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)