East Java (Surabaya, Madura, Malang) Trip : Part 1 - Surabaya, Jembatan Suramadu, Madura

As you might know, I had a short holiday trip last week with my family. We went to Surabaya, Madura and Malang. We had a  lot of fun on our 5 days trip! I'm in charge with the schedule and activities so I browsed google for interesting places in those cities.

Since I have sooo many pictures that I want to share here and got many stories to tell too, so I decided to split this holiday story into two posts. And I'm gonna make this post in 2 language versions too. Here's part 1 :)

----------------------------------------------- 

Berawal dengan penerbangan Citilink dari Jakarta ke Surabaya hari Kamis pagi. Penerbangan selama kira-kira 1 jam 10 menit itu nggak terasa sama sekali karena saya tidur haha

Sampai di Surabaya sempat agak linglung karena kok beda banget sama terakhir saya kesini, ternyata bandara nya sudah pindah ke bandara baru, pantesan kok bandara nya jadi bagus banget gini, ada cafe starbucks nya segala, udah profesional banget lah sekarang. Pas saya tanya ke sepupu yang jemput kami di bandara ternyata katanya memang ini bandara baru di lokasi yang baru juga, sementara bandara yang lama sekarang jadi bandara khusus haji. Oohhh...

Starting with Citilink flight from Jakarta to Surabaya on Thursday morning, I didn't felt anything during the 1 hour and 10 minutes flight because I was sleeping haha
Upon arrival in Surabaya, I was somewhat dazed as it looks very different to when I was here last time, it turns out that it's not the same airport, it's the new airport. No wonder it looks very nice now, there's  even a Starbucks cafe too, it looks quite professional now. when I asked my cousin who picked us up at the airport, she said that this new airport is built on a new place while the old airport becomes a specialty airport for pilgrimage purposes. Oohhh ...

Silly pic of hubs and my brother in background

Rute pertama di Surabaya adalah... makan bebek! Karena katanya surabaya terkenal dengan bebek nya dan seafood. Hmm, siang ini bebek dulu, seafood nya nanti malam aja hehe

The first stop in Surabaya is ... duck feast! Because Surabaya is famous for its duck and seafood. Well, first is duck for lunch, then the seafood is for dinner tonight hehe 

Sepupu saya memberitahu dua options rumah makan bebek yang enak, dan kita end up makan bebek Slamet di daerah Darmo Permai Timur kalo nggak salah. RM Bebek Slamet ini juga ada sih di Jakarta, saya juga sering makan kalo di Jakarta tapi entah kenapa pas makan di resto yang surabaya ini kok rasanya beda banget ya sama yang di jakarta. Dari cara goreng bebeknya aja udah beda. Di Sby ini bebeknya digoreng super garing (di bebek slamet jakarta nggak garing, cenderung basah), trus sambalnya juga walaupun bentuknya mirip tapi rasanya beda, yg ini pedes banget tapi bukan pedes yang bikin lidah terbakar seperti bebek slamet yang di jakarta, yg ini sambelnya pedes bikin nagih, uenak tenann.

Selain sambel juga ada semacam bumbu seperti paste gitu, kalo di jkt nggak ada tuh, cuma sambel doang. Intinya bebek slamet disini enak bangetttt, mungkin bebek lokal nya yang bikin enak yah, beda sama bebek lokal jakarta hehe kali loohh.. ;)

My cousin recommends two yummy duck restaurant, and we ended up with the Slamet Duck Restaurant at Darmo Permai Timur area if I'm not wrong. This Slamet duck restaurant is actually also available in Jakarta, I also often buy food from their restaurant back at home but somehow this particular branch is different to that in jakarta. The way they fried the duck is different. In this Surabaya branch the duck came out super crispy (the duck in Jakarta's branch is not crispy at all, they tend to be moist), then the chili sauce (sambal) is also different. Although the sambal has similar look but it taste different, this one taste really spicy but not that kind of spicy that makes the tongue burns like the one in Jakarta's branch, this one has a distinguished really spicy taste that makes you want more, very yummyy...  

In addition there is also a type of seasoning sauce that looks like a paste, Jakarta's branch don't serve this sauce, they only serve the duck with the sambal and no seasoning paste. The point here, this Surabaya branch of Slamet duck resto is very good, it probably because of the local duck meat that makes it more delicious and different than Jakarta's branch, maybe Jakarta's local duck meat are not good enough.. lol ;) 

 

Pemberhentian berikutnya adalah kafe es krim jadul "Zangrandi". Saya pernah kesini sebelumnya, on my last trip to Surabaya. Dan karena waktu itu kita kekenyangan setelah makan bebek saya mengusulkan untuk duduk-duduk sebentar sambil makan es krim di Zangrandi ini. Tempatnya seperti Ragusa di Jakarta atau Toko Oen di Malang, kesan tempo doeloe nya terasa lumayan kental dengan bangunan asli yang masih dipertahankan. Kalau lihat foto lama nya di menu, nggak jauh berbeda dengan kondisi toko yang sekarang. Letaknya di pinggir jalan raya jadi enak juga buat people watching hehe Dan yang pasti, menu es krim nya itu looh, sangat menggugah selera. Akhirnya saya nyobain juga itu yang namanya es krim spaghetti alias es krim yang dibuat seperti mie/spaghetti alias panjang-panjang gitu.

The next stop was the old ice cream Parlour Called "Zangrandi". I've been here before on my last trip to Surabaya. And since we were all so full from the lunch, I thought it would be nice to just sit around for a while and that's why I suggested to go to Zangrandi for some ice creams. The place is similar to Ragusa in Jakarta or Toko Oen in Malang, the impression of the place was pretty old-school with the original building still retained. If you look at the picture on the menu, it's not much different from the condition that it is now. Located near the corner of a big road it's a nice place for people watching hehe And the obvious part is the ice cream menu which were very indulging. I finally tried those spaghetti ice cream which is a noodle/spaghetti shaped ice cream.

Look at those delicacies, baby...

Malam itu kami makan sea food di restoran "Layar" yang nampaknya cukup populer di Surabaya. Seperti saya bilang di atas, Surabaya juga terkenal dengan sea food nya karena memang kota ini kan di pinggir laut. Sea food nya segar. Kita pesan banyak ragam sea food seperti ikan, cumi, udang, kol nenek (sejenis keong), dan kepiting. Yang paling juara diantara semuanya adalah: Kepiting Telor Asin! oh my goodness that stuff is finger licking gooooddd...

That night we ate seafood at a restaurant called "Layar" which seems to be quite popular in Surabaya. Like I said above, Surabaya is also famous for it's sea food maybe because this is a seaside city. The seafood is fresh. We ordered many different seafood such as fish, squid, shrimp, "kol nenek" (a type of snail), and crabs. But the champion that night is: the Salted Egg Crabs! oh my goodness that stuff is finger licking gooooddd ...

Besoknya hari kedua, pagi-pagi kami diajak ke kandang sapi. kebetulan saya sempat cerita ke sepupu saya kalau saya itu seneng banget sapi hitam-putih alias sapi perah makanya saya koleksi barang-2 yang berbentuk atau bercorak sapi hitam-putih. Nah salah satu cita-cita saya adalah berfoto bersama sapi hitam-putih itu hehe. Eh ternyata sepupu saya malah menawarkan untuk pergi ke peternakan sapi dekat rumahnya karena dia punya beberapa sapi perah disitu! Wah, tentu saja saya tidak menyia-menyiakan kesempatan ini hahaha bagaikan dream comes true bagi saya. Kalau yang lain punya impian berfoto sama Madonna atau sama Justin Bieber, saya punya impian untuk berfoto sama sapi hitam-putih hehehe

Maka pergilah kami pagi-pagi ke peternakan sapi tersebut. Wah begitu jalan mau masuk ke kandang sapi nya dan baru melihat siluet kepala sapi nya aja saya udah teriak-teriak kegirangan sendiri hahaha I looove cows! Ternyata banyak banget sapi hitam-putih di kandang itu..! Wah bener-bener kegirangan deh saya waktu itu, bisa melihat sapi sedekat itu bahkan mengelus-ngelus kepalanya. Ternyata sapi itu kaya kucing, jinak dan senang dielus-elus haha lucu banget deh sapi-sapi itu, jadi pengen kesana lagi.. 

 

The next day (2nd day), early in the morning we all went to the cattle farm. Previously I told my cousin that I am very fond of black-and-white cows aka dairy cows, and that's why I collected stuffs with black n white cow shapes or patterns. And one of my goal is to take pictures with black-and-white cow hehe. Surprisingly my cousin offered me to go to a cattle ranch nearby where she has a few dairy cows there! Well, of course I'm not throwing this opportunity away hahaha It's like a dream comes true for me. Other people might have a dream to be photographed with Madonna or Justin Bieber, but I have a dream to be photographed with black-and-white cows hehehe

So we all went early in the morning to the ranch cattle. Wow just when we reached the cowshed door and I saw a silhouette of a cow's head I automatically jumped for joy hahaha i looove Cows! It turns out that there are loads of black-and-white cows in that cowshed! Waa...I was very delighted that I  could see them up close and even stroked their head. Cows are like cats, really.. they are docile and likes to be caressed and stroked haha funny cows, I so want to go there again ..

My brother with the cows who seems to understand that they're being photographed -LOL, look at them, they all pose for the camera ^o^

Me with the sleepy cow who doesn't bother even if we made some joyful noise in that cowshed haha

Weird cow's eye ^o^

Siangnya kami meluncur ke arah tepi laut karena kami mau ke Madura sambil menyusuri jembatan Suramadu :)

Jembatan Suramadu ini baru berusia beberapa tahun saja, dibangun melintasi selat yang menghubungkan pulau Jawa dengan pulau Madura. Wah dari jauh aja ini jembatan udah keliatan  bagusnya. Keren aja gitu, membentang menakjubkan di atas laut. Pemandangan kiri kanannya banyak kapal-kapal besar. Jarak antar pulaunya juga ternyata nggak terlalu jauh seperti yang saya kira, yah kira-kira hanya perlu waktu sekitar 10 menitan untuk ke madura via jembatan suramadu.

By noon we drove to the waterfront because we want to get to Madura via Suramadu bridge :)

This Suramadu bridge is just a few years old, and it was built across the strait that connects the island of Java with Madura island. From afar we could see what a great bridge this is. It looks so cool, and magnificently stretches over the sea. Our left and right views were floating ships. The distance between the two islands was not as far as I thought, it only takes about 10 minutes from Surabaya to Madura via the bridge.

me with mom at Suramadu

me with hubby K at Suramadu

Sesampainya di Madura kami langsung menuju Bangkalan, kota terbesar di Madura. Kami makan siang, sholat di mesjid agung dan belanja oleh-oleh ;P Saya beli daster batik yang mau saya akalin jadi maxi dress (tunggu debutnya di fashion blog saya hehe). My hubby K beli topi khas madura, sebenarnya bukan topi kali ya tapi lebih tepatnya hiasan kepala hehe

Arriving at Madura we went straight to Bangkalan, the largest city in Madura. We had lunch, did Friday prayers in the Great Mosque and did a little souvenir shopping ;P I bought a batik robe that I plan to rock as a maxi dress (wait for it's debut on my fashion blog hehe). My husband bought a typical Maduranese hat, well maybe it is not really a hat but rather a headdress hehe

Maudranese headdress

Below are some pics that my dad shot with my iPhone while we're in Madura. He insisted that we didn't look at the camera so it's gonna be a candid shots just like pre-wedding photos haha Sometimes my dad is too creative and imaginative (see where i got my creativity and big imagination from? hehe) :

Sorenya kami kembali ke Surabaya tapi kali ini via laut dengan naik kapal ferry kecil. Nggak seperti kapal ferry yang pernah saya naiki waktu nyebrang ke Bali dari Banyuwangi, kapal ferry yang ini ukurannya lebih kecil, cuma bisa nampung sekitar 5-6 mobil saja dan itupun nggak ada dinding dek nya jadi kalau mobil kita kebagian parkir paling depan maka harus benar-benar yakin udah di rem tangan karena parkir paling depan berarti depannya langsung laut karena nggak ada dinding dek kapalnya di depan mobil kita hohoho memang sedikit agak horror. Mana saat itu kita baru dengar berita tentang tsunami jepang pula, trus saat itu juga lagi hujan jadi laut diselimuti awan tebal. Cakep banget dah tegangnya! tapi seru sih hehe

In the afternoon we returned to Surabaya again, but this time we went by the sea via a small ferry ride. Not like the ferry ride that I once had when I went to Bali from Banyuwangi, this ferry is smaller and can only accommodate about 5-6 cars, and it has no deck wall so we need to make sure that we put on the car's hand brake because when our car is the first car that aboard the ferry..that means our car will be parked in the most front, and that means there is no deck or ship's wall in front of us, we'll faced the open sea straightly Hohoho It's a little bit terrifying. In addition, we just heard the news about the tsunami in japan at that time, and then it was raining and caused a shrouded thick cloud emerging on the sea when we're aboard the ferry. Very tense! but still fun hehe

A pic that hubs took while aboard the small ferry. Notice the thick mist? we can't even see the sea!

Sampai di surabaya kami cuma punya waktu sebentar untuk muter-muter cari oleh-oleh, ngemil pisang kipas, lalu malamnya segera melanjutkan perjalanan ke Batu, Malang. Ugh, jalanan macet di Porong (berhubung udah malem jadi nggak bisa liat lautan lumpur itu deh cuma keliatan tembok besar tinggi di pinggir jalan sebagai penghalang lumpur). Sampai Batu, Malang udah malem banget, sekitar jam 11 malam. Tapi berhubung kami sudah ada rencana untuk melihat BNS alias Batu Night Spectacular jadi kami sempatin mampir kesana sebentar. Untung tutupnya sampai jam 12 malam, alhasil kami hanya sempat ke rumah hantu (nggak seram) dan ke Lampion Garden (lumayan bagus kalau nggak hujan).

Once we got back in Surabaya we only have a little time to search for souvenirs (specialty snacks), eating "pisang kipas" or fried bananas that shaped like a fan, then we immediately proceed to Batu, Malang that night. Ugh, there's a long traffic jam in Porong. When we reached Batu, Malang it was already around 11 pm. But since we already have plans to see BNS aka Batu Night Spectacular so we stopped there briefly. Luckily they still open until 12 o'clock that night, with that short time we only got to see the haunted house (which is not scary) and the Lampion/Lanterns Garden (that I'm sure would look pretty good if it wasn't raining).

The Lampion Garden:

me and mom

Left to right: Hubs, Me, Mom, Dad, my cousin, and our driver. My brother took this pic.

Nah ceritanya sampe sini dulu ya, besok lanjut lagi sama part 2 ;)
Part 2 itu perlu satu post sendiri karena saya mau cerita tentang ketakjuban saya (and the rest of the family) sama yang namanya Jatim Park 2 hehehe Make sure you come visit me again tomorrow to hear my stories and learned about the fabulous Batu Secret Zoo (*wink)..

Well I have to stop the story here, stay tune for part 2 tomorrow ;)
Part 2 needs a whole post of it's own because I want to tell you all about my amazement (and the rest of the family's amazement) to this Jatim Park 2 hehehe Make sure you come visit me again tomorrow to hear my stories and learned about the fabulous Batu Secret Zoo (* wink) ..

Credits: All photos on this holiday trip series are taken either by me, hubby, or my brother.