Eat. Shop. Massage! - Heavenly Bandung Day 1

Okay, i must apologies to Jess for the late entry of this blog.

Before i came back to KL, Jess and i had planned a trip to Bandung with only one purpose, which is to shop till we drop! I went there 2 years ago and came back very broke but with a very satisfied shopping spree. After hearing me recommending it to Jess for the 1 million time, Jess decided that it was time for her to visit Bandung and judge for herself. And thus we went.

It was a 4d3n trip because the last time i went for a 3d2n trip, it was not enough. Well i did have enough shopping, in fact i was sort of burnt out by shopping at the end of the 2nd night but i wished for more time in pampering myself with massages. So this time, i insisted a longer holiday.

We reached Bandung after a 2 hours flight from KL. It was a free and easy trip and nothing was arranged besides the hotel booking. So once we landed, we just hopped into a local airport taxi and headed to our hotel. This time we chose to stay at the Grand Serela Hotel which was recommended by some bloggers who had visited the place. The hotel was said to be situated amongst factory outlets within walking distance. Oh ya, why Bandung? Because Bandung is famous to be the one place where factories of branded goods are abundance and hence clothing are really cheap. One thing though is that these clothing are either out-seasoned or with a little of imperfection in them. But girls being girls, when it comes to shopping, we can always overlook these little details as long as they are cheap!!

The other thing about Bandung is that it is also a food paradise. Almost every stalls or restaurants we went to, the food was delicious! It is so ironic because in KL, it is so difficult to find a restaurant that offers good food. Here, however, it was the other way round. It was like "impossible" to even find a single stall or restaurant with inedible food. Being the typical tourist, of course we had to have at least a meal in the hotel and for us, it was lunch before we began our shopping spree.

And after lunch, sure enough, we began our shopping spree. It was rainy season in Bandung when we went but that didnt stop us at all. All we did was to buy an umbrella each and continued our shopping spree. Now there are about 10 to 15 factory outlets around the hotel and each outlet offers different surprises with any brands that one could imagine.

By the time we felt that we had enough of shopping for the day, we were dead tired from all the walking. Since it was the first day and having me constantly telling Jess to hold on to her money until we start our shopping spree to its full gear on the next day, we didnt really shop that much. 

The last time when i was there, my friend and i would just stop and eat wherever we stopped at. This time, Jess took the time to google the best food we must try in Bandung. Thank god because it was worth all the walking, the sweat, the rain and the grumbling. hahah.

The fist restaurant to strike off from the list was Sambara. We were at a factory outlet and we asked about the exact location of the restaurant and we were told that it was very near from where we were. According to the sales girl, it was so close that all we had to do was to walk out from the outlet, walk straight till the end of the road and take a right turn and viola! So we went.

And we were so wrong!!! 30 minutes after walking down the street that she mentioned, we didnt see any right turn at all. And we asked a by-passer who told us "Oh well, it's really not very far but not near too. Maybe another 15 minutes walk?" What?????!!! So should we stop? Of course we had to continue because we had already walked 30 minutes! So we walked for another 15 minutes and still no sign of any right turn. And we asked another by-passer again and he said "well, maybe another 1 to 2km walk." I wanted to faint! By that time, my feet was hurting so badly! So after a lot of grumbling and cursing, finally we were there! The food better be worth it!

Sambara is a buffet style like restaurant where one will just pick out the ingredients he likes and tell the chef how he likes it to be cook. Since my Malay is not even half full, i left the honor to order to Jess. Honestly, i was just death tired and i didnt care what i eat. I just wanted to eat and go back to the hotel where i can drop dead!

And the food arrived. I must say Jess did a really good job in ordering. Or perhaps any food is just as good because they tasted heavenly! One thing though one should never "judge a book by its cover" here because the food did look very normal and plain, but once tasted one will just went awe!

Fried crispy chicken and calamari that could only be found in Bandung. They looked really dried but in fact they were juicy inside and tasted fantastic!

Plain looking mushroom but it was cleared fried with a lot of flavoring and a touch of chilies. Very very yummy!

Salted and slightly bbq lamb.

After the sumptuous meal, both Jess and i were tired and just wanted to go back to the hotel to rest. The bill was pretty decent as well. It was about Rm30 and the service was excellent. The restaurant even requested a cab for us and tucked us into the cab with warm smiles when we left.

Stay tuned for day 2 where the real shopping began! Tat folks, these pictures are actually making me hungry so am gonna be off for dinner!

House of Loves!

Yep, finally i am back in action to my blogging world. Well had been really really lazy for the past weeks and although i have things that i wanted to blog, there was not enough inspirations or motivations in me. Hahah, anyways i was just plain lazy.

Last saturday, the church where my mum goes to every weekend had a jumble sales. She had been busy with this event for a couple of weeks now asking for people to donate anything that are no longer useful to them, just anything...clothes, shoes, books, magazines, electronic stuff...... Then she was busy going around to hand out flyers regarding the jumbo sales. Poor mum had to walk up stories of the apartments near the church in order to hand out the flyers.

She had also told us so many times to make sure that we will be there to support her mentally but most importantly, to help her buy some stuff secretly. Now the church "forbids" their members to buy anything from the jumbo sales because the intention was to sell those cheap things to the public that need them more.

However, the church also managed to get factories to donate soya sauce, herbs soup packets and etc that are really good and selling them at a really cheap price. Being a cook in the kitchen sometimes, my mum could not pass this golden opportunity to buy all those ingredients she will be needing in the kitchen. Hence i became the important person under this circumstance. I was asked to go there, pretend to be interested in the jumbo sales, but instead is a spy in disguised and my main job will be buying what my mum needs. And so i went.

So after my job was done and safely placed in the car, i went venturing the sales to satisfy my curiosity. The first floor was where the "real" sales was. There were just everything you could think of. Clothing for women, men and kids, shoes, magazines, books, toys, electronic stuff and even kitchen utensils. While my mum was busy showing her friends the clothes that she thought was a must-buy, i went around snapping photos just for fun.

My mum's friend brought along her grandson and was too tied up by him that she had no time to look into the clothes. So in order to divert his attention, my mum decided to bring him tour the toys section which his grandmother had been avoiding ever since they arrived. So i saw them walking into the room, and within 30 seconds they were out!

And he was happily holding a box of new toy he found. Boy, isnt that fast!? And you think the kid will stay quietly and wait for his grandmother to finish shopping?? Nay! Wrong! He grew even more impatient and wanted to go home asap so he could play with his new toys! So strategy diverting-kid's-attention-with-new-toy failed miserably! hahaha

While i was walking around snapping pictures, i saw these and they sure do look familiar! I totally forgotten i have given them to the church some time ago. The old home to my fishes and hamsters! hahah... well too bad i heard that they were left untouched and unsold at the end of the day. I guessed they have priced them too high.

Of course, how could i not take photos of the sisters and brothers of the church who have enriched my mum with a plenty of laughters and made her life more colorful and joyous right?

As for me, at the end of the day, besides being the personal shopper and photographer to my mum, i didnt get myself anything. However, just before i decided to leave, i came across a cute white kitty and fell in love with her. So i decided to adopt her placed her with my mum because she adores the kitty too. And in return, the kitty decided that she will guard mu mum's room while she is away during the day....

Haha i am just kidding! Miss Cofi Chen would have bully the kitty and turn the house into a mess if that was true. All i bought was a kitty door-stopper.

But hey, it sure does look like a kitty is waiting by the door aint it?

A Potential "Bankrupt-Me" Holiday!

Yep, in about 12 hours i will be on my way to Bandung where tonnes of factory outlets will be waiting for me!

Yep, i am so excited!

Yep, i am so worried for my purse and credit card too!

Yep, that's all for now! hhah

"Exorcism"!

One of my friend needed us to attend one of her prayer session in her house this morning. While the reason of the prayer is to move the altar from the porch into the house, the "main" reason was something else.

There are 2 beds in her room currently. One that she is sleeping in while the other one has been empty for a long time. We used to gather in her house and had sleepovers while we were in our secondary school. Her house used to be the IT place for us girls to have a girls' night out, or just simply a place to hang out, have barbeque or even steamboats. Whenever we were there, we will occupied her room and slept in that empty bed and have long nights talks.

A few days ago. she called and asked us if we would like to join her for the prayer session. Since she was in the subway while asking me, she did not tell me the main reason of the prayer session. The next day she called up again but this time telling me the main reason for it.

Apparently since the bed has been emptied for such a long time, there is currently a spirit occupying that place! Gulp! One fine day, one of her mother's friend who has the ability to see spirit, went over to her house for a singing session and saw that. Hence she told my friend to better have a prayer session to request the spirit to leave the place. After she knew about the spirit, she even had dream of her too! In her dream, the spirit was a she and dressed in red. Scary!!!

And in order to change the yin qi which is surrounding the place, the "guru" had actually requested her to ask close friends of hers to go to the prayer so to gather strong qi for her. Plus, she also has to gather some male friends in order to strengthen the yang qi in the house too.

So this morning at 9, we gathered at her house and all seated obediently while the guru performed the "exorcism". Before he stared, he told us carefully not to venture outside the "circle" or it might be dangerous. I was nervous! I mean i have never been into any exorcism ever (touch wood for that)! And during the prayer, we were told to have only positive thinking, follow the chanting if we can, and do not think of anything else, especially never to utter any words about the spirit. So we followed obediently.

I didnt even dare to take any photos. I am a free thinker. Although i believe that one should not be afraid if one has never done anything bad but hey, i really do not want to have any real encounter with any spirit! I am not too sure if there are really any spirit and i do not want to prove that neither.

However, during the whole prayer, it came to me that the only proven thing for the day is how strong the loves were. Both her parents were very worried and they were all busy preparing and running around the house making sure that the whole prayer will performed smoothly. Her siblings did help out too and since it was difficult to gather friends in such a short notice, her siblings also asked for help from their friends. Even the parents' friends and relatives were there too. All these could only prove that nothing is more important and greater than love itself. It is during "critical" time like this that love will be the strongest tie ever, and love will be the best solution to any problem.

And the morale of the day is, love conquers everything. I am sure she will turn into a new leaf after today because she is now blessed by all her loved ones.

Je Ne Parle Pas Français, Je N'écris Pas Français

I have been lazy in updating my blog these few days.

There is one update which i should be doing. That is the one on a concert that i watched together with my dear Jess last Saturday. I managed to take a lot of really nice photos and even videos but boy, am i lazy. The idea of transferring all those files simply made me lazier. Well.... let's cross fingers that i will do it within this week.

Anyways on a quick note.

I have been going to my hardcore French Class for the 3rd day today. It is fun and definitely i managed to pick up more French words than me trying to learn it alone. The only thing that is bugging me is it is in the morning at 930am! Worst the venue is at Ampang! Sigh...

Will update more. As for now, je ne parle pas Français et je ne pas comprenez Franchaise.... hehe!

p/s:
Still the HUGE mystery that could never solve about French is why something is feminine or masculine. Even the teacher could not answer us! Duh!

Scarily Smart!

When i was really young, i was busy playing with soft toys only. Then i ventured into barbie dolls and choo-choo trains. As i grew older and was allowed to go out and play, it was sand, water, leaves while imagining i was cooking, bottle caps and ice-cream sticks with my cousins and sometimes even a blanket under the stairways imagining i was camping.

For many, those were our childhood.

I was having dinner yesterday with my baby sister. She is not a year and a half and is the most adorable baby ever. You want to know what she plays for her childhood? Not just any simple dolls or soft toys but...

...an ipad!!

Initially i thought she was just looking at the screen. But hey, little did i know babies today are just way smarter than we were. I mean i definitely will not even know what a computer is until i was 7 years old. The most high-tech-savvy-gadget i ever came across when i was her age must be only the TV! Yet now there she is, playing with an Ipad.

How smart are babies nowadays? Well my baby sister actually knew how to click into applications and looked for what interest her. She loaded the photos, click on the album she likes and looked through her pictures. All the time she was even flicking the screen left and right so she could go to the next photo. Plus, she even knew how to zoom in and out! Amazing isnt it??? The next thing i knew, she was pressing the home button and exit to the dashboard to load another application!

They are just too smart! Scarily smart! Imagine what she will be using when she is in her primary. A mac laptop on the go always??? Oh my god! Perhaps 10 years down the road a baby like her age might even know how to use the sms! 

Live To Eat

Have been sick for the past 1 week. Everyone knows that when you are sick, the medicines that we given to cure you will most probably numb the senses in your tongue and eventually food is almost tasteless.

Right before i fell sick, we have scheduled to drive down to Seremban just to taste the very popular BBQ crabs. According to my brother, the crabs are so special and delicious that we will not be able to find it any place else. So being a little skeptical, i asked Jess and her bf to join us as well.

The day came but i was still sick. Since Jess had already taken a day off just for the crabs, so it is just not right for us to reschedule. We all met at my house and initially wanted to start the journey by 5pm. But we got delayed because it was the same day that we have to wait for the repairers to come to the house to have a look at the leaking tank and it was raining as well.

Ghost!!!!

An hour later, we were all finally on the way to Seremban. I have not been a very fuzzy person when it comes to food. My motto is always eat to live rather than live to eat. In Algeria i can sometimes just eat instant noodle or even just plain rice plus a little japanese seasoning for lunch. As long as they can just fill my hunger. This time around, especially with my flu, i didnt put high hopes on the crab because i am sure i will not taste anything.

And so the 6 of us ordered 3 extra side dishes besides the crabs. Since the BBQ crab is the famous one, although there were many other cooking style too, we decided to go for the BBQ crab. A whopping 3.2kg of fat, huge and yummy crabs!

Spicy clams

Famous yee Mee 

Vegetable with garlic

Their special chili.. hot and sour..

And the main "actor/actress" of the day...GIANT crab!

Look at the meat!!!! I got lucky!

As we dug into the thick meat and licking our fingers, we decided to re-order another 3.2kg of crabs! Yummy! It's a long 45 minutes drive from KL so might as well eat all we could right??! And the bill was very reasonable too. Only 50 bucks per pax. So worth it!

For the first time, i live to eat and it was so worth the time!

Dream Came True!

Sometime last week, i had a very weird dream. I do not remember the whole content of the dream. I remembered i was dreaming something when suddenly the environment in the dream changed and then i was in my current house. From nowhere, the ceilings began to leak and the whole house was wet. So i woke up and i told my mum about the dream and she even teased me for having such a strange dream.

Fast forward 2 days later. It was rainy night and i was just reading in my bed. Then came the sound of water dripping. Without doubt, i thought it must be from the rain. But the dripping sound got louder and louder, even after the rain stop. So i checked all the corners in my room but found nothing. And when i opened my door, to my horror, my whole stairways was soaking wet! The was leaking from the ceiling!!!

So we had to quickly turned off the main water pipe and place tongs to gather the water. The next day i just grab a number from a flyer i found outside my house and requested someone to come over to have a look. I thought it was just because of the misplaced of the pump since i had it changed a few days ago. And i didint sleep well that night because i was worried that the leak will hole the plaster ceiling or worst the plaster ceiling might fell off.

And the diagnosis came. It was not the pump but worst! There is a leak from the tank and i have 2 choice which is to repair it or change it entirely. Repairing it will be much cheaper but there is no guarantee that it will work and there will be a water stoppage of 3 days. So the next best choice is to change the whole thing!

And hence i spent the whole Sunday sitting at home while the tank was being fixed. It was a huge project because the tank will had to be taken out from the roof top. Meaning some part of the roof will be removed and put back eventually. My concern is that they might not put it back properly and then i will have another leak from the roof. Oh mine, it will be a disaster if that happened. God help me!

My dream actually came true, for the first time in my life!

Now my bank is 2k lesser due to the repair. It's not just 2k, it's a mac book that i had to forgo now. Sigh......

I wondered when i will dream of me winning the lottery?!