My 25th Bday in Bandung!

---

I have left the Gili Islands behind once again and I made my way to Jakarta with a sligth culture shock 😉

I stayed with a couchsurfing friend - Anna - in Jakarta Pusat. Got a very homely feeling at her house and she showed me the ropes of public transportation through Jakarta.
I also had a great time with lots of the CS'ers (couchsurfers) in Jalan Jaksa.

On Monday I tried out my newly acquired skills and took the bus all the way from centre JKT to the south. Quite an adventure in a city like JKT but I made it safely to the Vitruvian Studio - where I will be taking a 4week Pilates course.

But first I have 2 weeks in Bandung - about 2h from JKT - for the first part of my Pilates course.
I got a guesthouse about 200m from the studio and there are about 4 cafes in that same area. I stay in the Dago area of Bandung where the University is - so no lack of entertainment!
Bandung is cooler than JKT (and pretty much the rest of Indonesia) and it is a very welcome change!
The first week of my course - which is btw in Bahasa Indonesia - is done already. And it has been a great experience so far. The language is a nice extra challenge!

And of course, on Friday was my Bday. I had been in contact with lots of people in Bandung through CS but never met up with any of them. And out of the blue there were 20 people singing the Indonesian Happy Bday with a awesome bday cake! What a great surprise! The evening ended off at about 3am with very pear-shaped Karaokee - yet no alcohol (muslim detail I forgot about). A great evening all by all!

I explored Bandung in the past week with lots of new friends. Most of this time is spent eating all possible local specialities and shopping at the ridiculously cheap factory outlets, but tomorrow we go for a more green approach by visiting caves, waterfalls, volcanoes and forests - if it will just stop raining for a little while....

I have another week here in Bandung and I will be sad to leave this place for the Big Durian - JKT...

---

Photos

At Ngopi Doeloe
The Bday Cake!

At Ngopi Doeloe
The Bday crowd

At Ngopi Doeloe
The Bday Crowd

At Ngopi Doeloe
The honour of feeding my guests ;)

Comments

[moetie]

pilates?
En waar zijn de bewijzen van de studies?? haha

[Kathleen]

Zomaar is...
een mailtje! Heb je blog gelezen en ja, lijkt me niet slecht ginder. Zeg voor 2009, het allerbeste en wat denk je van de ottertrail is te doen(4 nachten -5dagen stappen). Wanneer ben je nog eens thuis? Zeg, veel liefs van ons allen! Kathleen PS Ik zie Karen op zondag en dan zal ik alles verzamelen. Oki-doki!