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Surabaya, Indonesia, December 15


Another very hot and humid day in Indonesia.  I just don’t know how they can live here.  We were welcomed by VERY loud music this morning - the local entertainers were dockside drumming, singing, cracking whips, dancing, people dressed as exotic peacocks, dragons, you name it.  All very nice but it went on for about 3 hours!!!  Our suite was right opposite it all, difficult to even think! George went on a tour at 9.30 and as I’d already cancelled the same tour I took the shuttle into the main part of town. In the  terminal there was yet another singing group, this time a beautiful lady singing in that very high pitched scratchy sound - there was no break at all for at least 20 minutes, We really needed noise cancelling earphones.  I’m sounding very precious and shouldn’t be surprised about the noise as have been to parts of Indonesia before but it seems worse now.  On the shuttle we had a guy showing us points of interest and it really is a city of poverty and wealth.  The Dutch influence is obvious by many of the buildings and of course the government buildings are lovely.  The shuttle dropped us at the biggest shopping mall in Surabaya, seems there are at least six malls all joining so we had to be careful not to get lost.  But I’ve never been lost in a shopping centre yet LOL!!!!! We were at the SOGO entrance - Sogo is a large department store which we’ve been to in Japan, Hong Kong and a couple of other Asian cities and it is very upmarket.  So I walked around for just over an hour, decided there was absolutely nothing I wanted or couldn’t get at home and came back to the ship on the midday bus. Along with many others who felt the same.  I did look at some perfume , asked the price (which I roughly knew anyway) and when they said ‘one point five million’ I decided against it!!!!! 

Surabaya is the capital city of the province of East Java and the second largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta.  It is one of the earliest port cities in south east Asia .  Principal exports from the port include sugar, tobacco and coffee.  Surabaya has a strong financial infrastructure due its rich history as a trading port and the economy is influenced by the recent growth in international  industries and the completion of the Suramadu Bridge. This bridge is a cable-stayed bridge between Surabaya on the island of Java and the town of Bangkalan on the island of Madura and was opened in 2009. At 5.4 kms long it is the longest in Indonesia and the second longest in the Southern Hemisphere.  Surabaya has a population of almost three million people and a huge mixture of dialects.  

Tonight we had the block party where everyone takes a glass into the corridor, to be filled with some wine by the waiters, and you get to meet your neighbours.  The captain usually does a quick run around on every level but tonight was just the cruise director and a couple of others.  Not sure what the captain was up to.  

Dinner in Compass Rose with Anne & David from the UK. Another interesting night of entitlement.  

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