Saturday, July 19, 2008

Surabaya ... the city of heroes

Surabaya is the second-largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta. I live here for nearly 30 years :-). It is the capital city of East Java and the population is about 3 million ... a lot?! Yup.In Indonesia, Surabaya is known as the city of heroes because there were some famous heroes from this city and of its heroic role in Indonesia history.

The name 'Surabaya' is from two syllables: 'Sura or Suro' meaning Shark in English and 'Baya or Boyo' meaning Crocodile in English... then these two syllables combine - Surabaya. There is a folktale about it... the two animals got into a fought to obtain the title as 'the strongest animal'. Then, these two animals become the symbol of Surabaya.

Basically Surabaya is just like other metropolitan cities in the world ... there are big shopping centres, movies, good restaurants, live entertainments etc. If you like to shop, this city can be your shopping heaven. Some shopping centres, namely Tunjungan Plaza, Galaxy mall, Surabaya Plaza, etc, offer good quality stuffs and there are lots of choices. In the old part of the city, you can visit China town, the historical red bridge, House of Sampoerna, Hero monument and museum, old church in Kepanjen etc. If you want to see around the city, you can take cab or rent a car for one day. Just FYI, Surabaya is really hot during the day, so apply your sunscreen and bring your cold drinks.

How to get here? There is an international airport, Juanda Airport. There are many domestic flights arrive in this airport, but not many for international flights. I think only flights from Malaysia, Singapore and Hongkong do arrive in Juanda. If you are from other cities in Java Island, you can come by car, bus or train.

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