Exploring Surabaya and Its Own Diversity

"Soerabaja, Soerabaja
Met je zee en je hemel zo blauw
Soerabaja, Soerabaja
Mijn gedachten zijn altijd bij jou" - Anneke Grӧnloh

    Ahh Soerabaja, every time I hear "Soerabaja" it always reminds me of Anneke Grӧnloh. I know, I was born 40 years later, after her song about Soerabaja blew up. But I have an old soul, I think I was being reincarnated from the person who just died around the 70s, who knows?

   First, I booked my ticket from Traveloka. I use Traveloka since it's easy to use plus you can get a good price. I go by train to get there, 7 hours on a train and it only costs 70.000 Rupiahs for a single trip. In addition, I used economy class at this point and isn't that bad actually. 

Before I made this decision I doubt what the economy class looks like, but then I'm so proud of myself as I'm not regretting this; at all. 

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   Today is January 18th, 2019.

I leave Jogjakarta for Surabaya at 8:57 A.M to be exact. I step into the station an hour before my departure. As soon as I get in, I print out my e-ticket and then wait for another minute in the waiting room outside. 

I'm so bored at the moment; where is my train?! , then I went into the passenger area and there was a cafe there! Bought a regular coffee, jamming to some songs, and I'm feeling good right now. As I heard an announcement, it says "Logawa Train has arrived at platform 2.." I rushed to get into the train. 

Inside the train, there are so many things going on; a baby is crying, someone is talking so loud and everything is so crowded but never mind. I sit in the place where I'm supposed to be. 

My first opinion was just too bad because it is so crowded, but later on, I feel ok about it. The chair is actually fine and comfortable, but it's too straight and I have to sit like this for the next 6 hours.

On my way, I was just reading a book and minding my own business. Enjoying the view of the rice field; is just mesmerizing. 

As what you have seen, the train seems pretty crowd but everyone is more likely to take a nap rather than enjoying the moment while on the train. 

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After 6 hours of enjoying my trip on a train by reading a book and doing nothing, finally i arrived safely in Surabaya. And yes Surabaya is so freaking hot! I feel like I'm burning inside of the oven, haha! just kidding. Ok by the way I will divide this topic into 2 different topics, first is the place I go, and the second is the food I ate while I'm in Surabaya.

Places 

➤ Surabaya North Quay

Before I go here, I already search about the place where I should go while I'm in Surabaya and one of the recommendations is Surabaya North Quay.

On some websites, it seems Instagramable and looks so 'aesthetic' on the photo, but man it apparently looks like crap. I gotta admit that the place is a little bit unmaintained because first, the floor was so dirty and the funny thing is, I found a plate with leftover food on the floor! can you imagine that? I almost threw up by the way. Second of all, the chair looks rusty and it doesn't seem like what the website tells me; nothing there.

Or maybe I'm just unlucky, whatever. But if you came to Surabaya, I dare you to come here and you will be the judge.

➤ Kenpark

And again, I know this place because I just follow what the others tell me to do. I'm a little bit nervous about this because of how the first place looks like; the expectation is good but the reality is meh, but you know what? just give it a shot. I came here around 01.00 P.M and it's great weather to go outside. Supposedly, in Kenpark they have a lot of places including the Atlantis land.

But I've read some reviews about Atlantis Land and isn't a good place to go because isn't fully developed; so I believe that.

If you want to go to Atlantis Land, it's going to charge you 100.000 Rupiahs including a ticket to go to Kenpark. Atlantis Land is actually great from the outside, it gives you the vibe of Disneyland but I don't know what the inside looks like. So, in Kenpark I go to the place called 'Pagoda Tian Ti'. Here are the photos, so you know how it looks like

Looks good right? But here is another pic that tells you the 'real' view.

Sorry to say, but I want to give you my honest opinion about this. This place actually has a lot of potential, especially for 'Instagramable place' hunters. But it seems so dirty and abandoned. So much horse poop on the floor, the unwanted grass everywhere, and it's just messy. It would have been much better if they do some maintenance and you will adore it more.

I hope in the future they will do something about this place because I believe that this place is a great destination to go to yet cheap and plus you get a good picture.

Not far from 'Pagoda Tian Ti', they have a place named '4 Brahma Statue Arts'. This is actually a marvelous statue I've ever seen and a peaceful place to pray. As I enter the gate, I've seen a stall that sells incense or I don't know what's it called, but here is the pic.

I've spotted some people praying and I have to respect them by keeping my mouth shut. What made my day is, even though there are non-prayers there but they respect the prayers by keeping the place quiet as it should be. This gives me the real implementation of my nation's motto 'Unity in Diversity'; I know, we are a multicultural nation but we have to be tolerant of each other instead of trying to out go each other. After I feel satisfied, I went to another place called 'Sanggar Agung Temple' which is just located in front of the 4 Brahma Statue Arts.

When I step foot inside this building, it gives me a portrayal of Chinese culture. The smells of the incense and the atmosphere inside were just perfect. The red domination of the color just makes this place even feel like I'm in a different part of the world. Luckily, people seem pretty ok and neither I nor the prayer feels bothered. 

➤ Old Buildings

As you all know that I love to take a pic of old buildings. For me, Surabaya is a great place for an old building hunter like myself. To be honest, my first plan to go here is just only for hunting the old buildings; that's it! nothing much. I don't want to be lost in hunting the old building, so before I go for it, I do some research on the internet and I make some lists about it. Walaa! I'm so lucky I got tons of pics, and it makes me so happy! Here are the photos, hope you all like them.

➤ House Of Sampoerna

In this place, you will learn anything. House Of Sampoerna is a place where you can get lots of information about the History of Sampoerna and anything about Cigarettes. They actually offer you a free bus tour but you have to make a reservation for it, and sadly I can't go for the bus tour since it's already fully booked.

But trust me, this place is a great destination to go to while you are in Surabaya. Not only that, but they also sell Souvenirs related to Sampoerna and they have a great cafe too, just in case you wanna have a cup of coffee or have a good talk with your friend.

After I'm talking about places I go to in Surabaya, now let's move on to the food section.

Foods

♦ Soto Lamongan 'Cak Har'

I woke up early in the morning, feeling great and starving at the same time. So, I googled and "Soto Lamongan 'Cak Har' " really catch my eye. 

I would say the place is pretty fancy, the food was good, and plus the iced tea is very big, I couldn't even finish it. The Soto itself contains lots of shredded chicken which is great and you got powder that will make your Soto even better.

♦ Arab Cuisine (Ampel Area)

This place is located along the Ampel Area. At that time I do a little photoshoot about the building around me, and it makes me hungry as a freak. So, I saw this restaurant, and the menu seems strange to me since it's kinda Arab Cuisine plus I have never tried that before. 

I ordered Nasi Bochori with Arab Tea and my friend ordered Nasi Afganis. Oh yeah before I forgot to tell you, we use goat's meat this time. But you can change it anyway, they have different options. 

At first, I saw it and there's nothing different between those two. But... Apparently, it tastes completely different. The spice feels like is just kicking your tongue in a good way and the goat meat is well cooked; so good. I dare you to try this while you are in Surabaya, and I give it 4 stars out of 5 stars. 

Because what I don't like about this place is, the beggar. Ok at first I'm ok with that, but later on, they kinda force things up and I feel bothered. Sometimes if you don't give them some coins they are kinda mad and mumble around. Overall this place is good to go.

♦ Coffee Toffee

You know that I like coffee so much, right? So this afternoon I feel like I don't have something to do, what a good idea to explore the local coffee-shop here. Just wandering out of nowhere and here I am, at Coffee Toffee. 

This place is so unique, they use old containers and make them into a great pieces of art. The yellow and black combination is how I describe the place. The bathroom is so clean and smells good.

While I'm here, I order Cappuccino. The glass is average, not too small and not too big. The taste was ok for me but I don't really get the "coffee" and I think its because they add too much milk. Since I like it bitter and I don't get it, I don't know for you tho, though you have to try it anyway.

Coffee Toffee is great for doing your task or doing some work as it was quiet and wifi is surprisingly fast. Or maybe you can just come here to have a little chit-chat with your friend or lovers.

♦Nasi Uduk 

I came to Surabaya with a little amount of money. I don't want to spend it all on fancy food. And at this point, I just want to try food stalls from the side of the street since it saves my money a lot haha.

My friend suggests I try "Nasi Uduk" near his flats, he says it has a big portion and is kinda tasty. I try to believe what he just said, and went there.

Here I got my Nasi Uduk and to my surprise, it's so big. I hesitate myself whether I can finish it or not, but in the end, we got nothing left haha!

Trying the food stalls side of the street is the best way to save your money if you are into "backpacker" stuff. Not only it saves your coins but sometimes you can also taste how diverse Indonesian foods are.

♦Ikan Bakar Keputih

Ikan Bakar Keputih was my last destination before I went back to my lovely city, Jogjakarta. Before I go to the station, what a good idea to have last lunch here in Surabaya.

I went in and was shocked about the price. I'm shocked isn't because it's expensive, but I'm shocked because how I can even get a shrimp with the salted egg sauce including rice and iced tea for only 20.000.

Not even kidding, this food is great and worth trying. This place is located around the Keputih area, near the Institute of Technology of Surabaya. I give it 5 stars hahaha

Here we are at the end of my trip. Surabaya is a great place to explore even though it's kinda Metropolitan but that's what makes it "Surabaya". The old building and Skyscrapers are standing next to each other in harmony and I hope always been like that.


Until next time, Surabaya



Thank you for reading my story, see you in my next story
Love, Mann.