Heaven on Earth: Kineruku, Bandung

An old house with an extraordinary collection

Baca-Dengar-Tonton, that's the tagline of Kineruku,  a cafe library at Jalan Hegarmanah No. 52 Bandung. Established in 2003 under name of Rumah Buku and changed its name into Kineruku in 2009, now it has 4000 of books collection, 1000 CDs collection, and 1000 movies collection, this place is a heaven on earth for book/music/movie freak. 

I once found this place via Kompas, my hubby and I still read  newspaper, yep, we're such an old-fashioned couple. When last week we visited Bandung due to a friend's wedding, out of the blue we just remembered this place and headed there with the help of Waze apps. 

Located in an old yet cozy house, this place is completed with merchandise shop, indie books/CD/VCD, and also good foods. We ordered Nasi Goreng Kencur, Mendoan, and Cucumber Ice, all were super tasty. So tasty even I didn't have any pics of them, the food arrived and suddenly they're gone, hahaha....

Kineruku sometimes organizes some programs relating to books launching, music concert or Nobar, watching movies together at its back yard or you can also borrow its movies collection and watch them there since it has special room for movie watching.    

Interested to drop by? Check its website at www.kineruku.com

Btw in Bandung, we stayed at De Paviljoen Hotel at Jalan R. Martadinata (Riau),  if you just want to have a good sleep and enjoy cafes, restaurant and Factory Outlets, I guess this hotel is perfect since everything are within walking distance so you need not to worry about Bandung Weekend Traffic Jam.

Just a short weekend getaway but it turned out to be real good :)

Backpacking with Kids: Korea #1

Hanok in Gyeong Ju, the place we stayed 

"Why travel with kids?

Childhood is a short season."

-Helen Hayes

Destination #1: Gyeong Ju and Busan

Ready for Lantern Festival

Beautiful Gamcheon Cultural Village

After flying for 7 hours from Jakarta to Seoul and continued by getting on and off of the bus, train and lastly by foot for around 6 hours in total, we finally arrived safe and sound in our  Hanok in Gyeong Ju. Hanok is a Korean traditional house. Although its look is traditional but inside the place is very modern completed with all up-to-date home appliances. The host is very nice, she provided us with free toast, home-made jam, milk, juice, egg and Samyang noodle (Korean noodle), what a bless.

One of beautiful spots in Gamcheon

Gyeong Ju is a peaceful city. UNESCO awarded it as a cultural heritage. It is full of temple, tombs, museum, castles, observatory, and small yet intimate cafes. 

Jagalchi Fish Market

From Gyeong Ju, we took train to Busan, a large port city in South Korea and also the second most populous city after Seoul. We dropped by at Jagalchi Market. A world famous market for fresh fish and seafood to take away or eat at the informal stalls. The kids enjoyed the fish market so much. They amazed to see how complete the seafood collection and how clean the market is. 

A Busy Busan City

Next we headed to Gamcheon Cultural Village. It is a beautiful spot for selfie. The houses here were built on the foothills of a coastal mountain, earning this village the nickname of "Machu Picchu of Busan." The place is full with colorful and beautiful houses, cafes and shops. Every part of the place is decorated by the residents vibrantly with murals and sculptures. 

Luwak Cafe in Gyeong Ju

Latest destination on that day was actually swimming and enjoying Haeundai Beach. But...unfortunately the universe was against us. The rain's heavily pouring accompanied by wind and thunder. We couldn't stay long in the beach, so we had a negotiation with the kids to drop by in a Korean restaurant and have a delicious dinner while waiting for the rain to stop. Still a perfect way to end that day's adventure.

So happy to see the Dandelion flowers

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport."