Having been to Bandung a couple of times (and most recently just earlier this year) and being rather familiar with the city, I arranged a family trip to this small Javanese city right smacked in the middle of the volcanic mountains. Tickets booked just a couple of months out on SilkAir was actually cheaper than AirAsia and thus it was a no-brainer to fly SilkAir.

Checked in at 6.30am at the very bustling Terminal 2 due to the holidays season, and the FAST check-in was not that fast either, with the baggage drop queue needing an almost 15-20min wait.






It was very busy early in the morning at Terminal 2, with tons of regional flights departing within a span of 1.5 hours.




Plane spotting, with the majority aircraft being Scoots or SilkAirs. UA's B789 spotted as well.






Departure Gate E24 for our flight.





02 December 2017
SilkAir
MI 192
Singapore (SIN) - Bandung (BDO)
A320
9V-SLP
Economy Class
Flight Time: 1H30M


9V-SLP basking in the morning sunrise.






Boarding commenced.




On this flight, we would be seated at the forward emergency exit row, with huge legroom but no recline. No worries as it was only a short flight.




Boarding completed. The flight seemed totally full. Flight time was approximately 1h35m as announced by the pilot.




Inflight magazine (SilkWinds) and inflight shopping (KrisShop). Apparently starting this month, SQ and MI has combined their inflight shopping catalogue into a single KrisShop catalogue. Hence, both SQ and MI now offers largely similar inflight shopping items.




Newspapers and refreshment towels were offered.




Pillows and blankets were also available upon request (or get it yourself from the overhead bins).




Safety video played via dropdown monitors.




Started the taxi to the runway.






Passed the brand new Terminal 4, which is seriously under-utilised with only a couple of CX aircraft at 2 of the 4 wide-body gates. The 17 narrow-body gates were totally empty apart from a couple of MI aircraft using the gates as remote stands. This is a stark difference from the very crowded Terminals 1-3 during the morning peak. I believed Changi has made a mistake in dedicating majority of the gates to narrow-body aircraft as it restricted the attractiveness of the terminal to major airlines operating wide-bodies, plus Changi failed to attract the core LCC players (Scoot and Jetstar) to the new terminal due to their feeds to/from the parents SQ and QF.






Next in line for departure.




Takeoff from Rwy02C.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-H3FF3obo








Breakfast service started 20min after departure.




We were offered a choice of Frittata or Seafood Mee Siam Goreng. The meal tray came with a warm roll and butter and a cup of water. Full range of beverages were available but hot beverages could not be offered as the pilot turned on the seatbelt signs due to minor turbulence. The seatbelt signs remained on for the rest of the flight with no real turbulence encountered.




My sis had the frittata with chicken sausages, wedges and tomatoes. Portion looked good and taste was not bad as well.




Thinking that the asian choice could be better, I opted for the Mee Siam Goreng with seafood. It turned out to be a bad choice as the mee siam was very dry and the portion of seafood was little. It was basically a casserole of dry and spicy carbo.... Luckily I had some juice to wash it down.






There was barely any turbulence but seatbelt signs remained on.




Silent entertainment shown on the drop-down monitors. Did not watch anything on the wifi-streaming Silkair Studio as there was not much choices of interest even though the selection has been enhanced.




Basic lavatory with the necessities.




We were soon approaching Bandung.




Surprisingly, unlike my previous trips, there was no hold for landing and we descended directly towards Bandung city and the airport. Landed well ahead of schedule.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LauDdLi2K-I


Backtracked down the runway and taxied to the parking stand.




Parked beside a Citilink A320 which was being boarded.




Disembarking.






No aerobridges at Bandung airport and it was a short stroll across the tarmac to the immigration hall.












Being seated towards the front, we cleared immigration quite fast, but there was a bit of wait at the single baggage belt for luggage delivery.




It was a comfortable flight on SilkAir at great fares. Service was good on this full flight and crew were generally friendly and efficient. However the catering (only referring to the asian choice) definitely need to be improved.

Really nice trip report, thank you

As it was an early arrival into Bandung and too early for hotel check-in as well, we hired a car with guide to visit Kawah Putih (white crater lake) and Situ Pantengang. Unfortunately, due to a few days of strong winds and rain earlier, there was a landslide and fallen trees at Kawah Putih and hence it was closed to visitors. We passed the tea plantations of Ciwedey.






And visited Situ Pantengang, another crater lake, instead.




Views of Situ Pantengang.






We stayed at the 4-stars Grand Tjokro Hotel and had a rather huge and comfortable family suite.




Mee Bakso dinner




The hotel has an extensive buffet breakfast, and even had a children's corner on Sundays.










View from the hotel rooftop.




Sunday was spent shopping at Rumah Mode factory outlet, as well as massage/spa session at Zen Spa.




Dinner at Sagoo restaurant at Paris Van Java Mall.




After dinner and a quick walk around the mall, we noticed that there were suddenly quite a number of security personnel around in the mall. Thinking that it was some VIP visiting, I did not give much attention but much to my surprise when the VIP entourage walked passed me, I noticed that it was Indonesia President Jokowi! The entourage actually went into the restaurant we were in earlier for dinner! Spot President Jokowi in the picture!




Another day trip on the third day, visit to Tangkuban Parahu, an active volcanic crater.










Visit to a Civet cat farm where Kopi Luwak is produced.








Sundancese lunch with a nice view.






Black cherries plantation, where the cherries, which originated from South America, grows on tree barks.




More Sundanese food for dinner.










A&W for dessert!

It was an early flight back to Singapore on the last day, with a 10am departure. The airport was a 20min Uber ride from the hotel. After the necessary ticket checks and security, we entered the small International check-in hall.




Only 7 international departures today, all to SIN or KUL.




Checking in and boarding pass issued.






Departure lounge after immigration and security.




Aircraft on the tarmac. Our Silkair aircraft was already overhead BDO and circling as the aircraft parking stand was still occupied by the AirAsia aircraft. There is very limited aircraft stands at this very small airport.




Finally the AirAsia A320 taxied off for departure.




And our SilkAir A320 landed after the departure of AirAsia.




Our aircraft taxiing in and parked.






Citilink A320 taxiing out for departure while LionAir B738 arrives. Note the passengers on the tarmac waiting for the aircraft to taxi past before crossing.








Another Lion taxied out while its sister Malindo (in Batik Malaysia livery) took its place.






Priority boarding was being called.




Passengers waiting for the ATR72 to taxi pass before boarding the aircraft.




Boarding at Bandung Airport always felt like visiting an airshow where you are free to roam on the tarmac amonst the airplanes!






There was a final boarding pass check by security at the stairway before we climbed up the stairs to the aircraft.




05 December 2017
SilkAir
MI 191
Bandung (BDO) - Singapore (SIN)
A320
9V-SLR
Economy Class
Flight Time: 1H25M


Boarding the aircraft and proceeding to our seats at row 18.






Boarding in progress. Pillows and blankets were available in the overhead bins and I helped myself to them.






Legroom was ok.




View outside. The WingsAir ATR72 was still awaiting departure clearance.




Wet towels were distributed.




Boarding completed, doors closed and safety video was played.




Starting the taxi.




Video of taxi and backtracking along the runway, with safety video playing in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjh5tdYHNGs


At the runway edge.




Held for a moment awaiting clearance, before departing from Rwy29.






Video of the takeoff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDDgcPvssyY


Climbing out of Bandung.










The not-so-exciting IFE selection on Silkair Studio.




Silent Just for Laughs played on the drop-down screens.




Meal service commenced about 20min into the flight.




Just when the meal service commenced, the seatbelt signs went on due to very slight turbulence, and the signs were left on for the rest of the flight when there were hardly any further turbulence... Needless to say, the crew were unable to serve hot beverages again and a few passengers were not too pleased with it, including my mum, when turbulence was hardly flight for the remainder of the flight.

For the light meal, we were offered a choice of Bolognaise pasta or (horrors!) Mee Siam Goreng. Yes, the Mee Siam Goreng choice was exactly one of the choices as on the flight into Bandung! To make things worse, the crew rapidly ran out of the pasta choice just after serving a few rows of passengers, presumably everyone chose the pasta choice after the not so pleasant mee siam culinary delight on the way up.

No choice but to have the Mee Siam with seafood again, and this time, it was even drier than on the way up. Accompanied with fruits and a juice.








Cruising with hardly any turbulence, but with seatbelt signs left on.




Soon we started descending into Singapore.




Videos and photos of descent and landing into Changi Rwy02L.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YZ6lFjXBgE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQErK3MD_XQ
















Taxied to Terminal 2.




Looked like the Brunei royal family is in town.




Parked at the gate.




Disembarked.




The flight on SilkAir was comfortable, but the catering definitely needs vast improvements. This was the first time I experienced similar catering on a SilkAir inbound/ourbound flight and wondered the reason for it. Give me an AirAsia pre-booked meal anytime! Service was fine and the flight smooth, but with seatbelt signs constantly switched on, not only on this sector but previous sector too. Again not too sure of the reason for doing so but passengers were not too pleased. It was an okay flight, but I would not go all the way to fly on SilkAir if the price is competitive.