Blogs from Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, Asia - page 2

After a couple of nudges from friends, and because it seems a good idea, I'm going to start this blog to describe my experiences as a teacher of English in Sidoarjo, in East Java. I've been here 3 months now, and it's gone by extremely quickly! I arrived in Indonesia just a month after finishing my TEFL (teaching qualification) course. It was March the 30th 2014, and it was a long trip to get here. I had a 12 hour flight, 9 hour stop in Mumbai, another flight to Singapore (3 hours, I think) a two night stop in Singapore to sort out visa stuff.... And finally, a 2 hour flight to Indonesia (Surabaya airport) . It was a rainy night, as it was still the wet season at this point. I had prearranged with my ... read more

Large billboards and tall buildings tower above the wide highways as the train grinds to a halt at Surabaya’s Gubeng station. A month earlier, I had never known much about Surabaya – that it’s the capital and the largest city of East Java, and that it had played a very significant role in Indonesian independence, so much so that it is now affectionately called “City of Heroes.” Heck, a month earlier I hadn’t figured Surabaya would be in my itinerary. But I didn’t do an overnighter from Yogyakarta to solely explore the city. I’m supposed to meet someone and I can’t see her. I get down the train and make my way to the exit. A chorus of touts assaults me, vying for my attention, but I ignore them. I look around for my Couchsurfing host ... read more

We hadden enkele dagen terug de 19 jarige Ben uit Zwitserland leren kennen in Mount Bromo en de rit richting Surabaya met de trein gedeeld. Ben nam een GAP year – 1 jaar vrij na zijn middelbaar. In Zwitserland is er nog verplichte legerdienst. Jongens 3 jaar, meisjes niks. Ben heeft gezondheidsproblemen en kan zijn legerdienst niet doen (slechte knieën, astma en verschillende voedselallergieën). Voor mensen die het leger niet willen doen zijn er 2 mogelijkheden: ofwel 3 jaar voor de sociale sector werken of 10 jaar 3% taxen betalen aan het leger. Hij koos voor het laatste. We bekeken zijn Lonely Planet, een spiksplinternieuwe. Ons geval is van 2006 en de prijzen zijn al verdubbeld ondertussen. In zijn LP stond er andere informatie over Surabaya over onder andere 'House of Sampoerna'. House of Sampoerna is ... read more

JAVA: Surabaya...Graffitti & Submarines. Long final breakfast...breathing in the majestic beauty at the Ijen Resort...one last time...aahh...now have to return to Surabaya...and infernal traffic. I think Fandi our Guide was happy to go...pretty boring for him to hang around for several days...sometimes only seeing us for meals...Hady our driver happy to see us again...and then there was the music. When we travel I bring along compilation CDs of my favourite Blues & Rock tracks...Fandi singing along...Hady happy to rock along...we happy as our previous guide Joe preferred Javanese temple music..!!! Down to the coast...waving to the poor souls on that island close enough to wave to...known as Bali...suckers...you can't swim over to this side...the current is against you...sailing craft and happy swimmers on this side...suckers..!!! Stop at one of the beaches for another ... read more

The train arrived in Central Surabaya at 9.00PM. Our friends Menur and Florent were waiting for us at the station to bring us to Menur's family house. We were staying there for 3 nights and have celebrated Idul Fitri with them, the end of the Ramadan. Idul Fitri starts very early in the morning (5.30AM) with a morning prayer in the Mosque... we did not join them on this one. Once back from the Mosque, families prepare food and drink buffets at their house and invite all relatives who wants to share a bit of the celebration with them... we joined on this one and got stuck with 1 family member with a large knewledge in football quizzing us about the latest player transfers within AS Roma or in what club Eric Gerets was trainer etc... ... read more