Bandung & Jakarta Day 4-5

 

Kawah Putih

 

 a tour to Kopi Luwak

lunch

Jakarta city tour

We started our Day 4 as early as 7am as we wanted to cover Kawah Putih before leaving to Jakarta since we are behind our plan. The journey to Kawah Putih took us into a 2hours winding road with smooth traffic since it was a weekday. As soon as we stepped out from the car, the cold breeze blew over sending chill to our spines. Kawah Putih is so much colder than Tangkuban Perahu. Immediately Emeryn asked for her cardigan. We took the stairs up leading to the crater itself. It was an amazing breathtaking scenery and it's like a hidden treasure of Bandung. It is a turquoise-colored lake surrounded by green mountains beckons before us with a mixture of fumes and clouds very close to the surface. To actually witness Kawah Putih for the first time is simply incredible and best to visit Kawah Putih early in the morning for a clearer view before the condition gets foggy. Again we were lucky enough to witnessed a clear view of the crater. We took many photos before leaving as it is not advisable to stay long since the sulfur is very poisonous. After all the journey was well worth due to the great countryside scenery of mountains and strawberry farms.

On our way downhill, we requested our driver to have a pit-stop at the only stall offering Kopi Luwak Java Luwak Ciwidey. We ordered the infamous kopi luwak while chilling with the nice ambiance overlooking the greenery stretch of the tea plantation. Kopi means coffee in Indonesian and Luwak is a wild Asian palm civet, a fury creature that looks like a cross between a cat and a ferret. The civet climbs the coffee trees to find the best berries, eats them, digests the berries and eventually out comes the coffee beans in its stools. Farmers then pick up the civet droppings and take the beans to a processing plant. Something about the gastric juices in the civet's stomach gives Kopi Luwak its unique flavor. The processes sound a bit disgusting but nevertheless it provides deep aroma. After having our coffee, the owner brought us to where the civets were fed the beans and its excretion. The civets were caged and all of us gave a "ewww" look after seeing what we had just drank. 

We then head over for lunch at one of the local restaurant, which mummy has forgotten its name. As for their tradition, we were served lunch in an individual hut and this place offers a yummylicious meals. We had a satisfying meal before head out to Jakarta. Again we were trapped in a massive jam even on the highway itself. We spent many hours on the road instead of sight seeing. What a waste. After a long tiring journey, we checked into Tune Hotel, Pasar Baru at about 6.30pm. Without delaying further, we took an angkot to Chinatown instead of asking our driver to send us there, in order to give him some rest. The vendors in Chinatown are in the midst of ending their business for the day when we reached. So we ended having our dinner at one of the food stall along an alley before heading back to our hotel. That nite we rested early.

Our last day, Tues morning we went to explore the city tour. Our first stop was the National Monument (Monas). It is a monument built to remember the struggle of Indonesian heroes fighting the colonial domination. Next was Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia and has the highest capacity. Due to our time constraint, we only took some photo outside of the building. Opposite the mosque, standing tall is the Jakarta Cathedral. After a quick, not-so-complete city tour, we headed to ITC Mangga Dua, the wholesale mall. Before our shopping hunt started, we had our breakfast at the food arcade behind the mall. Mummy bought a Barbie school bag Rp75,000 and a magic pen Rp45,000 for Emeryn. We also bought the same pair of sandal too. We left ITC at 11.15am and headed to Sunda Kelapa, the Old port of Jakarta. It does not have much to offer other then a few old type vessels been loaded. It's a working port and there's basically no tourist infrastructure.

We then make our way to airport where Toki Ee Ee depart 2hours earlier than us. After dropping her at Terminal 2, we then spent 4hours at the airport, loitering around, having lunch, souvenir shopping and Ah Kong having his foot reflexology. We flew back to Penang at 5.45pm and reached Penang at 9.15pm.