Meeting The In Laws

We're back from our trip to visit +3's hometown! It was a great trip, better than what +3 expected, and I'm glad to report that my future MIL is a super friendly and nice lady, and I got her chop and approval. Yippie!

We took a flight to Bandung, and met +3's BIL who happened to be at the airport waiting for someone else. +3's mom was waiting for us at the cafe across the road. Made our way to +3's eldest sister's place and chatted there for a while. +3's mom and sis had to settle some errands, so we were left with the car and driver and made our way to get some snacks.

First stop was Batagor Riri, where we ate batagor and siomay - local Indonesian friend snacks. Glugged down 4 bottles of Teh Botol as well, hehe. Had a couple more hours to kill after, so we asked the driver to take us to the factory outlet (which Bandung is supposedly famous for) and we did a bit of shopping and got some really cute outfits for baby Ivy.

Went back to pick up +3's mom and made our way to his hometown. It's a 3-4 hour drive, and we stopped halfway at Asep Stroberi for lunch. It used to be a place where one could pick strawberries (I think) but then now it's a restaurant with a gorgeous view of rice fields.

Lunch was delicious. We had ayam bakar (grilled chicken), gepok (another name for empal) and tempeh mendoan (tempeh fried with flour). So yummy.

Finally arrived at his home in the evening. The sun had set and it was already dark. Was introduced to his cousin (who stays there as well), had a tour of the first floor of the house, and sipped on some bandrek. Bandrek is a spiced ginger drink, which is served hot with some condensed milk and coconut flesh. It's such a warming drink, which is perfect for the cool evenings that Tasikmalaya has. We sat in the garden terrace and just chatted till it was time to go to bed.

The next morning, +3's mom got some bubur ayam (chicken porridge) from the street vendor down the road. There is something about local street food that just tastes so much yummier than the stuff you get in sterile restaurants. Got to walk around the town with +3 and it was nice to hear stories of his experiences growing up. We drove down to +3's dad's grave after and paid our respect.

Lunch was at another restaurant which had several ponds containing various fish and prawns. The fish were caught straight from the pond and prepared to order. We had ikan bakar and ikan goreng (grilled and fried fish) both so fresh and tasty.

Headed home and took a tour of the rest of the house, had a nap, and woke up to discover that his mom had bought beef sate and rojak, and also prepared a pork dish (one of +3's favourites). We had dinner in the garden terrace again and also a round of bandrek. Slurp.

We were heading back to Bandung the next day, so visited an aunt and then went to have some mie from one of the shops not too nearby. We had to take a trishaw and +3's mom and I squeezed into one. Eeks. I need to lose weight. (Or just say I have child bearing hips.) Lol.

Just as the car arrived, +3's mom's friend sent some grilled ube (sweet potato) so we dabao-ed some and took it back to Bandung with us. The drive back was really long (5 hours!) because of the poor traffic.

Got to the hotel, starving, and took a bite of the grilled ube. OMG. I'm sure the taste of the ube was enhanced because I was so hungry, but I honestly think that it was the BEST ube I have ever had. I might write another blog post about it. Too bad I didn't take pictures! Was too busy stuffing it in my mouth. Hehe.

Walked a couple of streets down to get sate kambing (goat satay) and martabak and then back to the hotel to rest after a long and tiring journey. Met his sis and the family the next morning for lunch and then made our way to the airport and back home to Singapore.

It was a really great trip, and we came back with a sense of relief (no objections from the family!) and happy that everything went smoothly. Now to prepare for his mom's trip to Singapore to visit my parents! :D