Bandung Part 2

At the gracious invitation of Ms. Aida Uy of Cebu Fortune Travel, I joined the fam tour for travel agents to Jakarta and Bandung, co-sponsored by Philippine Airlines. We had as our very nurturing escorts, Marijo Araneta - PAL Senior Account Officer and Marlon Pastrana - Cebu Fortune Travel's Operations Manager.

After an overnight stay at Aston Atrium Hotel, we had a brief city tour which was highlighted by a shopping spree along Jalan Surabaya where lots of house ware items, curio pieces, antique lamps (the Javanese Dutch pulley so popular over here), old carved windows, door panels and what-have-you were abundantly displayed in the flea markets. The frustrated shoppers had to be pulled away to our lovely lunch at the upscale Hotel Mulia Senayan.

A multi-course fine dining awaited us at the soothing back room of the elegant Samudra Shark's Fin Restaurant in the lower level of the hotel. Floor to ceiling glass walls afforded a refreshing view of the garden with its waterfalls, making for a truly delightful noon repast, as savory as it was visually pleasing. Over shark's fin appetizer and a bracing spicy hot soup, some resourceful colleagues managed to wrangle a free night from the hotel executives who dined with us. It was downright generous of our hosts since room nights at the Mulia start from US$230.00 to as high as US$3,500.00! We even had to book for massage treatments in advance - limited to only 6 patrons per hour. So, it was back to Hotel Mulia to luxuriate after our Bandung experience.

Off to Bandung we went in our comfortable bus with our singing guide Mohammed Ali. Situated some 325 meters above sea level, Bandung is the highest area in Indonesia with a mild weather ranging 21 - 25 degrees Celcius. It has a population of about 3 million. If one follows the old mountain route, it would take four hours to reach Bandung, covering 180 km of rough, steep and narrow roads. But the three-month-old Cipularang Highway in Cikampek, Purwakarta District, east of Jakarta, cuts travel time to just two and a half hours, over 130 km. of wide concrete highway. We passed by fecund "sawa" (rice fields) that later became sloping tea plantations as we climbed higher. Mohammed told us that the Dutch colonizers introduced four kinds of tealeaves back in 1728. The most popular are assamica from China and the Arabica. Every 25 years, the farmers must replant, harvesting every three to four years. We noted young teak trees along the way. We learned that it takes 15 to 20 years for teak to be fully-grown and ready to be cut down. Obviously, efforts to replant these beautiful and useful trees are seen throughout the countryside.

"Bandung" means to prevent the water from overflowing from the river. Hence, Bandung is water-rich. A flower city that is fertile, cool and abundant with water. We arrived in this quaint place towards dusk. The sight of our hotel: Arion Swiss-Belhotel lifted our flagging spirits. It looked like a warm Swiss chalet on top of a promontory. At the lobby is a baby grand piano, promising musical evenings at the lobby lounge. The Swiss-Belhotel is a chain throughout the Indonesian archipelago, strategically located in such places as Bali, Borneo, Java and Jakarta. Always, the hotel retains its Swiss coziness and charm wherever it is situated.

Yet, as soon as we deposited our luggage in our respective rooms, off we went to the various factory outlets we spotted on the way through Bandung. We were like kids in a candy factory! The prices of the commodities were amazingly cheap! Brands are well-known: Old Navy, Hugo Boss, Armani, Victoria's Secret, Norton Studio, etc. The only thing was that the stores are scattered around town. One needs a car to get to all those outlets. We were racing against closing time, which was 8 p.m. Everyone was happy with his/her finds.

Mohammed brought us to a local restaurant where we had a "turo-turo" dinner of barbeque meats, seafood and Indonesian "gado-gado." The latter is a local main dish distinguished by its sweetness due to the use of crushed peanuts. We had family style dining where everyone was sharing each other's meal choices.

After the meal, we were so pooped that we had to regretfully decline the kind invitation of the Swiss Belhotel GM Andhy Irawan for a nightcap while enjoying the songs of the lady singer in the lobby lounge. The next morning, we did a Bandung City tour after breakfast and ended at a street of dry goods stores reminiscent of Baclaran Market. The things here were not of equally good quality as the outlets we were in at Jalan Riau the previous night. Yet, my travel companions were loaded with stuff just the same. Here one can find souvenir t-shirts not found in the factory outlets and several stores are on both sides of the street.

We came back to Jakarta, shopped again at the huge Mangga Dua Wholesaler Market before we enjoyed our dinner, hosted by Dusit Mangga Dua. The intricate elegance of Thai décor and architecture never fail to astonish viewers, no matter how one is familiar with them. On the other hand, the beauty of the Thai native dress is as riveting as Thai handiwork. Dinner at Dusit Mangga Dua was a memorable experience. It was here that we met again the big boss of our land arranger: the unassuming Raymond of PT. Millenium Globalindo Holiday, while his director for sales and marketing - the very efficient and accommodating Eddy - was with us throughout the trip.

It was time to check into our rooms in the plush Hotel Mulia Senayan and rush to the spa for our scheduled massage treatment. It was a dream-filled evening, only to be aroused at dawn for our 8:40 am flight to Singapore. We had packed breakfast on the way to the airport, prepared by the hotel, as Mohammed serenaded a couple of our female companions with his operatic rendition of "Vaya Con Dios." To this day, there is still an argument as to who was the real object of his passionate farewell song.

It is true that our schedule was hectic, to say the least, but we must experience first-hand, as knowledgeable travel agents selling the destination to passengers. We realized that the Singapore-Jakarta leg must have a break for a day or two, and then do Bandung for another couple of days, if shopping were the option. Overnight stays in both places make for a very tiring itinerary that depletes the traveler's energy for shopping, or even enjoying the city tours. There was the side trip to the volcano crater (Tangkuban Perahu) near Bandung that we had to cancel because of lack of time.

I suggested cultural tour options to the ruins of Borrubodur or an up-close observation on the making of the shadow puppets or those wooden puppets or an exclusive exhibition on the preparation and execution of the Balinese dance. One can have these uniquely Indonesian experiences, aside from the lures of shopping in the flea markets along Jalan Surabaya (where Jenny vows to come back to complement the carved window she got with a door), Mangga Dua and the factory outlets of Bandung.

Jakarta and Bandung await the adventurous traveler. As usual, the early birds get the fattest finds! Hey, what are you waiting for? Call any of those travel agents NOW!

(Thanks to Ricky Paul Tio of Cebu Holidays for some of the photos used in this series.)