Bandung has turned us......

My friend and I pride ourselves on not being your typical expat wives.

We both work, shop, care for our kids and don't do the whole "gym-lunch-shop" thing day in and day out. Not that there is any thing wrong with that...LOL

My friend in particular hates to shop......I must admit I do like wandering around a mall now and again as well as a market or two, but do not have nearly enough time to do so.

I have managed to turn her.......this week we did retail therapy to get over my Australia stress.
Luckily it is sale time.......Pondok Indah mall got a work out.

The turning point was Bandung.

Bandung is a city about 2 hours from Jakarta and is famous for its factory outlets.

We did two separate days of shopping in one week...we even encouraged each other to purchase...wait for it....handbags.

I have mentioned before that I missed out on the handbag gene at birth. One purse and one handbag will last me a couple of years, same goes for my friend.

I felt just like Mary Tyler Moore tossing her hat in Minneapolis when I was surrounded by all these branded factory outlets LOL (NB I am definitely not old enough to have lived through watching the MTM show.....but I do remember my mum watching the re-runs when I was a VERY small child). We had so much fun rushing to one outlet to the next.

The kids got some great stuff and I think I have finished my sisters Christmas shopping. I only bought one thing for my self and nothing for poor old GJ.....next time.

Oh yes.... this is how far we have turned...we are already planning a next time. Even the 3 hour journey home through horrific Friday night traffic didn't turn us off.

We are going to catch the train up with the kids and make a weekend of it. Pool and cinema for the kids...shopping for the parents.