The Paris and Hollywood of Java

Bandung is a really interesting city and I am loving it so far. In my Lonely Planet Indonesia Guide Book, Bandung is referred to as the "Paris of Java." Some people have also said that it is like the Hollywood of Indonesia. Not sure how accurate those comparisons are, but the city is awesome. My free day yesterday was filled with a lot of adventures yesterday, mainly because I was trying really hard not to nap at all during the day in an attempt to get over the time difference.

Adventure 1:
A bunch of us did a morning walk around the city in the open market area. While at an ATM, we started talking to a friendly couple who wanted us to teach them English! There was another moment of recognition when I said the name of my city so that made me feel better too. We talked to them a lot about where exactly we should go in Bandung and they then offered to give us a ride in their car to one of the malls. However upon realizing we were rolling in a group of about eight, they quickly retracted their offer but they did give us directions on how to get to the markets.
View from hotel room:
Adventure 2:
A couple of ETAs and I decided we wanted to step away from the shopping district and try to find something else to do. However, Bandung is a huge textile city where people vacation to go shopping so this was slightly difficult. We ended up choosing the Governor's Mansion. The people working at the Hotel were like, "It is so far, you should take a cab, it will save you so much time!" Since we had the day off, the three of us decided to rough it and walk. A short 15 minutes later we arrived at our destination on foot, and we will now forever questions the estimating done by our hotel staff. The mansion was alright, though not a tourist spot at all -- we were quickly told that we couldn't take any pictures of it or go inside. We decided to take a different route back to the hotel and we ended up going through this complex of little houses and were followed by a gang of very cute little kids playing soccer. The alley kept getting narrower and narrower but we eventually made it out to the main road again.
These three were part of the group that followed us:

We then decided to walk towards this giant bookstore in the shopping district. The mall we went to was amazing and was complete with Body Shop, Adidas, and Gap. At the intersection of the mall there was a point where you could stand and see a KFC, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut all at the same time (global capitalism at its best). The mall was so crowded and was kind of a sight to see:


The journey home from the mall was a little bit crazy, mainly because we tried to follow the route that our bus had taken the day earlier. All I can say is that you should never try to walk the same path that a huge bus took. We ended up lost and walking around Bandung for another hour and a half. However, I think the experience was a positive one because it gave us all a chance to learn some Indonesian (kiri is left, karan is right, rouse is straight). We also learned how to ask a lot of questions in Indonesian but realized quickly that when you ask questions in Indonesian it can seem as if you will be able to understand what the person's answer will be. However we eventually made it back to the hotel and had dinner.

Adventure 3:
Although we were pretty tired when we came back, we decided to check out this lounge called Embassy because we thought the other ETAs were going to be there. The hotel staff seemed so excited when we mentioned it (at least a lot more excited than when we asked how to get to the Governor's mansion), so we hopped in a cab and went down there. The cover for the lounge included admittance and 1 drink. What were your options? A soft drink, beer, or shot of tequila. I have to admit, I kind of loved the "go big or go home" mentality of the place. When we got inside, we quickly realized we were the only people in the entire lounge and that there was a band playing tonight. What kind of band? An Indonesian Beatles cover band. There is no way I can explain the ridiculousness of sitting in a lounge in the middle of Indonesia, drinking an Indonesian beer, and listening to beatles music. The only word that comes to mind is surreal. By 11 o'clock people were starting to come in, however we quickly realized that no other ETAs were going to come, so after talking to some locals, we decided to call it a night.

So that was more or less my first day traveling Indonesia. I must say, everyone we have met has been so friendly! It's not uncommon to hear people shout "Selamat Jalan!" (Have a safe journey) to you as your walking on the sidewalks. I'm hoping I will receive this same treatment once I am on my own without any white people :)


Update:: a Popeye's has also been spotted.