Bandung

Photo 1: Some of the giant superheros on Jeans St
Photo 2: The ferris wheel inside Bandung Super Mal. Yes thats right, inside.

On Thursday night, Annie, Erinn and I decided to escape Yogya and head to Bandung. Since Annie leaves Yogya in 2 weeks, this was one of our last chances to do some travel together. We caught the night train, which provided the usual freezing cold, bright conditions so uncondusive to sleep. We started the day by heading to the museum Asia-Afrika. The exhibits recounted the events of the Asia- Africa conference of 1955 (Bandung's claim to fame) in which nations gathered to 'Jeans Street', a part of Bandung famed for the number of outlet shops specialising in jeans. Not wanting to buy any I was more interested in the gianourmous paper mache superhero icons that sat above many of the shops. Wouldnt want to stand under them in a storm... Later that day we went to find a hotel, only to find most of them booked or too expensive. One offered us the presidential street for Rp295 000 so we decided to splurge. The room wasn't that luxurious, but it was huge and had air con.
Yesterday we did what people come to Bandung to do - shop! We (unbelievably perhaps) spent the entire day in one mall. We started with a coffee, looked at the first foor and a half, had lunch, looked at the next 1 1/2 floors, had afternoon tea, went back to buy everything, had dinner and then headed back to the train station. 8 hours gone in a whirl of westernisation, consumerism, air con and expensive meals. There must have been something in the air, because i even let myself buy 2 dresses!