Somnia Memorias

Bandung: The Report

May 28th, 2008

It’s a three-generation road trip. Me, my mom and grandma. Too bad I forgot to take some photos

We took the usual route, Tol Cipularang. No traffic jam, maybe because it was Sunday. Speeding up our beloved New Honda Civic was the most tempting option in our mind. So when we reached the 150km/h speed, my mom freaked out and saying things like “OMG! We’re too fast!”. And I was like “Mom! Slow down!”, “Mom! Look out!”, “Mom! We’ll crash that hill over there!” and “Mom! We’re gonna dieeEEEE!!”. Okay. So after the horror of my mom’s inhuman driving skill, somehow we managed to arrive at Bandung safely. It was only 1 hour and 10 minutes!

Our first stop was GKI Taman Cibunut, somewhere around vandeventer (did I spell it right?) to meet Auntie Heli and my cousin, Raymond. And then we went straight to the Hyatt Regency hotel for check-in. Soon after we arrived at the room, my mom, Auntie Heli and my grandma started to talk about stuff me and Raymond didn’t understand. You know, things like “besok mau acara keluarga di mana?” and “eh apa kabar si xxx? trus anaknya sekolah di mana?” or “kapan mo pulang menado?”.

Right after my second yawn, my mom told me to explore Bandung with Raymond. And of course I nodded excitedly.

Raymond: So where do you want to go?

Me: No malls, no factory outlets, no restaurants and not somewhere too far from here. We have to get back to the hotel before 5:00 p.m because the wedding ceremony will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Raymond: Rumah Stroberi is too far.. hmm.. Ciwidey is far too..

Me: So..? Isn’t there any other place to visit?

Raymond: …mmm ….the zoo..?

Me: ……zoo.

Raymond: Yep, the zoo. Kebun Binatang Bandung at Jl. Tamansari, near ITB. Not far from here.

Me: The zoo. The zoo. T h e z o o . . . *mumbling continues repeatedly*

Raymond: Shall we go now?

Right, so my next stop was the zoo. Aw come on, the ZOO?! Whatever.

The zoo was VERY crowded. Apparently, there were many groups from some elementary schools visiting the zoo. We saw many animals there, standard animals actually, like elephant, lion, tiger, birds, primates, etc. But I feel sad for the animals. They looked way too skinny. It seemed like they weren’t feed properly. I wonder if there’s a way to help them, at least to help the zoo owner to maintain their zoo even better than this. Some donations may help.. maybe. I think the donation should be in the form of animal foods, not money. What if the money is used for something else? Nobody can guarantee it. What if I joined WWF? Will it help?

And so, after we finished exploring the not-so-bad zoo (actually it’s awesome!) it was finally time to go back to the hotel and get ready for the wedding ceremony.

The wedding ceremony was held at Landmark Building Jl. Braga. The wedding was good and the food were great, but the thing that bothered me most.. there was a business card giveaway RIGHT after we finished the shake hands ritual with the bride and groom! I think it was quite.. unethical. Or maybe it’s just me.

After the wedding, we went to Paris van Java and watched Indiana Jones: Kingdom of Crystal Skull at Blitz Megaplex. Great movie! I would like to write a review about this movie. It was the first time I visited Paris van Java, they got a unique open-air concept, but what if the rain suddenly came down? Maybe we should run to the basement level?

And finally my first day in Bandung has ended.

The last day was.. quite boring. We went to Amanda Brownies Kukus, batagor Kingsley and some cake shops.

I hope I can visit and explore Bandung again.. 2D1N wasn’t enough : (

Entry Filed under: Daily