Monday, September 23, 2013

Indonesia has it all

 

Does this place look familiar.? DSC06904

  

How about these places.?

DSC06898 DSC06875

DSC06748 DSC06827

 

And these.?

DSC06907 DSC06924DSC06921

or may be these.?

DSC06903 DSC06873

DSC06838

DSC06785

Bandung, Indonesia..!!!

Yes.!! Again, I visited this colorful country. The richness of its culture overrode my hatred on traffic congestion.

If you ask me whether or not I still plan to go there, my answer is “YES, my dear SIL, 2T, I will”. She, who had been waiting for my writeup about my latest journey to Indonesia.

I still remember when I, for the 1st time travelled with them, all my SILs. We chose Bandung as our 1st destination. It was fun and full of shopping, that we cancelled all the list in the itinerary, but shopping and SPA-ing and eating.

GirlsTrip That was about 4 years ago.

 

My recent trip was with my family and officemates.

DSC06866

 

DSC06687 Arriving in Jakarta via AirAsia wasnt that crowded as the airport is specially for AirAsia and another flight use only.

DSC06690DSC06701

We then took a coach, direct to Bandung. The place is not too far from Jakarta. We wouldnt have to spend 4 hours on the road if I wasnt for the speed limit and the traffic congestion. I remember spending only about 2 hours journey on my previous trip.

It was quite tiring. I spent my time capturing scenery, sign boards and anything at all, ahead of me.

DSC06703 DSC06713 DSC06712 DSC06733

 

 

As the scene changes from  green to grey and the noise pollution started to sip in, I knew we have reached our destination.

DSC06744DSC06742

 

The ‘Sado’ (cart pulled by a horse) reminded me of Pakistan. It captured our attention.

DSC06751 

It was 1pm local time when we reached the restaurant. That was 2 pm Malaysian time and its considered a very late lunch for me. Most of us had  had butterflies in our tummy then. 

   DSC06741 It was tiring, but we were all happy.

Especially when the food served were mostly my favorite.

Nasi Padang.

DSC06778  DSC06776 DSC06774 “We have 1 hour to eat. We dont want to miss the show” Warned Danial, our Tour Guide.

DSC06786 There we were… at the Angklung Udjo place.

It was fun watching the kids playing and dancing to the harmonious sound of  ‘Angklung’ , a music instrument made of Bamboo.

DSC06785  The audience were brought in to join the orchestra at the end of the show. It was a fun and unforgettable thrill.

DSC06788 DSC06787

That was an exciting performance. The rest of the day was spent in the bus. Sensa Hotel happened to be in the middle of the busiest road ‘Chihampelas’, which coincidently, that very night had 2 continuous concerts. HOHOHO…………..can you imagine how congested that could be?

DSC06795 DSC06793 We were tucked in our seat in the bus for hours until all the shops were closed for the day. There goes our shopping for that day.

Oh ya… we had a roadside musician to entertain us though.

DSC06792How much to pay him? No numbers. Its all up to individual to contribute.

Day 2……

DSC06799DSC06802 DSC06803     Everyone was excited to go on tour.  DSC06881 Lets go..! Said Danial.

 

WHOAAAHH…….. Picturesque ‘Kawah Ratu’ is calling everyone to witness…………

DSC01437

Kawah Ratu (Ratu Crater) promises a beautiful view.

 

It was a little too crowded for our comfort, then, though. They said, Bandung is always packed whenever its a holiday in Malaysia.

TangkubanPerahu

I used this picture of mine and my hubby at the place, as my Facebook photo. The background is ‘BEAUTIFULL’ . The number of ‘like’ received on it shows that, many too, agree.

 

 

Next, on the way down, we stopped by a hot spring.

DSC06884 DSC06883 OUCH..!

DSC06892 DSC06891 OUCH..!!

OUCH..!! DSC06893

That is… Not even 15 minutes, we have made to the exit.

On the way down…..

DSC06878   DSC06896

 DSC06869 Among the interesting facts, I  captured a restaurant selling ‘Sate Biawak’ (Monitor lizard Satay). Hmmm…. no thank you.

Others are ‘Sate Kelinci’ (Rabbit Satay) and ‘Sate Kambing’ (Mutton Satay)

DSC06876DSC06898

As we reached the town… I have no more pictures. Sorry to disappoint you, but I was too busy shopping then. So as the others.hehehe………

Day 3……..

It was time to return to Jakarta Airport. We started our journey at 7:30am

DSC06917 It was jammed and I was not in a mood to play with my camera. ZZZzzzzzz……….all the way.

At the airport… also ZZzzzzZZzzzzzzzz……

In the plane… also ZZ…zzz…Z….

Reached home… also ZZzzzZZzzz………. Good nite..