What Do I Love About: Surabaya
Coming to terms that I’m going to leave this heroic city is surprisingly mind-boggling. As a Bekasian who happens to be accepted at one of the universities in Surabaya, it has been more than 4 years that I had to live 790 km away from my family and friends. However, if you cut the COVID phase, then it’s only roughly 2 years since I’ve been living here. But since I’ve finished my study this month, inevitably, I’m most definitely coming back home.
I developed a love-hate relationship with Surabaya. Whether it be the weather, the people, the culture, it’s unfortunately a mix of both. So speaking of this city with a hate tone has much a louder range than me adoring the beauty of it, which I will be fixing in this writing. So, what do I love about Surabaya?
The Food
Surabaya has a wide range of cuisines with intensity in flavors, especially, as you would guess the spicy cuisine.
As a student with a limited paycheck and pocket money, I wouldn’t be able to cut my spending if I were to buy food for every meal. So I had no choice but to cook my meals on a daily basis. But if I do buy it outside, I have my personal favorite:
A dish consisting of Tofu, Omelette, Bean Sprouts, and Krupuk covered with a mix of peanut sauce and Petis (a crucial ingredient of the sauce), served the dish: Tahu Tek.
If you’re not familiar with it, Gado-Gado has a hint of similarity in taste but without the touch of Petis. Only god knows how many times I’ve come back to this food. Recommended place: Tahu Tek Pak Jayen.
Another one of my favorites is Nasi Bebek: a fried duck served with the black madura spicy sauce. A hard-to-hate food unless you’re Vegan or have high cholesterol. Recommended place: Nasi Bebek Purnama, Nasi Bebek Trimurti.
Honorable mentions: Penyetan, Sate Klopo, Soto Lamongan, and Sego Pecel.
Infrastructure
As someone who typically witnesses uneven roads with holes spread across Bekasi, Surabaya is far superior when it comes to cleanliness, even roads, traffic, and pedestrian-friendly (for most roads).
My favorite time of the day to go out is for a night ride. The bright lights please the eyes, as one passes the central Surabaya road with the wind, collides with one’s body (if you use a two-wheeled vehicle of course).
As for public transportation, it’s surely still an ongoing process if you were to compare it with Jakarta’s. But it’s an improvement for the city to be able to notice the people’s needs when it comes to mobilizing, which I appreciate.
Surabaya Bus, Semanggi Bus, and Wira Wiri Feeder have been greatly helpful for my mobilization as someone who doesn’t own a car or motorbike. However, there is still much room for improvement when it comes to routes and stops.
The People
My prefrontal cortex is said to be more developed every time Surabaya folks say “Jancok” (I love the sound of it). You could say the swear word as fuck or shit. The people have a distinctive raging tone in conversations even when they don’t mean to, as I, a non-local have taken offense as my assumptions formed that they are mad at me when sometimes, they aren’t.
Another thing is “Unggah Ungguh” or manners are applied in relatively small streets in neighborhoods in which you have to step down from your vehicle and turn off the engine. Yeah, you have to drag yours to not bother the people living there. I personally love and respect that, as I were to put myself in their shoes, I would’ve make the same rule of peace for my small neighborhood.
Although, if you didn’t see the sign that they made (sometimes it’s way too small) you would get sworn at with “Matamu picek a?” or are you blind? as a not very friendly approach of theirs which I’m yet to understand.
Have you ever visited Surabaya? I will come back to this city as I haven’t yet explored every corner of it. So I will see you soon, Surabaya.
