Our recent trip to Bandung was timely in a sense that right after the trip, BBC began to show a travel series on Bandung. According to BBC, Bandung was once, Paris of the East. I did not watch the series but Bandung and Paris are fashionable cities, I regard.
Our brief flight was a smooth one with half of a full load. Budget airlines connect city to city and this privilege was not in existent until Air Asia came to life. Bandung may not be a travel destination to most but many will go there for a good shopping spree. Bandung, around 2 hours by car from Jakarta has been an escape to the city dwellers who would want to seek a cooler air, great food and not to mention, Bandung's famous factory outlets.
Thanks to a dear friend, we managed to go to the right factory outlets without wasting our precious 3-day-2-night stay, searching among the tens of outlets in Dago area namely, Jalan Riau and Jalan Setibudi. Rumah Mode, Summit, Uptown and Secret are a few that worth going.
We also went to the famous but isolated The Peak restaurant, reputed to be the gem ala fine dining owned by the Jacob's Creek group. The atmosphere was great, romantic with a dose of exclusivity but the food did not match the standard that we were looking for. But I was happy enough to be able to try the local red and white wines from Bali. The white wine was a balance wine with refreshing and crisp acidity, perfect to match the appertisers that we ordered but when it came to my red with my lamb shank, the red was a little clumsy and the nose was a bit gamey to my liking.
Upon her recommendation, we also stayed at Hilton and visited the spa which was unfortunately, fully booked on our first night there. Our wait for the spa on the next day, had indeed paid off when we finally got a great rub after a full day of outlet shopping, eating in Kartika Sari with doses of Soto, Brownie Kukus, Pisang Bolen and driving through the Beverly Hills of Bandung.
To us, Bandung is a great getaway to enjoy luxury hotel stay and spa with a price tag that many could afford. Our best dinner meal was indeed at Hilton's Fresco Italian restaurant overlooking the hotel's pool. We recommend, no where else but Hilton for a full pampering stay and it would be nice if this can be recurring...
