Cuti-Cuti Bandung & Hot Air Balloon Festival in Putrajaya

2 years, 10 months & 2 days old.....

Bandung, 15-18 March 09

I went to Bandung with a few of my colleagues for cuti-cuti. We bought the ticket at zero fare and just paid RM200+ for airport tax. I enjoyed the trip very much coz for the first time, I travel with colleagues for holiday and not for work. The feeling was totally different. So relaxing and enjoyable. The best thing was everything was well planned and arranged before we left for the trip. From hotel and itinerary to money changing. I just packed my bag and hopped in.

All we did there was shop, eat, spa, reflexology, shop, shop and shop. I'll never get to do all these in KL. I didn't buy lots of things but I just enjoyed shopping all day long. I haven't done this in many many years. Just imagine, 3 full days of shopping without worrying that you will be late to pick up your son from school. No need to worry what to feed him tonight. The only worry is that he will be sick at home but I called and sms hubby to check everyday. Both of them were ok throughout the trip.

I went for my first ever spa in Bandung and paid 425,000 Rupiah (approx. RM 136) for a 2.5 hours package. So much cheaper compared to KL rite? The foot reflexology is also very cheap. It only cost 25,000 Rupiah (approx. RM8) for a 1-hour session. Unbelieveable. I asked the girl twice for the price coz I was really stunned.

One thing I realised was that their chickens taste so much better than those in KL. They are more juicy and taste like ayam kampung, not ayam pasar. I better let the photos do the talking (most of them were taken by my colleagues - A&A).

We visited the crater on the second day. Nice place but have to
go there early in the morning when it's more cooling.


The crater.


What we saw from one of the viewing decks.


Rows of shops selling local handicrafts.

Riung Sari, the restaurant where we had our lunch on the first day.
Nice food, nice ambience, fair price.

Lunch at Riung Sari. The one on the right is Nasi Timbel Special. Delicious!

One of the outlets

The price list at one of the beauty salon.
This is where we did the foot reflexology.

The spa we went to.

The place for baju kurung, kebaya and kain.

Putrajaya, 22 March 09

After returning from Bandung, me and hubby brought Ethan to Putrajaya on Sunday, to see hot air balloon. We were supposed to meet a friend, her hub and son there. We all arrived almost at the same time at around 8.45 pm to find that all the ballooons have been launched at 8 am. Only one balloon was still at the launching pad and it was only opened for charity ride, i.e., for orphans, etc. We saw some balloons floating around while we were on the way there but thought that there will be a few more around. Mana tahu, only one left. They called it hot air balloon festival but there were more stalls selling food than the hot air balloons around. I didn't have high expectations for the festival so it was only a minor dissapointment for me.

However, Ethan enjoyed it very much coz he saw the big balloon and a few paramotors flying around. He was so amazed to see the 'Uncles' (he calls any stranger men as uncle) flying around and kept saying 'So many, so many'. We spent slightly more than an hour there before adjourned to Alamanda for brunch. He started to warm up with Zac, my friend's son and played with him while we ate. The kids had a good time playing while the adults had a good time chatting. At end of the day, we were happy coz the kids were happy. That's all that matter.

The one and only hot air balloon around.

So many! So many!

Looking at the paramotors with full excitement

Playing with Zac