Grand Aquila Bandung

... different at the mall. Like everywhere . . . same stores . . . so I return to the hotel to check out and it is around 11:30. When I return I am told that the bus company has called. I really don't quite understand what is happening as they say that if I was leaving earlier the bus would be me up at the hotel but because I am leaving at 1pm I have to go to their office!!!! The hotel tells me they will drive me to the office and I ...

... don't need the tourist office to do that, I can just get a taxi myself!!! Being that the mosque is just beside I decide to visit it. It is quite impressive in size and has some nice stain glass. Quite interesting to see the life and day to day activity going on just under the arches of the mosque.

I dropped in at My Moritz Hotel to check out what tours they are ...

... not quite in the same condition as the one in Ciberon but it is the best I could find at that price. Others that I checked out were in the 800,000 range or same price with no wifi. After checking in and getting my luggage at the other hotel it is close to 6 pm so I decide to have diner at the hotel and go back to the room and plan my stay at Bandung.

Learned about the earthquake on Sumatra via email from the US. We didn't feel a thing and the locals don't complain to their guests, I guess.

We;re off to Bandung today. Very slow day, waiting for our ride. The route takes us thru Puncak Pass, a resort area for the locals. Its elevation makes it refreshing, but the traffic is a horror. On weekends it is so bad that commercial transport, like our mini bus, has to bypas it and take a long way around.

... an 8hr journey I arrived in Yogyakarta at 4am. I went to the backpacker area and after searching for 25 minutes crashed at one of the hostels, a bit expensive, 70000 rupiah (still under a fiver though). My time in Cianjur was enjoyable, the people were so nice and welcoming, however I wished I cuold have visited the school more and my perception of volunteering was altered as we basically chatted with students for a few hours for those 2 days. but I suppose I did volunteer to do ...

... the front seat- clearly making up words and the rest of the passengers were laughing. Then he started to unzip his pants while he was driving. I looked away and out the window for a few minutes--no matter, he still was singing to me. Passengers were laughing, and I knew I was the butt of the joke. Enjoy the pic. When we got to Ciater, I handed him 3000 rupiah. He says "No, harga 30,000". "No, you said ...

... tidur sebentar, tubuhku memberi isyarat meminta disuap nikotin. Aku bangun dah berjalan ke arah koc buffet. Pelayan-pelayan tren sedang berehat di kabin-kabin tempat duduk kosong di sebelah koc itu. Mereka tersenyum bila aku lalu. Aku senyum balik. Aku memesan kopi o dan mengambil tempat duduk di bar sebelah tingkap kanan. Sampai di stesen keretapi Bandung, [work in progess]

... jams were still there, and the poverty and pollution were still evident, but it just didn't feel as bad. I'm not sure if it is the Dutch colonial buildings or the lush green surroundings, but somehow Bandung has managed to keep an old world charm that is able to put all your troubles on hold. I think this is why the locals have dubbed it the Paris of Indonesia. Our tour guide for the weekend was a work friend of mine who grew up here, and still manages to get back ...

... the kid on the bottom. Beds are musty mattresses, no sheets, and no pillows, just folded up blankets for pillows. No screens either...mosquitoes for sure. So, after our tour of these buildings, we returned to see that the kids hadn't begun eating yet. When we offered for them to start they shyly lined up to get their food, youngest first. For food, we had rice, potatoes, beef roast, fried chicken, soup, some veggies and bottled water. It was all quite ...

Our day started trying to catch a train to Bogor - we were enthusiastically informed that they leave every 15 minutes! Just over an hour later we jumped on the most crammed train you have ever seen!! Highly amusing...people hanging out of doors, windows, hanging from the sides and the roof and people on board selling everything possible! There was even a little girl carrying along a karaoke machine singing with the most out-of-tune voice ever! I spent the whole journey ...