One day after we arrived in Jakarta from Phuket, we went on a road trip to Bandung, West Java. We were on a roll! Hahaha. Our first destination was the White Crater, a beautiful place located in Ciwidey, outside Bandung.
We left our home at around 7 am and arrived at the crater at almost noon. It was a loooong drive. Nonetheless, the view was breathtaking. It was a bit chilly up there, even the Winnipegers pulled out their jackets. :D
The crater was pale green with strong sulphur smell, they recommend a maximum of 15 minutes at the bottom. Around the crater were serene looking tree barks with little or no leaves. During a certain time of the day, there would usually be fog coming down over the crater but we didn't get to see it.
We spent about an hour at the crater and we moved on to the Rancabali Tea Plantation about 3 km away for some pictures.
Miss Kiki was so excited to be between the tea plants, she ran around by herself. At one point I looked away for a few seconds and when I turned back she was already up on this rock...
From there we drove to Bandung and checked in to our hotel. This time I opted for quick and cheap stay at Ibis Pasteur. Originally Padma Bandung was the option but considering that we would only sleep there without enjoying much of the faciities, it felt like a waste...
Since we had skipped lunch, we went for early dinner at Hummingbird. Good food as usual. We tried the Rendang fries, crispy chicken salad, ham and cheese quesadilla, Chicken Masala, and grilled barramundi.
We were so tired afterwards we headed back to the hotel and retired early.
The next morning, we had breakfast at my favourite breakfast spot in Bandung: Two Hands Full. Their breakfast menu always looks interesting and most I've tried were good. And of course, the coffee was good too.
We didn't have anything planned for the day, so we decided to check out the NuArt Gallery. It was a fun visit! The gallery was divided to indoor and outdoor area.
Miss Kiki collected pine cones and wrapped them in leaves. What a great idea!
On the way out, they had a couple of musicians playing at the entrance. Of course, TM and Miss Kiki had to try a number. :)
I wanted to take them to see the Udjo Angklung show that day, but we still had time. So we went to Rumah Mode for a little bit of shopping.
From there, we went to Saung Angklung Udjo. Angklung is a musical instrument made from bamboo that you play by shaking it. One angklung makes one note. They can be played for pentatonic scale or the more popular heptatonic scale. Traditionally, Javanese songs are played in the pentatonic scale.
I'had been to this venue a few times before and I thought it was nice enough to see again. The tickets you buy were in a form of mini angklung necklace. The host spoke in Indonesian and in English, though not quite fully translating everything.
The show opened with a sample of Wayang Golek, a wooden puppet show.
Then they continued with dancing and music show.
The whole program took about an hour and a half. We even got to try our hands on playing some songs with angklung.
We drove back to Jakarta right after the show ended. It was a great road trip!
