Surabaya Travel Tips and City Attractions
Nurr Shahidna begins her adventure in Surabaya, where she delved into the world of Batik and visited various city attractions.
Nurr Shahidna Shahidna is an English teacher by profession and a writer and photographer by passion. She left her job as a Singapore teacher to pursue her dream to travel. She now teaches English to underprivileged Thai kids with Phuket Has Been Good to Us Foundation. She backpacks around Asia every holiday. Writing is her avenue to share her travels worldwide!
I was full of anticipation for my first trip to Surabaya, Indonesia. Despite Indonesia’s close proximity to Singapore, I had only been to Bintan and Batam - even then just for school camps and day trips. Hence, since this is my first trip to mainland Indonesia, I was excited to see what Surabaya, the second largest city of Indonesia, has to offer.
Touchdown at Surabaya’s Juanda Airport
Not being a fan of long flights, it is great that Surabaya is just 2.5 hours away from Singapore. We touched down at the newly opened Juanda Airport Terminal. The terminal was opened on 14 February 2014 in order to ease congestion in the current Terminal 1. In 2013, the old terminal handled double its intended capacity at 16 million passengers. Apart from filling up the immigration card and goods declaration form, arrival and clearance at the immigration was a breeze. It will be easy to catch a taxi to your hotel from the airport. A tip for all travellers: Ask the taxi driver to use the taxi meter. It is easier than having to haggle with the driver on the price once you’ve reached your destination.
Clean and Green Surabaya
What pleasantly surprised me about Surabaya is its cleanliness. There is no litter on the roads. Our tour guide told us that Ms. Tri Rismaharini, Mayor of Surabaya, wants to create a clean and green image for the city. Trees were planted overnight to add greenery to the city and petrol kiosks were shut down to make way for beautiful gardens. Surabaya enjoys the reputation of being the cleanest city in Indonesia and similar to Singapore, Surabaya has strict littering laws.
Religion
Islam is the main religion in Surabaya. I had a short visit to the biggest mosque in Surabaya, Al-Akbar Mosque, which is located on Pagesangan Street. It is a magnificent and modern mosque and is quite well-known in Asia. Since Surabaya is predominantly Muslim, it is important to dress conservatively.
The Traditional Heritage of Batik
Batik Making Factory at Dewi Saraswati Batik Surabaya
Batik is part of ancient tradition Indonesia, and each province has its own distinct batik pattern and colours. On my first day In Surabaya, I went on a tour which took us to a Batik-making factory to take a look at the batik-making process. Batik-making looks tedious under the poor lighting of the factory but the workers persevered on, chanting and later painting beautiful batik designs on the cloth. I must say it is a long delicate process which takes about two weeks minimum to complete.
It was possible for the artsy tourists among us to have a hands-on session at making batik but we preferred to let the experts do their job while we shopped in their batik shop. Their batik products are of high quality and my fellow lady travellers came out of the shop looking satisfied. Not being a fan of shopping, I just hung out with the men while they drank traditional Indonesian coffee.
Mirota Batik & Handicraft Centre
Mirota Batika & Handicraft Centre looked small from the outside but upon entering it, all of us were shocked! How do we finish shopping in 15 minutes? I got my stash of postcards and fridge magnets as souvenirs. Each postcard costs only 6000 rupiah. Souvenir shopping, checked! There was an extensive number of Indonesian home decorative items for sale. We left the handicraft centre a few thousand rupiahs poorer but everyone agreed that the everything inside was very affordable. A formal batik shirt costs only SGD 7! Even the men were smiling and satisfied with their mini shopping expedition.
You can easily get to the Batik Factory and the Handicraft Centre mentioned above via a metered taxi as it is near the city centre. I would suggest that you pay the taxi driver to wait for you outside both locations so as to ease movement.
Surabaya City Attractions!
Arca Joko Dolog
My second day in Surabaya was also spent on a tour which took us to various city attractions, beginning with Arca Joko Dolog. Arca Joko Dolog is an ancient shrine believed to have been transported across different locations over the years since it was constructed in the 1200s. The shrine was built even before the Majapahit Kingdom, and there are Sanskrit and old Java inscriptions around the shrine. Presently, the shrine is still used as a place of worship.
Submarine Monument
A real Russian submarine in the Indonesia's Navy Armada, the Submarine Monument was once used in the Arafura Sea battle to free West Irian from the Dutch. Visitors are allowed to enter the submarine to view the interior It was a great experience but certainly not for the claustrophobic. The black and white photos of the submarine crew in the photo frames were a visual reminder that we were inside a real submarine used during the war.
Heroes Monument
When in Surabaya, a trip to the Heroes Monument is a must. A landmark of Surabaya, it the main symbol of the city, dedicated to the people who died during the Battle of Surabaya on 10 Nov 1945.
House of Sampoerna
I must say the most exciting part of my tour was the House of Sampoerna, the production plant for Indonesia's famous cigarette brand. In the plant, I noticed a glazed look on many faces - it was as though people were getting high from the smell of fresh tobacco and cloves. The factory is labour intensive as every stick of cigarette has to be perfectly hand-rolled.
Off to the next Destination: Kediri City
After a fulfilling stay in Surabaya, it was time to proceed to Kediri city, our gateway to Mount Kelud. The journey to Kediri was supposed to take only 3 hours but there was a long traffic jam so we inched forward bit by bit. The outskirts of Surabaya city reminded me a lot of the outskirts of Bangkok. It made me feel at home to see the familiar sight of rice fields and the occasional factories.
Also read: Mount Kelud: My Climb Up East Java’s Most Active Volcano
Many thanks to TripZilla , VITO-Singapore , Tigerair, and East Java Tourism Board for making this trip to Surabaya and Mount Kelud possible.