Surabaya Town - East Java - Indonesia

Surabaya is the capital of East Java, Indonesia, the 2nd largest city in Indonesia.
The name of Surabaya supposedly comes from the word Sura, meaning shark and Baya, meaning crocodile. With over 3 million people, unpretentious Surabaya may be the second-largest city in Indonesia, but it's a little lacking in sights.
With the tropical climate, you need to wear casual clothes. T-shirts, shorts, sandals or shoes. Remember, don't wear eye catching accessories in public places. During the rainy season (November-April), be prepared for occasional flash floods and traffic jams, even though it's not as bad as Jakarta.

You can get in Surabaya Town by plan, Surabaya's Juanda Airport is one of the busiest in the country, with very frequent flights to Jakarta and other major Indonesian destinations, as well as some direct international flights to destinations including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Bandar Seri Begawan. A new, fairly spiffy terminal opened in 2006, with all the facilities you'd expect (ATMs, car rental, etc), and international and domestic flights now depart from the same building.

Officially, you're supposed to buy fixed-fare taxi coupons from the "Prima Taxi" stand for the 18 km trip into town, around US$5-10 depending on your exact destination. In practice you may be able to get a driver dropping off passengers to pick you up. If you're going further away (eg. Mount Bromo), it'll be cheaper to a rent a car with a driver instead. There is a sketchy and infrequent Airport Bus service to the Bungurasih bus station on the southern outskirts of the city.

Malaysia Airlines (+60378433000) - flies daily to Surabaya.

AirAsia - flies daily to Surabaya.





You can also get around on Surabaya Town by Taxi, Bus, Minibus, Train or Becak.

In your trip you can see :
* Grahadi. The colonial-era residence of the Governor of East Java. You can watch Reog dance, a vigorous traditional dance at the nearby 'Balai Pemuda' (Youth Hall- one historical building in Surabaya) every Sunday at 11 am.

* G-Walk located in west Surabaya (CitraLand). There are many food stalls and bazaars at night where you can find a lot of good food. It gets very crowded at night and it's a place for a lot of young people to hang out.

* House of Sampoerna [4]. Situated in "old Surabaya"‚ this stately Dutch colonial-style compound was built in 1862 and is now a preserved historical site. Cited as the top tourist destination in Surabaya, the complex offers a museum, an art gallery, a cafe as well as souvenir shops. Check out the timing for the museum's main attraction: hundreds of girls hand-rolling Indonesia's most prestigious cigarette, Dji Sam Soe, using traditional equipment. They do it at an unbelievable speed. A must see!

* Kya-Kya Kembang Jepun is now defunct. At night the Kembang Jepun area in Chinatown is transformed into a street bazaar of food stalls. An interesting show of Indo-Chinese culture and atmosphere.

* Masjid Al Akbar Surabaya A huge mosque (some say it's the biggest mosque in SE Asia). The mosque has a tower which is equipped with an elevator, so that visitors can see Surabaya from top of the tower, 65 metres (195 ft) above ground level.

* Masjid Cheng Ho, a mosque with beautiful Chinese architecture.

* Monumen Jalasveva Jayamahe A monument on Surabaya's seafront dedicated to the service of The Indonesian Navy.

* Monumen Kapal Selam An old Soviet-built submarine called Pasopati, now preserved as a monument beside the river next to Delta Plaza.

* Pasar Ampel A large Arab market selling carpets and all sorts of other goodies. At the end of the main narrow lane is the mosque and grave of one of the nine Muslim saints of Java, Sunan Ampel.

* Surabaya Zoo (Kebun Binatang/Bonbin), 3 km south of the city centre (near Joyoboyo bus terminal). One of the largest and best in South-East Asia. You also can see the Suroboyo monument near the zoo entrance.

* Tugu Pahlawan A monument dedicated to the fallen heroes of Surabaya during the Independence war of 1945-49.

And you can do a lot of interesting actifity, there is some actifity for you :

* Swim and have fun with water in Ciputra Waterpark [5], a great place for swimming, it has a wave pool, slides, and more. This waterpark is located in the CitraLand complex. It is usually crowded on Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays. The waterpark is open until 8 pm.

* Enjoy the local arts at Balai Pemuda, an art center in the heart of Surabaya, near the City Hall. You can watch the Reog Dance and other art performance. The big event is Festival Seni Surabaya (FSS), held every year on June. At Dutch Colonial era, this building was a club called Simpangsche Societeit.

* Get around the Old Town area (Around Kembang Jepun to the port) and enjoy the view of nice colonial buildings.

* Surabaya has several golf courses. Try to golf in Bukit Darmo Golf [6]. This golf course is located in the elite housing area in West Surabaya. This course has 18 holes, designed by Jack Nicklaus II. Another alternative is Yani Golf. This course is built in hilly terrain. Otherwise, you can try Graha Famili golf course (18 holes), inside Graha Famili real estate site, near the Bukit Darmo Golf. Also Ciputra Golf found within Citraland Estate and Pakuwon Golf within Pakuwon Estate. There's also excellent Taman Dayu golf located about an hour drive south, towards Malang.

* Watch movie in 21 Group cinemas, a nice cinema. 21 Cinemas have air-conditioners, and nice seat (But check your seat condition, sometimes the seat isn't clean.)You can know a cinema is a group of 21 from the last name, like Empire 21 or Tunjungan 21. Beware of other cinemas , which usually dirty, unsafe, and without air-conditioner. Vida is also available as a supermarket/cinema. It is located across from the Shangri-La Hotel.

Or you can shooping at :

for up scale :
* Tunjungan Plaza (TP), Jl Basuki Rahmat. Anchored by SOGO and Matahari. The largest in central Surabaya, with four interconnected buildings (TP 1 - TP 4) selling everything. Good selection of restaurants on the top floors and the basement. Enjoy yourself at Stingers, an game area near the food court or Timezone, a popular arcade.

* Mal Galaxy, Jl Dharmahusada Indah Timur (Middle East Ring Road). Anchored by SOGO and Galeri Keris. The largest in eastern part of Surabaya, with two interconnected buildings (Mal Galaxy and Extension). Many luxury things found here.

* Supermal Pakuwon Indah (SPI) and Pakuwon Trade Center (PTC), Jl Puncak Indah Lontar (Middle West Ring Road). Anchored by Matahari and Hypermart. The largest in western part of Surabaya. SPI contains the exclusive part of the mall and PTC for the less exclusive part. PTC has an area that sells pets.

* Lenmarc shopping mall (Mall open May 2009), Jl Bukit Darmo Boulevard. Full glass facade and the first golf-view mall in Surabaya.

* Grand City Mall (Mall open Q3 2009), Jl Gubeng Pojok. Anchored by Metro. Next to Grand City Convention and Exhibition Hall. The luxurious mall in Surabaya.

Mid-range :

* Surabaya Town Square (Sutos), Jl Adityawarman. A shopping mall with the largest cinema studio in surabaya. Open until midnight.

* Pasar Atum & Pasar Atum Mall, Jl Bunguran. A large, indoor Chinese and local market, selling foods, clothes, jewelery, catering to Chinese locals. You can bargain the prices here.

* City of Tomorrow (Cito), Jl Raya Jendral Ahmad Yani. Anchored by Matahari and Hypermart.

* Plaza Surabaya (Delta Plaza), Jl Pemuda. Anchored by Matahari. One of the oldest shopping mall in town. Beside Delta Plaza is the Monkasel(Monumen Kapal Selam) or the Submarine Monument.

* Royal Plaza, Jl Raya Jendral Ahmad Yani. Anchored by Matahari, Hypermart, ACE, and Index. Another medium size shopping mall in Surabaya.

* BG Junction, Jl Bubutan. Anchored by Carrefour. A lot variety of jewellery store so if you want to buy jewellery you definitely have to go to this place.

* ITC, Jl Gembong. Anchored by Carrefour.

* Golden City Mall, Jl Abdul Wahab Siamin. Anchored by Carrefour.

* Maspion Square, Jl Margorejo Indah. Anchored by Giant. A shopping mall situated in Southern Surabaya.

Budget :

* Jembatan Merah Plaza (JMP).
* Pusat Grosir Surabaya (PGS).
* Darmo Trade Center (DTC).
* East Point.

Speciality :

* World Trade Center (WTC), off Jl Pemuda. Despite its name, the building is actually more famous as the place to shop for cellphones. Beware of pickpockets. For locals, WTC is often referred as 'World Telephone Center'.

* HI-TECH Mall, Jl Kusuma Bangsa. The ultimate place to shop for computers, software, and computer peripherals.

* Plasa Marina, Jl Margorejo Indah. a shopping area for computers, softwares, and cellphones.

* Tunjungan Electronic Center (TEC), Jl Tunjungan.

* Empire Palace, Jl Blauran. A place specialty for wedding and jewelery center.

Market :

* Pasar Genteng, Jl Genteng Besar. Around this market you'll find shops selling bandeng asap(smoked milk fish) and kerupuk(local chips).

* Pasar Ampel A large colourful Arab Market.

Surabaya is famous for the rujak cingur, local salad with sauce and cingur(Slice of cooked cow nose). Try also the sate kelopo, satay with coconut rasp, which you can find in Walikota Mustajab street. Surabaya is also home for many restaurants, from Indonesian restaurant to Western restaurant.



As with any big city, Surabaya never let your guard down, because big cities such as Surabaya have a reputation among Indonesians for a high crime rate. That said, Surabaya has few real dangers for visitors apart from the perils of crossing the very busy roads (the secret is to raise an arm while crossing, and to progress with a predictable speed and bearing, allowing the traffic to flow around you). Don't walk on the streets, especially at night, if you can avoid it since you won't have anything to sightsee and the air pollution is fairly high. Be polite to the people, since Surabayans tend to swear easily. Do not easily trust people you have just met, even if they look friendly.