A 'very Singapore' Mall in Surabaya - Gallaxy Mall

There's nothing like coming across something familiar like back home and what can be more 'uniquely Singaporean' than a shopping mall? It's only when you are abroad that you will yearn for the experiences that you dismiss as too 'commonplace' back home. When the entire Orchard Road is double-lined (read my blog entry in http://myreligionisfood.blogspot.com/ about the 'Never-ending Orchard Road) with energy-sapping clear facades and interiors paved with spanking white floors that you can skate on, what feeling except fatigue can one get out of an afternoon of Singapore's national sport for the masses?

But in Surabaya, it was deja vu of the homecoming variety when I stepped into Gallaxy Mall. Besides the Sogo store (extinct in Singapore) housing familiar tenants like Giodano (ubiquitous in Singapore), there are familiar favourites like GG>5, Ariththalia, Breadtalk, Marks and Spencer, and Body Shop. The former two are pricier than in S'pore, though, so I spent my limited time there scouring for my favourite shopping activity - for books. After depriving myself of the intoxicating smell of books and even newspapers in Sidoarjo, it's enriching to my soul to see a decent, albeit small, bookstore. I happily added to my minuscle stockpile here with Time and Fortune magazines ( a steal at Rp26,000 and 35,000 respectively) at Periplus. And the ultimate is getting my hands on the eponymous title on Birding in Indonesia. I've been looking for this Periplus title for so long in Singapore that I almost resorted to the risky act of ordering from Amazon.com delivering direct to Indonesia. Surprisingly, it is cheaper than ordering it online too!

The catch of the day left me so satisfied that I forgot about buying meat at The Ranch, something like an upmarket version of Cold Storage that you can get decent groceries and meat, pork hopefully....

But who cares? Books can sustain me longer... I can always go vegetarian....

(By the way, do bring your HSBC credit cards to Surabaya - there's no 1-for-1 promotion like in Singapore but they offer 25% at Prima Food - read my other blog! And there's a special shopping zone just for HSBC shoppers inside Sogo)

Independence Day

It's Indonesia's Independence Day tomorrow! Yeah!! Not that I've jumped nationality but finally a chance to go somewhere.....Lamongan..... Do look out for my updates on Sunday.....

Meanwhile, check out: http://www.eastjava.com/

As for the Independence Day celebrations, everyone (almost.... except me) was dressed in the colours of the national flag.... a sea of red buoyed by waves of white. The little 'uns of course stole the limelight and most of my cam memory with their cutsie looks...

Surabaya Zoo

The itch finally caught up with me.... Weeks after my arrival in Surabaya, I am feeling a little restless not volunteering at the Singapore Zoo.... I miss our two lovely King Cobras, Ranger and Xena. Wonder if they still engage in fights for food (albeit rather one-sided) and some lovey-dovey during bouts of sanity?

Anyway, I've always wanted to visit zoos in other countries, so disregarding the well-meaning advice of my Indonesian students, I bravely ventured into the so-called dirty and smelly place. Just as well they 'prepped' me with some negative reviews, for I was more than pleasantly surprised by the animals there. Sure, the pavement is uneven and animals do smell (whichever zoo they are in) but it is big and houses some interesting animals. The collection of ungulates is impressive, and one can only feel happy looking at Bambi... Obviously , the animals are quite well fed too, like the orang utan below:

One great disappointment is the presence of a fair number of cages (which doubles the difficulty of focusing my cam for a bad photographer like me), some of which strangely showcase only 1 animal per cage. So if the fellow doesn't feel like working, visitors may not get a glimpse at all. Thus I ended up with quite a few information boards instead...

Once you get past this section, the zoo takes on a more naturalistic feel like that of the Singapore Zoo. Although it has less greenery than ours, the comparatively larger area makes up for it. Crab-eating macaques have their run of the place, surrounded by some pretty landscaping, and the cheetahs have more space to prevent atrophy of their strong hind muscles.

The other disappointment is the rather pitiful collection of snakes. The king cobras looked less than majestic and the variety is disappointing considering Indonesia is sooo large...

Back to the other animals.... If you are in Surabaya, do go there for a visit. Sans the 2 gripes, the place is worth visiting for the animals, which generally look bigger than what we have, the deers, the endemic collection of raptors, and the bison! It's definitely an under-rated zoo... at least in the minds of some Indonesian kids...