Hello ppl,

I am planning to visit Bandung from 19-22Sept, over the raya period. I would just like your prompt feedback on whether is it advisable to visit Bandung during Raya period as most of them celebrate raya, am unsure if those distros/factory outlets are open on 21 and 22 Sept. If not, I won't make the get to witness the shopping haven there during my visit haha. Hope to get some advice. Thanks.

Last time i went 2 days before raya, everything still ok. Just train station a bit crowded.

maybe u should find a better time than raya period i guess... and my advise dont go there during december.. rain all the time!

any good food/restaurant to recommend?

You can always try "Kampung Daun Restaurant" and "D'Cost" - Harga kaki lima, Mutu lima bintang *****

and can try out the mee baso by the road side

This post has been edited by yewwing: Aug 27 2009, 02:05 PM

all situated in town?

one particular shop serves an authentic local dish called 'batagor' .. called Batagor Riri ..

trying authentic cuisine there is fun, but my advise is to spare some diarrhea medicine for your visits .. y'll never know

cool.. i like indonesian food..
cant wait to eat pecel lele there..

It was nice and cozy in Bandung.
For a cheaper rate of public transportation, try Angkot..just like a minivan. But the driver charge more for outsiders than locals, but still cheaper than taxi.
Hotel got few cheaper, moderate and premium. First time in Bandung, just some small motel and charge only RM40.00 per night. No aircond and fan but there are only a ventilation fan. But very clean.
Second time we opt for a moderate Hotel Royal Dago. Good hotel since it is located along the Dago Street which had several FO - Fashion Outlet. Very easy just to stroll along the street and checkout the merchandise.
The biggest FO like Rumah Mode is a must.
Apart from that volcano lake -Tangkuban Prahu and Kawah Putih at Ciwidey. Beautiful scenery.
Food, there are some clean mall like Ciwalk- Baso Malang, Pak Chi Met, Gampoeng Acheh..crab mee-very delicious.

But on weekend Saturday and Sunday, many people from Jakarta came to Bandung. Better spend some days on weekday and went to Jakarta on weekend because the street will not be overcrowded on Saturday and Sunday.

Some hotel near Pasar Baru area : Hotel Cemerlang, Hotel Mutiara, in Dago area you can try royal Dago or Rumah Ebo, in Riau area Fotel Progo is a good choice, or you can try Hotel Grand Serela.

Just came back from Bandung, nice & cheap food, crazy FO shopping.....although quite jam on the weekend but FO like Rumah Mode keeps more stocks during weekend so worth visiting.

juz boarding now..will update soon..
happy merdeka!

Seriously, after my trip to Bandung early this year, I still cannot come to terms on the prices of the items being sold there. Factory outlet after factory outlet, 4 full days was not enough for my group. There were only 5 of us, 4 women and me. We had only covered 50% of the factory outlets there. Not only that, we did not even make it to any sightseeing at all. The 4 full days were just spent on Factory outlets. Talk about shopping crazy, Bandung IS the place. Of course not comparing Hong Kong or Singapore.

I had a ton of friends and even strangers asking me details on Bandung which made me do a blog about it, that way I need not reply with long emails. To my surprise, I started to get Singaporeans emailing me since the Sg-Bandung route opened in April/May. Anyhow, if you have not been to Bandung, I would advise you to go soon before the prices start to increase. When the Malaysians and Singaporeans start to crowd that place, things will start to change.

With this, I share with the Bandung fans a semi long story of my trip. I visited almost all the Factory Outlets and got quite a number of guy/men items there. They even have XXXL sizes called Jumbo or Big Size there. There is even one outlet called ForMen. But guys, just be warned, your wives or girlfriends will go crazy there!!! That I can be sure unless your partner shops in Hong Kong only.

They even have a super mall called Paris Van Java or PVJ. It is similar to our 1Utama/MidValley/Curve but I find it a little better there. So if you're a mall-kaki, this is where you should be headed to.

For food, the famous food there is Sundanese Food, similar to Malay food. But I was introduced by my driver to a super food court called Paskal Food Market which has over 50 different types of stalls there. A clean concept and they have a band performing too. Outdoor area and nice landscaping. This place serves all kinds of Indonesian food, from Sundanese to even Chinese food! Good place to explore. Then again, there are about a million hawker stalls throughout Bandung selling Bakso and the local food if you like to try.

For the women, you cannot go to Bandung and NOT try the layer cakes or Kek Lapis. Famous bakery is called Kartikasari and they are apparently #1 there. There are many other bakeries like Holland Bakery and also Mayasari and all of these are located throughout town.

Finally for places to stay, they have low budget guesthouses right up to 5 star hotels. This is the most popular question most people will be asking, which hotel near factory outlets and cheap. Well, I sort of made a list of all the Popular Hotels and guesthomes even apartments with general information like address, near which outlet, contact number, fax, email and website so it would be easier to go through. I think you would find something or have a better idea. There are also Car/Van/Bus Rental and taxi contacts in this list.

With that said, I hope you have a fantastic time in Bandung as I did. I have already planned my next trip there and this time I need to book at least 5 or 6 days, just so I would not be rushing the holiday.

Regards,
David

Ps. By the way, I am not a company of any sort. I just travel and blog my experiences and bring it to other interested travelers.

This post has been edited by malaysia-asia: Sep 8 2009, 12:59 PM

Anyone here has contacts for a driver + car in bandung? I am looking for someone who has connection with the driver as most of the car rental companies hiked up their fee during the raya period (Damm my mistake for choosing raya period to visit Bandung).

wow...ur blog is very detail! nice working!
but i will like your advise issit better to book the AA ticket then find the hotel myself or just take the whole package incl ticket and hotel? does the hotel accept major credit card?
reaching there, apart from shopping, any other place which can go for visiting? issit necessary to rent a car there? any regulation for driving there?

wat can u actually buy there? can u confirm the genuine items?

yea.. after msia-asia's post, it was so detailed till i cant think of much to add in.. hehehehe..
it's not necessary to rent a car.. u can always book a driver in advance.. easier for u, since not familiar wif their driving "skills"..

This post has been edited by dream.angels: Sep 29 2009, 12:27 PM

this restaurant has a very nice scenery....food is nice too....but be careful when try eat baso at the road site...i got food poisoning after eat baso at one of the baso stall at road site...really spoil my holiday..

but also not familiar with the driver..normally how do you book the driver in advance? thru travel agent?? got any recommendation??

Hey everybody,its still plenty place to visit around bandung instead of shopping....if you go to the east you can visit hot spring like:

www.kampungsampireun.com
www.kampungsumberalam.com
www.danaudariza.com

and etc.

All these place its 1 hour away from bandung towards east....
Near tangkuban perahu there is also hot spring called ciater resort...

If you like play golf there is also golf resort close
www.bgggolfresort.com
the scenery is nice,I like having breakfast there....its so cheap.

The other famous place to visit is:

Situ pattenggang
Kawah Putih
Situ cangkuang
Taman Insinyur haji Juanda.....visit the old cave and you can go hiking to mount tangkuban perahu.


If you like to go eat....

Suis butcher,athmosphere,roemah kebun,the peak dago,warung lela,cihampelas walk...and still many more.

for hire a car,if I am the one who rent,the price usually 350-400 / day thousand rupiah with the driver...and for that price you got 2008 nice toyota car.
price 200-250/day is like suzuki APV type....

If you wnaa really cheap you can take angkot....depends on distance...the nearest you go cost 2000 rupiah.....the problem is you have to know the route....otherwise it will take you miles away.

I am born and live in Bandung....but I thinkbandung still many more than just shopping place....

well if you need help just message me...