Indonesia: Jakarta to Bandung!

So about a month ago, I was invited by the Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia once again to go on a media trip around different parts of Indonesia with some of the other South East Asia bloggers! Really stoked to be back in Indonesia cuz the country is SO BIG and there's just so much to offer!!  This time round, the itinerary was Bandung >> Yogyakarta >> Lombok >> Labuan Bajo (Komodo Island) and finally my favourite, Bali!
However, the starting point was Jakarta where we would all gather before setting off to Bandung! Believe it or not, this is actually my first time to Jakarta! And I really wanted to land in Jakarta a few days earlier before the media trip starts to yknow... explore a lil bit of Jakarta, relax and stay with my sister since she's now based in Jakarta! But sobzzz Keline couldn't take any more extra day off so we could only arrive one day in advance in Jakarta! Well, better than nothing eh? ;)

Taken on the first day in Jakarta at my sis's apartment! By the time we settled down at the apartment etc, it was already close to 4pm? *shrugs* that's like half the day gone :( We didn't do much on day 1 except exploring some malls and calling it a night after having our dinner at Chung Gi Wa (you can read more on my Dayre) located at Gandaria Mall!! OMG IT WAS SO GOOD!!!! We ordered so many dishes and it was only $59 for 3 of  us? Mindblown!!! Told my sister that I am definitely heading back the next time I visit Jakarta!

Then it was Day 2 and it was time to gather with the Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia! But before that, Keline and I met up with my sis for brunch at Lewis & Carroll Tea and boyyyyy, hahah I am really falling in love with Jakarta! So many quaint cafes and good food around!

And what's really cool about this cafe is that they would give you these tubes of tea leaves for you to actually smell and choose your tea selection! I really had a hard time making my selection cuz all of them smelt soooo good! Lol



A picture together with my sis!

And then onwards to Mecure Sabang, Jakarta where we spent a night!

Keline and I practically nuaaaaaaaa till it was time for our Welcome Dinner with the rest of the bloggers and with the Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia! #NuaQueens #bedtoocomfy lol


Day 3 We were all up bright and early at 6.30am to have our breakfast before catching our train to Bandung!


This train is called "Argo Parahyangan" and the journey from Jakarta to Bandung took approximately 3 hours!



Friendly train conductor!


We also managed to sneak in a couple of train shots before sleeping in for the rest of the journey~


And finally after 3 hours, we arrived in Bandung!!!! It's also my first time here btw! Hehe


First stop after arriving in Bandung was lunch before moving on to NuArt Gallery!

NuArt Gallery is set up by Mr I Nyoman Nuarta who is a really well known Indonesia Sculptor! He is best known for his masterpieces like the Statue of Garuda Wisnu Kencana in Bandung & Bali, Monument Jalesveva Jayamahe in Surabaya as well as the Proclamation Monument Indonesia in Jakarta!

With @charlene22 (Charlene) and @urbandollsg (Keline)! We are always on a lookout for photo opportunities wherever we go lol

We also had the honour of having an interview session with Mr I Nyoman Nuarta himself!


And then it was free time to roam and explore the gallery by ourselves!
Over here, I managed to witness a man working on a statue.




And like I said, we never miss out on any good photo taking opportunities available lol Found a quiet and pretty background so I decided to snap some OOTD shots here! Thank you Cha for the pics!


Oh and if you are wondering why the hell am I having such vivid purple hair (I swear I felt like an anime character HAHHAA), that's because I told my COVO Stylist (Yumi) that I was gonna go on a 15 days trip plus I was gonna be in and out of the sea, I wanted the purple hair to not fade so quicky! Hence, this was the outcome LOL It was definitely hard getting used to it initially cuz this is my first time having such a strong striking colour on my entire hair! But honestly, now that it's been a month and the purple is all faded to a really pretty shade of lilac, I miss this strong purple shade! Lol. It's so hard to please me I admit. Heh
Anyway, if you're interested in getting your hair done, this is done at COVO Katong (there's another outlet at COVO Keong Saik) by Yumi! Quote "SHENNYCOVO" for a 20% discount!
And just behind NuArt Gallery, there was a mini waterfall and yesssss, you guessed it right! Photo taking time again!


Finally it was time to check into our hotel in Bandung! We stayed at Sheraton Bandung for 2 nights!


And boyyyyyyy, it was just such a comfy stay!!  Room was spacious, bed was so fluffy and soft I literally melt into the bed when I laid on it.. LOL


I even had a pool-view room which was a huge plus!!


Wearing my new lingerie c/o https://sg.carousell.com/twelveoc/!




We then had the buffet dinner at Sheraton Bandung! Just before it was bed time, Kel, Cha and I met the 2 other Singaporean guys who was on this media trip too (Julian and Joshua) and we had even more photo taking sessions! This time round, we made use of the dark and this pretty fairy lights that Julian brought along for this trip! Talk about #effort~

Thanks Ju for the shot!!


Day 4 Visited Armor Kopi early in the morning! Armor Kopi is like a small lil cafe hut set inside the woods!


Regretted not taking a portrait shot of this pretty place but thank God Keline did snap a portrait shot so imma steal it from her! Lol

Photo on the left credits to Keline! Isn't this cafe just so lovely!!!!! Plus the weather was super cooling! LOVE!



And yay finally 2 shots of the guys who are always behind the camera lens, taking shots for us!

Say hi to @julian_cheong (Julian) and @j.osh (Joshua)!

We had some really traditional coffee and their local breakfast!



Then it was an hour's worth of bus journey to our next destination!
Anyway, who else loves looking out of the window while you're on the bus? Well, I know I do! Happened to come across this housing scenery when the bus was on some highway... really cool!

Next up was Dusun Bambu which is a family leisure park!






Dress c/o http://carrislabelle.com/ Quote "Shenny" for discounts when you shop!



We also had our lunch at Dusun Bambu!


which overlooks this really pretty scenery!




Photos taken by Wahyu (@iwwm)! Check out his feed, it's really friggin awesome!!!


Next up we visited Saung Angklung Udjo! Established in 1966 by the late Udjo Nalagena and his wife, Suang Angklung Udjo was built with purpose and dedication to conserve West Java's Sundanese traditional art and culture!

At Udjo's House of Angklung, it consists of various cheerful performances that are essence of their ultimate show called "Kaulinan Urang Lembur" or "Villages Playtime". The show is packed with various short performances which were really engaging and fun!



We were also given a chance to take part in an interactive angklung performance! It was pretty interesting! I thought angklung could only be used for traditional music, but boy was I blown off when they started playing classical and even pop songs using the angklung!



Finally, the whole concert ended with all these young lil kids getting us out to join them in their dance and well, as expected, Keline and I were part of those chosen. We blamed it on our striking hair colour lol

Of cuz, what's Bandung WITHOUT SHOPPING?!?! Right after dinner, some of us went to a nearby mall (Paris Van Java Mall) where you can find alot of familiar international brands (think H&M, New Look, Vans, Ripcurl etc)!



Day 5 It was sadly, our last day in Bandung and the last stop was to a factory outlet! I know right! How can you leave Bandung without visiting their factory outlet where you can easily score branded clothes at 1/4 the price? This factory outlet is called Rumah Mode!



Since it was still pretty early in the morning and we were feeling pretty lazy, we decided to chill in the cafe inside Rumah Mode first!




Although I didn't manage to get anything for myself from Rumah Mode, I got my mum a top from Marks and Spencer and tops from other brands such as Zara/Guess for my sisters! All for less than $15 each whoop!!!!


Top from http://carrislabelle.com/



Dropped by yet another lovely cafe called Vanilla Kitchen Restaurant before catching our flight to Yogyakarta!  This is such an instragram-worthy cafe!!


See!! Isn't it so pretty!



Hello Philippine representatives!! Melissa (@sartorialpanda) and Ave (@avelovin) :D




Gosh, it's been long since I did such an image heavy content post! Hahahahah I can't wait to share my remaining entries for Indonesia but first...... let me pack my luggage cuz I'll be flying to Bangkok in exactly 12 hours time!!!! Time to stuff myself silly with thai food, buy lots of clothes and massage all day long yay!!!!!!!
Till then, I send my love!!!! Shenny