Jakarta-Bandung Travel Review

Assalamualaikum readers,

I know that it has been so long I haven’t update my blog due to circumstances that I am busy at work and not much progress happening lately but I did promised to blog on my Jakarta-Bandung shopping trip right? So this entry is just perfect to those who will be planning to go to Indonesia for wedding preparations. 

BUT… before I share my wonderful experience in Jakarta-Bandung..

Would like to say Thank you for the wedding invitation Hazlynda Kushairi <3 Terharu jugak coz its my first ever wedding invitation from Malaysia.. I received your invitation just after I came back. Unfortunately I came to work and saw my leave was not approved soon after I came back from Jakarta. I had plans on going to Kuala Lumpur through Miri and wanting to experience a Malaysian wedding in west Malaysia but the assistant boss rejected my leave =( maybe because I didn’t bring her any lace from Indonesia kot?  *sigh* Anyhow, Hazlynda.. Selamat Pengantin Baru.. May this new journey in your life will bring many blessings from Allah S.W.T and to new beginnings! *hugs* 

Thanks for the Invitation Lynda <3

The Journey

16^th December 2010: Departed Brunei International Airport (BWN) at 2240hrs and safely arrived in Sukarno Hatta International Airport Terimal 2 (CKG) at 2300hrs. Alhamdulillah, two drivers that we arranged earlier on waited for us at the arrival hall and brought us to Ibis Mangga Dua Hotel.

Ibis Hotel Mangga Dua Room

Ibis Mangga Dua Hotel Toilet hehe.. 

Hotel? Well we didn’t expect the road going into the hotel would be some dodgy area filled with hawkers selling bakso, ayam goreng and food. Stalls selling shirts, cd’s and many more. It was a scary experience for someone their first time in Indonesia. The hotel provides us with Free Internet Wireless service. The drawback was the hotel was not carpeted so it gets cold towards the night and the bed isn’t that comfortable, my friend’s fiancé pillow even had moulds! We requested for a new one but never came~ less lighting and cozy in the room.  My overall review would be towards the end alright? =)

17^th December 2010, Friday:

0600hrs: Departed Jakarta for Bandung, stop by the service area for our breakfast at KFC because that’s the only restaurant that opens 24hrs.

0900hrs: Driver brought us to Golden Money Changer an official money changer. VERY GOOD RATES! Bring Singapore dollars for slightly higher rates! They will need your passport for identification and verification purposes. Golden Money Changer building looks like a bank and what’s most important is safe!

1030hrs: Pasar Baru, Bandung

This place is heavenly!

We went to 5^th Floor first to get ourselves Indonesia SIM, purchased the Simpati Telkomsel for less than BND$20! Suites best to those who are always on the GPRS/WAP services slightly slow Internet but at least we can facebook status update, foursquare checking in. Blackberry phone is used widely here so those with blackberry handphones are a bonus! They have this special package, which I’m not sure of.

Okay, I can’t explain the exact feeling when I was at Pasar Baru but I can assure you that in Pasar Baru! LOADS and LOADS of varities to choose from. Say, your looking for the Kebaya Sulam? LOADS! Price wise? From high quality material ranging from $50/each to $20/each. Those nice sulam telekong, praying mat, the telekong that here in Brunei is selling for $100+.. there? Slash of half the price! Dirt cheap I tell you! You can get high quality stuff for the price of what you probably buy in Brunei of a low quality item. Seriously! No words can explain how I felt cheated too. Pasar Baru has like 8 floors full of good stuff!

Kain Sulam at Pasar Baru, Bandung

Telekong <3 Beautiful! 

Looking for lace? Pasar Baru is definitely the place! 2^nd Floor! Whole floor of laces! French laces Ranging from less than BND$15/metre to even BND$200/metre. The lining is dirt cheap compared to what they sell here, would you believe the lining for the lace material is only BND$1.00/metre! You will go crazy looking at varieties of lace to choose from, colors to pick because I did! Well, we all did! The sale assistant will throw to you loads of lace with lining and you’ll go “Mas! Saya mau ini ya! 4 metre!” then another sales assitant throws another set of lace to your friend and you go “Neng! Saya mau itu jugak 4 metre!” it never stopped! We spent almost 6 hours in ONE lace shop ONLY! We even forget that we haven’t had our lunch! Just imagine the excitement~ not remembering to eat till the boss asked us if we had our lunch! The boss was so kind enough to order good food and treat us! Well he should be because we spend like thousands of BND there!

Kebaya Sulam! Pasar Baru, Bandung

Yang mana satu pilihan hati? 

Bought my Telekong for hantaran there for less than BND$20.00 of a very good quality fully embroidered with beautiful flowers! Comes with a bag too! Nice I tell you, very nice! 

1700hrs:  Check in to Swiss Arion Belhotel

Got to LOVE this hotel to bits! 

The staff is extremely friendly, we had a welcoming drink from the hotel.. Even had the traditional music played using the traditional instrument as shown in the picture below.

Welcoming =)

The Toilet

The ROOM? So nice! Comfortable beds! Puffy pillow! The toilet is great everything is great! Breakfast is so good here and so relaxing!  Free internet~  Definitely will stay here again!

Swiss Arion Bellhotel Room <3

1930hrs: Paris Van Java

We all had a lovely dinner at The Taste restaurant for authentic Indonesian meal. I can’t believe that food is cheap there! We ordered and ordered to a point that we had to tell the waitress to cancel our order if it’s not yet cooked because we over dosed ourselves with Soup Buntut, Ikan Bakar and many more! Talk about food heaven! INDONESIA is just the place!

So we didn’t do much shopping in Paris Van Java. I guess it’s just a place for Nongkrong i.e. Hanging out. There are varieties of shop there like MNG, Guess, Sogo and many more but noting wow about it. It’s a beautiful place though. Love the interior design or that building. Loads of restaurants to choose from.. 

Paris Van Java, Bandung

Beautiful Sun Flower at Paris Van Java

18^th December 2010, Saturday:

0930hrs: Rumah Mode, Factory Outlet

Checked out from the hotel and proceed our shopping journey at one of the factory outlet. There’s actually few to choose from but we ask our driver which one are the best and he told us Rumah Mode is usually the place Bruneians go crazy!

Top Factory Outlet stores in Bandung:

• Rumah Mode
• Heritage
• Secret

Been to Bicester village? Portsmouth outlet in UK? Personally this is way better! Well Bicester village is still the best because you can get off season handbags for a reasonable price. Rumah Mode is a place when you want to purchase a burberry jeans for just BND$40, an Armani shirt for BND$20. Stuff like that. We all went excited that we forgot to go to the handbags and shoes section! Bummer!

Rumah mode is NOT the place for your wedding preparations BUT is THE PLACE if you want to go OVER BUDGET!  Or should I say? Melarikan budget! *LOL* we had our lunch there over at Rumah Mode, had my first bakso in Indonesia and So delicious!

Rumah Mode Entrance.. 

Rumah Mode, Factory Outlet

The Entrance to the Food Court at Rumah Mode, Bandung

1430hrs: Journey back to Jakarta. A note to those who is planning to go, it’s always best to avoid traffic jams and on weekends. Because the journey to Bandung on weekends can take up to more than 3 hours even 4 hours! Massive traffic jams! That is why we choose to go back to Jakarta when everyone is going to Bandung for the weekends! Plan smartly *wink*

1930hrs: Plaza Indonesia.

Plaza Indonesia, Jakarta

WEEKEND! Stucked in traffic for more than an hour. Reached to Plaza Indonesia or should I say the BEST area to be in Jakarta at about 8.45pm and shop closes at 9p.m, 9.30p.m and some close at 2.a.m. Had dinner at Fish & Co because that’s the first place we saw when we arrive. Only manage to look around the shops because most of the shops we targeted are already closed. Went to Hard Rock Café after we had desserts at Häagen-Dazs. What’s at Plaza Indonesia? Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Burberry, Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman, Valentino. You name it! They have it! <3  They even have Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo <3 Talk about me having culture shock! I didn’t expect it at all.  At one point I feel that I’m at Bond Street or more like Westfield! Sparkling in my eyes! 

19^th December 2010, Sunday

0900hrs: ITC Mangga Dua & Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua

The driver told us to be early he dropped us of at ITC Mangga Dua. The area is like a 30minutes walk from our hotel Ibis but since we have a driver all to ourselves for the days we’re in Indonesia, it’s best that we utilize it and we felt safer that way.

ITC Mangga Dua, Jakarta

What’s at ITC Mangga Dua & Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua?  Two buildings connected with an aerobridge that you wouldn’t know you’re in the aerobridge because the whole building is filled with good stuff for wedding preparation or business! Wedding Souvenir’s, Invitation cards, Rambut Palsu, those jewelleries from the wedding boutique? All here! Price? CHEAP! Far off than what you can get in Brunei. They even sell ready made beautiful wedding gowns at very cheap prices! Cheap I mean BND$200-$500 for something that is very beautiful, fully beaded and so lawa! Flower girl dresses! EVERYTHING lah!

Something to keep in mind, DON’T bring someone who can’t stand crowd! Because in Mangga Dua, its so crowded! It’s heaven for ladies but hell for men’s! haha The telekong here in Mangga Dua is way better quality too. I sort of regret buying it at Pasar Baru, Bandung but whatever, still happy. But I guess, telekong would be best if purchased at Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua or ITC Mangga Dua. 

1230hrs: Senayan City

Another mall that we LOVE! Bottega Veneta <3 again, malls that is filled with all the brands! We went crazy shopping here also… Came out with shopping bags because most of the designer labels are on sale!! Despite not being able to claim GST still considered cheap because of the 30% off! Then we continued our journey to… 

Senayan City, Jakarta

Senayan City, Jakarta

Grand Indonesia

And again… went crazy! Here is the place if you’re looking for Chanel. Grand Indonesia has two wings. East and West if I’m not mistaken. If you go to Grand Indonesia DO go to the top floor where ALL the restaurants are! Its so beautiful up there! The design is based on the restaurant theme; Japanese cuisine will have bamboo surroundings very Japanese. Then hop into Italian and French there a replica of Moulin rouge and fountain. It’s just lovely! Will definitely go here again. 

Around a line of restaurants at Grand Indonesia

<3 Lovely! Grand Indonesia

Coffee? Grand Indonesia

20^th December 2010, Monday

MOI – Mall of Indonesia

Curiosity kills so we went to check out what’s in MOI. Noting much. Bored, called the driver and brought us back to Plaza Indonesia! Shopped like crazy again because some designers 30% off! You know what I like about designer labels in Indonesia? Their service! Its like in UK <3 Very warm, welcoming, helpful and wonderful, can’t help NOT buying any because they’re so sweet!

Then we went to Plaza Senayan soon after... We’re looking for Miu Miu and the sale assistant from LV plaza Indonesia told us only at Plaza Senayan has Miu Miu, to kill our curiosity we went there from 1730 till 2030hrs. A very nice place, has LV, Valentino, Miu Miu, all the designer labels you can find in Plaza Indonesia.

21^st December 2010, Tuesday

0130hrs – Checked out Ibis Mangga Dua Hotel to Sukarno Hatta International Airport for our flight at 0505hrs to Bandar Seri Begawan *Yawn*

Did not sleep at all so we ordered room service while watching TV~ super tired after last minute packing!!

I would personally recommend if you’re finding a hotel in Jakarta, find hotels that is located near the huge malls. Areas around Grand Indonesia, Plaza Indonesia. The driver recommend us to stay in Escort Hotel if we plan on traveling next time because it’s walking distance and shop closes late. Ibis Mangga Dua hotel is alright provided that your target is just buying souvenirs for wedding, invitations and sorts but Mangga Dua shops opens at 0900hrs and closes at 1830hrs. You will certainly need to go out for dinner so if you were around the grand Indonesia, plaza Indonesia, looking for restaurants to dine in wouldn’t be a problem.

I wish we spent more time in Bandung because I heard there’s more compared to Jakarta, even people from Jakarta goes down to Bandung to shop.

Security issues? Alhamdulillah we didn’t experience any trouble there. It’s safe to say that Indonesia is safe. The people are so kind, warm and welcoming. We love the food, we love the hospitality and Jakarta, Indonesia is now one of our top destinations to go to for shopping. =)

Feel free to contact me if you need any help. Happy to help and share my experience and hope you will too.