Out & About: Tangkuban Prahu, Bandung, Indonesia

I found myself on the shores of Indonesia about a week back and it was a very cultural experience. Indonesia despite being somewhat related to Malaysia is a total contrast.. Everything about it is in the extremes, dirtier, smoggier, friendlier, poorer, spicier and a huge shock to my system.

We had little time for actual sight seeing, but somehow, thanks to our tour leader, we managed to squeeze in a short half day trip to Tangkuban Prahu, an active volcano crater on a mountain top in hilly Bandung. The journey in itself was a 2 hour slog through hills and valleys, bends and curves and the non-inescapable traffic jams of  Indonesia known locally as Macet (pronounced Mah-Chett).

As soon as we arrived we were hit with the pong of sulfur, causing some to experience mild nausea! From the parking area, we needed to be bussed up another kilometer up (our own chartered bus wouldn't have made it up the gradient) after a bout of being hounded the the ubiquitous street peddlers selling overpriced touristy trinkets.

A short ride after, we were greeted with an amazing sight (and somehow, we all got accustomed to the rotten egg pong of the volcano, probably dumbed down by the panorama). And like all tourists everywhere, our cameras went clickety click non-stop from there-on.

Scenes of the adjacent hills



So called active crater (more like mouldering puddle!)



Green vista!

It was there that the members of the tour group grew closer as we chatted and discovered more about each other. The camwhore-ing sessions helped us bond a little more and we gradually warmed up to each other. heck, some of us actually reveled in making complete tourists of ourselves and it was funny. 

Rizal n Jamal in the distance. Strike a pose!

Crazy bunch!

Tangkuban Prahu being a mountain, perched on a bigger mountain (which is what Bandung really essentially is after all), is cool and calm, a total sea change from the hectic rush of the city. Never mind the bevy of Trinketmen and ladies, it was great to just linger in the majesty of the hills.    

Yes, they were selling Hamsters at the top of the mountain!



Trinket & Food Peddlers taking a breather.

Trinketman selling all manner of rabbit (or kelinchir as the locals call it) merchandise.

After a couple of hours, the small group that had gravitated towards each other, we made our way back down to the bussing pit stop. GF even managed to get a Pony ride (more like a hill horse) down (which was like totally amazing, as I never imagined she would actually want to). I was laughing so hard it was ridiculous and I got some good shots for posterity.

Horse-ing around!

Poor horseys! Hahahaha..

Only much later, after the long ride back to our domicile, did we realize that most of us were sunburned! Yikes!

Tehehehe! Camwhore me!

Car Ownership Conundrum

About a little over a year ago, I finally got myself a brand new car, which replaced the ageing Proton Wira my family had since 1997. Now, it isn’t a particularly big car or one that could even remotely be considered luxurious, or flashy (I am not one of those who dream of Porsche-ing around town; a two-seater car is so ludicrously impractical). It is a simple Proton Persona, an economical and easy to drive sedan with a slightly sporty look.

I chose this car mainly because it was a good drive and most Persona owners were very (if not extremely) satisfied with the design, engineering and technology that went into it. You could say it was a logical choice, added to the fact that it was sitting squarely in what I could afford.

Proton has several classes or standards for this model, starting with the basic Baseline, onwards to Medium line, then upwards to the High line and a final notch up, the High line Special Edition or S.E. In all honestly, the Baseline version would have sufficed, but such is the story of my life, I lusted for the SE.

I postulated that I could afford the monthly bank installments with some cut backs on my current lifestyle and habits. The first day the car was delivered to me was a special day. It a strange mix of pride, for finally owning my own shiny new ride and ahem, I am driving an SE! (I guess this is the same feeling Ferraris would give to its buyers).

My baby! All clean and polished to a gleam.

I have been everywhere in it as far as Penang and Johor, to work, for short gallivanting jaunts and run-arounds. Truth be told, I am satisfied with the build quality and reliability of my car, despite what Proton naysayers are spouting.

However, I have failed to take into consideration the actual cost of owning a ride isn’t so much the monthly installments, but the actual running costs – road tax, yearly insurance, fuel, parts replacement, servicing and all other maintenance related money-sinkers like washing, polish and waxes and those assorted bits we not necessarily need but want nonetheless for the car.

Some say the 'snow-wash' type of cleaning is bad for the paint job. Is this so?

A friend recently told me of his plans to also get a car for himself and I found myself cautioning him the realities of car ownership. I certainly wasn’t trying to scare him against getting one, but I may have come across rather strongly in my advising.

I wish someone had taken the time to guide me on what I need to really look at. Obviously, having an ‘SE’ labeled car automatically makes you feel like one is part of an elite few (yes, never mind the fact that it is only a Proton), but there is much I should have known in hind sight.

Roughly two weeks ago, I sent my car in for a major servicing as it had already clocked 40,000 kms. The car was of course equipped with maintenance schedule and it urged to get certain things done, lest the car warranty kaput. Drove to my usual car service guys and got them to do what is needed.

And these little things made the owner go ouch ouch ouch!

Treatment time! Removing the gungy transmission and engine oils.

Thus my bill came out like this:

RM 18  : Air Filter                                                

RM 12  : Oil Filter                                                 

RM 18  : Engine Treatment                                    

RM 97  : Engine Oil 4 Liters                                   

RM 18  : Engine Cleaner                                        

RM 175: Automatic Transmission Fluid 5 Liters       

RM 3.5 : Windshield Cleaner                                  

RM 12  : Radiator Coolant                                    

RM 60  : Major Service Charges                            

TOTAL = RM 498.50.

I ended up gasping for air a few moments thereafter. The service mechanic also recommended that I change the front wheel brake pads (estimated at RM75 a piece!), the brake fluid (good for a few more weeks) and maybe consider doing a proper car detailing (which is an estimated RM 1500 layered combination of washing, claying, polishing, waxing, buffing and re-waxing to restore the body paint quality) at a good detailing center.

Eeep! Uhm, next month please!

Most of my days are spent working how much I actually need to set aside for my car. Now I know why some consider owning vehicles as a liability instead of it being an asset.

Coke Light Addiction!

There I have said it, I have an addiction to Coke Light!

I used to drink plain ole Coke, attempted to like Cherry Coke (Ugh. What was I thinking!), then sidled towards the other flavour permutations Coke came up with such as Black Cherry, Zero ( with absolutely no nutritional value, yayy!), Lime, Lemon et al. I then migrated on to Coke Light.

And what a relationship I have with it. I really really love this stuff. I drink it early in the day for Brekky, I drink it while at work, with loads of ice and lime juice, I drink it at night before going to bed and all other times in between or when the mood strikes.

My personal favourite was when Coca Cola Malaysia used to offer Coke Light Lemon. I would buy it by the cartons! Alas, this flavour was discontinued, probably due to the low sales figures, or the fact that it smelled faintly of some cheap toilet cleaning bleach, least-ways that was what they were saying.

Joy!

In my duty travels abroad, my drink of choice would invariably be some unique Coke Light or Diet flavours.

At one point, I was downing like 9 cans in a day! Rather strangely I have never experienced the discomforts others were saying when one has too much soda drinks. Nowadays, it is a more modest 4 to 5 cans a day (which isn't modest at all some would argue).

With Vitamins! Healthier alternative even!

The thing is, I don't enjoy it so much for the so called dieting reasons (for which plain ole water works wonders to assist in flushing the bodily systems, which I do have lots of between hits of coke light), but rather for the immediate sweet hit it gives. The primary sweetening agent in Coke Light is Aspartame and this bonded amino acid based sugar substitute is seriously sweeter pound for pound when compared to boring, plain sugar.

Then I stumbled upon these Internet articles, bandying the dangers of Aspartame and other synthetic sweeteners- http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-information.html, http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.html. Egads! Now what?

So what can I try for that immediate sweet impact I so crave? Honey is too cloying and its own flavours doesn't agree with some others, Demerara doesn't keep very well and cost twice that of Honey, White sugar attracts ants, Palm sugar is just, well, not my cup of tea. Sigh....