Trans Studio Mall Glass Pyramid

The glass pyramid roof of the Trans Studio Mall (TSM), Bandung.

TSM, previously called Bandung Supermal, was constructed in 2001 and is claimed to be the largest mall in Bandung. In 2010, the mall was acquired and redeveloped by City Corp., and renamed Trans Studio Mall (TSM) in 2011.

The mall now has an indoor theme park called Trans Studio Bandung. This theme park is claimed to be the largest in Indonesia. In addition to a theme park, the current owner has also had a five-star hotel built adjacent to it.

With such facilities, TSM has now become one of Bandung's major and most popular tourism attractions.

Bandung E-Store

The unique architecture of Bandung E-Store at Cihampelas Walk (Ciwalk).

E-Store is a premium re-seller of Apple products in Indonesia. Currently it has its outlets in four cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Tangerang.

A Friendly Handshake with A Mascot

A little girl is shaking hands with a friendly Super Mario mascot. I snapped this photo at "Rumah Mode," a factory outlet on Jalan Dr. Setiabudi, in the north of Bandung.

Book Wrapper

A book wrapper at work at Palasari Book Market. This man and a couple of others in the area would help you wrap (put paper and/or plastic jackets) on your books for a small fee.

Bicycle Market

Looking at this photo, you might think that this place is a bicycle parking area. No, it isn't. It's a road-side bicycle market. Located at Jalan ABC (ABC Street) at Banceuy in the center of the city, the open air market sells all sorts of bicycles: new, used, and reconditioned. If you know how to ask, you can even find old vintage bicycles. As in any traditional markets here, prices are negotiable and are usually less expensive that those at regular bicycle shops.

Palasari Book Market

Palasari is the name of a book market located on the street which becomes its name. This market is very popular among students and book lovers. They love it not only because they can find almost any books here (textbooks, new and used books, local and imported books, and even vintage old books) but also because the books sold here are offered at prices that are much lower than those offered by large chain book stores.



I like this book market because the atmosphere is very relaxed and friendly. The owners of the kiosks are always ready to help you and seem to be very knowledgeable about books. You can always ask them for a title or an author, and they will produce it in no time. If they don't have it, they would always know where to find it and direct you to a kiosk that may have it.



If you are a book lover, it's a place you would not want to miss when you visit Bandung.

'Candy Land'

A lot of varieties of candies from different parts of the world are sold at this kiosk under the escalator at King's Supermarket on Kepatihan Street in the center of the city.

Not being a candy lover, I never quite remember what the name of the kiosk is. 'Candy land' are the words that come to my mind every time I pass by it. Perhaps next time around, I should really check what the name is.

Plastic Wares at Cihideung Sunday Market

Plastic wares for sale at Cihideung Sunday market held on the vicinity of Graha Puspa housing complex.

Sunday market is a popular phenomenon in Indonesian cities, including Bandung. It is usually held on Sunday morning in a public area, usually a park, a field or a sport track to coincide with people going there to do Sunday morning exercise. The most popular these days are those held at Lapangan Gasibu (Gasibu Square) and the car-free day on Dago street. The one in the picture is held at Graha Puspa, a suburban upscale housing complex in the northern hills of Bandung.

Photo by Agus Wahyudi, a Bandung Daily Photo contributor.

Andir Night Market

Pasar Andir (Andir Market) is one of Bandung's central wet or traditional markets. It's located on Andir street in the city center. Its busiest operating time is at night from about 9 p.m to about 4 a.m.

Various kinds of fresh meat, fish, vegetables and fruits are brought here from the farms in the countrysides and towns adjacent to Bandung. Traders and resellers from the smaller markets and hotel and restaurant caterers come here to pick their supplies.



Over the years the Andir market has grown beyond its original boundaries and for some years now it has spilled onto the adjacent streets. As you can see in these pictures, the farmers even use the body of streets to offer their produce. Fortunately, the market's peak hours only take place at night and are usually over before 5 in the morning so they do not add more snarl to the already congested traffic in the city center.

Today's photos are contributed by Agus Wahyudi - a photographer friend of mine, an employee of PT. Pos Indonesia (Indonesian Postal Company) and a freelance photographer. Pak Agus (that's how I call him) has agreed from now on to become one of Bandung Daily Photo's regular contributors. Thanks, Pak Agus.

Cookie Cutter Woman

A woman selling refurbished balance-type weighing scales and different traditional cookie cutters at her kiosk in Ciroyom market.

Chicken Butcher

A chicken butcher at Ciroyom, one of the largest traditional markets in Bandung.

Discount Time

Two shop attendants touting the discounted and on sale items from their store on the crowded Dalem Kaum Street at the city center.

Banceuy Autopart Mall

An all in one stop autopart mall is currently under construction at Banceuy. A clean, airconditioned, multistory building is soon going to replace and compete with store owners and street vendors who have traditionally been in business on this street for at least the past 50 years. As with the previous post, the photo here is also originally posted at my Bandung Street Photography Project blog.

Old-style Weighing Scale

These old balance-type scales are the weighing scales I used to see (and use at my mom's small grocery store) when I was a child. They are still very much in use in most traditional markets here, but I don't see them much anywhere else. Modern markets and supermarkets prefer to use electronic strain gauge scales because they are considered more accurate although, scientifically speaking, balance-type scales are actually more accurate because they are not affected by local gravitational force and/or temperature which can affect the spring type of scale, of which strain gauce scales are part. The cylindrical brass in the foreground of the picture, by the way, is called the masses. Here, their measurement is marked in kilogram scales: half an ounce (50 grams), an ounce (100 grams), a quarter of a kilogram (250 grams), a half a kilogram (500 grams), and a kilogram (1000 grams).

Parahyangan Plaza

Plaza Parahyangan at Dalem Kaum street in the city center is one of the oldest malls in Bandung. Built in 1982, it was the most favorite shopping center in the city until the late 1980s and early 1990s when newer and more attractive malls such as Bandung Indah Plaza (BIP) on Merdeka street began operating.

Plaza Parahyangan was badly burned and its main tenant - the Ramayana Department Store - left in 2001. Until quite recently, it was practically a dilapidated shopping center whose only attraction was a rented fulsal court on its top floor. A couple of years ago, however, the new management decided to renovate and revive it and turn it into a Distro (distribution outlet/store) center. Now five of its six floors are all occupied by 450 distros and the place is once again a bustling place for the creative fashion's small and medium size businesses.

A Watching Eye in The Crowd

I took this photo sometime ago at a fasnion show organized and sponsored by a Paris-based producer of cosmetics and beauty products at Yogya Mall at Jalan Kepatihan.

I think that watching eye in the crowd who are focusing their attention on the fashion show on the stage makes a very interesting photograph.

Blonde Mannequins

These blode mannequins at King's Shopping Center on Jalan Kapatihan look attractive. But then I began to ask questions: Why do they have to be blonde? And white? Is that how they are supposed to be made to look attractive?

But we are brown-skinned and black-haired.

"Nyiru" and "Leunca"

Yes, I'm still at the traditional market where these vegies are sold.

You may be familiar with some of the things in the picture as they are quite universal: tomatoes, carrots, shallots, cauliflower, red chilly, and red beans are "world class" vegetables. But some of the things in the picture are local and may not be familiar to you.

Yes, the first one are those large bamboo trays. I think they may only be found in east or southeast Asia. We - Sundanese - call it "nyiru". Javanese and Indonesian would call it "tampah". There is no English translation for it, I don't think so.

Before the age of plastics, we had a lot of tools, baskets, containers, and vessels made of bamboo, which are availble in abundance here. Now some of those things have been replaced by environmentally-hostile plastics. Sigh.

Next are those green, bean-like vegetable in the front center "nyiru". Many of us love it and call it "leunca". Some reliable internet sources say that its Latin name is solanum nigrum L.

However, Solanum nigrum L is considered poisonous in North America and some other places. On the contrary, "leunca" is considered (and has been proven by some research at some Indonesian universities) to have some medicinal properties, including that of aphrodisiac.

Regardless of what science says, we have eaten it for ages. Not only is it delicious (if you know how to cook it like we do), but also good for our health.

Face-lift at Ciwalk

I have previously told a story about Cihampelas Walk or Ciwalk.

Throughout last year they did some face-lift and construction extension to the premises. Some new features were added. These include a boutique hotel and a skywalk. Quite a few architectural features of the extension buildings are very interesting. This bright-colored, futuristic looking ark-shaped building at the gate, for example, is very eye-catching. So are the tilted columns and brightly colored roof of the corridors at the entrance.

The ark-shaped building may have been inspired by the Noah's ark facade of Perahu Jeans shop located nearby it.

If you are interested in learning how the site looks like after all the construction projects are completed, you may want to visit Ciwalk's official website here.

Oh ... oh ..., what's going on?

Who says window shopping is not as exciting as the actual shopping?

(Forgive the playful side of me.)