Spectacular Surabaya

Everybody, I mean everybody I know takes advantage of a long holiday, to take a break and go somewhere. But in our case, we dont know where to go. A short 4 days holiday means somewhere near, not too expensive and not too hectic with activities. And being an experienced traveler, we have been to most of SEA countries, and we really don't want to repeat our destination.

24 April, came, we still have not figured out where to go. After having dinner, while watching dad maintain his bike, he suddenly said. "Akak, decide now where to go, or else, you are coming with me to Gua Musang". That definitely did it. Mum and I, booked our flight to Surabaya, that night itself, with the hotel bookings and all. Its true they say, that we can make fast decisions under pressure.

28 April 2018

It was an early flight on Saturday, and naturally, mom didnt want to take anything up to chances. Mostly, because i needed extra time than most people to get to the flight gate. KLIA 2, is hella big, and we usually get the last gate, at the end of the building. So, we arrived at the gate, with 1 hr to spare.

us, having our breakfast before flight.

This trip, we only managed to get half of the clan. Uda has his work commitment he can't get out off, and Farhan, Aida & Ezeqiel have planned their own subdued holiday (so jealous!) in Cherating. Flight to Surabaya takes approx. 2hrs and 40mins. So we arrived around noon, and we started our journey to Surabaya city. We didnt take into account the fact that Surabaya is the 2nd largest city of Indonesia, and also the fact that they are too having long weekends, so the locals are also spending their holiday in the city. I mean, "Surabaya is jammed packed" is probably the understatement of the year.

It took us about 3 hours, just to get to the city, and mom suggested that we go to the grosir first because there isn't much time later. Before heading for the grosir, we managed to stop by the city monument, which is a Shark and A Crocodile. Its so weird to have these two animals in one monument, because a shark lives in the sea, but a crocodile lives in the river. So, the history was, this place has a big river and it lead to the sea. Sura means Shark, and Baya means crocodile in Javanese, and they got into a fight. Now, the question is who won?? Well according to our guide, nobody won, both lost. So I guess that is how they settled with 50-50, that's how the name of the city came to be Surabaya.

nobody won. (dua-dua lembik haha)

Our stomachs are already grumbling, and by the time we arrived at the grosir, we are already overwhelmed. We didn't spend too long at the grosir, just grabbed a few pieces for the men, and mom and I bought sweater for our trip tomorrow.

After about 1 hr there, we searched for food. Being an avid fan of the Padang Cuisine, we were determined to find Ruman Makan Sederhana. It has not changed since the last time we came and that wait was well worth it. After Lunch/Dinner, we head for our hotel. Favehotel, is always the safest bet, if you are looking for an accommodation that is comfortable and not so expensive. I highly recommend it, eventhough our experience this time around was not so pleasant. But that was mostly due to students, making so much noise out in the hallway, for which I'm sure is all due to excitement for the trip. 

Going to Surabaya, means visiting Mt. Bromo, but with my special condition, we thought that it was best that mom and I skipped the whole thing, and only Dad and Zharif would go. So I certainly did not prepare for cold climate clothes. But, if we were to skip the whole thing, it would mean that we would spend most of our time in Surabaya apart from each other.

The guide said that, in order to beat the traffic up Mt. Bromo, we should start our journey from Surabaya City at 11pm. It'll take about 3hrs to arrive Sukapura, Probolinggo, the city of Mt. Bromo. We arrived around 2.30am, and with no time to waste, a jeep picked us up to start our journey up Mt. Bromo. It was nerve wrecking trip up, with so many jeeps parked by the roadside, and that the road itself is so small. And, just when you thought that you cannot go any further, the guide took us right at the top of Mt. Bromo. I was so nervous, just in case if we didnt manage to go all the way up, I needed to do some hiking, in which I don't think that I can do.

29 April 2018

But, nevertheless, we arrived at about 4.30am, and the sunrise was expected to be at about 5.15am. I've never experienced a sunrise before. (I know I'm lazy haha) but, that view of the sunrise was worth all that worrying and the cold weather with insufficient clothing.

Sunrise over Mt. Bromo

Spectacular view

we are cold

After the sunrise, we made our way down the mountain. There, we got to take a few photos at the foot of the mountain with our jeep. By now, the sun is up, and all our photos looked incredible.

We certainly looked the part of a professional mountaineer don't we?

Travelling with pulmonary hypertension, is knowing when to slow down. So the next leg of the trip is going up to see the Mt. Bromo crater. As I do not have the intention or the will to climb 250+ steps, I took this opportunity to rest. While Mom, Dad and Adik took the horse to save the time to travel 1 km to the base of the steps, and make their way up to the crater, I stayed in the jeep and read for a bit and honestly, I had a bit of sleep to make up the ones I lost the night before. From what I gathered from Dad, I didn't miss much as there were too many people and the steps are too narrow. So, I think I made the right choice of staying behind on this one.

After that, we made our journey back to Surabaya. However, we were quick to realise that, it was better to put up the night at Probolinggo, if we were going to Mt. Bromo. Our current plan, while it is manageable, we had to spend a lot of time on the road, where we could have experienced the cool weather a bit more if we were to stay. But, its okay, there's always NEXT time.

We arrived in Surabaya at about 3.30pm, and by then we were exhausted. Well, for me and Zharif atleast, but we still havent gotten our lunch/dinner. They said that, if you come to Surabaya, you need to try Rawon Setan, their local cuisine. I mean the name itself is already so scary, but, we ought to atleast try it out. Its basically rice, with meat soup. But dad, asked the waiter where is the Setan (devil), to which he replied, "nanti malam" (at night he'll come). That bit floored us. As for the meal, not my cup of tea, and I wouldn't say that I would go again, but I think Farhan would've really enjoyed it.

Our parents, still had the energy to explore the biggest and the oldest mall in Surabaya, the Tunjangan Mall. I don't know where they get all that extra energy. Our parents, are truly the rare breed, and I just could not keep up with them. So, I didn't follow them to the mall, so did zharif. We ended up sleeping through the night, and alhamdulillah no setan came to us that night.

30 April 2018

Early day this day, as we need to make another 3hrs journey to Malang, Surabaya, Our first stop, was the Kampung Warna - Warni (Colourful Village). It all started with a bunch of student painting murals to the walls of the houses, and that led to a paint co. agreeing to sponsor paints to really give the houses a new look. And, low and behold, of what used to be a remote village, has now turned into a tourist attraction.

A train making its way across town

What I love most about this village, is its water feature, a natural river along the village. And with the train occasionally passing through, makes the view mesmerising. It was such a simple idea, and yet now it brings tourist in, and at the same time giving a boost to the economics of the local community.

Next, is Museum Angkut. From what I first read about it, its all about different modes of transportation, and how it evolves through time. When we first arrived, I thought, owh I don't think its something that I would enjoy. After all cars, are mostly boys's stuff. But, as we walk through the whole museum, I ended up really enjoying it. It felt like an attraction somewhere in the US or Singapore. Nobody would have guessed that its all available in a remote city of Batu, Malang.

Definitely worth the visit, for a car enthusiast and the not. To my surprise, it was definitely the second highlight of the trip for me.

To end the day, we went to a plantation for apple picking. I've never seen an apple tree before, and it was something that I looked forward to. First, we bought the ticket, and then a man on a motorcycle, led us to the apple plantation. There, you can eat all the apples that you could devour, but if you wanna take it home, you have to pay for it. 1kg equals to 25000 rupiah, which is approx. 7 bucks our money. We, as a family don't really love apples, and to tell you the truth, how much can we really eat in one sitting. But, to help them, we brought home 1kg of apples. Now mom has to figure out what to do with them before they go bad.

Before going back to Surabaya, we stopped at Waroeng Wareg for lunch. Guerami (Talapia) is their specialty. However, Guerami Jingkrak is definitely not for the faint hearted. I am famous for not having a high threshold when it comes to spicy food, but I have to say that eventhough it was so painful to finish the meal, it was painfully delicious. Its crispy fish, with the red chillies, is definitely something to look forward to if you visit this small town, Batu.

Arriving in Surabaya, I asked mom if we could stop by the famous brownies Amanda, so I can bring home some to my friends. As it was such a long journey, I thought that we couldnt make it back in time. But, we arrived just in time, before they close at 9pm. So, I get to bring home some brownies for my dear friends back home.

1 May 2018

Our last day in Surabaya. Our flight is not until noon, and since it was a holiday as well in Surabaya, there wasn't much traffic early in the morning. After checking out of the hotel at 7am, we made our way for our breakfast.

The last attempt at savouring Surabaya's culture, we went to a restaurant where it served Nasi Pecel for breakfast. I don't really fancy heavy breakfast (except for nasi lemak). So I just took a bite off mom's plate to try. Again, not really my cup of tea, and I find myself, not really being adventurous when it comes to food.

Early morning selfie

Before going to the Airport, we stopped by a few tourist-y spots for last minute pictures. First we stopped by the Monumen Kapal Selam, and then we went to the Bridge to Pulau Madura. 

And that marks the end of our short trip to Surabaya. It was like a mini skirt, short and sweet, covering only the important parts. With this trip, it strengthen my belief that, a plan is just a plan. If we stuck by with the plan of foregoing Mt. Bromo, I would have missed the opportunity of witnessing the most beautiful sunrise.

Sometimes, you just have to wing it. You'll never know what where you might end up.