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.

Surabaya Trip - Part 8

This will be the last entry for my Surabaya trip series.  Quite short too....  Day 9 was spent with the kids.  Again, I didn't bring my Sony as I wanted an easy day so I just used my G3.

We started the day by going to Livana to buy some spikoe cakes.  The cake shop is very near, just outside the roundabout in Jln. Mayjend Soengkono.  My wife, myself and the kids absolutely love Spikoe, so we never fail to get some whenever we're in Surabaya.  After that we went to Ciputra World to let the kids play around and just jalan-jalan.

On the way back Lindsay mentioned that she wanted ice cream.  That gave me an idea to try a new cafe in Kupang Indah.  It's a cafe specializing in matcha desserts and some Japanese food.  The place is called The Matcha Cafe (unsurprusingly....) - UPDATE: Matcha Cafe has since been closed.

Nutella parfait, green tea cake parfait, matcha latte - taken with LG G3

Surabaya Trip - Part 7

I spent day 7 for a day trip to Bali to take care of some things with my brother.  It was a rather unpleasant trip but it had to be done.  We left the house at 9 in the morning, arrived, did what we have to do and left promptly, arriving back in rainy Surabaya at close to 9 at night.  So that's how day 7 was spent....

Day 8 was relaxing as it was time for me to finally have dating time with my wife.  I didn't bring my RX100 Mk3 so I just made do with my G3 to record the happenings of the day.  

We satisfied a craving for Medanese kway teow at a famous restaurant called Apeng in Kedungdoro.  The exact address will be in Jalan Kedungdoro No. 267.  Between the two of us we ordered quite a fair bit: Hor fun, Chap Chay rice & dumpling noodle (which was immediately scarved the moment it arrived, I forgot to take the photos).  The conclusion, Mie Kriting 33 near our home is currently better than Apeng.  But if you're living near the city centre, Apeng is not a bad choice. 

Horfun & Chap Chay Rice, complete with menu - taken with LG G3

Surabaya Trip - Part 6

Day 3 is the day we return back to Surabaya.  There's still time to squeeze in a quick trip to nearby Taman Wisata Selecta.  So after breakfast we quickly checked out and leave for Selecta.

A trip to Selecta is like a trip down memory lane.  I remember going there as a 10 - 11 year old when I was still staying in Surabaya.  We went to the swimming pool - which is still there. flower and fruit market, rabbit market and the flower garden.  Well, most are still there, but they look better than what I can remember.

A variety of lowers for sale on display - taken with Fujifilm X-T1 + XF16mm F1.4R WR

Surabaya Trip - Part 5

Day 2 in Batu was packed with activities.  We visited 3 attractions all in 1 day: Batu Secret Zoo, Museum Satwa & Museum Angkut.  Of the 3 attractions I personally like Museum Angkut best.

During the visit to Batu Secret Zoo I forgot to bring the spare battery for my X-T1 so the camera was flat after less than an hour.  Fortunately my RX100 Mk 3 was still full so I had a back-up camera.

Batu Secret Zoo is a zoo and theme park mixed together. The kids really had a lot of fun there.  Along the way to the top I stumbled upon this great view.

A display showcase inside the zoo - taken with Sony RX100 Mk3 

Surabaya Trip - Part 4

It's the new year!  And it's also the day we set out for Batu.  Batu here we come!

Yeah look at that traffic.  What's supposed to be a leisurely 2 and a half hour drive turned into a 4 hour drive.

Traffic Jam at Lawang - taken with LG G3

Surabaya Trip - Part 1

So from 5 - 14 Feb we went back to Surabaya for Chinese New Year.  We don't usually go back this long for CNY but since Lincoln is already attending regular tuition classes for English & Chinese, I'd really hate to arrange for make-up classes at other times.  So I thought let's just spend more time in Surabaya and save on the air fares as well.  My wife suggested that we go to Batu as well which I thought is quite a great idea.  So we planned a 3 days and 2 nights visit to Batu this time.

We departed Singapore on a 7:50 a.m. flight early in the morning and arrived in Surabaya at 9:30 a.m. Unfortunately immigration and baggage clearance took about an hour so we only got out at about 10:30.  We were then greeted with the traffic which seems to get worse every year I come back, I'm still trying to digest that it took us nearly an hour to get home from the airport, twice the usual time it should be.  

I swear the traffic seems to be getting worse every year... - Taken with RX100M3