Mama I’m home

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Surabaya is the second larger city of Indonesia. The city where I was born and spent half of my life which has changed enormously since I was last here. Everything changed so fast that I needed time to adjust. I didn't recognise my home or my neighbourhood.

My home was located in a spacious area surrounded by only a few neighbours with loads of greens, but that turned into an extremely tight neighbourhood where houses are literally attached to each other and some have been separated by tiny alleyways in between. The home that Dad designed and built it himself did not look the same, everything has changed.

However, despite all the changes, I am pleased that Surabaya city has become more and more advanced, especially the children education system. I don't visit much because every time I do, I find it hard to leave. I love being around my family, I love to pamper myself at a beauty salon all day, I love to eat until my jeans popped and take a trip to a small village somewhere.

This year's trip was too short. I haven't seen my mum and my bros for a while, and it was nice to catch up with them again. I also went to visit dad's grave for a wee bit but I forgot to bring his fave beverage Guinness. Next time dad!

Often, we all gathered to eat together along with loads of bla bla, have some good laughs, then go fishing at dusk till midnight at the canal outside. Mum always busy in the kitchen, making some Indonesian dishes while the bro’s are busy stocking up the fridge with alcohol as well as topping up snack jars. This is why its hard for me to leave SBY every time I am there.

After a couple of days in SBY, almost my whole family and me went on a road trip to Bromo to repeat the good memory when dad was still around for which he and I used to get up at 3am in an early, chilly morning to watch sunrise. We embarked Surabaya at 1am, on our way there, we stopped frequently for restaurant breaks regardless of how much foods we already have in the cars. We’re Indos, food is in our blood and it stayed in our tummies. 😊

When we finally have arrived, we walked up to the sunrise point in the dark. Unfortunately, mama couldn’t make it to the top because temperature was too cold for her, so she stayed comfortably inside a warm restaurant with a fireplace and a cuppa of good Javanese coffee while all of us were outside waited for the sun to rise with goosebumps from the cold.

Even the rented winter jacket, onsite purchased gloves and beanie didn’t manage to keep my mama warm. I warned her well in advance to wear something thick instead, she rocked up with a fancy handbag wearing office pants, ballerina and a tee covered in denim jacket. Oh mama where you off to... Parents..

After sunrise, we drove to the famous erupted volcanos side and then hiked to watch it from above. We spent a couple of hours there before we visited a few other places nearby. This time we didn’t spend the weekend there and only stayed from morning till afternoon.

Again, just like SBY, Bromo has changed rapidly. The new Bromo is packed with many local and international tourists which is good however, those unnecessary horses carrying around lazy people must go (how lazy can some people be?!). There were also many little shops and street foods vendors everywhere. This is great, I support local businesses.

Somehow, I felt that Bromo has slightly lost its originality, I missed the old Bromo or maybe it was because dad was a part of it. Nevertheless, my family and me had loads of fun there. We had an unforgettable experience and shall visit Bromo again.

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[Seth Heartly]

I really like your stories 👌
Hit me up on the inbox maybe out path crosses somewhere. Cheers SH

[Nelly]

Indonesia
I go to Indonesia many times and it is one of my favourite countries.