Bandung Trip - Wilujeng Sumping, Bandung!

I just came back last week from another trip.

Yes. 

Another trip.

Again.

It was for my brother's graduation and the whole family made a trip there.

My brother has spent 4 years in this city to study, to make friends and best friends, to eat, to play, to work. I am sure he has gained a lot from this city, other than his certificate and transcript.

This city is about 3-hour drive from the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta. This city is located on a highland causing it to be cool and breezy. This city is packed with universities so the sight of youngsters is so common. This city is always visited by people from Jakarta during weekend. And the newly elected mayor of this city is one of the nominated best mayor of World Mayor.

It is indeed Bandung.

This city was called the city of flower due to many sights of trees and flowers everywhere. And due to its beauty, this city was called Parijs van Java (Paris of Java) by the Dutch. However now, I don't think you can see a lot of trees and flowers anymore due to the development of the city.

Before this city was called Bandung, most of the area of West Java was under Kerajaan Pajajaran (Pajajaran Kingdom) and called Tatar Ukur. After Kerajaan Pajajaran was defeated by Kerajaan Banten (Banten Kingdom), West Java was dominated by one kingdom by another.

Around 1600s, the area was dominated by Kerajaan Mataram (Mataram Kingdom) under Sultan Agung (King Agung). There was one regent called Dipati Ukur who did a rebellion to fight against the king. With the help of three of his loyal servants, Sultan Agung managed to beat Dipati Ukur to defeat. After that, he divided the area and gave the three people the title 'regent'.

Ki Astamanggala became the first regent of Bandung.

Bandung served Kerajaan Mataram until 1677 because The Dutch dominated Indonesia afterwards. However, Bandung continued to have its own regent.

Due to the flood caused by Citarum River, the regent and most of the people in Bandung moved to the northern part of the area in 1809. At that time, The Dutch's General Governor Herman Willem Daendels was 'governing' Indonesia. During the construction of Cikapundung bridge in Bandung, Daendels and the regent walked together towards the east. At one point, Daendels planted his swagger stick and said, "Zorg, dat als ik terug kom hier een stad is gebouwd!" which means "Give it a try so when I come back here a city has been built!".

So that particular point became the 'zero kilometer' point of Bandung and 25 September 1810 became the birth date of Bandung.

Zero Kilometer Point of Bandung. 18km too Cileunyi, 18km to Padalarang. (Photo source: citizenmagz.com)

After knowing this, I don't think having The Dutch conquering Indonesia was a big regret. The Dutch really helped Indonesians to project the future and develop the potential in Indonesia. If Daendels did not say that particular sentence, maybe Bandung would have been only a small village with a regent. So, thanks, Daendels!

Back to my story. Traveling in Bandung!

According to Google, there are 8 domestic cities and 2 international city connected directly to Bandung. But I know 1 city that has not been included in this list, my hometown, Palembang!

Mr. Google, can you add Palembang, please?

So lucky for us, there is direct flight both from Palembang and Singapore. The air ticket from Palembang by Express Air was about IDR 700000 (SGD75) per person one way. The air ticket from Singapore that I got from Air Asia was about SGD 100 for one way. I guess that was a period when most final year students in Bandung had their graduation and it was also very near to Eid Mubarak. Therefore I had no choice.

We planned the timing as such so we would not need to wait for each other too long. I was alone from Singapore and my flight landed about 30 minutes after theirs.

I was disappointed to see the airport. It was only a small two storey airport and from afar you could already see that it was so so so very old. And when I proceeded to the imigration area, it looked even worse. Everybody was squeezing inside a tiny room to get an entry chop. The officer worked quite slow as well causing me to queue for more than half an hour.

The imigration area. Oh Gosh.

Stepping out of the imigration counter, I saw even smaller area with baggage belt conveyor at one side and a scanning machine at the other side. And the ceiling was so low I felt it was going to fall on me. So some people were squeezing for their luggages, some were queueing for scanning of hand carry bag. I joined the snake queue for about 10 minutes before I made it outside and finally I could see sunlight!

My famiy and two of my parents' friends had already waited for me there. Bro has already rented a self-drive Toyota Avanza for IDR 250000 (SGD27) per day. The guy from the rental company delivered the car to the airport for additional IDR 30000 (SGD3.2). However, the gas was on us.

We loaded my bags on to the car and drove to the hotel for check in.

The hotel that we chose for the first night was located in front of the hippest shopping mall in Bandung, Paris Van Java. The hotel itself is D'Java. Since the hotel was built just a few years back, I guess it got its name from the shopping mall.

After checking in, we rested for some time while bro and dad did some logistics to bro's stuff here. He had a lot of stuffs to be sent to Bali! Fyi, Denpasar was his next city of residence! So exotic.

The lobby of D'Java Hotel. So Java!

It's quite a big room with two super single bed. There is a sofa too!

After Bro came back, he brought us to a very unique restaurant called Alas Daun. In English, Alas Daun means base of leave. And the restaurant literally practiced it. No plate here. Only leaves.

Alas Daun. Only Leaves. Nothing Else.

The entrance aisle of the restaurant

Choose the half-cooked food and they will prepare it for you

The cooked food. Just point.

The restaurant serves Sundanese food which made my saliva run all over my mouth. We chose hiu bakar (grilled shark), barakuda bakar (grilled barracuda), tumis daun kedelai (stir fried soya leaves), jengkol krispi (crispy spicy dogfruit), sambal mangga (mango chili sauce), teri tempe (crispy anchovy & peanut), tempe mendoan (special Bandung fried bean cake), tahu goreng (fried tofu), lalapan (raw vegetables consist of cucumber and lettuce), and four types of chili sauce. Let's party!

The shark and the barracuda acompanied by petai!

Can you see our sambal or chili sauce????

I always love tempe and tahu!!!

And the experience eating with hands on the leaves was the unforgettable touch of this restaurant. We were enjoying our dinner so much!

See? See? See? So unique!

It was cheap. It was only IDR 192000 (SGD21) for six people! It barely can fill one person's tummy in Singapore!

With happy tummies, we headed back to the hotel, but not to sleep. We parked at the hotel to cross the road and visit Paris Van Java Shopping Mall.

The entrance gate

The exterior 

The interior

It was almost 9:00 p.m. when we reached PVJ so we only roamed at one section and did not really explore the mall. While waiting for us, dad met mom's cousin and had their coffee time at Blue Canyon Coffe.

And we joined them after the shopkeepers in Stradivarius started closing the rolling door when we were still inside

That's my first day story. In Bandung, when you greet someone who enter your place you will say "Wilujeng sumping" which means "Welcome". So that day I was welcoming Bandung into my journey.

Wilujeng sumping, Bandung!

Next Post - Falling in Love with Turqoise Kawah Putih

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Travel Tips - Travel Scams Around The World

This is not a travel journal. This is just a good precaution I accidentally stumble upon on Facebook.

For all travellers out there, be careful when you are at other people's place. I have a friend who really got scammed in Bangkok with jewellery scam. He was told by a fake policeman that particular day was a public holiday and taking tuk-tuk would be free. He and his wife were then brought by that tuk-tuk to 'a temple' but that temple was closed that day. So, they were then lured to a jewelry shop nearby. Somebody already waited for them in front of the jewelry shop, welcomed them, praised them, and lured them to spend a fortune on jewellery that nobody knew was fake or not. They only realized they were being scammed a few hours later.

Scary, huh?

So, let's be careful. And of course, I always pray that God will protect me on every step of my journey.

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/IZPo0vY

Happy traveling!

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Medan Trip - The Day for Celebration

Why were we visiting Medan? Of course to attend wedding!

So, there we were on a fine Tuesday morning, preparing ourselves to attend the morning ceremony of the bride's wedding!

When we arrived there, she had not finished her bridal make up session. So we waited patiently and took selfie!

Heya there, so happy for our friend!

According to Chinese tradition, the groom should come to the bride's house to pick up the bride and marry her. When the groom came, there was a small ceremony held based on the tradition of Hokkien. The bride and the groom then exchanged rings in the witness of family members and close friends.

And of course they kissed!

After that, the groom brought the bride to their future house. We also followed. At their future house, the family members of the groom had gathered for the tea ceremony.

We did not watch their tea ceremony. Instead we went up to see their house and bridal suite.

Bridal suite <3

When the tea ceremony for the groom's family finished, the bride changed her gown and they went back to the bride's house for another session of tea ceremony with the bride's family.

The bride in red

We stayed for a while before going back to Anam's house to rest and prepare ourself for the wedding dinner.

Ready for the wedding dinner!

We arrived at the ballroom so early that we had chance to roam around and take photos before the dinner started.

Selfie again with Mr. Selfie

We had a table reserved for us!!!

Group photo with one additional CEE member :)

The dinner lasted for about 2 hours or more and we enjoyed the night!

Congratulation, Bride and Groom!

And this wedding dinner put a full stop into our journey in Medan. We headed back to Singapore the next day.

Special thanks to Anam and his parents that host us very well during our stay.

Medan, you'll be missed! See you during Anam's wedding!

Medan Trip - Fin

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Medan Trip - The Shining Jewel Brastagi

I woke up by the sound of the water hitting the rocks. It was about 5:00 a.m. and I was so wide awake. The sky was still dark and there were nobody outside. I walked out and felt the breeze seeping through my bone and my heart. I saw a thread of amber light from the mountains ahead of me, it was almost sunrise. I turned my back and ran back to the room to get the camera. I could not miss this moment.

What a sunrise. What a morning. What a wonderful me-time.

Sunrise at Toba

I don't know how this shot can come into place

I went back to the room and prepared myself for the journey of the day: Berastagi!

Berastagi is located approximately 66km from Medan city and 30km from Danau Toba. This highland town is utilized as weekend destination for most Medanese to relax and run away from the busy city.

Berastagi in between Toba and Medan

We catched 8:00 a.m. boat back to Parapat. It cost us IDR 10000 (SGD 1.1) per person to take this public transport. When we reached Parapat, the driver was already there waiting for us. We were then proceeding for breakfast nearby.

The driver brought us to a restaurant called Restaurant Hong Kong. No, it doesn't serve Hong Kong food, it was just named that way.

Front face of the restaurant

So some of us ordered fried rice, some ordered sandwich, and I ordered pancake. I thought it was the pancake that I could find in cafe, but it turned out to be kue dadar (egg roll). 

Hong Kong style pancake? 

The fried rice

The foods here were generally oily although the taste was acceptable. We also ordered kopi susu (coffee + condensed milk) and it turned out to have more milk than coffee. It was so sweet I could not stomach it.

After that, we continued our journey to Berastagi. Because I insisted, we visited Air Terjun Sipiso-piso (Sipiso-piso Waterfall) before going to Berastagi. Yeah, it seems that I was so into waterfall because I didn't manage to visit a good one last time in Manado (visit this post).

And luckily, Sipiso-piso was not a disappointment! The height of the waterfall is 120m and it is one of the highest waterfall in Indonesia. In the local language, piso means knife. The waterfall got its name because of the heavy flow like a knife.

The entrance fee to go to this waterfall is IDR 4000 (SGD 0.43) per person. The car can only stop at the parking area and the journey should be continued on foot.

The notice board on Toba Super Volcano near the entrance

It looks like the hill is hugging the waterfall

The view that I presented above was taken from the viewing platform. Actually we could go down to the waterfall through thousand of steps from the area. However, a lot of people told us that it would be quite dangerous so we forced ourselved to be satisfied by the view from afar.

Witnessing the great view with the one you love

At the other side of the viewing platform, we could see the greatness of Danau Toba. Yes, this area is very close to the lake and in fact the water is from an underground river that flows along the bank of Danau Toba. 

Can't get bored looking at Danau Toba

This place is a wonder, but I felt very upset to see a lot of trashes along the platform. It looks like the people visiting this place (which are mostly locals) do not care enough. I really hope that they can change, the management can impose more visiting regulations so that the cleanliness can be improved. 

We then continued our journey to Berastagi. 

There is a high class resort constructed in Berastagi called Simalem Resort. We were told that the cheapest room in that resort was IDR 2000000 (SGD 220) but you can experience everything inside: the view, the cool breezing weather, the luxury, everything.

The map of Simalem Resort

To enjoy the facility, you do not need to book the room. By paying IDR 200000 (SGD 22) you can enter the resort and get discount and free vouchers for certain attractions. After entering the resort, the driver brought us to a mini bird park. We saw quite a number of birds inside and also a mini waterfall.

The wise grandpa

Mini Sipiso-piso

After that we went to the peak of Simalem Resort and this was my favourite spot of the whole journey! The highest point at the area and you can see the whole Danau Toba (again)! There is a single tree on the place and it is called One Tree Hill.

This is the tree

And this is the view

And these are us experiencing the sand storm

And these are our happy face!

We then went to another lower spot in the resort. In this spot, we could see Danau Toba from another angle. And I tell you, this is nothing as compared to One Tree Hill. Only that this spot is more well maintained.

The boys!

Actually we got free voucher of labyrinth and we would like to use it. But, we circled the area and found nothing. So we gave up and moved on.

And the long and winding journey begun. Only at around 3:30 p.m. we reached the town. Our tummy were singing sad songs and we begged the driver to bring us for lunch. He recommended us Rumah Makan Eropa or Restoran Asia. Eropa is Indonesian for Europe but no no no, this restaurant does not serve European food. I wonder why Medanese like to name their restaurants Hong Kong or Europe or Asia.

Can you spot the sad face?

So we went for Restoran Asia but it was already closed! We went back to the car with very sad hearts and asked the driver to bring us somewhere else. So he brought us to Rumah Makan Tong Seng.

Rumah Makan Timur Tong Seng

The first thing that caught my eyes was the 'pulut srikaya'. So we ordered that little sweet thing!

Pulut srikaya - sticky rice with kaya jam

We ordered some other normal chinese food: sweet & sour fish, fuyung hai (fried scrambled egg), vegetable, sapo tahu (tofu hot pot), and bistik babi (pork chinese steak). All tasted nice because we were so very hungry we almost fainted. :)

And Anam recommended us to drink Badak. Badak is the local product and it is something like coke. I didn't drink it so I can't explain the taste but this is the look:

Best served with ice

Before we continued our journey to our next destination, we went to the local market to buy markisa or passion fruits! This town is really well known for its fruits, like passion fruits and oranges.

Market market!

Passion fruit yohoooo!

So we went to the last destination: Vihara Taman Lumbini. Another vihara???? Yes and this one is made of gold.

We posed with some people that we met. Hi there!

No, I am joking. It is not made of gold, it just looks like it. But it is huge indeed. Unfortunately, when we reached there around 5:00 p.m. we were told that the vihara was going to close in five minutes time. So we rushed like hell!

The drums are to be spun clockwise

The altar of Buddha

Write your wish and hang it on the tree

The garden at the side of the vihara

Only after we were back to the car, the driver told us that some area of the vihara was closed due to the activity of Mount Sinabung the previous day. Mount Sinabung has been active since a few years back and it has erupted in 2010, 2013, and 2014.

It was uncontrolled variable and we could not do anything about it. So, we drove back and it took really long to reach Medan city. We reach Anam's home about 8:00 p.m. and his parents had already been waiting for us.

We were then brought to the biggest feast of our trip. A seafood restaurant! This restaurant is called Marco Seafood.

Marco Seafood. Time to feast!

Fresh seafood oh la la~~~

Al fresco dining as an option

It was drizzling and we shifted inside. It was quite stuffy inside but we had no choice. Anam's parents ordered so many things for us till we had difficulties to finish all of them.

Stir fried bee hoon

Stir fried noodle

Stir fried kway teow

Kepiting Saos Padang (Padang sauce crab)

Kepiting Lada Hitam (Black Pepper Crab)

Udang Goreng (Fried Prawn)

Tofu dunno what

Ayam Cabe Hijau (Green Chilli Fried Chicken)

Sayur Asem

Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish)

Udang Panggang (Grilled Prawn)

Can you imagine how full we were???? Yes, we were very very full but we could not stop eating because they were all so very nice! My favourite were kepiting saos padang and ayam cabe hijau. Finger licking awesome!

Nominate the happiest person here

Our two champion. Even all the sauce were finished!

And we spent the rest of the night walking around the complex and admire the gigantic houses there. We went to sleep with tummies full of cholesterol!!!!

Next Post - The Day of Celebration

Love is in the air,

Little Feet