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blue pin: visited; yellow pin: transit;

Friday, January 30, 2009

Day 7 - 8: Surabaya (Indonesia) - Singapore

Since he was still sick, we only went to Pantai Kenjeran nearby for our last sightseeing.

Pantai Kenjeran (Kenjeran Beach)


Muddy beach






Chinese temple facing the ocean






Entrance to the temple from the road


4-face Buddha like in Thailand

Suramadu Bridge Project
On the way home, we made a detour to see the new bridge that is almost completed. The 5.4 km bridge is called Suramadu, connecting Surabaya and Madura Island. It is the longest bridge that ever been built in Indonesia.


Nearly completed Suramadu bridge

Galaxy Mall
I quite like this shopping mall, but we really didn't have much time to look around.






Food Court


Dinner at Orchid Hong Kong

The dimsum was quite cheap, it was less than a dollar for every plate.


Dimsum for dinner. :)

It was our last night in Surabaya. Time to pack our luggage.

Mesjid Al Akbar
This mosque is such an eye-catcher on our way to Juanda Airport.



Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Day 5 - 6: Surabaya

The Heroic City
Surabaya is well known as the Heroic City of Indonesia. Many great wars were fought here to achieve their independence from foreign entities.

As a result, there are many monuments around the city to commemorate the bravery and sacrifices of their people in those wars.

Tugu Pahlawan (Heroes Monument)


The most important landmark in Surabaya.

Monumen Bambu Runcing (Sharpened Bamboo Monument)


Sharpened bamboo was the traditional weapon of Indonesians.

Monumen Perjuangan Polri (Police Force Monument)




Don't know the name, anyone can advise?

The quality of the pictures here were not very good because we took them from the moving car.

BG Junction
One of the newer malls in Surabaya.



The Empire Palace
This building is so grand, I thought it was a hotel or something. It turns out to be a multi function venue, very popular for wedding celebration.



Tunjungan Plaza
It has been around for very long but still very popular with the locals. It is one of the upscale malls with tenants like Sogo and many international labels.



We had Texas Fried Chicken in Tunjungan Plaza. It is my favourite fried chicken. :) I must have this everytime I go back to Indonesia.


Texas Fried Chicken, not as oily as KFC.

Hubby was sick afterwards so we didn't go out much for a few days.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Day 4: Surabaya

Bumbu Desa
I'm so happy to meet up with a few classmates from UNSW days, it was at least ten years since we saw each other. Our lunch was at Bumbu Desa which serves local cuisine. Thanks to Rona and Silvia for the treat!!




Lalapan (salad)


Gurame goreng (fried gurame fish)


Pepes ikan mas (gold fish)

Pepes is a type of cooking where the fish was steamed in a wrapped banana leaves and then grilled.


Ikan lele goreng (fried catfish)


Fried chicken intestines. Isn't it like Fear Factor? :D


Sambal cumi (squid with sambal sauce)


Quail eggs with tofu


Balarea juice, I couldn't remember the ingredients.


Avocado juice

After this, we went to Rona's house and had es kopyor. Es kopyor is a creamy version of coconut juice, something in between coconut juice and coconut milk. It was really good but too sinful!

Next, she drove us to ITC and we had our groceries shopping at Carrefour. It has been our tradition to "raid" the supermarket whenever we go to cheaper countries. :D

Really big thanks to her for accompanying us the whole day!

Pakuwon City
We had our dinner at a food court in Pakuwon City, a new housing estates built by Ciputra. Many of the estates have great facilities, so that residence could get everything they need within the area.




Food court



Kwetiau goreng Medan is my comfort food. The fried kwetiau is more similar to Penang style than Singapore's. I always have this when I go back home. Now I could have it anywhere hehe...


Kwetiau goreng Medan

He ordered nasi rawon which is the most famous local food. You could find it anywhere from roadside stall to high end Indonesian restaurants.


Nasi rawon (beef stew and rice in dark soup). The soup was spicy, tasted like bak kut teh.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Day 3: Tretes - Surabaya

The villa






Living room


Pantry


Another villa where the landlord stays.



Went out to buy famous rujak..




Rujak manis


Everyone is busy on their own.

Next is satay..





The satay was so yummy, it cost Rp. 9000 (SGD 1.15) for ten sticks. We had 40 sticks of chicken and mutton.

Tretes Raya Hotel
Located opposite our villa, it is a 4-star hotel but doesn't look very well kept.


"I want to ride that horse!"




Scenery from the hotel


The big hamster was working hard after eating so much. :P


Last photo before leaving Tretes.

The only attraction in Tretes is the fresh produce market.




Bought a lot of bananas, petai, duku, and mangosteen.

Hotel Senyiur
Another stop at a hotel to view the scenery.









Another must do in Tretes is to eat at Ayam Goreng Sri. The restaurant was fully packed to the brim eventhough its capacity is at least a hundred.




View outside the restaurant. Haven't seen so much greenery for a very long time.


Coconut juice with syrup. Would have been better without it.


Beras kencur (Indonesian traditional drink, a kind of jamu).


Grilled spicy butter corn from the roadside, absolutely heavenly.


Fried chicken, didn't quite like it.


Sayur lodeh


Tahu goreng (fried tofu)


Tahu telor (tofu omelette with peanut sauce)

It was the first day of Chinese New Year, in order to keep the tradition we went to his relative house located at the elite housing estate in downtown Surabaya. The bungalows were big, some looked like a mansion. I heard this kind of bungalow will cost around SGD 1 million.