My Bandung Wisata - Day 2
Good morning, Bandung! This was the view from our hotel, Fabu Hotel. When we went down for breakfast, we met so many other Malaysian tourists in the dining hall. I guess the hotel is quite popular among the average Malaysian travellers. The room is modern but not very big. The breakfast spread was a bit of a let down. Rice, vegetables, chicken or meat dishes are the staple here. The only Western on the menu are the bread and cereal.
As usual, the roads were busy even early in the morning. Many schools seemed to organise activities on that Saturday and parents were seen waiting for their kids near the school gate. On this morning, we were fortunate to see a rare occurence in Malaysia but a common one here in Bandung. The Wali Kota or the Governor, could be seen cycling to his office, accompanied by a few bodyguards on motorbikes who cleared the way for him to ride on. Wow....! Just Wow.
The photo below is his administrative office, fondly known as Gedung Sate which was named after a pole on top of the roof. The pole actually looks like sate on skewers from afar... ;)
Then, we had to make a quick stop at Aria Jeans again. Most of the time, the jeans were a fit pair but sometimes, we needed to make certain adjustment to the measurement. Just be ready for the tailor's snappy comments regarding her jeans....
That day was shopping day, so our first stop is Pasar Baru where beautiful laces in many colours are in abundance. Our target were the lace, telekungs and batiks. We were lucky to have a shopping assistant that took us to all the relevant shops and even offered to carry our shopping bags! We couldn't thank you enough that young man who were probably tired of our endless walkabout around that 5-tiered shopping complex.
The laces were simply to die for. The price ranges from 90,000 Rupiah to 400,000 Rupiah...The lining comes free with the lace purchase! My sister was happy but found it hard to choose the prettiest one for her future event. This is a heaven for any bride-to-be. :)
We were so hungry after all the walking and bargaining that we decided to have the popular ayam penyet at Wong Solo for lunch. The food was quite delicious but we did not manage to try the alpukat juice there as it was sold out. Since there is a musolla there, we performed our prayers first before continuing our shopping spree at Paris Van Java Shopping Mall.
The highlight of the mall is the famous bookstore and publication house, Gramedia. This was a heaven for my sister, Zaza who had been waiting to get her hands on her favourite Indonesian authors like Tere Liye. I was happy to find an English version of Negeri 5 Menara by A. Fuadi.
After spending about an hour or more in Gramedia, we were happy to find an A&W outlet and quenched our thirst with rootbeer float. The taste was heavenly, just like old times. We even tried Korean rice and spicy chicken balls at Kkuldak and they tasted okay. Pak Manan assured us that the food in Bandung is Halal except for a few Chinese restaurants that can be found in the city.
Our dinner was at Sederhana Pasteur Padang Restaurant . Actually, this was probably my first experience eating a 'proper' or 'authentic' Padang food. I counted there were around 10 small dishes served on our table. The food spread could have been more, but they were sold out. Most of the dishes looked familiar except two or three that looked too strange to eat. I just couldn't eat the brain of a cow. Or it's tongue. The food were quite lukewarm. Just like our lauk nasi campur...
I discovered how the waiter calculate our bill. He was sure to have good eyesight to be able to spot the untouched dishes which would be excluded from the bill. The price was reasonable.
Finally, it was time to go back to the hotel and rest and figure out the damage we did to our purse... Huhu.
Finally, it was time to go back to the hotel and rest and figure out the damage we did to our purse... Huhu.
So that's how the Sundanese spell Bandoeng....! :P
