Decent Barrack

Those folks who are looking for cheap accommodation stay, Backpackers style trip might be highly desire-able. Typically such accommodation offers room as well as bathroom to share with other Backpackers in a rather slightly large room known as Barrack.

The best way to find out a suitable room to stay is via close friend or relative's references. Acceptable guidance might not be sufficient, but you also need "Tips To Carry Along" to ensure a well planned trip. Warm clothes or possibly lighter wear for warmer climate destination.

Bandung Leisure may provide just that for those seeking a rather adventure trip. It could be not as popular as other destinations such as Bali or Yogja, yet Bandung has enjoyed consistent high rank of Tourist Visit.

Evidently every long weekend ends up huge flock of Tourists crowding the cool weather city, local or foreigner. Nature attraction either at Northern or Eastern part of greater Bandung or perhaps culinary and shopping destinations within the city itself.

Ready for memorable Bandung Trip, let's find out a Decent Barrack stay!

Mesa Stila

Mesa Stila sounds like a Latin name to some of us, yet strangely enough it is a Coffee plantation mixed with colonial style resort combination about half an hour drive from Semarang Central Java. Arm yourself with traveling Tips To Carry Along as we look at this exotic one of a kind Tourism Places. 

You'll be greeted by this ancient looking train station as you enter this magnificent place, it was indeed as such in early 19th century.  It is brought here intact and now being used as a reception foyer, and as you walk through whether you wish for a stay the night or spending the time for either a meal, a cup of coffee or Coffee plantation tour. 

As we opt for the latter we're directed toward the plantation itself.

Series of pictures will drive your thought upon the place, it is a must visit one of a kind Tourism Places.......

Coconuts Beach Resort

Our common sense will tell that a Coconuts Beach Resort is located at or surrounding the tropical section of our beloved mother earth, right along the midsection of the earth at an area known as Equatorial band. The Indonesian archipelago is privileged to be resided at such Equatorial band, whenever we go within the archipelago along its coast, there bounds to be a vast amount of Coconuts Beach.

Our Coconut plantation and mostly its pristine Beach area is quite inseparable, we could literary drink Coconut milk on our Beach everyday, and not necessarily during our Leisure time only,  the envy of those who is living along either the Northern or Southern sphere. Every bit of Coconut tree section is not wasted as each has its own advantageous usages. In fact following the strict production standard practice the milk  or rather its liquid content could be processed into a healthy frying oil with min. traces of anti oxidant, furthermore in its purest molecular existent the famous Virgin Coconuts Oil is regarded by many to have healthy herbal healing effects.

 While this has becoming a common knowledge it is also not a strange occurances for a Coconuts Beach Resort to also stimulate the so called healthy healing effects, particularly on heavy stress active executives. Everyone in this globe knows this relevancy to the Bali Island, the island is more popular than the country it resides, the archipelago of Indonesia.

Any top celebrity regardless Bollywood or Holiwood alike has visited the island, and that's including our family, as any tourist alike in the Bali is instantaneously become one. 

We all become famous as those innovative traders will keep chasing us to buy their merchandise, whether the merchandise is an authentic Balinese craft or ornaments or perhaps a fake Chinese made product, and that's why some exclussive resort provides extra security measures to seclude the area from this.

There are now great tendency for foreigner but to some extent the local too, to prefer going to other remote areas where the Coconuts Beach Resort could provide its natural surrounding without the said hassles. One place as such which just recently arise in its popularity amongst the foreigner is Raja Ampat Resort,  its pristine Coconut Beach is just one of the endless attraction lists.

Three out of four such secluded Resort are located at the Eastern part of the archipelago, this is quite a change from our normal diet article of Sam’s at Dago St. the typical family time at leisure in Bandung

Bandung Travel

Technorati Tags: Bandung Travel.Paris Van Java,Bandung

Bandung Travel may not sound exotic at all, but it has its own element of charm to satisfy the whole family quality time. Bandung has it all; even to meet three generations of family requirements into a single trip purpose. Furthermore there are plenty of choices for those looking for educative aspect into their family trips, one good example would be Leisure Activities version of post-exam trip.

Our quality time version on Bandung Travel may also depict; Ciwidey Volcano Trip and its All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) facility, Bosscha Leisure, The Little Farm and many more. Both Ciwidey and Bosscha represent historical portion of Bandung. White Crater, Ciwidey at the turn of 20^th century was a Sulphuric Acid factory and thus the oldest one in Indonesia perhaps in Asia. Where as Bosscha is also the oldest within most Southern Hemisphere Observatory in similar period.

While ATV at Ciwidey speaks for itself, the Little Farm offers a glimpse of farm learning activities for children education purposes. The children could learn how to grow and harvest a few vegetable species. And by the end of farming activities their unleashed energy could be released into outdoor action type of activities such as Jumping Fox.

To some, Bandung’s attraction may also represent itself through its Heritage Buildings. There are certain areas which still preserve the era of 1960s for example. The recent film making of Barack Obama when he was attending a primary school in Menteng, Jakarta; it is in fact being conducted around Lapangan Supratman St. as well as Cimahi for outdoor and indoor shooting backgrounds.

It is due to such preserved Heritage that today we could think of Bandung as it was named the Paris Van Java. By the same token the name is also used for an open space mall. Paris Van Java Mall attracts Bandung’s visitors and the place is full packed of crowd on every week-end. Though the mall has “One Stop Shopping” including restaurant mostly fast food retails but the famous city’s Culinary Cooking are available elsewhere scattering the whole region.

Ciwidey Volcano Trip

Onto the third day of Bandung trip we finally decided to distract kid’s addiction to modern gadgets, and bring them to Bandung’s own natural beauty for a bit of muscle shake down. We had thought of returning back to Lembang’s little Farm then head off for nearby volcanoes TangkubanPerahu. Since most us of had been there we look at other place which is similar in nature, the “Kawah Putih” or “White Volcanoe” is a good option. One of our nephews has expressed his interest to ride on All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) up in Lembang, fortunately Kawah Putih has such facility also. Hence Kawah Putih is the best option.

In contrast to Lembang at Northern side of Bandung, Kawah Putih is located to the South. It is actually the outskirt of Bandung’s Regency at Ciwidey the foothill of Patuha Mount roughly about 6o kms away from. To beat traffic jam we took the route through Toll road by exiting at Kopo, however as Kopo is the known busy traffic; it required two hours drive one way. The road ascending to the volcano is quite steep and allows for only one vehicle’s width, low ground clearance vehicle would have a hard time by not getting its underneath stuck or the very least touching to the road edges. On most part the gravel edges could turn into slippery muddy ground during the wet season, rendering a very treacherous driving for either going up or down the mountain. Furthermore about halfway through the road is infested with dozens of potholes.

The best suitable vehicle for the trip would be those MPV with high ground clearance, but make sure its clutch is in healthy condition. Driving up the mountain on narrow and steep road is quite punishing to the clutch, there were cars that managed its clutch burnt due to constant slippage only few hundreds meter from the volcano itself. Fortunately about midway the journey we were greatly entertained by dozens of self picking strawberry farms, in fact right away from our car we could see fresh strawberry dangling on the roadside field.

Mind you the area is known for the best and fresh sources of most vegetable supplies for Jakarta’ and Bandung’s produce market; Ciwidey. It is the very reasoning that all dishes in Bandung are served fresh, regardless of whether those dishes being served from posh restaurants or merely humble food pedestal.

Entry fee cost us Rp 75 thousands or around $ 7 for four kids and two adults, yet at such price as well as the lengthy trip and crowded traffic are soon paid off handsomely. Once you reach the “Kawah Putih” the view is so spectacular, literary its whitish and on some part bluish lake color amazes our sights. The acidic lake was calm and did not seem to release a lot of heat energy and some part were seen hovering whitish smoke yet none of the people were dipping their feet into.

Technorati Tags: bandung family time,ciwidey kawah putih

Alternative route to Bandung

Recapping ; "I have in the past made 6 series of articles on Cipularang Toll, and it might grow exponentially! There is still potential of further reviews yet, literally limited by the permutation of all counts on available exit gateways along the toll road."

Granted, other means of transportation are also equally interesting. You'll get nice aerial view for fifteen minutes or so should you opt to travel by air. Railway also offers a convenient transportation for allowing us to have extra space stretching the legs here and there as we please. Train is available from 5 AM till 10 PM every two hours daily, and it costs less than half compare to driving your own car. Well, may be that's not entirely true on all cases! A high octane fuel demanding premium cars could cost Rp. 120,000,- per trip person. Uuugh that's another dimension. Anyway, you do your own math and follow your needs accordingly.

Apart of Cipularang toll there is another alternative route going to Bandung, that is through Jagorawi toll road passing hilly cities/ regencies of Bogor, Megamendung, Cibulan, Puncak, Cipanas, Cibodas, Cianjur and Padalarang along the way.

The toll road encompassing 60 km road with better surface compare to Cipularang's. As soon as you leave the toll, the road immediately starts ascending to the peak of Mount Gede, the Puncak Pass. Mount Gede is a stratovolcano and it has two peaks one being Gede itself while the other one Pangrango rising to almost 3,000 m altitude. The road itself was built in 1810 by the Dutch with the intention of a defensive measure as well as serving as the main post road (De Groote Postweg).

The route is a good scenic view with many tourist attractions;

1. Bogor; Presidential palaces and botanical garden. The palace was used to be Dutch Indies Governor General's residence, including that of British Kingdom's famous Sir Stamford Raffles. It was him in 1811 created the 87 hectares botanical garden. In Dutch era the garden serves as a scientific lab. for tropical species. Now it has the tallest inflorescence (flower cluster) which can reach an astounding 2.5 meters, the giant arum (Amorphophallus titanum).
2. Megamendung, Cibulan, Puncak, Cipanas; along this area there are many villas owned by the neighbouring city dwellers. Objects that is worthwhile to mention; tea plantation and Safari park. The park has many unique attractions including; gondola, amusement park, live show and night viewing zoo. On every week-end the park is packed full of crowd and consequently traffic jam occurs along this route as such that during certain hours only one traffic direction is allowed.
3. Cibodas; another botanical garden created by Dutch Indies Government.
4. Cianjur ; all places along this route offers scenic views of green lush plantation and paddy's field with cool soothing temperature. Here, they have another old tea plantation (Malabar Mount) with an 1884 tea processing plant to match. Please click here, "old-tea"

Puncak Pass is a good another 30 km from the toll exit gateway, while the whole route to Bandung is 180 km long. On a quiet day it takes about 3 and half hours drive.

Technorati Tags: puncak pass,leisure activities,old tea

Adventurous Leisure ; little farm

Do you think our children watching too much telly and playing games? Well, holiday is around the corner we might as well taking them to The Little Farm. Here they could learn how; to pick an assortment of vegetables at harvest time, to culture animals, to produce mushroom etc.

The Little Farm offers your children to play as an ordinary farm does his job. There are other facilities for outbound activities as well such as Flying Fox etc.. Furthermore, children could learn as such by being close to its nature at a friendly cool ambient temperature. But, don’ forget to bring your umbrella !

The route to go there are as follows :

1. Lembang. Depending where you start off;
   
   1. If you are already in Bandung The Parijs Van Java this route is recommendable. Not only it offers scenic view, but the route also running through less congested traffic. Drive past Rumah Mode Outlet at Setiabudi street, keep going up to public transport terminal “Ledeng”. Take left turn at smaller road that goes to the famous A’a Gym’s pesantren. Follow the main road that leads to Cavalry and Chatolic school, then take a left turn that further goes to Cimahi. There are good restaurants and Hotels along the way.
   2. From Tangkuban Perahu and Ciater hot spring, drive down the mountain past Lembang traditional market to Ledeng.
   3. From Cipularang Toll exit via Cikampek, take the road well past the Jatiluhur Dam (Hydro Power Electrical Generation) and take left turn heading for Subang. The road will take you to Ciater. The route to Subang is one of my favourite drive after Puncak Pass. It offers scenic view as well as long winding road. You could drive to your max potential of your car’s ability. That is if your driving ability also match as such. The route also offers less congested traffic, since the opening of Cipularang Toll.
   
   

       2. Cimahi;

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  From Bandung, you’d better take the toll road to Cimahi. Unless if you prepare to drive past through a busy bus terminal along the way, it’s fine.
  
  
  
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  Driving via toll also gives advantages, since it’s easy to ask for direction at toll exit gateway. We do that a lot.
  
  
  
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  Take the route that goes to Strawberry Farm, then it leads to the same road as if you’re coming from Lembang. At Strawberry Farm, you could opt for picking up on your own. As long as not on certain days, as I recall they are closed on Friday and Sunday if I’m not mistaken.
  
  
  

Veges pick 1

1. Grab the veges, don’t get sleepy while you’re at it
2. Perfect moment for a snap
3. Pull out gently. Option ; two hands are faster less tidy
4. Generally you get the idea when a farmer work on harvesting

Veges pick 2

1. Before our harvest are supposedly put into the basket, stand still
2. Get a good pose. Option ; What dishes shall I ask the maid to cook?
3. Hold the thought, dad’s still fiddling around with camera
4. Camera is ready, then another snap

Veges pick 3

1. Don’t think my hand bag could accommodate this bunch
2. Wait, we need to shake a bit to get rid the soil
3. Another snap

Veges pick 4

1. I think I could grab this without bending over
2. My pants could get soil all over

Veges pick 5

1. Got one already
2. Let’s take another one

Veges pick 6

1. We could harvest anything on this Little Farm
2. No, not this rabbit. The green shabby shed is where the rabbit stays
3. The lady attendant is explaining on the cycle of rabbit seasonal mating
4. Don’t even try to touch the rabbit at its mating season
   

Veges pick 7

1. I got the basket
2. I got all the veges I want
3. Wait what are those veges?
4. Up to now I only familiar as it’s cooked
5. Now I know how to harvest it

Veges pick 8

1. Yes, my basket is pretty much empty
2. This my first catch of what do call it?
3. It’s my favourite carrot. Great tonight we’ll have carrot soup
   

Veges pick 9

1. Getting tired of the harvest ? Let's do (window) shopping
2. Cihampelas Walk during the night, facing parking lot
3. That was in 2005. Instead there is a new building erected now 2008

Bandung Paris van Java

We used to spend an hour or so at Cisangkuy Park, whenever we’re on a trip to Bandung. Our kids love riding the horses, one lap around the park costs about Rp. 3,500. That was way back then in early 2000. For them a trip to Bandung is nothing without horse riding. The same goes for the Moms, as their main target are to spend at Factory Outlets (FO).

As for the Dads (and the rest of family; grandma, grandad etc.),Bandung offers a pleasant change with its cool breeze air. Less humid air provides more ease for the oxygen getting into our breathing cycle. Well, you get the idea. And, the foods variety; from the freshly pick and process fruit as well as vegetable to those well known uniquely bandung culinary dishes.

Bandung apparently has been designed for leisure since the inception of Dutch Indies government’s itention moving the capital from Batavia in early 1920s. Even today we’re still able to recognise some landmarks such as city parks, colonial style buildings, art deco hotel and villa (savoy homan and formerly villa isola) as well as other natural tourist attractions, FO and recently agro-tourism.

Located amidst the surrounding mountains at an elevated of 700 mtr above sea, it’s indeed provide one of comprehensive leisure attractions. Other places which have equal magnet attracting thousands are among others Ancol (Northern Jakarta) and Puncak (90 kms or two hours drive from Jakarta). None however could beat such beauty and charm as Bandung has to offer. Hence, regarless of its chaotic city planning these days nor pathetic traffic (particularly at weekend) ; “Paris van Java” charm and beauty has maintained

Bandung as city of leisure

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