A Shopping Trip to Bandung and Jakarta

A few months ago the daughter managed to grab an offer from MAS for extremely cheap return flight tickets to Jakarta. You wouldn't believe it but we only paid RM75 each! (*gasp*) We figured it must be a mistake on their part but who cares, the transaction was legal. At first tickets were bought for five: me, the hubby, the daughter and 2 nieces. Unfortunately one of the nieces just started working so she couldn't apply for leave. And we didn't realise that Adik would still be with us on the dates that we planned to go. Alhamdulillah, we took him with us (tickets a teeny bit expensive though) for the holiday. There are probably many interesting sights to see in Bandung and Jakarta but Malaysians usually make the trip to shop! The hubby and Kak Lang had been here last year while I was in Adelaide helping Bang Long out when the daughter-in-law was in confinement. They came with a group which main purpose was shopping and nothing else! However, we thought we'd visit the famous tourist site in Bandung that is 'Tangkuban Parahu' ('upturned boat' - due to the shape of one of the mountain which surrounds the crater). It's about an hour's journey up the mountain. We went there on the first morning we were in Bandung (we reached Soekarno-Hatta International Airport early evening 12th September and rented a car for the 2-hour journey to Bandung). The top of the mountain was already crawling with people; the number of tourist almost the same as the number of souvenir-sellers...lol. The view was spectacular to say the least (notwithstanding the fact that it's actually a live volcano, last erupted a mere 10 years ago..). Alhamdulillah the weather was clear and sunny, not too warm or cold..with just a whiff of sulfur in the air now and then... To be honest, I would have enjoyed the sights more if we were not harassed too much by the souvenir-sellers...I really felt sorry for them actually for they are trying to make a living after all; but please, do not harass, it's stressful!  Here are some pics of our trip to Bandung and Jakarta:

The group excluding moi..

You have to queue to have your picture taken here..

The still smoking crater - Kawah Ratu or Queen's Crater

The two girls: Kak Lang and Amalina

Adik's Selfie...lol

Hubby and I enjoying the view

I supposed that means we are 1830 meters above sea level...

Also harassed by berries-sellers; made us taste samples which were surprisingly sweet for strawberries. Alhamdulillah we didn't buy any because later we found out that the strawberries had been actually soaked in sugar-water..

This guy is trying to sell me a souvenir (or two)..*sigh*

Hubby surrounded by sellers promoting their wares..they could drive you nuts!

At last one of them succeeded to sell us some fridge magnets (I wanted to give them to my happy circle sisters)

Meet our  ganteng (lol) driver in bandung - Mas Arif

Going down the mountain..

Stopped at a strawberry farm to pick some fruits

Not as large as the ones in Australia obviously..

Dropping by Kartika Sari to buy sweet things..

Adik looking bored...having to carry the basket, too

Look at the selections of brownies...and all reasonably priced..

Ok, lunch-time..at the Belacan Restaurant

Here's our meal..the centre piece is the flying fish dish...

Soon, 2 girls came over and started promoting honey which we bought because we take honey a lot and of course it's pretty cheap

Most of the restaurants that we went to provide places to pray however humble

Jakarta and Bandung are two of the many places that people (especially from Malaysia) come to shop. Some even shop in bulk to re-sell back home. They have factory outlets for branded items too..

The shopping spree started with Factory Outlets

I got lucky here..

Hubby bought me a pair of shoes, yeay

Adik got his shoes here..lol

The multi-level shopping complex in Bandung (Pasar Baru)

Bird-eye-view of Bandung city

Buying snacks..those are tempe, the soy-bean based food Indonesia is famous for

Another restaurant we went to..the food is usually always soupless..

The name of the restaurant

Our driver, Pak Yana who drove us around Bandung on the second day and then to Jakarta

Gimmicks used to request donations at traffic lights junctions..

View captured at the rest area on the Bandung-Jakarta highway - hill slopes carved for paddy-planting

Jakarta here we come!

The kids wanted to have ice-cream at the Magnum Cafe in Jakarta

Where they prepare the ice-cream..

Here you go - one of the concoctions that we ordered

And the other one..

Picture taking..it was a good 7 minutes before I was allowed to even touch them...*sigh*

Here's Adik posing with one of the two ice-cream dishes that were shared between the 5 of us..

Where there's free wi-fi...there's anti-social behavior..

Elderly (apparent by the distance of the eyes from the device) person not excepted..lol

The multi-level shopping complex in Jakarta

Choosing lace..for a wedding? Aha..

The daughter trying out the lacy material...naah..too old-school

Another boring occasion for Adik..thank God for mom's ipad

Got himself a denim shirt at last...after scouring almost the whole floor for the right kind

Life saver...!

This lovely mosque is actually at the rooftop of the Pasar Tanah Abang Shopping Complex

The men's section - they could even have their Friday prayers here

The over-friendly promoter who massaged my oh-so-tired foot (sorry for not buying your product, though)

The little restaurant near our hotel in Jakarta; poster announcing free food for individuals who break fast for their non-obligatory fast on Mondays and Thursdays..MasyaAllah

Time to catch the plane home..always get the Blue Bird taxi for they have meters so you don't get over-charged for your trips..

The famous Jakarta  macet or traffic congestion that lasts until dark (except weekends)

Good bye Jakarta..

Our flight was at about 4 in the morning and this is nearly our time to board..

Time for a last pic before boarding..

Indonesia is definitely a shopping haven and I'd love to go there again!