17 Again!

We made it! After 5 months of planning and excitement, 6 of us young ladies made it to Bandung on the 7th of May for a 3D/2 night strictly-ladies-only retreat. I may not speak for the rest, but a few days prior to the departure I was so thrilled and bursting with excitement that I dreamt about it not once, but twice! But I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that we had a fantabulous time there – not just shopping and spa but by just being ourselves again minus the ‘access baggage’.

In all honesty, during that 3-day getaway, we forgot that we are all married with kids. We were 17 again! What a fantastic way to celebrate mother’s day huh? What made it even better was the fact that we speak at the same wave length. Thank you for making it the best weekend ever ladies! Love you all...muahhhhs.

Ahli Rombongan Cik Kiah Goes Places, from left: Mdm. IT (juara shopping), Mdm. Banker (the master of pilih baju), Mdm. HR (ketua rombongan), moi (*** counselor), Mdm. Engineer (the spiritual one) & Mdm. Corporate Comm (official photographer)


Day 1 – An encounter with a handsome tailor

We met at KLIA with our bigger-than-us bags and bags that could ‘beranak-pinak’, in anticipation of the amount of shopping that we will do (with exception of one particular Cik Kiah who brought with her the biggest bag of all but claimed that she wasn’t planning to shop much – yes, I’m heading somewhere with this!). We were literally multi-millionaires on departure day, don’t play play arrr.

After I kissed my hubby goodbye, we made our way to the immigration counter and the fun began! It was like we left our lives behind after we crossed the immigration line. From that point on, we exercised our facial muscles lots! We talked and laughed and giggled almost every minutes of the day I tell ya.

Upon arrival at the not-so-impressive airport, we were greeted with nice weather - a pleasant change from the hot, humid and unpredictable KL weather. We checked-in and immediately left for Pasar Baru, chauffeured in a relatively new Suzuki MPV by our personal driver cum tour guide, Pak Alex. Our first stop was kedai kain D’Fashion.

It was there where we met the handsome tailor (please pardon our excitement because most of us don’t get to meet handsome men often enough. The ones we have at home no longer fall in this category *grin*). Being measured by this handsome chap (at close proximity gittew) was enough to excite us all LOL!!! Fyi, if you are wondering, we tailor-made some pants and skirts for office wear, nothing kinky whatsoever okay.

Tailor yang hensem itu...on second thought maybe not so hensem, but it was good enough to excite us all LOL!


All in all, the 6 of us bought enough fabric to open a small shop in KL, and I am so not joking peeps. We shopped like it was going to be our last.

Next stop was Toko Tiga, the place to buy original jeans in Bandung according to Pak Alex. I didn’t get myself any, although I was tempted to get one - thank God I came back to my sane state (after temporarily went insane at D’fashion). After jeans we headed for dinner at some nasi padang restaurant. Boy the 6 of us can really eat!

After dinner we returned to our temporary abode and decided to have coffee outside (mind you it was 12 midnight). We chit chat till late at Wendy’s (since Starbuck was nowhere to be found) while sipping our do-it-yourself coffee, and the gossiping session continued in our room till, believe it or not, 3am!

Lesson learned on day 1 -Excessive shopping makes you hungry. You should see the amount of food we ate during dinner.

Day 2 – Temporary insanity in huge dosses

Despite sleeping late, we were all charged up to start our day as early possible. Had breakfast at 7am (yes, it was that early) and our shopping excursion began at 8am (really, amazing huh?). First stop was souvenir for wedding goody bags. Fortunately, we were still in our sound state of mind at this point though we did buy stuffs that we could definitely live without!

Next, Pak Alex wanted to take us to the handbag shop but we unanimously decided that fake handbags are just not our thing, sorry! Hence, we headed to Rumah Mode instead - my favourite place in Bandung. If you have not been to Bandung and are planning to go, do not miss this place, take my word for it. And guess what, all of us, with exception of Mdm. HR, went CRAZY shopping and emerged from the shop a few hours later a few millions poorer. Some, including a particular Cik Kiah who claimed that she wasn’t going to shop much, even went back for the second round to get more stuff while the rest of us wait outside under the scorching sun (kita bako sikit buleh?). But that didn’t stop us at all, instead, we were roaring to continue shopping (and even managed to forget about lunch along the process). What did we have for lunch again gals?

Rumah Mode...retail therapy at its best in Bandung #1


After Rumah Mode, we happily and excitedly hopped into one factory outlets after another and shopped like we were married to the Sultan of Brunei till about 6pm, thereafter we proceeded to the much-awaited spa session. God created heaven on earth, and last weekend it came in a form of spa after long hours of shopping. 4 Cik Kiahs decided to continue with pedicure and manicure but 2 other Cik Kiahs decided to continue shopping…moi is one of two who opted to shop instead ngeeeeee (you can tell where my priorities lie eh?).

Our shopping spree didn’t end there yet. After the spa we decided to visit Kartika Sari with the pretext of surveying what to get the next day at the factory before we leave for the airport. But we ended up shopping for some cookies and brownies for supper. Had dinner there too although originally we wanted to have Bakso. Rule number 1 – shopping comes first, makan second. That’s exactly what we did!

Reached hotel after all shopping outlets were closed (LOL!) and after we freshened up, we gossiped again till 3am while munching on cookies and yummilicious brownies! We laughed so loud that I think everyone on the same floor could hear us. It was really fun girlfriends!

Lesson learned on day 2 - Women could plead temporary insanity at shopping complexes, especially when we are in a group (without men or kids stopping us!). Even sleep deprivation won’t stop us from spending our hard earned moolah!

Day 3 – Revelation of a steaming hot secret

Again, we started our day super early on the last day. After we visited Kartika Sari factory and bought brownies hot from the oven, and guess what, we unanimously decided to make another trip to Pasar Baru...ngeh ngeh ngeh. I know deep inside the 3 ladies (you know who you are!) were just making excuses to meet the handsome tailor again LOL! We spent our every last penny there. Together, we bought more fabric enough to open another small shop.

D'fashion - retail therapy at its best in Bandung #2


After we were happily broke aka muflis, we headed to the airport with mix feeling – happy to go home to our loved ones and sad to end this wonderful journey with girlfriends. But, every happy ending must come to an end and it was it for us. We made full use of the last hour together at the airport chatting and laughing away as though we own the airport. More secrets revealed and tips shared - Cyberjaya is the word LOL!

In total, I only slept for 6 hours (sandwiched between 2 Cik Kiahs whom are not as small as they used to be 20 years ago *peace*) during the entire trip but it was worth it. And the particular Cik Kiah who claimed that she wasn’t gonna shop much was the top spender of the trip, congratulations Mdm. IT! And for that, she was punished by having to pay for access baggage fees for the group...ngeh ngeh ngeh. But of course we will pay her back...moi is equally guilty as charged. I do not wish to elaborate on another incident that took place during check-in...that shall be the joke of the year between the 6 of us LOL!

In conclusion, this was the best trip I had in years. We really felt like we were 17 again. And I think I lost a few ounces of my facial fat. Let’s quickly plan for volume 2 peeps!

I say nothing beats good company, not even sleep! And I say, only women are capable to pull off something like this, don’t you agree?

BFF forevar!