Sensa Hotel

Thou Shall Not Pack Heavy

by yelle

Bring those luggages that can expand. Pack a smaller bag in your luggage. Of course, the smaller bag should also be expandable!

Try bringing a sling bag for shopping purposes. Bandung is a busy city with a lot of people and movement. In the confusion, you might lose your bags if unattended. You can wear your jeans and normal T-shirts. Whilst wearing sports shoes are recommended, it may not be necessary all the time. A pair of Birkenstock can go a long way. If you're on a shopping trip there, skip bringing more than 2 shirts. Pack empty literally!

Skip your jewelleries or anything bling-bling, as you'll lose out when you want to bargain for cheaper prices! (it's already very cheap there, in the first place!) We brought Vitamin Cs to ensure that we dont get tired or sick easily. And of course, toothbrush and paste! You can bring your PDA that enables you to keep track of your spending and to also do the currency conversions on the spot.

Also bring an adapter for charging your phone and camera.

ANGKOT

by ancient_traveler

The primary means of public transportation is by minibus, called angkot (from angkutan=transportation and kota=city). They serve certain routes throughout the city and are operated privately. To find exact angkot routes, information are available through the drivers or at terminals.

This city transport has only origin and destination names on top. Sometimes with via description if there are more than one angkot route for a certain origin-destination route. There is no route description anywhere. For locals, it is somewhat amazing that they only memorize where and how the route of each angkot route.

Although there is an official price for angkot from organda (the local organization of these private city transport), sometimes price is based on how far you travel. It's better that you ask the driver or kernet (driver assistance) about the price to go to a location. To ask for an angkot to stop and pick you up, just raise your hand and they will stop. When you're inside and want to stop, just ask the kernet to stop. Or say 'kiri' (key-reey) or simply 'stop' out loud. It was easy to find a bell that you can press to stop but not anymore. Most angkot fare are ranging from 2000-3000 rupiah (about 25 cents USD) depends on the route and distance.

The official angkot routes: http://www.bandung.go.id/index.php?fa=enliving.angkot&id=17

HEAVEN FOR FOOD LOVER

by ancient_traveler

Bandung is a heaven for food lovers who enjoy new experiences. There are a lot of varieties, not only local cuisine but international ones. You can find any food you want for any kind of taste. That most eateries in Bandung focus on creating new variations.

Nasi Timbel is the famous Sundanese dish. It is a tube-shaped rice that has a distinguish flavour, because it is cooked inside a banana leaf. It is usually served with lalapan (raw vegetables), fried tofu & tempe, fried chicken and chili paste. You can find this type of dish in most of Sundanese restaurants.

Batagor is similar to bakso tahu/siomay but it is fried instead of being steamed. It is served similar with peanut paste and sweet soy sauce. Served also as a snack.
Kingsley Jalan Veteran (Bungsu) no 25 Bandung +62-22-420-7104
Batagor Riri Jalan Burarangrang no 41 Bandung +62-22-730-3349 come.to/batagor

Bakso Tahu / Siomay is a steamed meat with/without tofu. It is served with peanut paste, sweet soy sauce and a lime. It is suitable for a snack, eat at anytime.

Mie Kocok is a noodle soup, served with beef foot, beef skin and tauge or mung bean sprout. If you don't fancy with these parts of beef, then you can ask not to have it and you can still taste its appetite.

Lotek is a mixed boiled vegetables, served with peanut paste and some chillies, similar to gado gado. The hotter the better.
Lotek Kalipah Apo, Jalan Kalipah Apo no 42 Bandung +62-22-420-5983

GEDUNG MERDEKA

by meiyergani

This is a former Asia Africa Conference Building which hold in 1955, located at Asia Africa street, Bandung. Asia Africa conference was took place upon the invitation of Indonesian First President " SOEKARNO", the building was the old building of Club Concordia and built by the Dutch Architect named Van Galenlast and C.O. Wolf Schoemaker

Bandung Factory Outlet Shopping Indonesia

by city_guy

"Bandung Factory Outlet Shopping Paradise"

Factory Outlet Shopping in Bandung is one of the few experiences one should take as right now, it is a local market only with a few Malaysians and Singaporeans heading there. They mostly cater to the people from Jakarta that come there for the weekends to buy up everything. Since AirAsia open the flight route there, many Malaysians have been there solely to shop or try the Sundanese food. There are a few districts for shopping so I will cover one by one here. Well, the most popular ones in Bandung.

If you know the roads in Bandung well, you could make your own way there but I would not advise even trying. Time spent looking for the places would be good shopping time wasted! Anyway, it is quite cheap to hire a van for the entire day shopping the factory outlets in Bandung.

The main attraction there are the Factory Outlets. Locally known as Outlets or FOs, they are spread well around Bandung city. One may think they are like F.O.S in Malaysia, but they are not, trust me. Much better than what we have here. On a lighter note, if you are super bandy and trendy, then you are better off shopping in HK, BKK or Spore and give Bandung a miss.

Dago Factory Outlet area - One of the interesting outlet areas where most of the factory outlets are based in old converted bungalows. There are about 8 to 10 factory outlets there and once reaching there, you can walk from outlet to outlet as most of them are next to each other. Local hawkers would be in front of almost any factory outlet selling drinks and food. You will also see some selling souvenirs or even cheap knock-off t-shirts by the road.

The thing to look out for is the 'brands'. So if you see Versace and LVs on entering the factory outlest, they are most likely (99.9%) fakes put in to spice up the variety in the outlet. So, one would know by looking carefully at the stuff there.

Men - Hugo Boss, Burberry, Versace, Timberland, Nike, Manchester United (MU), Armani, DKNY, Old Navy, Billabong, Quicksilver and many others. However these are all mostly shirts, tees and pants. No shoes or wallets and if you see any, they are mostly local brands.

They have a great selection of cargo pants, shorts and beach wear for the men. But you have to check the items carefully as some of them may have a button missing or a slight tear. Overall, you tend to see more men spending time actually shopping at these factory outlets. Something you seldom see in Kuala Lumpur.

Women - Not that I shop much for women, but by browsing around, I saw quite a number of well known brands like;

Zara, MNG, Esprit, Gap, TopShop, DKNY, Gucci, Armani, Miss Selfridge, Nike, Old Navy, Victoria Secret and the list just goes on. Not all the outlets may have the same things so the tip here is if you see something you like a any of the factory outlets, just get it as it will be such a hassle to go back to look for it thus wasting precious shopping time. Anyhow, the prices are anywhere from Rp.20,000 to Rp.80,000 per top. (That is about RM6.40 to RM25.00) for a top. Also for some skirts and pants. I did see a number of 'hot-pants' too.

For the larger sized men, there are XXXL or Big Size as they are known there. So, if you wander around the factory outlets and cannot find them, just ask one of the assistants where the Big Sized items are. However, there are not much available compared to the common size and do not expect top brands with Big Size.

Meaning, most of the stuff there is excellent for people who are no taller than 5' 10". I am 5' 11" and on trying the L size, it just does not fit. I need an XL but most of the choices there go up to L.

I have more info on Bandung and Factory Outlet Shopping in my blog which can be found at my main page.

~ David

"Almost complete guide of Hotels at Factory Outlets"

As many people tend to be asking where to stay and which hotel is good and cheap near factory outlets, I managed to make a guide with pictures, address, telephone numbers, emails and websites of the popular hotels in Bandung.

Do take a look here for the full guide: http://jrhogan.blogspot.com/2009/08/bandung-factory-outlets-hotel-list.html