stall selling kebaya materials from Japanese silk, Thai silk, French cotton, normal cotton ... what a find considering other stalls only sell semi-silk kebaya materials! The shopkeeper informed me that they buy Japanese silk, Thai silk and French cotton materials before embroidering them by hand; hence the material colours are more unusual and unique.
I returned back to the hotel but not before checking out the area within the hotel vicinity. There was even a small tourist information office just around the corner from the hotel, diagonally opposite the Governor’s office. It was the same Bandung as a year ago: angkots slowing down to offer a ride, hawkers pulling their bakso noodles mobile stalls, trishaw pullers, street peddlers ... and yes, they all worked very hard for their money. In the market, you see young men carrying containers of doughnuts (which looked a lot like Dunkin Donuts doughnuts) and pulling containers of bottled drinks everywhere, all earning an honest living.
Thursday, 7 February 2008: Chinese New Year/Imlek*
* Imlek is the local word for Chinese New Year
This morning, we took an angkot to Lembong to an area which the locals call ‘Danar Hadi’ (I couldn’t locate Danar Hadi in the map though I could locate Lembong) to find batik materials. See, a friend of Mummy just came back from Bandung and told her of some boutique selling batik (and knowing Mummy, she never found out where the boutiques are located so we had to ask around a lot and were advised to go to Lembong, which is the nearest to the hotel. Other batik boutiques abound but are located in other parts of the city and would require us to either take a number of angkots to get there or a cab). Anyway, there was a block of three batik boutiques at Lembong, much to my relief (otherwise, Mummy would be lamenting on her missed opportunity of buying silk batik material and guess who have to find another batik boutique?).
After purchasing some silk batik materials, we walked to a nearby Edward Forrer shoes factory outlet. However, the store was quite small but the shop assistant very kindly gave directions on how to get to the bigger outlet at Jalan Ir Juanda at Dago. We walked to the nearest intersection and hailed an angkot to get there.
The Edward Forrer shoes factory outlet store at Dago, located diagonally across Patra Jasa Hotel, was definitely way much bigger and there was even a sale going on in that store; alas, I couldn’t find anything appealing so left empty-handed. There were many factory outlets along the road (and all over Bandung) but I wasn’t interested in clothes or handbags from these outlets. Abah did manage to buy a nice shirt from Level, the outlet located across Edward Forrer. We then took a Damri bus back and walked a bit to the hotel, feeling very pleased with ourselves for taking the angkot and bus just like the locals (a cab would have cost us more than 14 times more). So when in Bandung, do as the locals do.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on R&R – and watching The Amazing Race marathon.
Friday, 8 February 2008: Day 2 of Imlek
A leisurely start today. We left the hotel after 9 am today for Pasar Baru, yes again. It was an overcast morning with promise of rain in the air. I like looking at the various Muslim prayer attire – of cotton, French cotton, Japanese cotton, even silk – but they were all very transparent and do a poor job of covering your aurat (and what good would donning the prayer attire if your aurat is visible, unless you wear long-sleeved tops and trousers) so I didn’t buy any. I did buy more Japanese and Thai silk and cotton kebaya materials though.
We had an early lunch at the food court at the sixth floor. Abah then went for Friday prayers at the eighth floor – yes, there was a mosque up there and shoppers and shopkeepers alike all went to perform prayers. It just proves that you don’t need to perform prayers in a proper prayer room or mosque because you can pray just about anywhere as long as you know the direction of Kaabah.
We finally left the market at 2 pm. The heavy rain that finally fell had by then trickled to a drizzle. Mummy and I went out again to Kartika Sari, a renowned cake house/bakery in Bandung to buy layered cakes and pastries to bring home. The rest of the afternoon was a repeat of the previous afternoon – R&R and continuation of The Amazing Race marathon.
Dinner was again had at a local restaurant located in alley across the street from our hotel. This time around, I found the local fare a bit easier to swallow, ingest and digest. Alhamdulillah.
Saturday, 9 February 2008
We left the hotel after 8 in the morning for our flight home. It was yet another overcast morning and apparently it always rains during Imlek. Unlike our other fellow passengers with bulging bags and hand luggage, our bags were much smaller and lighter. There was a family which we met last year and apparently this was their seventh visit to Bandung! Yes, it’s a shopping heaven for most people. The crime rate is lower than Jakarta, the climate is cooler (as it’s on a high elevation above sea level), the food is undoubtedly halal in most places and the market and numerous factory outlets dotted around the city have enough to offer to make just about anyone shop (I didn’t sight any souvenirs on sale anywhere though). So it’s no wonder that people go there repeatedly.
Our flight departed on time although the flight from KUL was ten minutes late and we landed at our scheduled arrival time of 1.30 pm. Alhamdulillah.
~~~~~~~~
Manchester Shitty beat ManUre at Old Trafford last night, a week after losing for the first time at home ground to Arsenal. I can’t thank Man Shitty enough for keeping ManUre in second place in the league and in the Manchester neighbourhood. And congratulations to the Pharaohs for winning the Africa Cup of Nations.
This morning, we left home shortly after morning prayers for the airport. I wasn’t too worried that our flight would be delayed by ten hours as suffered by Aunty - as our flight originated from KUL unlike hers which originated from flooded Jakarta – and thankfully we did depart and land on time. We were lucky that our bags were among the first to be out: Bandung airport is tiny and there is no conveyor belt; instead there were airport workers sorting out passengers’ bags and arranging them neatly by the side for passengers to collect. We didn’t ask for assistance from any porter as we didn’t have any small change. We quickly cabbed it to the hotel – probably one of the earliest passengers out of the cramped airport – and as luck would have it, we managed to check in immediately. I purposely chose a different hotel than the one we stayed in last CNY.
After prayers, we walked over to Pasar Baru Trade Centre. It was quite near (we had to endure more than half an hour of angkot ride each way from our hotel last year). However, what we gained in distance, we ‘suffered’ in another form of challenge: scaling the steep stairs of the bridge that crossed over the railway track. I’m sure the bridge was sturdy and had been well used for it was creaking and groaning and at times, seemed to be swaying under our weight. We had lunch first before hitting the market.
The market sells mainly shirts, embroidered blouses, t-shirts, Muslim prayer attire, head covers... as usual, its main clientele is the female population. I stayed back alone after Mummy and Abah left for the hotel to rest and after wandering around, found a stall selling kebaya materials from Japanese silk, Thai silk, French cotton, normal cotton ... what a find considering other stalls only sell semi-silk kebaya materials! The shopkeeper informed me that they buy Japanese silk, Thai silk and French cotton materials before embroidering them by hand; hence the material colours are more unusual and unique.
I returned back to the hotel but not before checking out the area within the hotel vicinity. There was even a small tourist information office just around the corner from the hotel, diagonally opposite the Governor’s office. It was the same Bandung as a year ago: angkots slowing down to offer a ride, hawkers pulling their bakso noodles mobile stalls, trishaw pullers, street peddlers ... and yes, they all worked very hard for their money. In the market, you see young men carrying containers of doughnuts (which looked a lot like Dunkin Donuts doughnuts) and pulling containers of bottled drinks everywhere, all earning an honest living.
Thursday, 7 February 2008: Chinese New Year/Imlek*
* Imlek is the local word for Chinese New Year
This morning, we took an angkot to Lembong to an area which the locals call ‘Danar Hadi’ (I couldn’t locate Danar Hadi in the map though I could locate Lembong) to find batik materials. See, a friend of Mummy just came back from Bandung and told her of some boutique selling batik (and knowing Mummy, she never found out where the boutiques are located so we had to ask around a lot and were advised to go to Lembong, which is the nearest to the hotel. Other batik boutiques abound but are located in other parts of the city and would require us to either take a number of angkots to get there or a cab). Anyway, there was a block of three batik boutiques at Lembong, much to my relief (otherwise, Mummy would be lamenting on her missed opportunity of buying silk batik material and guess who have to find another batik boutique?).
After purchasing some silk batik materials, we walked to a nearby Edward Forrer shoes factory outlet. However, the store was quite small but the shop assistant very kindly gave directions on how to get to the bigger outlet at Jalan Ir Juanda at Dago. We walked to the nearest intersection and hailed an angkot to get there.
The Edward Forrer shoes factory outlet store at Dago, located diagonally across Patra Jasa Hotel, was definitely way much bigger and there was even a sale going on in that store; alas, I couldn’t find anything appealing so left empty-handed. There were many factory outlets along the road (and all over Bandung) but I wasn’t interested in clothes or handbags from these outlets. Abah did manage to buy a nice shirt from Level, the outlet located across Edward Forrer. We then took a Damri bus back and walked a bit to the hotel, feeling very pleased with ourselves for taking the angkot and bus just like the locals (a cab would have cost us more than 14 times more). So when in Bandung, do as the locals do.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on R&R – and watching The Amazing Race marathon.
Friday, 8 February 2008: Day 2 of Imlek
A leisurely start today. We left the hotel after 9 am today for Pasar Baru, yes again. It was an overcast morning with promise of rain in the air. I like looking at the various Muslim prayer attire – of cotton, French cotton, Japanese cotton, even silk – but they were all very transparent and do a poor job of covering your aurat (and what good would donning the prayer attire if your aurat is visible, unless you wear long-sleeved tops and trousers) so I didn’t buy any. I did buy more Japanese and Thai silk and cotton kebaya materials though.
We had an early lunch at the food court at the sixth floor. Abah then went for Friday prayers at the eighth floor – yes, there was a mosque up there and shoppers and shopkeepers alike all went to perform prayers. It just proves that you don’t need to perform prayers in a proper prayer room or mosque because you can pray just about anywhere as long as you know the direction of Kaabah.
We finally left the market at 2 pm. The heavy rain that finally fell had by then trickled to a drizzle. Mummy and I went out again to Kartika Sari, a renowned cake house/bakery in Bandung to buy layered cakes and pastries to bring home. The rest of the afternoon was a repeat of the previous afternoon – R&R and continuation of The Amazing Race marathon.
Dinner was again had at a local restaurant located in alley across the street from our hotel. This time around, I found the local fare a bit easier to swallow, ingest and digest. Alhamdulillah.
Saturday, 9 February 2008
We left the hotel after 8 in the morning for our flight home. It was yet another overcast morning and apparently it always rains during Imlek. Unlike our other fellow passengers with bulging bags and hand luggage, our bags were much smaller and lighter. There was a family which we met last year and apparently this was their seventh visit to Bandung! Yes, it’s a shopping heaven for most people. The crime rate is lower than Jakarta, the climate is cooler (as it’s on a high elevation above sea level), the food is undoubtedly halal in most places and the market and numerous factory outlets dotted around the city have enough to offer to make just about anyone shop (I didn’t sight any souvenirs on sale anywhere though). So it’s no wonder that people go there repeatedly.
Our flight departed on time although the flight from KUL was ten minutes late and we landed at our scheduled arrival time of 1.30 pm. Alhamdulillah.
~~~~~~~~
Manchester Shitty beat ManUre at Old Trafford last night, a week after losing for the first time at home ground to Arsenal. I can’t thank Man Shitty enough for keeping ManUre in second place in the league and in the Manchester neighbourhood. And congratulations to the Pharaohs for winning the Africa Cup of Nations.
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