Surabaya Trip 2017

Just came back from a short trip to Surabaya to attend my brother in-law's engagement party.  This time around I only went as far as Tunjungan Plaza and did not venture further due to the function and limited time that we had to spare for the engagement party's preparations.

My parents' house, still looks just like how I left Surabaya more than 20 years ago.  This house is a time machine.

We made the usual stop at Cik Ing for our annual (yep, annual, you read that right) dose of Nasi Bali.  

I gotta cut down on those roast pork and the leafy veg - they are too salty

I also brought the kids to a new indoor theme park called Kidscity in nearby Lenmarc Mall.  

We had the whole place for ourselves when we came on a Tuesday early afternoon

And here's the view from JW Marriott's 12th floor; I rarely have the chance to go up this high in Surabaya so this nice view was a first for me.  The engagement party was held in JW Marriott, that's how I got the chance to see this view.    

Western Surabaya skyline from JW Marriott

I also had a chance to visit a childhood restaurant which I used to frequent with my parents almost every Saturday.  The place has since been very nicely renovated and the menu has been modified with additional items.  

Ayam goreng Sriwijaya - a fragment from my childhood days of growing up in Surabaya

The satay and fried chicken are as good as I remembered, but the new items such as Nasi Goreng & Mie Goreng Jawa are quite forgettable

My wife and I also dropped by Monopole Coffee Lab once again.  This affogato is really good which is mainly due to the rhum ice cream from another legendary joint called Napoli.  But when compared to the one I had in Trung Nguyen Legend, this affogato still has a lot of catching up to do.  However, safe to say that this affogato is the best is Surabaya just by the virtue of that Napoli Rhum ice cream alone.

One thing to note is that, Monopole Coffee Lab's coffee is rather sour.  I'm not sure whether it's because the ground is too coarse, or the water not hot enough or just because of their blend, etc.  But the bottom line is that, I hate drinking that sour espresso.  Monopole Coffee Lab's espresso based drink require a slight addition of sugar to balance the taste.  That is also the reason why I ordered a taro latte instead of an espresso based drink (with the exception of my affogato) on that visit.   

My wife also suggested that we bring back Cactus Brood pastry which is a Surabaya classic.  The kids love it, my wife and I love it, no reason to not bring one back.  

The one and only legendary Idana Cactus Brood pastry

And on the last night in Surabaya we went for a family dinner at a nearby Hakka restaurant called Iehwa which is just near our house.  

Inside Iehwa Hakka restaurant

Last dinner in Surabaya before going back to Singapore

I had brought along my X-T2 but I never had the opportunity to bring it out so all shots were taken with my LG G6.  

Here's a closing shot for this very short entry: 

Darmo Permai Timur III - My home...

~ Photos taken with LG G6~