Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

In Singapore, we travel by train ALL THE TIME.

And when we went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a couple of months ago, we checked out their train rides too, for the very first time.

This time round, during our visit to Indonesia, we all (four of us and Wilson’s family) went from Jakarta to Bandung … you guessed it, by train.

It’s the kids’ first ever train ride in Indonesia, and I must say, they’re very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go on a nice and comfortable one.

[We were on the executive class and the train’s called ‘Argo Gede‘. Return ticket price is Rp 115,000 per person, ie. just about S$16.50!]

Wilson’s parents purchased the tickets in advance and on the actual day itself, we only needed to bring along our bags and went to Gambir Station.

Here’re a few things about our train ride experience that I’d like share:

– It’s a 3-hour ride from Jakarta. They screened a movie, and they have staff going around asking if we’d like to order (read: buy) any food or drinks throughout the ride (btw, they’re okay if we bring along our own food and drinks and consume them on board)

– It can get really cold in the train, so I’d personally recommend bringing along extra layers of clothes!

I don’t know if they usually set the temperature that low, but it was very cold during our trip back from Bandung to Jakarta.

– I sort of expected the toilets to be worse than what they have on board. Turned out it’s not that bad at all (read: better than my expectation, hehe). They have a metal basin for washing our hands, and a toilet bowl (with a flush button!)

Two things about the toilet though:
The cubicle is rather tiny, AND when I flushed, water didn’t only come out from the inside of the toilet bowl but rain down from the back of the toilet too! It was like getting a mini-flood. My slippers were drenched and I remember thinking, ‘Oh please … let this liquid rush between my toes be WATER, not … ‘

[It wasn’t that funny at the time, but now that I looked back, I find it rather amusing, haha]

– The train ride took us across West Java and we saw different kinds of views. From fresh and beautiful paddy fields, valleys and mountains, to heart-breaking slums. Lots to share with the kids at the time, for sure.

– Upon reaching Bandung, a middle-aged man and his mini van picked us up. He’s booked prior to the trip and drove us around during our 3-day trip in Bandung.

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Instead of driving to Bandung, I think it was nice that we took the train this time round.

It’s a whole new experience, especially for the kids. We got to avoid the frustrating traffic jams too!

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[Photos: Other than the photos at the very top and bottom, the rest was taken using my half-broken Canon Ixus which still faithfully follows me everywhere]