More Bandung Shopping! Still Day 1

After lunch at Dapurku, we decided that the day was still young, and why not head for our first Factory Outlet or FO of the day. On my list was Jl Dago. And next to it was a recommended FO called Uptown. At the restaurant, we asked how to get to Dago (which apparently is the oldest and most famous street in Bandung). We saw many Angkutan Kota or Angkots on the road.

We also noticed that the locals were using them. They must be affordable; and they were! It costs about Rp1000 to Rp5000 per pax depending on the distance.So we asked how do we get one that goes to Dago. Did I mention that when we were there, people were celebrating their Independence Day on Sunday? You could actually hear people practising for the parade especially early in the morning.

Anyway, the lady manning the kerepek counter gave us some directions and we found ourselves outside these gates (see pix below).
Across the street was like an Angkot stop. These Angkots can actually pretty much stop wherever and anywhere they like. If the drivers spot anyone they think need their service, they'd stop or honk. If the targets do need an angkot, other angkots won't stop for them anymore. It's almost as if the code among Angkot drivers is Finders keepers, losers weepers. Anyway, if you want to stop the Angkot, you say KIRI (left) and the driver will stop for you.
So we took one that says Dago on it. Be careful which Dago Angkot you take. We learnt the hard way that there are many Dago angkots and there are several combinations like Kelapa-Dago and so on. Kelapa is actually a name of a place. From the Angkot, we kept our eyes peeled and found Uptown! (Refer to earlier Bandung post for pix.) So cool! And we weren't disappointed.
Here's what Uptown FO looks like inside. This is the kids' section. We bought clothes for the kids.
Here is another FO we saw across the street.
And here's what it looks up close:
We didn't buy anything from here. Then we walked to Kartikasari (also within walking distance).
This is the place famous for its brownies. See pix below. We just bought a slice of this and that to try. On the last day, we stopped at a branch of Kartika Sari near the hotel to get some cakes and brownies to bring back. Zul went designers' here. He bought himself a Just Cavalli jeans and D&G shoes. They were very affordable. And absolutely gorgeous on him. Perfect fit.
Then we walked to the next FO and the next.
From here I think I bought some pants for Mika and Naqib. So far nothing for myself yet.
The building above is DSE. Here Zul bought a bag to bring our shopping home (he foresaw our bags wouldn't be enough), and some Old Navy pants. So many shops, yet, I hadn't found anything for me yet. Zul seemed to have struck gold at nearly every shop.
Anyway, we took a cab from DSE and I wanted to go to BEC. Somehow, in my mind, BEC changed to BTC (Bandung Trade Centre, and this was some distance away). Taxi wasn't a Bluebird. At first we thought he was using his meter but he said it didn't work. This was the taxi that fleeced us. Everywhere we wanted to go was 'lumayan jauhnya'/ reasonably far, even our hotel. Since he told us that BTC was lumayan jauhnya and cost RP35K, we decided to go back to the hotel. But on the way, I spotted the BEC building and realised that it was BEC that I wanted to go to and not BTC. We stopped the taxi and even though we didn't stop at our hotel, he wanted RP35K. Of all the nerve! We protested a little and I think we paid him RP30K.
Here, it was nearly 9 p.m. and most shops were closing. In that short window of time, I checked out the camera shops and knew that cameras were more expensive in Bandung. I gave up my quest for buying a camera, but Zul bought himself a laptop bag, which was really impressive coz it could be a backpack and a shoulder bag as well. It cost RM120 ++ if I'm not mistaken. Then we went back to our hotel. The champion shopper for the day was Zul. I was kinda depressed I couldn't find anything for me. Nothing appealed to me. It's just like that Samuel Coleridge poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner that goes, "Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink."
Shedih gitu...but who knows what tomorrow brings, and let's keep that till the next post. Ngantuk dah nie.