Finding things in Surabaya

[itinerantman]

We never managed to get to the Indian restaurant.
Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

let me assure you that you missed nothing-over priced,small portions & not particularly authentic. there's a new indian resto called saffron opening in lenmarc soon which sounds more promising. met the indian owner and the chef the other evening & they seem to know what they are doing. will duly check it out & comment for all my surabaya friends-cheers

[ReveurGAM]

Sounds disappointing. I'm not sure if I'll ever get back to Surabaya, but I still hope to hear your review of the new resto!

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

[james]

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.

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.

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

Glenn,

How was the consulate; how does it compare with the embassy in JKT? Was it as fortified and difficult to enter? Were the staff friendly and efficient? Would you recommend going to the consulate in Surabaya over the embassy in JKT, other things being equal?

[ReveurGAM]

I have been delaying writing about the US Consulate in Surabaya in more detail because I've been awaiting a response from them on an issue that popped up. However, it's been a few days now with absolutely no response to my queries, so I guess I'll just go ahead and spill it and let the chips fall where they may.

Emailing either the Embassy or the ConGen can result in a fast result - or a never-ending wait. I have to say, however, that when the ConGen has responded, they have done an excellent job of helping me, whereas I have not always had the same experience with the Embassy. Also, the onsite service was up to par and I cannot really say anything bad.*

The truth is, I had a somewhat negative experience with the Embassy staff via email and phone when I was trying to get advice and assistance from them on the matter of the Indonesian gov't's requirement of a letter of marriage registration. They didn't seem to be good enough at English, it's true, to handle my inquiry well but they also displayed some less than courteous behavior in some of their responses. I won't say more than that, but their "service" left me with a bad taste in my mouth. In addition, the American I dealt with while there was a bit irritable - although he did, in the end, manage to help me finish my letter despite the official rules that an unprepared (or even one who's prepared but has missed something) can be sent away - a rule I find ridiculous.

In the Embassy's defense, however, I get the impression they deal with vastly more people, American and otherwise, than does the ConGen, which might be part of the reason for their shortcomings. The more customer service you do, the shorter your temper may become, after all. However, I spent several years in that arena and, while I view an occasional slip-up as normal, I think they passed that mark a wee bit.

This, of course, is just my opinion.

Yes, the ConGen is well-fortified but not as heavily as the Embassy in terms of external defenses, although it is on elevated ground with a ditch running around it. Internally, it seemed comparable to the Embassy. Between the entrance and the Consulate there are three security points to go through, with the last being just a metal detector portal within the service room itself, attended by a guard. The actual area where you go for help is just as plain jane as in Jakarta, with plenty of seating, but they have quite modern bathrooms to enjoy. My memory of the old ConGen is pretty poor, having gone there only once, but this seems better. The ConGen is secure enough, methinks, and the people are nice. Given the lighter workload, the better staff (IMHO), and discounting the difficulty of locating it, I would recommend the ConGen.

*The inquiry I haven't received a response to is in regards to the issue of the exchange rate for payments made to them. The US Embassy and Consulates do not, as I mentioned elsewhere, accept American dollars. I hadn't paid attention previously to how much I'd paid at the Embassy or ConGen but, for unimportant reasons, I was paying attention this time. They gave me an exchange rate of Rp.10,000=$1, rather a bit more than the going rate. When I playfully pointed this out to the nice lady helping me, she explained that if the exchange rate reaches 9,500, they round it up, and it was apparently above 9,500 on that day. I didn't think to inquire for more details while there, but logic dictates that their exchange rates will always be inflated by up to Rp. 500/dollar. What I think she meant is this:
Actual rate Their rate
Rp.8,501-9,000 Rp.9,000
Rp.9,001-9,500 Rp.9,500
Rp.9,501-9,999 Rp.10,000

Or something like that. In my case, I had a total expense of $310 to pay, and I was instructed to pay Rp.3,100,000. Oddly, I don't recall seeing anything about this on the Embassy, ConGen or State Dept. websites - but I wasn't looking specifically for that. If I'd been allowed to pay in dollars, I would've gone home with more money in my pocket by buying dollars than I did by paying in Rupiahs.

Does that help?

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn

[james]

Yes, v. helpful. Thank-you.

[ReveurGAM]

A couple of days ago, I received notice from the ConGen that my kids' documents were ready so yesterday my friend tried to pick them up. Security apparently made it difficult and claimed that the documents were not ready. I contacted Selvia at the ConGen and asked her to confirm the presence of the documents and told her about the problem. She said she spoke to security and they claimed no one had come to collect the documents, and that they were, indeed, ready.

To make a long story short, my friend was able to pick up the documents today. I had been told that it would take at least 10 days - in our case it was 15.

One odd thing that cropped up was that, while at the ConGen, she had told us to let them know who'd be picking up the documents then, yesterday in email, she informed me they'd need a letter of permission. Fortunately, they were willing to accept it via email because the nearest fax facility is a fair distance away in town.

A minor disappointment: When there, Selvia'd given us the application for Iregi's SSN and explained that they'd forward it to the SS office in Manila. When I inquired yesterday as to the status of his SSN application, she said she'd send it by pouch! I'm not sure why it had been ...forgotten...for two weeks.

Namaste, peace & love,
Glenn