It was a nice morning to sweat it out in the hotel's gym but the pain from my swollen finger (thanks to the hornet sting) made it impossible for me to do any weights! I languished in bed for almost an hour before joining my family for breakfast.
As expected, we took our time to enjoy the sumptuous spread and by the time we officially stepped out of Best Western Premier La Grande hotel, it was already 9am!
Day four was a Sunday and we heard from Mr Askan and even from the hotel staff that it's car free day in Bandung with a few roads closed just for pedestrians to walk without danger! You can even roll on the road if you want. The hotel staff mentioned a few roads that would be closed and from the map, the one known as Jl Asia Afrika would be the most direct for us since it's a straight road going south from outside the hotel.
One good thing about walking was that there were ample photo opportunities with the mobile street vendors!
Another advantage was we can take it slowly to catch sights not commonly seen in our home country; for example, working at height without any safety harness! In Singapore, this seemingly lack of safety for workers would have been reported to the Ministry of Manpower.
Would you dare to buy from mobile food carts? There were many we chanced upon and i didn't dare to try in case it were to result in an upset tummy. Things would have been different if i am with the Great Kon; he WILL buy and if it's delicious, he WILL INSIST to share.
Majelis Jemaat GPIB Bethel Bandung - a Christian church.
With gantries pulled down to prevent any one / vehicle to cross, this was one scene that young Singaporeans would never get to see at home since year 2011.
Traffic came to a total standstill while everyone waited for a lumbering giant to have its right of way. Pedestrians can dash across if they want to but i am unsure if there would be any fine for making this move.
The racket the locomotive generated would piss off those living near the railway track although for a Singaporean, it's a piece of colonial industrial music that the younger generation would never get to hear for real unless they travel overseas.
Put it this way, we don't even have stretches of railway tracks that we can trek along unless the electric MRT train breaks down in between stations and commuters are required to disembark and walk back to the nearest train station.
A smaller and shorter dilapidated centre point that's a total opposite to the recently expanded one we have in the little red dot.
Jl Braga - a famous street known for art deco buildings and said to be reason Bandung was nicknamed as the paris of java! Even though i was excited enough to slow down my pace, the ladies in my group was adamant to reach the car-free Jl Asia Afrika!
A few buildings for your viewing pleasure; nothing quite interesting in my opinion although i was quite impressed by the display of patriotism!
There was a Starbucks store and i strolled in as a friend is a Starbucks card collector; p.s. i don't quite get the fascination but since i am there, might as well check if my friend needs any.
Continuing my journey after cooling myself in the air-conditioned Starbucks. The humidity in Bandung was definitely much more manageable compared to Singapore; however, walking for long distance can still work out a sweat!
Caught a group of young school children going down a side lane and i was so tempted to follow! Would have done so if i am with Alex though; not with the irritable ladies who were started to complain about the walk.
As we reached towards the end of Jl Braga, i did notice a massive display of art paintings on both sides of the street! They should be for sale as some had put up a sign for no-photography.
Bandros Bistro - one of the more interesting shop facades that's designed to be the side view of a bus!
Bakso can be found anywhere and everywhere in the city; unfortunately, i didn't have a liking for the soupy dish even though i have to admit i am not exactly a soup person.
From the map, we were just one street away from Jl Asia Afrika!
Please a take a selfie here - an attention seeking tagline that arouses curiosity! And who is this Darso the legend? According to google, he seemed to be a singer who passed away in 2011.
Finally - Jl Asia Afrika!
Museum of the Asian Africa Conference - i was wondering why would anyone name a museum after a conference?! Turned out it was a super important event back in 1955 and if you are interested to find out more, click here.
A group having a go at the mannequin challenge!
Gedung Merdeka - a heritage building designed in 1926 that currently housed "a museum displaying collections and photographs of the Asian–African Conference". Yes, the conference again! Its importance can be also felt when the entire road was renamed Asia Afrika.
Cosplayers of the horror realm; my favourite was the demon nun from the Insidious film series! To have a look, check out the posting here.
For more child-friendly characters, get your kids to hug Olaf and take photographs with the transformers instead.
There was in fact nothing much that caught the fancy of my female travellers; their intent was on shopping and their eyes lighted up only when they saw lines of gazebo tents right ahead!
Okay, i can see the disappointment on their faces and it didn't help that the sun was out in full force. The ladies in my family love air-conditioned malls and heat makes them irritated.
I was all ready to hail a cab to our next destination when i saw the above; a canvas of a Japanese character dragging a long knife with blood on the tip!
Thinking it might be a haunted house, i was looking around for a ticket seller and couldn't find any. I secretly stepped in to find an empty shell! Guess it's more a stage for storytelling. Sad.
Lucky to hop onto a blue bird cab to an air-conditioned mall said to be the biggest in Bandung and the starting fare was only 8,500 rupiah!
A metallic t-rex appeared out of nowhere! As i age, i realise my sense of navigation is getting to be really bad! In the past, i was able to pull out the map and roughly make out the route that the car was travelling...
A common sight in Indonesia - peddlers on the road when cars and motorcycles stopped at traffic lights or were stuck in traffic jams. I didn't face much jams in Bandung although i have heard of legendary ones at the capital that's only about a few hours' drive away.
Arrived at Paris van Java! To read my review on the shopping centre, click here. My executive summary is that i would prefer to spend my time on outlet shopping!
Traffic at Paris van Java was terrible and it's hard to find a cab! I actually use the grab / uber app for private hire service but i had two cancellations as the drivers couldn't even get onto this road!
We didn't go back to the hotel. Instead, we proceeded to the nearby Rumah Mode; said to the mother of factory outlet shopping in Bandung! I had a really satisfying loot when i was done. :)
Took another cab and this back to the hotel as we needed to unload the purchases! This time, the journey cost us close to S$7 although there was a traffic jam and a slight drizzle.
Time for dinner and the choice was Rumah Sate (which means Satay House)! Sadly, the entire place was enveloped in cigarette smoke and stench and this was a no-no for my family members. I am devastated as the satay that were grilled outside smelt heavenly!
Nevertheless, we absolutely didn't regret our second choice; the roadside stalls near our hotel. Hygiene condition may not be optimal but the food was amazing and the pricing was cheap in comparison to what we were charged for back in Singapore! For review, check out the post here.
My younger sister and mum had a massage appointment, leaving Joyce and i to make our own plans! And you want to guess what we did? We decided to walk from the hotel to a famous local snack store that's about 1.4 kilometers away!
This stretch actually had quite a few factory outlets and improvement work was ongoing for a wider pedestrian walkway. It's a good move yet i think it would be safer to barricade areas or at least have a warning sign to caution pedestrians against the hole along the pavement.
For Men factory outlet - i couldn't resist and step in for a while to buy more clothes! I was in luck too as Joyce had a better fashion eye and i didn't have to share her with my mum and Louise.
The rare traffic light with pedestrian crossing! Most people jaywalk anyway so i can understand why there are so few pedestrian crossing with the green and red man.
Got to Kartikasari in one piece despite the lack of street lights illuminating the road we were on!
Our purpose wasn't to buy anything as it's merely to ascertain if the distance would be okay for my mom to walk the next day. And since Joyce and i would be going back again on foot, there's no way i would want extra burden!
Why didn't we opt for a cab on our way back? For a simple reason that both Joyce and i are misers and it's always good to burn off the fattening food we eat with a walk.
The iconic Holland bakery!
Since the night was still early, we popped in to see what's available; well, a bakery shall be a bakery and given we have so many reputable bakeries in Singapore, i didn't see much difference in their offerings except for one.
Bika Ambon and i knew i had to grab a slice at 4,500 rupiah! It wasn't as good as the one i had at Batam Island even though it did help to satisfy some of my craving for the cake our family known as bee hive!
Joyce is a shopaholic and since she doesn't sleep much, we went back to the hypermarket at Bandung Indah Plaza; yes, the shopping centre opposite Best Western hotel!
Have i ever mentioned that i can spend hours in a supermarket and i especially love to visit the hypermarkets when i am overseas; there's so much to see although i wouldn't venture into the stationery section.
As Joyce appeared to have more on her shopping list while i am more or less done with the sleeping bug slowly gnawing on me, we arranged to meet at JCo Donuts where i got a hot chocolate at 29,000 Rupiah! It came with a original glazed donut which i returned as i didn't want to fill my tummy with such sinful stuff before bedtime!
Joyce left me there for more than an hour and i was actually getting worried! My phone calls to her were unanswered and i was about to search for her when she slowly, i repeat, slowly, strolled towards me! Anyway, just a random photo of a bin tied to the railing at the overhead bridge.
Before i end this post, a picture on my injured finger a day after the hornet attacked me without any provocation at Kawah Rengganis; red and swollen!
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Posts linked to Day Four
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