Hello, Hello Bandung!

It’s end of the year school break in December. We decided against traveling back to the UK, as really we needed a rest, not more excitement. We decided to have a trip to Bandung, West Java by train. Izzy had expressed a desire for horse-riding for a while, so we thought Bandung was a good idea. The last time we went to Bandung was in March 2020, right before the pandemic restrictions. 

We booked the Argo Parahyangan train tickets, as we wanted to try its Luxury seats. However, we missed our train. On that particular Sunday morning, due to being stuck in a Palestine support demonstration near Monas and Gambir station, our taxi got stuck. 

It was quite the experience! We had to wade through thousands of protestors on Kebon Sirih, all the way to Gambir. Actually they were all very pleasant and helpful, and even helped with clearing a path, but it was still nerve-wracking.

We had to buy more tickets at the station, and the next train that was available was the one with the Executive / Economy tickets only, so we chose to buy the Executive ones. I actually forgot that they now have Whoosh. Haha. Oh well, maybe next time.

Kereta Argo Parahiyangan - Bandung Trip

Bandung Trip

Our trip to Bandung was not smooth sailing at first, yet we tried to be composed and calm: it was holiday time and didn’t want to ruin our beautiful moments. We couldn’t control anything that happened from external sources, but what we could fix was our internal (our mood) to be back to an excited mode. After a few restful hours spent with our kids observing all the wonders outside the train windows, we arrived in Bandung, and went straight to the hotel where we were staying.

Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers








We decided to enjoy the hotel amenities on our 1st and 2nd days without going out of the hotel area. We definitely had so much fun at Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers. For more info, please click here.

On the 3rd day of our stay, we walked out of the hotel (still around the Dago area) to find a decent cafe nearby for lunch, and we ended up finding an indoor-outdoor restaurant that was very quiet when we arrived, as no one was there yet, with the restaurant becoming busier later on. In the evening, we took an online taxi to visit another restaurant, that was located a bit further from our hotel. We were lucky that we got there right before the rain came down. All the food, drinks, and desserts we had on that day were delish. Yum!

District Dago Cafe & Resto










One Eighty Coffee Music








We visited some other restaurants during our trip as well. However, we didn’t really take any pictures of the food and the restaurants. I was unwell, and didn’t feel like taking photos. It was our 4th day in Bandung. I didn’t know why, I decided to take a multi-vitamin after having massive buffet breakfast. I don’t consume multi-vitamins routinely, as I hate big pills. But I did it in that morning for whatever reason, and the big pill gave me a massive headache and sickness almost right away. Long story short. I basically vomited all my breakfast at the time. Such a bummer. Apparently the dose was a little too strong for me. I spent my morning to afternoon resting. Thank God, I got better and in the late afternoon, I forced myself to go out and meet my friends. That said, I still puked a lot at the restaurant where we met them.

On our last day in Bandung, I woke up feeling a bit better. We visited a street food restaurant that sold ribs. The restaurant was quite popular and had many good reviews. It was very busy when we arrived, but they served our order quite fast. I liked the food and the dessert (es campur), they were so yummy!

Iga Bakar Si Jangkung




We also visited 2 different malls during our trip: CiWalk on our 3rd day, and PVJ on our 5th day (last day).

Cihampelas Walk (CiWalk)


Paris Van Java (PVJ)


Last but not least, we bought the well-known ‘souvenir’ or must-try cake from Bandung, Bolu Bakar Tunggal via e-commerce, and got it delivered to our hotel.



Our tummies are always happy every time we visit the capital city of West Java. We really enjoyed our family trip in the end. See you next time Bandung! <3

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