Overnight Train to Sungai Petani

Thomas had been promised a journey on an overnight train, a real adventure for a little boy, so our return journey from Kuala Lumpur to Sungai Petani was by Malaysian Railways (KTMB).

The train, Ekspres Langkawi, departed Kuala Lumpur Sentral at 20.00 and arrived in S.P. around 06.40 the following morning.

The new K.L. Sentral station, another functional glass and concrete construction lacks the romance and charm of the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station.

H-M still smiling. (Henry popping out to see what is going on.)

Henry on an upper bunk.

Thomas on his bunk, full of anticipation.

The boys slept well and enjoyed the trip, but H-M claimed that next time only Premier Night class would do. I suspect that persuading her to join me on an overland adventure train journey from Finland to Malaysia might be a bit of an uphill struggle. (Vainikkala - St. Petersburg - Moscow - Trans-Siberian Railway - Beijing - Hanoi - Saigon - Phnom Penh - Bangkok - Malaysia. It shouldn't take more than a month!)

Arrived in Sungai Petani.

The journey ended with a trip from S.P. railway station to Taman Meranti in a 'kereta sapu', or illegal taxi (beggars cannot be choosers). The old man driving didn't have much clue where he was supposed to be taking us, but luckily we knew the route. In Asia unlicensed taxis are very usual, but please use common sense.

In Bandung, Indonesia (Part 2)

Continuing the volcanic theme of the previous day, the next trip was again into the hills north of Bandung, this time to a small spa with hot springs. The drive went up through the plantations of fruits and vegetables and along an estate road. The section of the spa we visited had three swimming pools. The water was warm, like going swimming in bathwater. Henry, who sometimes has difficulties keeping his mouth closed, informed us that it tasted funny, a little like a fizzy drink.

The warm, sulphurous water is claimed to be good for your skin, so just the thing for Henry and me.

Below a few photos.

Enjoying the warm water. (From left to right, Jim, Henry, Peter, Carolyn)

Katie having a little snack.

Crops growing in the Lembang area.

After the spa, we headed back to Bandung and a good meal at the new Pangandaran restaurant. The restaurant is named after Pangandaran ,the village where Sule is from and where Sule and Carolyn had their cottage until it was swept away in the tsunami of July 2006.

Pangandaran Restaurant, Bandung.

The grilled fish was very good, and the children enjoyed their after-dinner yoghurt (bought from the stand at the back of the restaurant).

The following day was a school day for Peter, Jim and Katie, so only the guests, Carolyn and Sule had time for sightseeing, which was in fact more of a shopping trip.


The first port of call was a coffee factory, Koffie Fabriek Aroma, Bandung. The owner kindly showed us around and explained the process. Koffee Fabriek Aroma deserves support as it is committed to working without cutting corners. The business began in the 1930s and the current owner took over from his father. The same methods and machinery, imported from Germany, are used as from the beginning; the coffee beans are stored for eight years before being roasted and sold. A claimed advantage of the process is that the coffee is kinder on the stomach. One way of telling that coffee has been matured properly is to look at the coffee beans, they should be matte. If the beans are shiny, the maturation has been speeded up with the use of chemicals.

For anyone wanting to visit, the details are: Koffie Fabriek Aroma, Jalan Banceuy 51, Bandung, tel. (022) 4230473.

Henry in the coffee factory (Peter in the background). Henry, of course, enjoyed seeing the machines for roasting and sorting etc.

From the coffee factory we next went to a shop selling Indonesian cultural artefacts. Adjoning the shop was a small workshop making wayang kulit puppets.

Making the clothes


Making the heads.


The finished Wayang puppets.

After lunch, the boys went home while the ladies continued shopping. Bandung is a centre of the Indonesian textile industry and there are many so-called 'outlets' selling seconds and overuns.


The next day was already time to head to the airport and back to Malaysia. One last ride in the Zebra and then it was through the gates into the departure lounge of Bandung Airport.

Departure at Bandung Airport. Henry clowning around as usual. The Zebra is in the background.

For pictures of the aircraft to Malaysia, see the previous post "To Bandung, Indonesia."



While we left Bandung, we didn't leave Indonesia completely behind. When we had returned back to Finland, I had to buy a new winter jacket and got one with a nice spider logo. On returning home, I looked at the lining and found a little tag, "Made in Indonesia". Even with a discount of 20%, I had to pay the equivalent of four months' salary for an Indonesian worker, which really makes me wonder about the equity of the current global economic system.

In Bandung, Indonesia (Part 1)

Having arrived safely in Bandung, Indonesia we were met at the airport by Carolyn and family - Sule, Peter, Jim and Katie - in their blue Zebra. With Sule at the wheel, we were taken through the horrendous Bandung traffic to their little house in Dago Pojok. Although in the city, the house is quite rural, in a little kampung, on a steep slope facing rice fields. The house is reached by following a path down the hill and the talk of the kampung was the efforts by State Electric Company of Indonesia to errect a 2-metre concrete wall blocking access. Below a few photos.

View from near Carolyn's house. Not bad, considering it is in the middle of a city of 2.5 million.

Carolyn and Peter talking in the living room. During our visit poor Sule was engulfed in a flood of English.

Sule cooking a snack before heading off to the mosque. And since you ask, he was cooking tempeh, which Hwei-Ming very much enjoyed.

All the children got on very well together and were all very well behaved.

Henry and Jim.

Katie, Thomas and some penguins.


Hwei-Ming with Katie, who is about to head off to school.

Peter is a little shy, so there are not so many photos, but we got him in the end, keep reading the post.

After a good night's sleep, we all set off towards Lembang and the live volcano, Mt. Tangkuban Perahu.

The crater of the volcano. If you look carefully, it is possible to see some smoke rising.

A closer view of the lava.


A team photo in front of the volcano. From left to right; Peter, Jim, Sule, Katie, Carolyn, Thomas, Hwei-Ming, and Henry.

Jim posing by the volcano.


Peter, Katie and Jim.


Henry, Peter and Thomas.

The volcano is a popular tourist attraction and there are lots of stalls selling souvenirs and trinkets, as well as local fruits - strawberries and blackberries.

A group of giggling girls, preening, posing and pouting for the camera.

Our group was not immune to the sales patter of the salesmen and we ended up buying local fruits, an anklung, and some other bits and pieces.

An angklung is a bamboo instrument played by shaking. In an angklung orchestra, each player has one note and shakes it when it is his/her turn.

A small angklung.

To listen to some angklung music, click here. (No guarantee that the link will work.)

After the volcano, we went to the Sapulidi café for our main meal. Sapulidi is a café and resort with small huts set around a pond. Each hut has a low table and the guests sit on the floor. Henry and Thomas particularly enjoyed the fact that in Indonesia eating is with fingers; no need for cutlery.

The Sapulidi Café, our eating hut is in the background.

Sule and Katie and our Sapulidi meal, Nasi Timbel Komplit, served on banana leaves. Note the lack of eating implements.

While the food was good, the serice was glacially slow. which left plenty of time for playing around.

Katie and Thomas with green hair.


Peter with green hair.

Carolyn, up-to-date with the latest style, as usual!

The meal ended with surabi, Sundanese pancakes.

Surabi being made.

With full stomachs we set off back to the little house in Bandung.

To Bandung, Indonesia

On somewhat of a whim, I decided that since we were 'in the area' we could visit my old friend, Carolyn and her family in Bandung, Indonesia.

Carolyn and I worked for the same organisation in Sweden, Folkuniversitetet, in the late 1980s, before we both moved to Finland. I'm still in sunny/snowy Suomi, whereas Carolyn has ended up in the Far-East.

Elks Street flew with Air Asia from Penang to Kuala Lumpur (LCCT) and then on to Bandung with another Air Asia flight. The return journey was Air Asia Bandung-KLIA (LCCT) followed by an overnight train to S.P.

Some words about the airline. Air Asia is a rapidly growing low-cost carrier based in south-east Asia. It has various national branches flying under the Air Asia banner. The Malaysia Air Asia flights I have used have all been on modern aircraft. The Indonesia Air Asia flights were with old Boeing 737s which, based on the labels in the toilets, formerly belonged to SAS. All Air Asia flights I've taken have been late, but none very late, 30-40 mins maximum. When travelling with Air Asia, a couple of things to bear in mind are that there is so-called "free seating," meaning a free-for-all, and it is a so-called "point-to-point carrier," meaning that connections are not guaranteed.

Below a few photos.

Waiting at Kuala Lumpur (LCCT) terminal.

The terminal is extremely crowded and not very nice. KLIA proper is very different; one of the world's more pleasant airports.

An Air Asia plane decked out in Manchester Utd colours.

The plane was seen at KL (LCCT) on 19 December 2008. Is this proof that Man Utd fans don't actually come from Manchester?

Boarding at KL (LCCT). Henry in the bottom corner carrying the backpack.

Bandung Airport, officially Husein Sastranegara International Airport.

It is a former military base. When you arrive, there is one table to get the visa-on-demand for those eligible, two tables for checking passports, one machine for scanning your luggage, and then it's out of the door into the world of Indonesia.

Hwei-Ming and Thomas having just disembarked from the flight at Bandung Airport.

Below a few aircraft photos for the plane spotters among you.

Passengers disembarking from the Bandung to Kuala Lumpur flight (23 Dec 08).

The same plane (PK-AWC) seen from the other side.



A Malaysia Air Asia plane in front of the control tower at K.L. (LCCT).

All Indonesian airlines, including the national carrier Garuda, are currently banned from flying in the European Union for reasons of safety - the Indonesian transport system has an appalling record. On the return flight there was an interesting incident. The air hostess (also known as the flight attendant) did the usual safety briefing but concluded by saying: "Please take a moment to pray for a safe flight."

Maybe this is normal procedure but based on the alarming way we skidded along the ruway on landing at K.L. maybe she knew something we didn't!