Finding things in Surabaya

[ReveurGAM]

Hi Glenn,
Yes I should be back by then I am booked on a flight back on the 10/11 I live at Graha residen if you want to find out where it is here is the web address
www.graharesiden.com that will be great to catch up I will pm you my cell number Oh btw the premier tickets from my experience was 50,00 during the week in the daytime and 100,000 on saturday night unbelievable value compared to Australia

Yeah, $5 is super-cheap compared to US prices, too. Too bad about our budget. At least we'll get to hang out with you and yours!

Glenn,

The Square Apt is in Siwalankerto, far from US Consulate that is now in the western side of Surabaya. Grand Kalimas and Maumu Hotel is a bit closer than The Square Apt but still not within the nearby area, if you want to get the initial trip to the Consulate easier and closer with your place of stay. Griyo Avi hotel is located in the west and taxi wont cost you much if you choose this one. I only saying based on the location only from your choices, ya. Dont know about the hotel rep it self.

Ciputra Waterpark will be great fun for the kids, I can highly recommend it. They also have trampoline, flying fox for them to try on.

Thanks for the tips! We've settled on Grand Khalimas due to our budget and its location, but I think that we may look at other places in the event we have to extend (I hope not) our stay.

I try to bring baking stuff from the US every time I fly back. Costco is your friend. I brought a jumbo size bag of shelled walnuts, that I'd be glad to give you some of, if you pass through Bandung. Also hit up Walmart for some Ghirardelli chocolate chips, but only a bag of milk chocolate and one of white chocolate. Ah, I've got a jumbo box of Ghirardelli brownie mix too. What they call brownies in Bandung aren't quite my favorite. I can't wait to do some baking soon.

I was last in the US in 2006. I wish I were passing through Bandung if for no other reason than to be able to meet you, Jaime! The walnuts would be a bonus. I feel you on the brownies thing - I'm lucky enough to have a wife who's a baker and can make them baked or steamed. Have you ever had steamed chocolate chocolate chip banana brownies? heheheeh We just enjoyed a bunch of bananas from our yard and ohhhh they were so big and creamy and yummy! I really hope we can get a new oven someday - her oven's pipes are rusting out and the rain shattered the lower viewing plates the other week. Also, there's no way to control temp...So different from baking in the US where it's all about temp control!

Indian resto : SITARA - near to SUTOS ( surabaya town square ) - think its hayam wuruk street. dont know if they open for lunch. went there twice, always for dinner nice interior design

Sitara, eh? I'm drooling already! Is it northern or southern food? From my experiences in Singapore, I feel that northern food tastes better. The southern stuff tends to be almost medicinal in flavor sometimes, or maybe the balance of spices is just too alien... Thanks!

Does anyone know of good stores for buying cooking equipment? I don't mean the regular crap that passes here, I mean good quality stuff that'll outlive me like pots, pans and utensils, and large devices like dough risers and mixers, bread slicers, ovens and stuff?

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

[ReveurGAM]

I'm currently trying to find info about the Surabaya Tourism Center but I'm not having much luck. Does anyone know where it's located - my mom insists on going there? I found Surabaya's official website, which led me to Sparkling Surabaya/, which is thankfully in English.

As an aside, the Surabaya website doesn't show that the zoo is closed and, wow, the write-up is so positive!

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

[nene_chan]

Rawon Setan is an institution in Surabaya, get there a bit early as they usually have a queue out the door waiting for tables believe me its worth the wait if like me you love Rawon, forget the Hilton then, been to one five star restaurant you been to them all anyway. The Sampoerna museum is an absolute must if you like the historical aspect of Indonesia the museum tells the story of how the owner came over from China as an orphan in the 1890s and went on to build up a multi billion dollar tobaco industry, it is truely inspirational and all still set in the original Sampoerna building, if i remember rightly i paid like 20K to get in.

The Mahjapahit hotel is a real glimpse back into the past and one of the few remaining old colonial buildings still preserved in Indonesia to such a high standard, I stayed there for a few nights with my wife and the place is truely amazing. They dont mind you going in to have a look at the rooms and the gardens and it was also the landmark where indonesia was oficially born as a country, steeped in history it shouldnt be passed up. If you are on a budget these are the 3 things i would recommend and they definately wont break the bank.

Have fun.

Hi, Scooter.. I've been in House of Sampoerna couple times and as far as I know, it's free.. You don't have to pay anything to get in. I even watched a movie there for free. The best part is, you can have a tour with the Surabaya Heritage Bus and visit some historical places in Surabaya.

About rawon, I myself is a big fan of it. Beside Rawon setan, you can try Rawon kalkulator at Taman Bungkul as well.

[ReveurGAM]

My mom would like to get some books written in English while we're in Surabaya. Can anyone suggest a good bookstore - new or used, so long as it's in English? There are no options in Purwokerto.

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

[nene_chan]

My mom would like to get some books written in English while we're in Surabaya. Can anyone suggest a good bookstore - new or used, so long as it's in English? There are no options in Purwokerto.

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

Hi Glenn,

I think you can find English books on Gramedia or Periplus. Usually, those bookstores located in malls (Except Gramedia, they also have a quite big bookstrore called Gramedia Expo at Jalan Basuki Rahmat). Actually, Periplus have more English books than Gramedia. You can find Periplus in Tunjungan Plaza (Lower Ground, next to KFC), Galaxy Mall, Supermall Pakuwon and some malls in Surabaya.

[john madden]

Periplus have the best range - from page-turners and self help to non-fiction, and a range of SE Asian related material.

[ReveurGAM]

Hey, thanks everyone for your help! You guys are going to make our visit to Surabaya so much easier!

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

[godmachine12]

Tourism Centre is near City Hall. Can't say if it's useful or not, but it's there.
For English books, I know of Periplus in Galaxy Mall (there are other branches) but it's small and has little in the way of selection. However, it's an English bookshop.
If you want to shop for Western things (food-related that is), best to stop in at Papaya near Plaza Marina Mall.

House of Sampoerna is worth a visit but there isn't much else. The beach is polluted and disgusting. Ampel is a crowded, ramshackle mess and not worth the time. There are some decent culinary options but that's about it I'm afraid.

Either way, enjoy 'Sparkling Surabaya'!!!

[nene_chan]

Tourism Centre is near City Hall. Can't say if it's useful or not, but it's there.
For English books, I know of Periplus in Galaxy Mall (there are other branches) but it's small and has little in the way of selection. However, it's an English bookshop.
If you want to shop for Western things (food-related that is), best to stop in at Papaya near Plaza Marina Mall.

House of Sampoerna is worth a visit but there isn't much else. The beach is polluted and disgusting. Ampel is a crowded, ramshackle mess and not worth the time. There are some decent culinary options but that's about it I'm afraid.

Either way, enjoy 'Sparkling Surabaya'!!!

Well.. yeaaaah, we have tourism information centre at Balai Pemuda, near city hall.. In my opinion, I don't find it helpful. But, it's there anyway..

[ReveurGAM]

I thought I'd provide a bit of info about our trip in the hopes that it'll help others who need to go to Surabaya.

First, the Grand Kalimas was clearly renovated in the recent past, and is across the street from the Kalimas Hotel. The frontal facade of both hotels are rather attractive. The neighborhood is rather dirty and seedy looking, perhaps because it's pretty close to the harbor. The breakfast is poor, the food average and overpriced. The parking area in front is, well, a bit on the small side so cars are double-parked. Getting into the hotel, you must either navigate a staircase or take a long ramp. At the top they meet and you then have to go up a staircase to get to the lobby. The restaurant is off to the right side. When we arrived, we were exhausted and it was too late to look for a place to eat, so we had a meal there. I don't recommend buying food there - it's just not a "best buy" despite enticing choices like nasi kebuli (which tasted nice) and Lebanese bread (which was hard and difficult to eat), especially since you can go across the street and buy the same food for far less. Also, my mom got diarrhea from something there (probably the ice in the breakfast juice). The waitstaff was lacking in enthusiasm. The first day, breakfast was rawon, juice, tea, coffee and toast. The second rawon was replaced with lackluster fried rice. The rooms, being as there apparently is only one superior room on each of the four floors, were right next to the elevator. The rooms were nice enough, clean and included AC, hot water, bath tub and cable TV. Our only complaint about the superior room was that right next to the bed is a block glass window that doesn't have a curtain so, despite the regular windows being curtained, you're still going to be awakened by the sunrise. At the time we were there, there was construction going on next door - for the hotel or something else, I don't know - but it didn't really bother us although it was outside our window. The hotel's new interior is fairly nice and if you like an open center, the Grand Kalimas has that. FYI, there's no swimming pool. We paid Rp. 235,000 (325,000 normally) for the standard room and Rp. 255,000 (365,000) for the superior, which we booked via 1001malam.com.

I strongly urge anyone who wants to visit Surabaya and isn't familiar with it to rent a car and get a local driver. Surabaya is a confusing place to drive because of the way it's laid out, the number of one-way streets and the current construction obstruction. We wasted several hours there because we didn't know our way around, despite having a map and asking for directions. Surabaya has some really big malls, like Tunjungan Plaza in the center of town, and they're pretty Western in design. People who don't care about their health can certainly find a lot of junk and fast food.

The US Consulate General has moved to west Surabaya within the Citraland complex. It's supposed to be a very modern imitation of Singapore but, from what I can see, the contractors took a lot of shortcuts. Many of the streets are badly cracked and sagging and some are closed for a complete overhaul. Buildings show sign of premature wear and the G-Walk strip mall is in terrible shape with the interesting looking canopies in disrepair because the iron supports are rusting out, plus many of the shop houses need repairs. Also, don't expect to find much in the way of food choices in G-Walk before evening - most places aren't open. You're better off eating somewhere outside Citraland and do expect that if you travel from the center of town that it'll take a while to get to the consulate. You'll have to ask find it, too, because there're no signs indicating where it is (that we saw) - until you get close enough to see the US flag. We ended up missing the turn-off on the tollway and had to travel all the way to the next off ramp because the lady at the booth refused to let us turn around at the stop (about 10 km between the two locations) right after where we should have turned.

Once again, navigating Surabaya is difficult and you should hire a local driver to avoid wasting hours of time like we did. The advice here was great but we didn't get to do much of anything because of this problem.

Annette, I hope your sister is okay!

For those looking for baking supplies, we visited four places, which I'll tell you about.
1) Super Kitchen in BG Junction: This is a pretty standard place that has a misleading name. There are no baking supplies and very little in the way of appliances. Mostly, it's just a containers and dishes store but I didn't check out the prices as I was in a rush.

2) Toko Toeng - Best choice for dishes, appliances, and containers, but also the most expensive. If you want high-quality pots and pans, this is the only choice we saw. It's a four-storey open construction building packed with lots of stuff, although commercial level equipment is in short supply. If you go there, try the lumpia, risoles and serabi out front.

3) Toko Sinar Yong - Best choice for baking goods in terms of selection. A dusty two floor open construction store with a fair selection of commercial level equipment with the best prices for them. It has a lot of other things needed for baking.

4) Toko Delapan - Best choice for baking goods in terms of price. A dusty one-storey shop with several rooms. It also has a very wide variety of baking pans, decorations and even a small but nice variety of commercial equipment.

3 & 4 were about the same price for equipment. 2 & 3 are very close to each other.

(We also visited Toko Deoni in Jogja, which is small and has very little in the way of appliances but has better prices for baking supplies and pans. They also offer free delivery to where we live in Baturraden!)

We were taken to Fish & Co. in Tunjungan Plaza. If you don't have a lot of money, don't bother to go here as the cheapest meal is more than Rp. 100,000, but if you've got the money some of the food is worth it. The pizza seemed nice, although I only took a bite when it was cold. I had Cajun salmon and Masala (Indian) dory, with mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes instead of rice or french fries, both of which were enjoyable (although there could've been a bit more spices as the flavor'd been adjusted for Indonesians), mushroom salad (which was yummy even though they used iceberg lettuce), passion fruit juice (from concentrate, I'm sure, but nice) and panne cotta (which was quite nice). My bro-in-law had one of the fried fish dishes that was marked as a favorite, and it was one of the cheapest meals so it was perhaps no coincidence that it's very popular and also tastes terrible. The waitstaff were absolutely wonderful people - probably the best I've experienced in Indonesia (not that I go out much). The hostess was very friendly and patient while she took our orders, and the waitress was equally nice and patient, and she took my little boy to the toilet twice for us! They also entertained him a bit. My mom enjoyed her spaghetti in cream sauce, my wife enjoyed her sirloin steak although it wasn't marinaded long enough, and my kids enjoyed the pasta they ordered (cheese and bowties, and spaghetti), although when I tasted the bowties I found the sauce bland and the bowties were al dente.

We never managed to get to the Indian restaurant. Master D's in BG Junction was really crappy - the food was not pleasant and some of the things we ordered were gone despite it being evening, including lemon squash. The other place (I forgot the name) we ate at in G-Walk was just average to worse; although the people were nice, they got our order wrong, were very slow about getting our food to us (even when we told them we were in a rush), and tried to double-charge us for some pangsit. Some of the food was nice, like the soto kikil, but some of it didn't taste good - such as the pangsit and mie ayam.


I think I discovered a really good cure for the common cold. I developed a cold on the trip and when we were eating at G-Walk I ordered Key Lime juice (jeruk nipis) and I told them to make it very strong but sweet, as I always do when I get a cold - it seems to help. I also ordered temulawak drink (Curcuma xanthorrhiza ROXB), which seemed to be part powder and part real, and it was strong enough that it gave me chapped lips. Within 24 hours of drinking them, my cold was completely gone, when usually it'd take a week or three, especially because I was on a trip.

Thanks again to everyone who helped. If you go to Jogja, they have a nice, but smallish zoo, although they're expanding it to include a bird park, and the herpetile section is one of the biggest I've seen. Gembira Loka Zoo in english

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn