Grand Serela Hotel & Stone Grill

 

Continue from my previous post of Bandung, so here I am posting my last post of my short Bandung trip.

We headed back to check-in hotel which took us 3 hours to reach the place.

The hotel that we stayed over the weekend is Grand Serela Hotel which is near to Yunita's wedding location.

 

Photos taken using my iPhone 4s so pardon for sharpness of the photos of the room:-

 

The lobby of the hotel which is link to the bar counter as well.

The hotel is boutique hotel style which has a comfortable room with affordable rates.

 

 

A photo taken during our breakfast.

 The hotel served breakfast as well and are all local delicacies. They even served french fries for breakfast.

 

After we check-in the hotel, the driver recommended us a place for dinner which is approximately 20 minutes drive from our hotel.

 

The restaurant named Stone Grill Restaurant. The place has a great atmosphere and ambience as it is at the hill peak which able to view the overall view of the Bandung city. Too bad my iphone 4s quality is not that great unable to capture the beautiful scenery.

 

Mushroom soup in western style

 

Nasi kambing with eggs. Simple dish but filling..

 

Claypot noodles with vegetables

 

This is extremely yummy!!

Fresh Avocado Juice

 

Coffee Latte

 

Western foods- Beef Steak

The price is affordable and the taste is as par as the value of the price.

 

My choice and i think i made the right choice.

Indonesian food - Bebek Bakar Rp58 000.

Grilled Duck served with steam rice, chilli sauce, vegetables and anchovies chips.

The duck meat tender and smooth. It blends well with their chilli sauce. I realize Bandung chilli sauce is very delicious and spicy. So i just can't help to give a dip with the duck meat.

 

Dinner was great with good ambience and atmosphere. Loving the place and accesible by cars only.There are many people flocking the place for the atmosphere and the affordable foods.

 

After the dinner, we headed back to hotel to rest. We went to SPA the following day before we headed to Yunita's wedding. Yunita's wedding was beautiful and elegant. She is pretty and the husband is handsome. I ended my post with a photo with Yunita & husband and myself on her wedding day.

 

 

Situ Patengang, Bandung

After Kawah Putih, we wanted to go to Tangkupan Perahu which is famous with the volcanic crater but it was closed for maintenance that day. So,we continue our journey towards Situ Patengan.

 

Situ Patengan, comes from Sundanese "Pateangan-teangan" with the meaning is each other looks for. The legend was shared by that formerly there is a couple of lover named Ki Santang and Dewi Rengganis . They were split-ups for long period and was forced to split under certain circumstances. Their tears formed a lake there and named Situ taken from the word teangan pateangan which was said earlier.

 

Boats are available and the colors of the boats are bright enough and outstand the surroundings. It was peaceful and calm when u step into this place. The entrance fee was around Rp7000 (entrance fee per person + car (which is shared among total people in a car)). So basically less than SGD1 per entrance fee.

 

Water transportation facilities are available such as rowboat rentals, boat and water bikes at a price which is negotiable with owner. There are many stalls along a path where they sell souvenirs and foods which is owned by the people who are staying at the area. However, when we arrive there after 4pm, most of the stalls are closed. So it was very quiet and calm feeling. We didn't rent the boats but just walked around the reservoir and snap photos.

 

 

 

This stall sells very interesting vegetables. There are indonesian brinjal which is called terong belanda. It can be raw eat and also make into juice based on the local recommendation. But we did not buy and try. There are many locals grow their own strawberries and sold to tourists at very cheap price. The taste of the strawberries are the same we have in Malaysia and Singapore.

 

Love the shadow photos taken during sunsets.

All photos taken using iphone & Samsung phone. #nofilter or #noedit. Perfectly nice and i am loving it!

 

Quiet path with all the stalls closed on that late afternoon.

 

After rounds of snapping non-stops at the lake, we continue our journey to Bandung town area and headed back to hotel. We came across the tea plantation along the route and went down to take a few snaps on the photo. It is basically like Cameron Highlands tea plantation and we can see young couples climbed up to the hill for dating and viewing the overall view of the outskirt town. It's just a simple yet happy kind of life without complicating town bust.

 

 

Evening shoot of the tea plantation which blends the green environment with the nature beauty. Sometimes, you will just feel contented having looking at the blue sky and smile your worries away...

Sindang Reret Restaurant & Kawah Putih @ Bandung, Indonesia

 

 

I flew again on the month of September and this time to Bandung, Indonesia.Thanks to my colleague, Yunita for inviting us to her wedding dinner. I got the chance to explore Bandung. I booked AirAsia budget flight which cost SGD192.00 for round way and inclusive of insurance and cabin luggage.

 

We (colleagues and beanbean) took the morning flight and reached Bandung airport around 11 plus in the morning. The flight was delayed due to the air force show running in Bandung Airport. Bandung airport was surprising small and they only have 2 counters opened that day for immigration clearance. Took us an hour plus for everyone to clear the immigration. It was sweet of Yunita to prepare the transportation for us. She has prepared 3 days transportation services and planned our itinerary based on my suggested place.

 

We had an hour plus journey to our lunch destination. It is highly recommended by Yunita and reviews from website, Sindang Reret Restaurant. It is a sundanese style with very calm and cosy atmosphere with fish pool in the middle of the individual dinning area. Our dinning seats are facing the  paddy field (Sawah padi) and able to listen the birds chirping sounds as well. Truly feel like having a peaceful and comfortable environment away from the bustling city.

 

View from our seats to another dinning area.

 

The fishes in the pool was superb big!!

 

Next we have the foods that we ordered for 5 pax which costs us  Rp265000. Consider affordable as we get to try so many dishes.

 

 

Love this dish!Karedok - It is a raw vegetable salad in peanut sauce from West Java. It is one of the Sundanese signature dish which i only knew about it on that very day. It made from cucumbers, bean sprouts, cabbage, legumes, Thai basil and small green eggplant covered in peanut sauce dressing. Splendid taste and refreshing taste!!They served with the crackers to give us the crunchy taste when we consume the salad together.

 

Sweet & Sour Fried Fish (Gurame). But it is recommended by waitress. The fish is slightly hard but overall is fine for us.

 

Tempe Goreng which is a daily dish that is not to miss by Indonesian.It is popular on the island of Java. It is made of fermented soybean.It is a nutritional characteristics and we can have it for snacks as well :)

 

Tauhu goreng. No much comment for this as it is normal fried beancurd.

 

 

Ayam Goreng "Sindang Reret" which is the whole kampung chicken.

 The fried chicken goes very well with the sambal chilli. The combination is great!Beanbean loves the sambal and had almost every dish to go with it. It's too spicy for me though as i am not a chilli lover.

 

 

Photo Amelia & Me with the foods!

 

 

View from our sitting view

 

Lunch was filling and we headed to our next destination, Kawah Putih. It took approximately 2 hours to reach there and we all slept throughout the journey. The road was bumpy and narrow too. I feel like vomitting throughout the journey beacuse the car was shaky too so i forced myself to sleep...

 

 

Random snaps throughout the journey to Kawah Putih.

 

Kawah Putih located at the south of Bandung and is well-known with it's beautiful lake. The main attraction of Kawah Putih is the surreal turquoise coloured lake which fills this vast dormant volcanic crater. The altitude here brings with it chilly temperatures and a light sweater is preferable. It's chilling like you are in Genting Highlands. There is an entrance fees to pay before we are allow to witness the beauty of the lake. We paid Rp 41000 for 5 pax.

 

Photo with Joe

 

 

Photo with colleagues & beanbean

 

Photo with Bean Bean

 

I love the beautiful nature.

All photos taken using iPhone & Samsung S3 without any filter or editting. Love the contrast of colours of nature beauty!

 

 

View from the sky..It's gorgeous right?

 

 

Dysfunctional photo which i attempt to take using the Photosynth.

Anyway, i think it still able to give you guys an overall view of the place.

 

 

Finally I get the chance to explore to such beautiful hidden place of a town. However,one thing that we can't stand is the smell of the sulfur aroma. It is very strong and we can't stay there for too long. We will have difficult breathing once we smell too much of it.

 

So we headed back to car by climbing the steps up back to our car and headed to next destination. I shall keep till here and continue in my next post.