Experience in Surabaya, Indonesia by Dewie

What is it like to live in Surabaya? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

I have been living in Surabaya for 5 years. Since the very beginning, Surabaya is very comfortable and affordable place to stay and to study as well. As the second largest city in Indonesia, many residents reside outside the city limits in a metropolitan area. The city is highly urbanized, due to the many industries located in the city, resulting in many slum areas. As the main education center, Surabaya has been the home for many students from around Indonesia, thus they have created their own community. And also the people in Surabaya are very kind.

What is the student lifestyle like in Surabaya?

Student used to go to university to study start from Monday until Friday. Most of the university require different minimum class attendance (range 70-%80%)to take the exam.

How much does it cost to live in Surabaya?

It cost about Rp.2.000.000 - Rp. 5.000.000
It depends on our lifestyle

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Surabaya? Is there any advice you can give?

Accommodation in Surabaya is quite easy to be found.
The easiest way to get it is you just need to ask the International Office to provide you some information about the accommodation around campus, then you can contact the room's owner directly or by the International Office itself.

What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

1. Soto Ayam
There are many types of soto ayam in Indonesia, with the ingredients vary across the archipelago.

2. Rawon
The soup base, which was made from almost 20 different ingredients, including various herbs and spices, is enough to make you shout for more. The soup is in dark black color and has a nutty and earthy flavor, which comes mainly from the heavy usage of keluak nuts. It is often taken with lontong, fried shallot, and newly sprouted tauge (bean sprout).

3. Lontong Balap
Typical original Surabaya’s food which is cooked from the rice cake, sprouts, fried tofu, Lento (made of soybean), soy sauce, fried onion and chili sauce.

4. Rujak Cingur
Snack food that becomes a typical Surabaya's food, that consisted of several kinds fruits slices like cucumber, bengkoang, young mangoes, pineapples and kedondong, it is added with rice cake, tofu, fermented soybean cake, bendoyo or krai (a kind of cucumber boiled) and cingur as well as vegetables (sprout, leafy vegetable& long peanuts) and was mixed with sauce or the spice that is made from the prawns fermented, chili, fried peanuts, fried onion & salt.

My favorite dishes is Rujak Cingur :)

What places would you recommend visiting in Surabaya?

1. Heroic Monument is the main symbol and one of the attractive tourist destinations in Surabaya and Southeast Asia

2. House of Sampoerna is a cigarette museum, and also one of the factory of Sampoerna brand cigarette. It also provides a City Sightseeing bus for free (Surabaya Heritage Track) which operates daily with the particular schedule. It also provides an English tour guide for the sightseeing.

3. Grand Mosque of Surabaya or Al-Akbar Mosque, the largest mosque in East Java.

4. Cheng Ho Mosque, a recently built mosque, the first in Indonesia with Chinese-style architecture

5. Jales Veva Jaya Mahe Monument, a large, admiral-like statue which commemorates the Indonesian Navy.

6. Mpu Tantular Museum, has a large collection of ancient Javanese artifacts.

7. Bromo mountain is one of the biggest mountain in East Java, the place is quite unique even you can said this one of the desert in Indonesia. At the night the temperature is cold but in the afternoon is become hot. If you want to go to Bromo you must do it at 4 am in the morning so you can see the morning sunrise. Is quite beautiful and the air so fresh.

8. Monkasel, abbreviated from Monumen Kapal Selam (English: Submarine Monument)

9. Surabaya Madura Free Way (Suramadu)
The free way is have been finished since i move in Surabaya on June 2009, the free way is connected the two island Java and Madura to make transportation become efficient between 2 town. The length of this is about 5.438 m and for right now is the longest one in Indonesia

10. The Porong Mud Tour
One of the most attracting tourist site that near Surabaya is Sidoarjo, at this site there a big pond of mud that happen because the error drilling that's makes the mud and nature gas come to the surface and make the mud pond. Local people call it Porong Mud Pond.

Is it good to eat out in Surabaya? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

Yes, it is.
My favorite spots is at Sidoarjo

Is the nightlife good in Surabaya? Where is good to go?

There is some entertainment available in Surabaya such like Karaoke
Theater, Billiard, Dishcotheque and Cafe.

What advice would you give future students heading to Surabaya?

It will be better to know the culture of the local people doing.