Cute Wash Basin

In a age where everything can be mass-produced, design makes a lot of difference.

I spotted this eye-catching wash basin in front of the toilet in a motorbike wash and salon recently. It looks cute. Unfortunately, it doesn't look very clean.

Cheap Furniture

These pieces of cheap furniture are made of "waste" woods (woods that was used as boxes and containers). They are made and sold at the corner of Jalan Tamansari and Jalan Gelap Nyawang near the ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) campus. Students coming from outside the city like to buy them for their apartments not only because they are a lot cheaper than the ones sold in the furniture shops, but also because they can be made to order. Being cheap, they can also be left or given away when the students finish their studies and leave the city.

Although they are cheap and made of waste woods, I think they actually look quite good and are of decent quality. I still have a book shelf that I bought from this place a long time ago.

Cascade Factory Outlet

Jalan L.R.E. Martadinata (also known Jalan Riau, as the street was formerly called) is the street where many boutiques, garment, shoe, and bag shops and factory outlets are located.

Pictured here is Cascade Factory located on Jalan L.R.E. Martadinata number 65.

Factory outlet, which used to be known as "sisa export" (literally: export overstock/overrun/reject) shops, by the way, is a kind of shop that sells overruns and second on export garments at bargain prices. At a shop like this, it not surprising to find branded clothing items sold at one tenth of the tag prices that you would normally find at the authorized branded stores.

The variety of branded items sold at many of the stores include: Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Alfred Dunhill, Ann Taylor, Armani, Banana Republic, Future.now, Eddie Bauer, MAG, Nautica, Fendi, Elle, Hugo Boss, DKNY, Espirit, Calvin Klein, Crocodile, Balley Apostrophe, Nike, Reebok, Limited, The Gap, Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Puma, D&G, BCBG, J. Crew, Allure, Bennetton, Cerruti 1881, Victoria's Secret, NY & Company, Sag Harbor, Old Navy, Ocean Pacific, Roxy, Hush Puppy, Table Eight, Cherokee, Express, Karen Scott and Sears and Mervyn's brands, and Versache.

When shopping at a store like this, you should remember that there are different grades of items offered. The best quality overruns are designated as Grade A. Next in line are items with minor (and I'd say negligible) defects so they didn't pass quality inspection by the buyer. This kind of items are designated as grade B. There are also items that are classified as factory rejects. Subject to trading agreements between factories and buyers and factory outlets, many items sold here are also items put up for sale three to six months after they go on the market for full price elsewhere.