Taiping Trip

Our last trip of 2012 (kinda) was to the Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. We stayed at the Kampung Air where the rooms are built on the lake.. its a quiet place with a nice calming view suitable for honeymooners. However, its comfy enuff if you travel with 1/2 kids in tow.. just be careful to watch them whenever they are on the balcony. there are a lot of activities to do at the resort such as the water park, the orang utan island, the eco park, night trail etc. for us, we skipped the water park. we also skipped the orang utan and the night trail even though weve already paid for the tickets as we do not have enuff time to go there.

one of the activities in Bukit Merah Laketown Resort

I can't remember the name of this animal, but it made a very interesting loud noise. we spent quite some time here watching them..

we lost a lot of moolah to this place

fire show

The focus of our trip was the Taiping Town. To me, Taiping is a picturesque town surrounded by mountains (i think its the titiwangsa range - pardon my poor geographical knowledge) and greeneries. Love the old (i think) huge trees which can be found all over town and the oh so lovely Taiping Lake Garden. Our first destination in Taiping was the Taiping Zoo. They also have the night safari and i would like to try it someday. Love the Zoo - its blended with nature and it looked like it was sitting in a forest. what a nice concept. my last memory of zoo negara was like more than 10 years ago and im not sure how is the zoo like now but the layout here is totally different from the one in KL. if you're travelling with a small kid, i advise you to take the train rather than walking as the are is quite big. and also bring a cap and wear sun block if necessary as it can be hot during the day. the train ride will take around 45 mins to cover the whole area and after that u can explore the zoo on foot, if ur still up to it. 

Our next destination was the Taiping Sentral to have lunch. theres not much here except the usual watsons, chatime and starbucks. we had lunch at Kenny Rogers. after that we headed to the Museum. theres nothing much there and most of the items displayed are replicas.

museum

imaginary slide

During our trip to Taiping, we also went on a food trail based on recommendation made on the net that i managed to google. luckily almost all the famous ones can be found through GPS! among the few that we got to try was the Mee Udang Mak Jah, Kue Tiaw Doli and Cendol Ansari.. 

Actually, we had some kind of a medical emergency during our trip. We were lucky to find the Columbia Hospital thru our GPS. service was quick and professional. Luckily it was not serious. However, it got me to think, what would happen if this were to happen during our trip overseas especially a place where language is a barrier. Im making a mental note to myself to always survey the nearest tourist friendly / english speaking hospital before going on a trip. this is especially important when you are travelling with children.
 

Well, that wraps up our travel in 2012 and our adventure for 2013 is all pretty much lined up! am psyched and keeping my fingers crossed that everything will go smooth in 2013!

Bandung Break

This post is obviously overdue, however, better late then never, kan?? lame, i know. Our trip to Bandung was in September 2012. 

Bandung City from above

touchdown

We stayed at the Amaroosa Hotel Bandung which was quite near to the Heritage F.O. It was kind of a boutique hotel and the deco is very art deco like, which was nice and out of the norm. Overall our stay in this hotel was ok except for the occasional noise from the downstairs (our room is at level 1) and also mosquitos! The hotel provides free airport transfer which which is very convenient. Heritage F.O. is within walking distance, However, pls take note that there is lack of pedestrian walk and lighting to go there which is kinda dangerous. We would prefer to try other hotels next time around.

Amaroosa Hotel

Our trip to Bandung was focused towards shopping, shopping and more shopping! Indeed Bandung is a shopping heaven as everybody said. Pls be aware to go to only those recommended FOs to avoid buying imitations / non original products. I would personally recommend of course the famous Rumah Mode, Heritage, Summit F.O., Toko Anak Kechil for kids wear and Toko Tiga for original levis jeans. There are a few others which might be ok, but we did not get to go to other places. Also, dont forget to go to Pasar Baru for traditional wears and local tidbits. If possible, especially when you are travelling with your kids, dont go to Pasar Baru on a weekend as it is packed with ppl. If u dont have any choice, its better to start early and be there as soon as the place opens at 9.30-10 am (if im not mistaken). Also take care of ur belongings and be aware of pickpockets. No pics of Pasar Baru as i was too tired to take pics as it was fast becoming crowded and hot coming to noon.

Heritage

Heritage outside compound

The famous Rumah Mode

Rumah Mode compound

Toko Anak Kechil

Toko Tiga

The loot

Bandung also have a few shopping malls such as Indah Plaza, Chihampelas, Bandung Supermal and Paris Van Java. We only get to go to Paris Van Java - which i supposed is the most famous one. We went there on a working day, so it was not as crowded during the weekends. There was a carrefour supermarket there and we bought a few local tidbits from carrefour which was quite cheap. 

empty on a working day

The original plan was to also go for some sightseeing to Tangkuban Perahu, but the place was closed at that time due to extraordinary volcanic activity - which was related to sulfur gas or something. I was a bit worried about it at that time, but alhamdulillah, nothing else happened during our stay. There are also a few other attractions that we did not get to go because of time constraints such as the saung angklung udjo and kawah putih. Trip to kawah putih will take one whole day as its quite far. Tip: Kawah putih and Tangkuban Perahu will be packed on weekends. we'll check it out next time we come here :)

One more  thing we liked about Bandung is its easy to find Halal food there and the food suits our palate as well, and its reasonably priced. But, bring some of the trustee old kicap kipas udang for ur lil ones as they hardly serve soup with rice here. Most of the dishes are quite spicy and the gravy often are cooked using coconut milk. One of the most famous drink in Bandung is the Alpukat (made of avocado) but unfortunately it does not suit my palate. im unable to get it down my throat as it is too thick for my liking...

Rumah Makan Sederhana - Nasi Padang

Rumah Makan Sederhana outlet near Rumah Mode

Stone Cafe

Set Nasi Timbel Komplit

Es Durian

Ikan Gurame Bakar.. yummm! - Karamba Sundanese Bistro

Karamba Sundanese Bistro

All in all, we loved the trip to Bandung and we will certainly return one day. Just a few tips here, if you plan to go to Bandung, do avoid going there during the Malaysian school holidays or Indonesian school or public holidays as people will be flocking down to Bandung during that time. Getting out of the airport will take longer time up to 1 hour during this time! And also, its more convenient to travel around with a driver / tour guide especially if ur here with ur family.