Kya-kya ... Surabaya's China Town at Night

Night in Surabaya's China Town

Kya-kya is located in Kembang Jepun Street, the old Surabaya. Kembang Jepun is Surabaya's China Town and in the nothern part of Surabaya. During the day, Kembang Jepun is one of the busiest trading centres in the city. In the past, this area was very desolate at night...because it was a very quiet area, nobody would dare to walk in this area at night.

Since 2003, Kembang Jepun street was turned to outdoor eating place at night with all Chinese adornment, namely Chinese paper lanterns, Chinese lion statues that guard the entrance gate for good luck etc. In this place you can have local, chinese and western dishes. My two favourite food stalls here are Ahong Chinese food and Mie Kembang Jepun (Kembang Jepun noodle). Their food is good with reasonable prices. Sometimes, there are live music performances, like dangdut (it is Indonesia's music specialty), jazz, Chinese, Javanese or Arabian music etc.


Ahong's cook in action!!

My last visit to this place was two years ago. I have come to this place for many times. Everytime my friends came and visited me in Surabaya, I always took them to have dinner in Kya-kya. I like this place and it was a cozy place. The only problem is when the rainy season comes ... because it is an open space eating place, then as you can imagine, nobody want to have dinner under the rain right?!

Unfortunately, I got information from my friend that Kya-kya is not as lively as two years ago. Many stalls are closed and some paper lanterns are torn. It is pitiful. I think this place can be a great tourist attraction if it is managed well.

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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House of Sampoerna

Surabaya has been my hometown for nearly 30 years. There are many spots that you can visit if you have chance to visit this city. One of the best spot is House of Sampoerna. I love this place. This place has a lovely and warmth atmosphere. I do not smoke and I am against smoking habit.

Briefly about Sampoerna. Sampoerna is one of the biggest cigarette companies in Indonesia. It was founded in 1913 by Mr. Lim Seeng Tee. Before 2005, this company was owned by Sampoerna dynasty, then this family sold the company to Philip Moris International from Switzerland.

The House of Sampoerna is a unique museum. I have visited this museum three times, but only today I have chance to see the mass production of hand-made cigarettes. It is located at the 'old part' of Surabaya, Taman Sampoerna Street 6, Surabaya. The museum opens everyday from 9am-10pm and the visitors must be above 18 years old. The admission fee is FREE and you can have a tour guide there to explain to you in detail about what the museum is about. Oh, ... the guide is also free of charge and they are really nice and friendly.

The building of House of Sampoerna was bought by Mr. Lim in 1932 and since then, the cigarette production was carried out in that building until now. The cigarette production is taken place at the back of the building. The east
side of the building consists of a cafe, where you can order eastern or western food here, a merchandise store and an art gallery, where you can enjoy some paintings and art works from Indonesian artists. The meal is also good with reasonable price. The west side of the building is the official family residence.

The museum consists of 2 levels. Once you enter the museum, you smell the tobacco aroma. In the museum, you will see a miniature stall of the Sampoerna founder, his bikes, Kebaya and Sarung of the founder's wife, some family pictures of Sampoerna dynasty, old smoking equipment, first R&D development (burette, old weighing scale), a miniature of cigarette stall, Sampoerna marching band equipment, cloves, tobacco, etc. Then, after you have done with your visit at the 1st floor of the museum, go to the 2nd floor.

From the 2nd floor, you can see the hand-made cigarettes mass production. The cigarette production that takes place here is only the production of 'Dji Sam Soe (234)' cigarette. The other brands are produced by machines in other location. The workers (they are all women) hand-roll cigarettes using traditional equipment. They are very amazing. Their hands are very fast in hand-rolling the cigarettes. Their speed of hand-rolling is 325 sticks of cigarettes per hour. If you want to experience how to hand-roll the cigarette, you can do it here and it is FREE. You only can see the cigarettes production Monday-Saturday (except Sunday) during working hours (9 am - 3 pm; except Saturday from 9am - 12 noon). It is such a unique experience. I amazed by the worker's speed. As I mentioned above, I only got chance to see the production today, as my 2 visits previously were in the evening.

How to get there? You can take a cab to come to this place. There are several good cabs in Surabaya, such as Blue Bird, Zebra or Silver taxi. Public transports, like bus or 'bemo' here are not reliable and safe. Most of the time, it is not advised for tourists to travel by bus or 'bemo' here.

This place is highly recommended by me as I love it. Enjoy your visit...