22 Feb 2015 (Sun)
What fairly describe about East Java
province, is coming from Surabaya. Besides, it is the official
capital of the province, Surabaya is also the second largest city after Jakarta. By the population for about 3
million people, Surabaya has become the Metropolis city with numbers of
diversities among the people, cultures, habits and way of living. Moreover,
Surabaya nowadays is already become the centre of business, commerce, industry,
and education in eastern Indonesia. (Extract from Internet.)
0645 - 0740hrs. We had breakfast at Ibis Hotel.
0840hrs. The minibus from Ibis Hotel sent us to House of
Sampoerna.
House of Sampoerna - The museum of cigarette,
if you are 18 years old or above, you are permitted to visit. There has Surabaya
Heritage Track program, i.e. Free Tour for visitors to know the City of Surabaya.
Before visiting
the museum, we went to register for the Surabaya Heritage Track
(SHT). They run 3 times a day, 9 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. The 3 runs were visiting
to difference places in Northern Surabaya.
It was overwhelming (ramai orang), the 9 am run had been
fully booked, I managed to get 3 seats for the 1 pm run.
We visited the House of Sampoerna, free admission, and
stayed for about 40 minutes.
1000hrs. The minibus sent us to Pasar Atum Mall.
Arrangement was made to fetch us back to Ibis at where we alighted at 1630hrs.
Anyway, I would not be taking this transport because I would join the SHT at 1300hrs
and would make my way home to Ibis.
I had made arrangement with CPeng and Mr Lee to meet at
1145hrs, if they wanted to go SHT with me, at the entrance of Pasar Atum Mall.
1030hrs. I roamed for 30 minutes, I, alone, left the Pasar
Atum Mall, and on foot I walked to the ITC Mega Grosir, about 1km from Pasar
Atum Mall. I roamed for 1 hour at the ITC Mega Grosir, and walked back to Pasar
Atum Mall.
You are able to find out more on internet - just key in
Google with the name, i.e. ‘ITC Mega Grosir’, ‘Pasar Atum Mall’ and ‘House of
Sampoerna’.
1145hrs. At the Entrance of Pasar Atum Mall, only CPeng
turned up for the SHT. We waited for 2 minutes for Mr Lee.
1147hrs. CPeng and I took a cab to House of Sampoerna.
The taxi driver did not know where is House of Sampoerna. He drove us round and
round. Fortunately, I remember the name to the road, “Jalan Kalisosok”, finally
we arrived our destination. The taxi fare was Rp 42,000. (SGD 4.2).
1230hrs. We were on time to collect the SHT tickets, although
we had booked, we must collect the ticket 30 minutes before the departure time at
1 pm. And we also have time to take our lunch at the Café.
The Café - With a
touch of art deco‚ a splash of wild creativity and a dash of history‚ the Café
offers a unique sensory and culinary experience. Blending original painted
and leaded glass windows and century old carved teak panels with clean
modern design‚ the Café is indeed an experience that you should not miss.
A wide selection of Western and Asian flavors are especially prepared to
satisfy even the most discerning of visitors. (Extract from Internet.)
1300hrs. CPeng and I boarded the SHT bus and we enjoyed
the free tour to the Heroes Monument Museum and 2 other places.
1430hrs. SHT ended. As CPeng and I were prepared to walk
back to Ibis Hotel, and a trishaw tout us, hence, we took the trishaw back to
Ibis Hotel. The fare was Rp 20,000 (SGD 2).
1500hrs. When we arrived Ibis Hotel, surprise to see that
every body also back in the Ibis Hotel, because they changed plan to have
massage at the hotel and called the minibus to fetch them earlier, instead of
planned at 1630hrs.
1530. I went to China Town, alone, to take photos.
1830hrs. We had dinner together at a nearby restaurant. I
ordered a Nasi Gule Kambing (Rp 20,000). But they said that they had served me Gule
Kambing (Rp 35,000) and Nasi (Rp 10,000). That was an unpleasant incident I had encountered.
This was day 3, 20 – 23 Feb 2015, 4D3N free and easy in
Surabaya.
