I had just arrived at Bali's airport yesterday. I spent last week in Bandung, where all sweet and bitter memories intertwined, where all hopes and anxiety once overwhelmed me.
There were not many things I did there, besides shopping:D. Partly because my friends were busy with theirselves, partly because they expected big reward in return to their small favors, and partly because the shopping itself was god-damn-exhausting. I am not used to walking right now as I was when I was still a college student.
I actually managed to buy three types of things: clothes, snacks, and DVDs. Favoring snacks and DVDs are common when you live in Bali where every little thing costs you a fortune. Take a piece of pirated DVD for example. You will have to spend 10 thousand rupiahs, although at mass purchase you are allowed to have a piece for 8 thousand. But still, the price is not worth it, compared to that of Bandung. You can have a DVD for just 5 thousand each, so "laris manis and murah meriah" in Indonesian term.
The most enjoyable thing during the holiday was outfit hunting. I stumbled upon the fact that eventhough Bali is renowned tourist destination around the globe (maybe - but hey Hugh Grant did mention Bali in Notting Hill!), it doesn't accomodate people with unusual body size, like me :(. In fact, I have found it difficult to find an outfit for me since several years ago. People just can't agree with size standard (S, M, L, XL, and so on). So XXL or maybe 4L clothes may not fit people who claim theirselves of a particular size.
Well, the necessity to find outfit was finally satisfied. When I dragged my bottom along Riau road in Bandung, it was as if I found my Orchard road. There were more than enough factory outlets, fashion stores to attract my attention. Actually I was kinda visiting all stores there :D. One of them was the brand new store: Cascade. Situated on Jalan Riau Bandung, next to Heritage, was a four storey, shining, eye-catching, elegant, fashion store named Cascade. This store must be new, my last year visit did not reveal its existence.
On the 1st floor, the new store dedicates itself to women's clothing. So I did not find much of interests here. The 3rd floor is for children: toys, child clothes, and some fancy stationaries. That didn't drag my appetite either. Ooops I almost forgot, besides having child section, a restaurant also occupies the third floor. But I didn't have a chance to peek inside, partly because I don't want to spend money on mundane things like food, and partly because I didn't bring my laptop. It gives free WI-FI internet access for everyone!! Fuck! If I had known this I would have brought my laptop. The fourth floor is just as boring as the rest, maybe mothers or girls will find something fancy here.
The exitement mesmerized me when I sat my feet on the second floor. I found many fine clothes sold with relatively low price (well I compared this to Bali's price tags and items' availability!), which was good. The only bad thing was I could not control myself from touching, fitting, and buying the items. Alas, I might have spent around 1 million for clothing T_T. My credit card bill is surely exploding next month.
"Jer basuki mawa beya", a slogan from East Java might get a point. Roughly it has the same meaning as "No pain no gain". It was late at night when I finished my shopping at Cascade (means I got my shopping bag so full and so weight - that carrying it almost cut my arm). There are no vacant buses at that time (it was Satuday when I visited the store). So I had to walk down the Riau street to Gurame street all alone, which was around 8 kilometres. It felt so nice actually, left behind the pain in ass and feet, because I could realize how lucky I was to be able to visit Bandung and got what I wanted.
There is one more thing to say here, if you are going to Bandung and haven't got a place to stay, try Gurame hotel on Jalan Gurame, near the Langlang Buana University. The rate for standard rooms (as current) is 110 thousand per day, except on Saturday which is 135 thousand. The standard rooms are quite comfy, there is 24-hour access to hot water, which, believe me you are going to need it badly, a dearest to have in Bandung :D. But ironically although the rooms are comfy, the staffs are not. They might want a big tip from you, so be careful. I never tipped them though, no wonder they are so cold to me, but they were not worth the tip anyway, so I got rid of them from my mind right away.
