Working in Bandung Part 1

Earlier this month I had an assignment in Bandung, West Java for about two weeks. It's a long time to be away from Miss Kiki especially because she had just started Grade 1 the week prior. But work is work, and Bandung is a nice place to visit. So off I went...

I wanted to have more freedom to get around in Bandung so I decided to drive there. The other girls in my team went with me. First, we stopped at Starbucks just outside Jakarta on the toll road.

The drive to Bandung was quite smooth, and as soon as we entered we were greeted by Bandung traffic jam.

But no worries...., friends make everything better :)

We had rooms booked at ibis Pasteur, very close to the toll exit/entrance. It was a good location, I think. And it was within walking distance to our work. Unfortunately, the rooms weren't ready yet when we checked in. We decided to start our culinary tourism straight away.

First stop is Batagor Kingsley. Batagor is short for Bakso Tahu Goreng or Fried Meatball Tofu served with peanut sauce. Many people claimed Batagor Kingsley is the best Batagor in Bandung, up to par with Batagor Riri.

That was our pre-evening snack. Then we moved on to The Secret Factory Outlet. I would say sometimes they are better than Rumah Mode Factory Outlet.

We had dinner at Hummingbird, and the food was good. Careful though, check your bill because they overcharged us that time. And here is the room at Ibis Pasteur...

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. It was okay, though I feel like they are missing an egg station. We were lucky enough that our client picked us up from the hotel every morning, and it took us about 5 minutes to get to work every morning :)

Skipping the work part in this post, we jumped ahead to dinner time! Toko You was recommended by one of my friend so we decided to check it out. Their famous dish was Nasi Bakar Rawon and it was good! We also tried the Yamien (noodle), Bakso Goreng, and chicken with broccoli and butter sauce. The restaurant itself was not too easy to find as we did not see any signage at all! I found it simply by address and pictures from Foursquare. It is located across from the Treehouse cafe.

Bakso Goreng

Chicken and Broccoli with Butter Sauce

Still full of energy after dinner, we proceeded to more shopping at Rumah Mode :). The store had expanded so much since I was there last, it was quite nice.

The following morning, we repeated breakfast at the hotel...

And the trip to work...

And this is us at work!

We got our hands on these yummy snacks from Kartika Sari at one point, though I don't remember when...

Sale Pisang dan Usus Ayam

They got devoured in less than 2 days...

That evening we visited Yogurt Cisangkuy. They are famous for their yogurt with many different flavours. The ones we tried was pretty good, though I am not so sure how much sugar or colouring they put in the mix. They were sweet and bright... :D

Still in shopping mode, we visited The Summit, Heritage, and Cascade Factory outlet...

Then we proceeded for dinner at Dakken Coffee and Steak. It was located behind the Cascade. The three of us ordered one dish each. I opted for their tenderloin as recommended by the server, but my steak was waaay overcooked (well done instead of medium rare) and of course, tough. The good thing was, they redeemed themselves by replacing my steak with a properly cooked one. Still, they did not have any non-smoking section so I still wouldn't go back.

After work the following day, we decided to check out the famous Braga Permai. It was located on Jalan Braga near the Asian African Conference Museum. We had ice cream, coffee, and shared a pizza. This was our pre-evening snack afterall ;) The Cafe/Bakery brings back nostalgia, with white ceramic plates, free flow water, napkins, table cloth, complimentary breadsticks, and retro decor. Typical for old-time restaurants...

To fill our time before dinner, we decided to check out the Braga Citiwalk across the street. There we saw Mitra Sehat, a massage parlour we often saw in Jakarta in the large malls. So we decided to try it out. Later on, we weren't quite sure if it was actually a 'clean' massage parlour or not, as the masseuses wore super mini skirts and tight white shirts. Lets just say we made sure we showered extra clean that night.

For dinner we tried Hartwood Bar and Grill. It was okay, not bad but not overly good either...

At our work place near our room there is a beautiful orchid concoction we admire every day. Finally we got to take a picture with and of it.

For dinner that evening we went to Paskal Food Market in the Paskal Hypersquare area. It is an open air food court with a wide variety of vendors. My favourites there were the Bola Ubi Gardujati and Grilled Corn. Bandung is at a higher altitude compared to Jakarta thus their cooler air. It was very pleasant to be outdoors at night in Bandung.

On Friday, one of our team members had to go back to Jakarta right after work. The two of us left behind went for some porky dishes at Puri Bambu. The place is nice, the food was okay. It was not as good as it sounded...