Bandung Day 1: Paris Van Java, Richeese Factory, Jco Donuts, 2Tang + Local products

I'm actually so surprised with myself for writing about my Bandung trip so quickly! Haha 

A little background of why I decided to go for a holiday was that the journey of my Honours program was really very much like living hell- You're not allowed to die, but living is just plain torture. That was how it was for the entire year. While the rest of my friends got to have their summer holiday (November 2013- February 2014), I was working my ass off collecting data for my study.

So I reached I breaking point where I thought I deserved a good long holiday without breaking my bank of course. One day I was out eating Ayam Penyet for dinner and we were talking about holiday experiences. Then it just strucked me "I have to visit Indonesia!".

First, I contacted Gaya my long 'lost' high school friend who is in her final year in Bandung. Once she told me that she could accommodate me on the dates I proposed, I immediately purchased an air flight ticket!

Air flight tics RM360, 20kg baggage to Bandung RM55, 20kg baggage back to KL RM55.

(I will tell you the kecoh baggage story later prolly on the last day in Bandung post)

My 6 days 5 night holiday to Bandung, Indonesia started off really well! I slept through the 2 hours flight which made the travel duration seem short. Reached Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, and woah! It's a small airport- with only one counter to collect your baggage and they even needed man power to go inside and get it for you.

So happy to see Gaya waiting for me at the exit of the airport!! Thank you Gaya!!

I was very fortunate because she told me she didn't had a chance to pick her mum nor her tutor from the airport when they came. Luckily, she could when it was my turn hehehe

First stop was to her place obviously. Its really close to the airport, I think it took about 20 minutes. 

Once reached, it was lunch time!!! Btw, Gaya (and her housemates) has a maid in the house! So all the cleaning, cooking, washing are done by the maid :O

Indonesian milk

One of the first question was whether Indonesia produce their own milk because I would love to try it. Gaya immediately took out her stash from the fridge and I had a try. Well, it tasted very much like our milk here in Malaysia. So I wasn't all excited and jumpy like how I was with Kave in Sydney, lol.

Indonesian milk used in Starbucks, Indonesia

This brand of milk on the other hand is used in Starbucks, Indonesia to produce their beverages. I didn't try it because I assumed it wouldn't taste much different and Gaya haven't opened this carton of milk yet.

Day 1 lunch

For lunch, I had free meal cooked by Gaya's maid. We call her 'ibu', initially it felt weird because I don't like calling people mother other than my mum because my mum is the only female on earth that I would call mum LOL I wonder what will I call my mother- in- law next time? :X

But anyway, everyone addresses an older lady by ibu and an older man by pak. So the free meal cooked by ibu was tempeh sambal (spicy fermented soybean), sayur masak lemak (vege cooked w coconut milk), terung kicap (dark soy sauce brinjal) and some steam egg kinda dish.

My favourite was the tempeh and brinjal! Yums!

Day 1 free lunch

I also met Gaya's crazy awesome friends- Suba and Darshini. They are all med students. I was very chill when I planned for this holiday even if it's in Bandung because I knew that I will be staying with a house full of doctors, right in front of Bandung's big hospital. So even if I get like diarrhea or some kinda illness I know I'm in good hands, lol. 

I suppose it was teatime for Darsh because she was making coffee, I stole a picture of her coffee and tried some too. It's also made in Indonesia:

Good Day Cappuccino

Instant Cappuccino 

It comes with an extra chocolate packet that you can sprinkle on top of your drink but I think Darsh sprinkled and stirred them in already. It tasted okay, but too sweet for me so decided to buy Tora Bika's Cappuccino back instead.

After lunch, we just hung out in the house a while talking to my new friends. Then when it was dinner time, we went to Bandung's famous mall Paris Van Jawa or commonly known as PVJ. Located at Jl. Sukajadi it was just an Angkut (cheap taxi- like) away!

Though PVJ is considered their most posh mall, it (the shops) is considered a fraction of what we have to offer here in KL. Oh, but they have Diary Queens and we don't, lol.

PVJ at night

Exterior of PVJ, morning

PVJ morning

PVJ w Gaya and Darsh (back most)

Pretty lights in PVJ

Dairy Queen

Now I remember why Dairy Queen is so familiar. I tried it in Singapore before! LOL Wanted to treat Gaya to come ice- cream or milkshake from here on the last day in Bandung because she had been so nice to me throught my stay but when that day came it was all a rush and the 4D movie ended at 11.30pm so all shops were closed:(

Before dinner, I had Jco donuts for pre- dinner snack. I know we have Jco back in Malaysia too but I'm sure we don't have the Cronut! Oh do we? lol Anyway, Jco donuts originated from Indonesia so it is a must try for me. Wanted to compare how it tasted back at the place of origin and here in Malaysia. 

Jco Donuts

Paris Van Jawa, Ground Floor

Delivery: (022) 82063698

Cronuts from Jco

Oh, and my Cronut & donut were free because Gaya bought them for me:D

Jco donuts in the making

Donut/ Cronut box

I took a picture of the donut box because I was impressed that they gave me a box even if I only bought two pieces! Back here in Malaysia, you would only get your donuts in the box if you buy at least half a dozen. If you were to buy one or two pieces then they would just give it to you in that paper holder thingy. Very hard to bring back without disfiguring your donuts.

My picks were:

• Jcronut Original, IDR16,600 (Apprx. RM5)
• Durio Dela Creme donut,  IDR6,500 (Appx. RM2)

Cinnamon Kiss was so flaky, light and yummy!

Then we proceeded to real dinner! They brought me to a fast food restaurant call Richeese Factory. Obviously by the name itself you would know they they serve food with cheeeeeese!

Richeese Factory

Paris Van Java, Sky Level

022- 82063857

Richeese counter

Say Cheese!

BBQ Chicken with cheese

This is how you do it :D

Richeese serves really good BBQ chicken! They come with cheese dips as well. The cheese dips are similar to the cheese used on KFC's cheesy wedges. Who knew that cheese would go so well with BBQ Chicken!

Also you can pick your level of spiciness for the chicken. I choose Level 1 which is the lowest on the hot scale. I was being careful because I didn't know what to expect of Indonesian's definition of spiciness. According to Darsh, the level 2 BBQ sauce for the chicken is already very spicy for her.

They also have potato wedges. Served with BBQ sauce at the bottom and cheese sauce on top of the potato. For the wedges, Gaya said you could either choose Level 1 (spicy) or non- spicy. She choose Level 1 for the wedges and Oh Gosh! It was spicy!!

Somehow the Level 1 for wedges and the Level 1 spiciness for chicken is different.

Cheesy potato wedges.

Love their wedges because it tasted like real fresh potatoes. Didn't really fancy the BBQ sauce that came together with the potato though.

By the way, if you want more cheese sauce you can request for it for FREE! No extra charge! In KFC I think you will need to pay extra RM1 for extra cheese sauce right? So eat your cheesy hearts out in Richeese!

Price list:

• Fire Wings 6 pcs BBQ      IDR 29,545 ( appx RM9.50)
• Mirinda drink                    IDR 11,364  (appx RM3.50)
• BBQ Cheesy Wedges       IDR 41,818  (appx RM12)

Dinner was free also! Thank Gaya!

After dinner, Darsh bought jasmine tea from 2Tang which was located right outside Richeese Factory. Yummy tea, not too sweet and has that right amount of jasmine hint! Not too sure about the price, but I think the picture with the banner would give you a clue to how much it will cost.

Tea tasting

Price banner

That marks the end of Day 1 in Bandung!

FYI, for those who are travelling to Indonesia I think it would be good to get a local SIM cad. I got my friend to help me buy my SIM card. I only needed data package so I got the 600mb one. I think it cost about RM11 but it made my life so convinient! I could whatsapp my love ones on a regular basis and I could also Facebook/ Instagram picture!

SimPATI- The Maxis of Indonesia

I'm ending my Day 1 post with a few snacks that I have tried during my stay in Indonesia. Obviously there is more to it because Indomaret (24 hours convinient store) was situated a few doors away from where I stayed LOL

My favourite out of the whole stash was the Sponge Crunch and the Richeese Wafer

Yes! Richeese also produces other snacks that you could buy off supermarket shelves! Very yummy Richeese cheese wafer snacks (appx RM2) I stashed some home. The Sponge Crunch (appx RM4) was very yummy too! It was so chocolatey depsite it looking like some cheap chocolate snack.  Too bad they didn't had chocolate flavour when I wanted to purchase some back home:(

Ron88 mineral water

I read blogs before and they mentioned this water. I think Darsh mentioned that this cute 250ml of mineral water cost approximately RM0.30. I tried the water but nah, don't really like it. Too sharp for tasting. Actually it tasted a bit like distilled water.

Nevertheless, I'd still buy it for the cute bottle!

Luwak White coffee, RM0.30 per sachet | ABC coffee RM0.30 per sachet

I loved the Luwak White coffee! So I bought one pack back for my dad and mum. Really good! Gaya told me its their pioneer coffee. On the other hand, do NOT go near buying that ABC coffee. It was horrible! They had coffee bits floating everywhere when you pour in hot water. 

The good thing is that you could actually buy one sachet of coffee by the roadside stalls for IDR 1,000 so you get to try them before deciding which to buy back home. 

Banana milk RM1.50 | Buavita Mix Berries Juice RM3 | Teh Gelas RM2

Banana milk didn't taste as good as the Korean banana milk but its half the price of the Korean banana milk so for that it tasted relatively okay.

Buavita juice was rather good, a bit on the sweeter side but it tasted like real juice. Teh Gelas sucks! So sweet and tasted so chemical-ish! I couldn't finish that pack of tea.

My ultimate favourite is the Teh Botol. Teh Kotak taste similar to Teh Botol but on the sweeter side.

The end, stay tune for Day 2 Bandung!