Surabaya: Beyond Expectations
Look in a travel guide along with also the description of Surabaya won’t exactly allure you. For many years Lonely Planet described the city as one of open sewers along with also industrial grime. These days the city has cast off its workmanlike demeanour along with also become considerably more glitzy. This particular’s still a city in which defines its purpose as mercantile along with also commercial, although that has a burgeoning middle class This particular has developed a great deal since This particular was just a big country town. Still second to Jakarta, although with its own culture, This particular can stand alone.
For the visitor with an interest beyond the glitzy mall culture, night joints along with also trendy startup restaurants, there are rewards. Surabaya dates its foundation back to the early 13th century, along with also we see This particular clearly on early Portuguese maps. This particular came to prominence from the 18th century with the spice trade. Stretched out to its east are the Moluccas which were being fought over by the Portuguese, British along with also Dutch for their yield of nutmeg, mace along with also cloves, so dear to the Europeans as flavouring along with also preserving agents. By the mid-19th century the Dutch administration had opened up the colony to investment coming from home along with also to immigration coming from those seeking opportunities in its plantations, cities along with also towns. Surabaya for much of This particular time was a far wealthier city than the administrative city of Batavia, modern day Jakarta, because of its commercial activity along with also level of investment. Old Surabaya of today dates coming from This particular growth spurt which lasted right up to the Japanese occupation of 1942.
Wharf where the phinisi teak wood schooners are moored
Any exploration of the city should begin at the wharf where the phinisi teak wood schooners are moored. Crafted by the Bugis people of southern Sulawesi, these fine boats have been sailing these waters for centuries. Arriving coming from the outer islands north along with also east of Surabaya with produce – coconut husks for oil production, bananas, woods, along with also returning with manufactured articles not available there -plastic goods, furniture, drums of cooking oil, gallons of drinking water along with also construction supplies, This particular is actually not just a tourist sight, although This particular is actually in which, too, although a thriving scene in which might have been identical a century or more ago.
We walk coming from the port through narrow bustling streets in which were once part of the central business district, although are currently more the underbelly of the local economy of modest entrepreneurs, merchants along with also traders. Much of the architecture here is actually 19th century, along with also bathes in a quaint faded light, with few keeping the old facades in Great repair. Some fine buildings stand out, including the De Javasche Bank, the father of modern day Bank of Indonesia, incorporating European along with also oriental embellishments, which became known as the “Indies” style of architecture. The House of Sampoerna is actually not far coming from here, the first of the Sampoerna clove cigarette factories along with also nowadays an excellent museum to the entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese immigrant family of Liem Seeng Tee, who commenced as stall keepers along with also rose to become one of Indonesia’s richest families. Surabaya owes much to the Chinese who dominate the economy here. So many arrived as economic refugees along with also made Surabaya their home, thus contributing to the prosperity of Surabaya today.
Strolling further south we come to Jembatan Merah, the Red Bridge, where in October 1942 British Brigadier-General Mallaby, who was tasked with accepting the Japanese surrender along with also the return to Dutch rule, was murdered by nationalist youths euphoric over the Japanese capitulation along with also determined in which they might never again be under the yoke of foreign troops, unleashing a series of events in which were pivotal from the independence struggle in which finally resulted in independence in 1949. This particular area is actually the centre of the old city in which flourished on the income gained coming from plantation crops – tobacco, coffee, cacao, rubber, sugar along with also salt – in which fed the local economy along with also benefited the Netherlands back home. Beautiful edifices line Jalan Jembatan Merah. The original headquarters of the Goodyear rubber company, prudential insurance companies, banks along with also import/export agencies. The finest example of the Indies style can be seen from the grand PTPNXI building, once the Indonesian headquarters of the Handelsvereeniging Amsterdam company along with also designed by Hulswit, Fermont & Cuypers, a Jakarta-based architectural firm responsible for so many of the city’s fine buildings.
We are on the edge of the Chinese Quarter here along with also as we walk towards Surabaya’s oldest Chinese temple (klenteng), we pass by many examples of Chinese houses with their distinctive roofs with their pointed eaves. A Rumah Abu, a shrine house, owned by one of Surabaya’s most prominent Chinese families sits rather forlornly on what was once Chinese Street. Hok An Kiong was built from the 1850s by a Chinese sailor coming from China who had This particular dedicated to the sea goddess, Muzo. Built by a craftsman coming from China there is actually also a graceful statue of Goddess Thian Siang Sing Boo in one of the four shrine rooms.
Maybe a million people live in old Surabaya, along with also Pasar Pabean, the city’s oldest existing food market along with also the central food resource, is actually one of the most colourful stops on our exploration. Madurese vendors of shallots, garlic, chillies, lemongrass along with also spices make This particular a fantastic photographic opportunity. At the far end, a fish market showcases more than 30 species in which will end up on the menus of Surabaya’s many seafood restaurants. After the hectic squeeze This particular is actually a relief to get out into the daylight along with also walk our way onto the Arab Quarter. Arab traders mostly coming from Yemen settled here over centuries, along with also who knows why they chose to stay rather than return on their boats, although they have formed a community in which is actually robust in its more orthodox interpretation of Islam. Here Sunan Ampel, one of nine Muslim preachers credited with the spread along with also establishment of Islam in Java after a millennium of Hindu-Buddhism, taught along with also is actually buried. This particular is actually a pilgrimage point for many who in their lifetime expect to visit the resting places of the revered nine.
Pasar Pabean Surabaya’s oldest existing food market
The covered souk from the Arab Quarter will remind anyone who has visited North Africa or the Middle East of the traditional markets there. Foods traditionally associated with Arab cuisine – dates, pistachios, raisins, chickpeas, halawa, sambosas – are sold here. This particular is actually a warm along with also friendly area to western visitors. Often a hand is actually extended along with also a welcome made.
A ten-minute drive takes us to the administrative centre of the city – the strikingly modern building for its time, the East Java governor’s office, along with also opposite, the Heroes Museum, which sits on the razed site of the Palace of Justice, which was ransacked along with also destroyed on news of the Japanese capitulation. Used as the headquarters of the dreaded Japanese secret police, the kempetai, This particular was the scene of one of Surabaya’s many battles in which began in 1945. currently This particular houses a museum to the independence struggle along with also the Tugu Pahlawan, a striking obelisk to the fallen, along with also a fitting conclusion to our exploration of Surabaya’s colourful past.
Province: East Java
How to get there: Flights to Surabaya are available on all of Indonesia’s airlines along with also there are regular flights coming from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur along with also Hong Kong. Trains connect to the major cities.
Where to stay: Hotel Majapahit, Jl. Tunjungan. http://www.hotel-majapahit.com/ The most iconic hotel full of history along with also charm.
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Surabaya: Beyond Expectations
Surabaya: Beyond Expectations