Destination: Padalarang, Bandung

As we know, this holiday is distracted with major traffic everywhere except Jakarta (cause everyone flees to other cities for vacay). And that includes my family when we head to Padalarang, Bandung. So we visited:
1. Stone Garden  A 10 hectar garden filled with different size of stones with a view of green forest hills and village. Lots of great spots here to take pictures. Keep an eye out for those pesky monkeys.    Tips:

1. It’s quite open so I suggest you to use sunblock or come here earlier.

2. Be careful not to end up at the wrong gate cause we mistakenly park at Goa Pawon’s main entrance. We have no choice but to climb 20 minutes up the hill (quite exhausting).

3. Don’t use flip flops cause it will wound your feet.
2. Goa Pawon    Known in the legends as the kitchen (aka Pawon) of Dayang Sumbing and Sangkuriang. It’s basically a cave with lots of bats (be careful not to touch those bat poops). There are also 3 huge window like holes on the wall and a small forest in the middle.  A research from 1999 indicates that this cave was usually beneath the sea. A fosil of a shark teeth, sea shells and mollusca was found here, also with a human fosil.   Tips:

1. Wear a mask cause it’s sure smells.

2. The best time to visit is at 12 cause the sun ray lights up the cave. 

3. You could use a guide if you want to know more about this cave.

PS, check out my short clip about this vacation on my youtube channel: Syafira Chika (don’t forget to subsribe :))

Union @Plaza Senayan

A lot of people, including artist and socialites, have been taking pictures outside Union, Plaza Senayan. Cause of curiosity, me and Gina decided to take a little visit.

So, because we arrived super hungry, we immediately ordered our lunch. Thank god there was a welcome bread with cheese spread, cause I wasn’t sure that I can hold my hunger. 

  
So we ordered:

1. Banana Peanut Butter  It’s a banana, vanilla ice cream and peanut butter smoothie . Love the blend cause nothing was over powering, it’s just right.

Price: 55 k

Rate: 9/10 (recommended)
2. Melon Mint Smoothie
 I don’t really taste the melon, but the mint’s there for sure.

Price: 55 k

Rate: 5/10.

3. Union Crispy Chicken   The mac and cheese was kinda grainy, not to cheesy and creamy. It’s a shame that it wasn’t served warm. Good seasoning on the chicken and it’s sure crispy. The fries are too salty.

Price: 110k

Rate: 6.5/10

4. Seared Barramundi with scallop and vinaigrette

 Loved the barramundi with a touch of saltiness. The sauce was creamy and scallop was great. The presentation, awesome.

Price: 175k

Rating: 9/10 (recommended)

*prices don’t include tax and service
Besides the food, the place was lovely. It was dominated by windows so it’s bright and definitely a good place to take pictures. The outside of the restaurant is also an iconic place for taking ootd pictures.   

Photogenic Cafes

After reading “Best coffee shops to take OOTD photos” from ootdindo.com, me and Elke picked GoodHood Coffee + Kitchen from the list to visit. This cafe is located at the Dipo Business Center, Gatot Subroto (It took me 2,5 hours to get here! Curse you traffic jam!)

It is no doubt a photogenic place to take OOTD photos. There are murals on the wall and big windows that alows light to come in (obviously a great lighting for the pictures). If you wonder which spots are good, just ask the waiter and they’ll recommend you a great spot to take a photo. Don’t forget to take a picture infront of the cafe because it has a white brick wall a.k.a my favorite type of wall (seriously, it makes a great background). We were lucky the place was empty cause it was after lunch time in a weekday. So we can take alot of photos without people disturbing.

  
   

Besides the photogenicness of the cafe, it’s a coffee shop afterall so I ordered cafe latte (Rp 37.000) and Red Velvet cake (Rp 39.000). The coffee was nice, but the odd thing was that the red velvet cake was served warm (I don’t understand the essence of this cause it’s usually served cold).

The second place that we visited was Gastromaquia, located at Senopati. It was a really cozy and inspirative place with lots of D.I.Y crafts as their decoration. My favorite one was the silver spoon and fork chandelier, a simple yet creative piece of art. There were also cute patterened pillows lined up on the sofa. Love it (and wanna steal it! *Just kidding*). This place makes me wanna make my own crafts! It even has a reading area with books that you could borrow, definitely a recommeded place for your “me time”.

  
  
           I only ordered Bubble Gum Gastro (Rp 42.000), a mocktail with bubble gum syrup, mix strawberries, and apple juice. What surprises me that it uses molecular gastronomy techniques to make small pearls that pops in your mouth!

This places are definitely a must-visit if you wanna take good ootd pictures. Happy OOTD photo hunting!