Jalan Jalan di Surabaya

Here I sit in the hotel restuarant feeling sightly embarrassed because of the attention I’ve been given from the head waiter after requesting that the music be changed from the hideous rap song that was on repeat. The next music style was again western and when asked if it was ok, my hesitation was taken as a negative, so now we are listening to kroncong style music (Javanese) which is far more enjoyable at this hour of the morning! 

What a change of pace I am experiencing with my friend, Lenny, and her family as she accompanies me on my exploration of Surabaya. After my lazy days in Waru, our days are now full on enjoying the food, the malls and meeting a few of Lenny’s Surabaya based family. Lenny has travelled here with her mum and 2 children and while in Surabaya has also been joined by an elderly aunt, who while 86, has impressed me with her stamina. For my first 24 hours with Lenny,  we were also joined by her friend Julia and her daughter Valerie, who are in Indonesia visiting friends and family while holidaying from Saudi (Julia) & England (Valerie).  

 With Julia & Valerie, we all visited the Galaxy Mall,  known locally as GM (pronounced gay-em), which is a humungous mall catering mostly for the wealthier inhabitants of Surabaya.  

 In true Indonesian style, our visit there began at a restuarant! We ended up inside a restuarant which by chance was the very one that Penny from WA had just recommended! Julia & Lenny ordered a feast of various Chinese food which looked much better on the table than it had in the menu!  

  

 My favourite was a tofu dish cooked with cashews! Apparently the tofu used was Japanese tofu which is incredibly soft and creamy inside. Delicious.

Julia & Valerie headed off to Semarang the next day and after dropping them off at the airport, we headed to North Surabaya with a cousin of Lenny’s. His first task was to take us somewhere to enjoy gudeg. To Lenny & my  disappointment, he parked at restaurant undergoing renovations when we both had hoped to eat at a local warung. We ate our nasi gudeg with the sounds of hammering and smashing concrete in the background and the occasional electrical zing of a mosquito being zapped. The gudeg (traditional Jogjakarta dish of jackfruit) was tasty  

  

 but we are convinced it would have tasted out of this world had we stopped at a warung where if the food is not amazing, the lack of customers makes the warung unviable.

After lunch we dropped briefly in to his family’s house where he plied us with the most amazing jackfruit from a tree in the back yard. This variety of jackfruit is much smaller than the variety more commonly seen in Indonesia and the flesh is a brilliant orange and so sweet. We then headed towards TP (tay-pay) – Tunjungan Plaza and Lenny’s cousin dropped us off at the Garuda office before heading off to an appointment. At Garuda, I discovered that if I travelled on Lenny’s flight to Bali it would only cost me Rp550,000 whereas the earlier flight that I’d tried to book online was Rp100,000 more!! Thankfully the online transaction had been declined!

Down the street a few meters from the Garuda officeis the Hotel Majapahit, formerly known as the Hotel Oranje.  

 This is a beautiful hotel and is one of those places where once you set foot in the door, it feels like you have stepped back in time to 1911 when it first opened. The history here is palpable and is a living monument to Dutch colonialism. The front door was opened by a staff member and waiting just inside was a formidable gentleman, looking every inch a butler who worked for a wealthy family. He looked down his nose at Lenny and her family yet once he set eyes on me, his demeanor changed and we were welcomed inside. The benefits of traveling with a bule (white fella)!! Just inside, parked permanently in the foyer, was a beautifully restored car in absolutely mint condition.  

 Beyond the foyer is an area where guests can relax and order drinks. The only reference in the entire foyer to the role the hotel played in the lead up to the Battle of Surabaya is a painting above the piano.  

 The painting depicts Indonesian revolutionaries who have climbed up onto the roof of the hotel to remove the Dutch flag from the flagpole and replace it with an Indonesian flag.  

  

  

  

  

 Even the bathroom was worth a visit as all the fittings look original even down the the toilet cistern which is high up on the wall with a chain hanging down.  

 From there, we crossed the road via the overhead walkway and made our way to TP, where we headed straight to the Matahari store, my favourite, and as it turns out, Lenny’s too, place to shop.  

  

 We hunted for bargains and I enjoyed also sticky beaking around at all the interesting things for sale. The formal wear for children gets more elabaorate everytime I visit Indonesia.  

  

  

 The toy section, as always, is disappointing. It contains shelves and shelves of boring toys of dubious quality. The range of stuffed toys does not even include orangutans or kancil (mouse deer) instead is just mainly teddy bears. When ever I ask if they have orangutan, the staff look at me oddly but I keep hoping that if I ask often enough, I may start a trend!! There is defintiely a gap in the market here for toys and games that challenge and encourage creativity and that go beyond dolls, teddies, trucks and cars. 

Our trip home was equally memorable. Lenny was determined to catch a bemo home, to ensure I experienced this form of transport in Surabaya.  To catch the bemo should’ve been reasonably easy yet right where we needed to go was a huge demonstration complete with loud speakers and what looked like smoke bombs. 

  It appeared very serious because of the hundreds of police that were being trucked in and the various road bloacks which pedestrians and for some reason, motor cyclists, could pass through unchallenged. We passed several parked trucks full of soliders disembarking and many more in the streets with sirens blaring. To get around the demo, we had to walk a very long way to the kantor Gubenor (Governors office) from where we caught our bemo. Lenny’s 86 year old aunt put me to shame with her stamina negotiating uneven footpaths. She walked along holding my arm yet I was in no doubt who was supporting who!

As we got down from the bemo, it began to rain so we took shelter in the warung where we enjoyed a warm comforting bowl of  mie pangsit ayam (noodles with chicken)  

  

  

 and then walked back to the hotel stopping only for an ice cream.  

 These ice cream sellers make their ice cream using natural ingredients with a coconut milk base. The ice cream itself is frozen using a salt bath and many hours of stirring by hand. It is absolutely delicious and is served with sago balls, bread cubes and topped with a drizzle of chocolate condensed milk.  I usually pass on the bread and condensed milk! 

Lumpur Lapindo

As usual the people who hang around bus stations were more than happy to tell me how to get to where ever I’m heading and todays trip to the mud volcano in Sidoarjo was no exception. I was told which bus to catch, where to get off and then what to catch next. By the time I was into the 2nd leg of this trip, I was feeling quite weary and decided to go straight home instead. Just as we got to the intersection where I would need to get off, the heavens opened up and the rain thundered down very heavily so I made a split decision to stay in the angkot. The other passengers, all women, were concerned for me, but I explained I didn’t want to get wet and I would just see where this trip would take me. About half an hour down the road, I looked out and saw that we had reached Sidoarjo (the town not the outer suburb of Surabaya). I asked my fellow travellers how easy it would be to get to the mud volcano, known more commonly here as Lumpur Lapindo – the Lampindo Mud. They then showed me where to get off, told the driver to stop and then pointed to the angkot I needed, which was parked behind us waiting for passengers. 

As I was the only passenger, the driver offered to take me directly to Lumpur Lapindo for Rp50,000 ($5) and when I didn’t answer immediately (I was texting), he dropped the price to Rp30,000. I explained I was in no hurry as it was still raining, much to his disappointment. Eventually a few more people got on and we headed off. 

It wasn’t long before the angkot reached the fortified banks of lumpur Lapindo, however the driver passed the first 2 sets of stairs up the bank before stopping at the 3rd. I was initially puzzled and had no idea why he passed a few before finally choosing to stop and the only reason I could think was that the first ones had many sightseers yet the third had nobody. Hopefully he was trying to spread the Rupiah around! 

I climbed up the very rickety staircase to the top after paying an entrance fee of Rp20,000   

 and looked out over the mud. It is exactly as I remember it from 2011, yet so much wider.  

 I began to walk along the bank when a man approached me trying to sell videos of the disaster. When I declined, he offered instead to drive me around the mud volcano. He quote me Rp50,000 to go half way around or Rp100,000 to go the entire way around. I pointed out that it is impossible to only go half way round as we’ll need to return somehow! He agreed and before I knew it I’d hired him to take me all around the mud pool. Here are some photos from our drive:

  

   

   

  

  

 There is so much more water around at the moment because it is the wet season. Apparently in the dry season there is an area where the mud is solid and you can walk out on it. Today we just slipped and slided through the mud and just imagined what it would be like. 

The final stretch of road was very challenging. This section of road was made from clay which in the rain had become very clingy and the poor bike’s wheel clogged up to the point it couldn’t turn at all. The driver pushed/pulled his bike for a bit and then eventually stopped to look for a stick to try to remove enough mud to get the wheel rotating once more. We then got going again and kept the wheels moving quickly to stop the build up of clay.  It wasn’t much fun sliding around in the mud!! 

 We were just passing some abandoned houses in the mud when he stopped suddenly and asked me to dismount. He then turned around and drove his bike through a large puddle of water which successfully dislodged the remainder of the mud. 

By the time we reached the road where I was to catch an angkot back to Surabaya, my shoes were an inch higher from the clay and my clothes were filthy. All forgotten instantly though when I stepped into the angkot, sat down and then looked up at the passengers. I was the only female – 14 pairs of male eyes were staring at me! I said to the ‘conductor’ Wow – all boys/males (laki laki) and he reassured me that behind me sitting in the front seat was another cewek (female). 

I told him where I wanted to be dropped off but when I got down off the angkot and looked around, I realised I was totally lost. I flagged a taxi, called Cilla and asked her to tell the driver where to take me! 

I will definitely sleep well tonight! 

Kebun Bibit – Surabaya

What an amazing day it’s been. I am sitting in the es teler durian warung enjoying another Es Teler durian  

 reflecting back on my day. I chose to sit here because my mouth is on fire after eating nasi tempeh penyet (tempeh – bean curd-  in chili) and the shaved ice is so soothing.

 It was so delicious. On the plate with the tempeh and very spicy chili are basil, cucumber and crispy fried small fish. At first I was amazed with how well I was coping with the chilli and then suddenly it hit me like a sledgehammer and my es jeruk (icy orange drink made with fresh sweet oranges) became my best friend. So much so, I had to order another! Then my nose started streaming!! A courting couple found me so entertaining they couldn’t drag their eyes away! Thankfully their food arrived and I could blow my nose surreptitiously without an audience! I was very relieved I didn’t sneeze like the father at a nearby table! It was bad enough wiping my nose and knowing this was making it redder! The tempeh penyet was dinner – at 5:30pm – and just as delicious as my bubur ayam (chicken risotto with various garnishes) had been that morning!  

 

My day began when after breakfast, I quizzed Cilla and her father (Bapak) for recommendations on what I could see/do. Bapak explained that Surabaya is not a tourist destination per se, it is more a place for those interested in the history of trade in Indonesia. Cilla proposed the Arab and Chinese quarter which sounds fascinating however as that too is where the House of Sampoerna (Indonesian kretek cigarette factory/museum) is, and being Sunday, the workers who make the cigarettes will not be there, it seems silly to go to the same place twice. Her father then told me a little about the history of the area which is closely tied to Indonesian Independence Day and both the Dutch & Japanese Occupation. It became obvious that I would need more than a morning, so have put it off till I can spend a whole day there. 
Next Cilla recomended a park called Kebun Bibit which literally means the seedling garden. It sounded fascinating and I went expecting to learn about propagation. Instead I discovered an absolutely beautiful park with huge, tall trees below which were colourful and creative garden beds.  
 

    

  
     
 Don’t you love the signs!   

Paths wound around the garden and led to various areas including picnic spots,  playgrounds for children and a mini zoo area.  

  

   
 Strangely at the mini zoo, children were tempting deer to come closer to the fence by offering snake beans!! It looks like the deer prefer kangkung (water spinach). There were 2 types of deer, both gorgeous.  

  This smaller variety excited me at first because  I thought they were kancil (mousedeer), but then I noticed one had antlers and they were too tall!  Kancil are only a foot high  and so timid, I doubt you could tempt it to come that closely to the fence!

 

Being Sunday, there were hundreds of people  walking or sitting around – most with children.  I saw a few couples too and while they were sitting together , both were on their phones checking facebook! Sound familiar? 

The childrens playgrounds were brilliant, easily the best I’ve seen in Indonesia. For older children. There were several adventure style playgrounds. I love the parents hovering around, supporting their children. 
   
  

In the photo above,  look at the face behind the wall!  
For younger children there were various types of more traditional playgrounds. 

 

   
 I found a group taking photos of models and my request to take a photo, evolved into joining the shoot temporarily!  We both look like we have Fred Flintstone facial hair! No wonder there was a light on a tripod nearby!

 

Tucked away in another corner of the park were some trainee doctors earning some pocket money and practising basic skills.   The sign below says the first 10 people pay half price!

  
 

Just to finish off, here’s a couple of photos I took of families relaxing and enjoying their Sunday together.  

   

Outside and close to the exit were many sellers attempting to attract children’s attention with a variety of toys and critters, including siamese fighting fish and brightly painted hermit crabs.  There were also various food sellers, all doing a roaring trade. The fairy floss fellow was most entertaiing and happily agreed to my request to film him! In the 1980’s I saw a similar process except instead of being powered by a motorbike engine, it was on the back of a push bike and powered by foot! 

   

 While heading back to the bus station I discovered a whole road of rubbish neatly stacked along the fence.  

 Going through it for recyclables were several people some of whom asked to be photographed!!    

   

It was midday by time I reached Terminal Bratang and it was much quieter than it had been when I arrived! While we waitied for the bus to fill up, passengers were entertained by various singers, sellers and ngamen (beggars). In the photo below you can see several people handing out things to passengers. One item of whatever they are trying to sell is either placed in your hand or in your lap if you are not interested. Depending on the number of sellers, you can end up with a variety of things in your lap. On this trip, we were each handed a hanky, a bag of broad beans, a mini koran, a selection of childrens colouring in books and a soft cover book of legends for children.  I bought one each of the first two but handed the others back. Behind the sellers, right at the front of the bus is a lady singing. Her voice isn’t that bad however the feedback from her microphone and PA system is horrendous.  Thankfully she only sang one song.

 
   
 
The last photo is a handmade envelope. One was handed out to each passenger by a physically  disabled person who then stood in the middle of the bus shaking a marracca briefly before retracing his steps to collect all envelopes. The lady on my first bus rolled up one trouser leg before handing out the envelopes so that her heavily bandaged ulcerated leg was visible. After collecting her envelopes she sat down with me on the back seat, rolled down her trousers before enjoying a well earned nap. The fellow on my second bus was using a crutch as one of his feet was severely misshapen.  Both were bare footed. 

As I sat in the bus, I realised how tired I was. I decided to go straight home and do Lumpur Lapindo (the mud volcano in Sidoarjo caused by the huge Lapindo Company) another day. My next post explains what actually happened!

Jalan jalan Through Local Streets

Once cooler, I headed out to ‘see what I could see’. An afternoon stroll through the local streets down to the main road.

The street I’m staying on is lined with mangga (mango) tres and street lamps. If you look carefully you can see fruit hanging in the trees.

  

Along the street are places where household rubbish can be dumped for collection.  I love the stray cats resting in the cool shade. The cat to the far right in the photo was not brave enough and scadadled as soon as I stopped.   

Isn’t this trailer design amazing. Folds in half and takes up half the amount of space as a conventional trailer.    

 
A near neighbour looks like they  have a business based near Ijen, the volcano I climbed down into where they mine for sulphur.  Looks like you can go on a tour to Ijen and then go dirt bike riding there? 

 
At the end of the street is a sawah (rice field) which is currently being planted with rice.  When I arrived the previous day, they were planting  in the opposite corner.

 

Across the road from the sawah was a man selling just about anything plastic!  From toys to containers of all descriptions.   

The first food stall I came across was a roti bakar (toasted bread) kaki lima on the main road. Thinking it was selling toast, I was surprised to see the girl toasting on a huge stainless steel plate, huge doorstops, the size of half a loaf of bread.  She is conveniently parked by the side of the road so that customers can stop easily to order. I hope she doesn’t forget that behind her is a concrete open storm water drain!

 

I then strolled along the road gawking at the warungs. None caught my eye. Until I saw a sign saying ‘Es Teler Durian’ Could not resist stopping!  I laughed internally at the look of panic on the girls faces as I stepped into the stall. They were communicating with each other telepathically begging the other to serve me. The relief on their faces when I started speaking Indonesian was amusing to all of us!  They continued giggling the whole time I was there! Then came the inevitable question, “Boleh ambil foto?” (Can we take a photo?) Unfortunately there wasn’t anyone else in the shop to take a photo of this for me! The es teler was so delicious and so refreshing I forgot to take a photo of it. It was served with 2 frozen squares of durian on top. Delicious.  

My next stop was to buy some deep fried battered banana sprinkled with palm sugar but. please hold the grated cheese!!  The kapok banana used for this is a small chunky banana  with a high starch content and while no good for eating fresh, is perfect for cooking. This was easily the most delicious fried banana I have ever eaten. Crisp batter around a succulent banana sliver, covered lightly with palm sugar crystals. The label below says, Cheesy bananas. Traditional Makasar (South Sulawesi) food. Orders taken.

   

Across the road this fellow was selling salak, mangga and a long bean called petai. 1kg salak cost Rp10,000 ($1). When I jokingly suggested this was the tourist price, he opened his eyes wide and looked innocently at me claiming that this was cheap because at the market they wanted Rp13,000 ($1.30)! I mentally shrugged and whispered to myself, “Where can you get salak in Australia this fresh and this cheap?”and happily handed over my money.  I also smirked internally when he delayed discussing prices with his next customer until I was safely across the road!   
 

 This is what the salak look like: 

They are also called snake skin fruit and you can see why! The stone inside is gorgeous and would be perfect for congklak!

  

  

  

I got as far as this corner where 2 stalls had set up side by side. This one was selling kelapa mudah (young coconut) and es kelapa mudah (iced young coconut) whereas the other one was selling bakso. Do you like the enormous pile of husks behind him?

  

 

The bakso stall was doing a roaring trade.  Customers drove up to the kaki lima to order and then sat on their motorbikes while it was being put together. The little boy on the motorbike was singing quietly to himself while waiting. It was so cute.

 

My last stop was to buy some nasi goreng (fried rice), which was cooked by a hilarious fellow who had only just set up. I’d actually noticed him passing me by while sitting and drinking my kelapa mudah. He had caught my eye because there was a huge bunch of sawi (green leafy veg) on top of his kaki lima . He began by quoting me sepuluh juta (10,000,000) for satu nasi goreng!! He cooked the nasi goreng like a showman but I couldn’t take any photos becasue it was quite dark by this time and it had also started to rain. I threatened to come back and video him much to his delight! Sadly though, his nasi goreng was very ordinary.

   

Boxing Day in Sidoarjo, Central Java

It is 2:30pm and I’m itching to return to my favourite spot on the front verandah which is hot and steamy at this time of the day. Instead I hibernate in my bedroom which has the double luxury of a fan and an air-con. I am really enjoying my stay here with Cilla, her younger sister and parents. Her Mum in particular has been extremely hospitable, and I feel one of the family rather than a guest. Typical Indonesian hospitality. This morning, Ibu took me with her to the end of the street to buy nasi pecel for breakfast. In an empty (of cars) carpark, several vendors had set up stalls. Several were selling foods like nasi bungkus (rice with various choices of accompaniments) while others were selling processed foods or fresh.  produce including eggs, vegetables and fresh meat. Just thinking about the nasi bungkus is making my stomach growl!! This morning I chose nasi pecel which is a mound of rice covered in a mixture of snake beans, beans shoots and kang kung (water spinach) and delicious peanut sauce before a sprinkling of rempeyek which are delicious wafer thin crackers made from flour, peanuts and water.  

 Tomorrow I have already decided that I will order nasi kuning (yellow rice) with pergedel jagung (corn fritters), pergedel kentang (potato fritters) and whatever appeals to me. Other options include fried fish and chicken pieces & boiled eggs. 

After writing that, I am feeling hungry again so am listening out for a passing kaki lima (food seller). They are traditionally called kaki lima (5 feet) because the stall they are pushing (before motorbike adaptions) has 3 feet which together with the 2 feet of the owner added up to the sum of 5!! Nowadays most kaki lim are either attached to a bike or motorbike. Much easier to get around, yet for me, they pass too quickly. I hear them coming up the street but by the time I head outside to see what they are selling, they’ve passed by. Each seller type has a distinctive sound. In Bali I remember the bakso (meatball soup) sellers walked along gently tapping a spoon on a china bowl. This sound carries very effectively giving customers plenty of time to grab some money and walk out to the street in time before they pass by. A seller making the sound tok, tok, tok passed just now and Cilla said he was a bakso seller!! Not at all the sound of a spoon on a bowl, more like a spoon banging on an empty bamboo cylinder. 

Here is another  video of a passing food seller that I took this morning:

Mid morning I also ventured out with Cilla to buy pulsa (phone/data credit). I rode pillion with Cilla as we zig zagged through the narrow alleys of this housing estate until we suddenly stopped in front of a tiny stall, inside which was a glass fronted cabinet displaying a variety of credit providers. As usual I chose XL and paid IR 35,000 for unlimited data over 3 months! That’s approximately AD$3.50!! A bargain compared to the AD$40 I currently pay for 8GB. 

Later…..

It is almost 4:30pm and the breeze overrides the heat from the few beams of sun still reaching the verandah. I feel slightly voyeuristic sitting here on the verandah watching unsuspecting neighbours passing or pottering outside on the street.  I’ve just noticed someone else also sitting quietly watching life pass by from behind his fence and garden. Can you spot him?

  
Other than the sound of the breeze in the trees, I can also hear someone sweeping up leaves, a motor bike negotiating the road driving slowly over the polisi tidur (speed humps/ literally sleeping policeman) , a child calling out to Mum and music playing a few streets away. It is so peaceful. After the heat of the day, it is the sound of both the living and the non living emerging.  I’m very tempted to join them and go for a walk!

Relaxing in Sidoarjo on Christmas

  
This is the view from the verandah of the lovely family I found through airbnb. I can sit here and enjoy the gentle breeze as well as watch the world go by. The garden is gorgeous. It is barely 3m x 6m yet includes a sealing wax palm, a gorgeous red frangipani just to name a few, as well as various pot plants. It perfectly screens the passing traffic yet allows enough light and breeze through. 

While sitting in my room, I’ve heard various food sellers pass. Here comes one now: 

All making various sounds to indicate what they are selling. I heard a tok, tok, tok several times while in my room, so am curious to see what that seller was selling. Haven’t yet heard the ting, ting, ting of the bakso seller yet. Bakso is a meat ball soup and is the perfect snack. 

Here’s another one:  

 It is now dusk and the street light across the road has turned on and a timid gecko on the gate post has also made an appearance. No doubt more will hopefully join him soon and catch the pesky mosquitos that have been hovering around my rid covered ankles. A grandfather wearing a shirt and sarong sauntered passed pushing his grandchild in a pram earlier.  It’s lovely to see people still wearing sarongs, even if it is just when relaxing. Children on bikes race passed too yelling to each other. 

Ibu and her younger daughter arrived home together with Bapak. No sooner had she walked in the door, than she is plying me with food and drink. I’ve been presented with  cakes and biscuits which I have accepted so as not to embarrass her. I’m hoping I can get away with just trying a small mouthful. This cake is from the Holland Bakery, a very well known bakery chain famous for its western style creations. 

 

When I asked her if there was somewhere nearby that sells nasi (rice), she invited me to join the family for dinner as they have so much food  left over from the family gathering earlier. Forgot to mention my preference for vegetables, so hopefully it isn’t too awkward! 

Now as dusk truly sets in, various nearby mosques are calling the faithful to mahgrib prayers. There is a mosque very close, maybe in the next street, which we can hear very clearly. The many others that we can also hear sound like giant insects humming in support. Another mosque has begun their call too and it sounds beautiful because instead of an adult male voice singing, it is the voice of a young boy. He is singing  clearly and confidently. So beautiful. 

I’ve been in to the kitchen to watch Ibu cooking  however she was so uncomfortable,  I stayed only long enough to ask her about Christmas presents which apparently between adults include gifts of the basics like sugar and uncooked rice. For children their presents are useful things like school equipment or shirts. I also discovered that she works as a nurse. 

I left her in peace and returned to my room where I worked some more on this post. I just realised I’d uploaded the same video twice when she knocked on my door insisting I come out and eat. I followed her out to the kitchen where she handed me a plate and a cup of water before vanishing to join the rest of the family in the other bedroom. I helped myself to a red dish which tasted like sweet and sour sausages, spicy bittermelon (delicious), a noodle dish and rice. I ate alone and afterwards washed up my plate and spoon before adding it to the dishrack. No sooner had I headed back to my room, they all emerged and with laughter headed to the kitchen for their dinner. Very Indonesian! 

After a very busy and eventful day, it is time to get ready for bed. The perfect way to end Christmas day anywhere!

My First Airbnb Experience

Here I sit in Singapore airport reminiscing  about my first experience with Airbnb. Have you heard of it? It’s an alternative accommodation option and one that appeals to me for two reasons. 1. An opportunity to stay with locals and get the inside story on life there & 2.Much cheaper accomodation. While the types of accommodation include renting out a whole house, I prefer the private room option. I love staying with locals who can help answer all my questions.  

 My trip to Singapore began at Melbourne airport which was memorable for the long queues where I easily walked my 10,000 steps lining up firstly to check in, then for immigration and then for the hand luggage X-ray check. I was particularly grateful to the kind lady there who thoughtfully offered to empty my bottle after watching me struggle to empty it before I reached the X-ray machine! What a relief, because I was preparing myself to surrender it entirely.

The flight to Singapore took 8 long hours. I watched 2 movies – Mission impossible (which was great) and Man From Uncle (lame). The length of the journey wasn’t helped when I discovered that I was supposed to preorder and prepay if I wanted a meal on Jetstar!! Consequently, I lasted the entire trip eeking out the remainder of my lolly frogs and a bottle of water!  
I arrived into Singapore at 6pm and it took over 2 hours before I was ready to leave the airport. By that time I was starving and was hanging out to have some tucker! However I was so tired, it became more likely that I woould just collapse in bed and worry about my stomach the next morning.

That my first Airbnb experience was interesting, is putting it mildly. I booked it first thing Wednesday morning just before heading off to Melbourne airport and then throughout the day, whenever I had time & wifi, I checked the status of the reservation. It was always ‘pending’. I messaged Jo (not her real name) via the app and got no response. Consequently I decided to see if I could fly straight to Indonesia and skip my first Airbnb experience. I could get an Air Asia flight at 8:40pm for $400 which I considered but I couldn’t book it online as the fight was leaving in under 4 hours. I asked at the brilliant information desk for the location of the Air Asia desk and was directed upstairs. While waiting to be attended to, I decided that if the cost was anything more than $400, I would stay in Singapore and catch a flight out tomorrow instead. The price quoted was $550, so it was back downstairs to try messaging Jo again. 

Singapore Airport wifi while free, ran hot and cold which was very frustrating. I logged onto it with both my phone and ipad because when the wifi on one lagged, the other one seemed to fire!! Very odd. Finally I got a response from Jo and thus began 2 hours of very confusing mixed messages. I was determined to get clear instructions for directions to her place before leaving the airport while I had access to wifi. As it was, the first taxi driver took one look at my notes and refused to take me. He kept asking for the street number which was missing. So back inside to Jo who gave me a long number which meant nothing either to me nor the 2nd taxi driver. However he was keen to take me and drive around looking!! I insisted that he relinquish my baggage from the boot and went back inside to message Jo again. However messaging her took ages. I tried reducing my questions to single sentences but this didn’t help. Finally she told me the street number and I tried again. By this time, the taxi porters knew me well and were helpful and encouraging! “Have you got the street number yet?” “Try this taxi and see if he can take you!”

  
After 2 hours of trying to decode Jo’s strange texting messages and 2 hours of uncertainty as to whether she wanted me to stay or not, I finally hopped into a taxi who understood the updated address she provided me. This taxi driver was so friendly and chatted constantly along the way telling me about Tampines, (Tamp-in-es) the area I was heading to. It is a high rise area built near a polytechnic where apparently you can get cheap dental work done. We also talked about the food available here which made my poor stomach grumble and groan. Its been a long time since that delicious plate of Indonesian food I ate the previous evening in Melbourne! Turns out that all the streets here are called Tampines Street or Tampines Ave which explains the confusion, yet each is differentiated by a number! For example Tampines St 37,Tampines St 43 etc. The kind taxi driver then found my block number and that was $15 Singapore dollars well spent. I found a lift only to discover that it was lift B and I needed lift A. A friendly tenant fortuitously emerged from lift B and pointed me in the right direction. I went up the 7 floors, turned left and knocked on Helen’s door.

The door was opened by a Chinese lady wearing her ‘duster’ (house dress). Her apartment is much bigger than I imagined it to be. Don’t know why I expected Singapore apartments to be small and poky. Apparently there are 4 bedrooms!! The living area/kitchen is open plan and dominated by a long open window which was letting in a beautiful breeze. Jo explained that she usually has students staying but in their absence is offering short stay accomodation with Airbnb. My bedroom is the closest to the sitting room and is very spacious. It contains a double bed, a large cupboard, a writing desk, a book case, a chest of drawers and has direct access to the shared bathroom. While it has an air conditioner, I was more delighted that it had open windows and a ceiling fan. After the freezing cold air-con in the plane and airport, I was finally defrosting. 

Jo insisted we sit down and sort out finances which was very odd after the many messages I’d had from Airbnb reminding me that payment is only done through the website. I immediately contacted the site to find out why my payment hadn’t gone through and it turns out she hadn’t accepted my booking. I am now waiting for another email from them to explain what we do next! Jo asked me to pay by credit card which is not my first choice for obvious reasons. She is a very strong minded business woman!! Apparently my room is already booked for the following nightl!! By the time we had agreed to wait for Airbnb’s advice, it was after midnight Melbourne time and I was done in. I grabbed a shower and collapsed in bed. I was so tired, my hunger had vanished.

I woke early the next morning as has been the case for several weeks now regardless of the time zone I am in!! The house was silent and there was an unfamiliar male sound asleep on the couch in the sitting room, so I stayed in my room, constantly checking my emails for a message from Airbnb. Finally one came to say that as the request had lapsed, we would need to organise payment between ourselves. I then waited and waited for someone to get up so I could head out and get some breakfast. To fill in the time, I investigated flights to Bali and read a book I found in the bookshelf in my room. Flights to Bali were very expensive, so I booked instead a flight to Jakarta thinking it would be easier to find a cheap flight in person! (Big mistake or fortunate error?) I was starving hungry, not having eaten anything except a few lolly frogs for almost 36 hours!! By 10am, I was incredibly frustrated, so grabbed my gear intending to head out. As soon as I opened the front door, Jo popped out of her bedroom!! Why hadn’t I tried that earlier?? She explained where the nearby eatery was and gave me a key to get back in. 

This eatery was exactly like the one I ate at the last time I stayed in Singapore. A selection of various culinary delights including Chinese, Indian and Malay  food. The hard part was that I was soooo hungry, I found the selection overwhelming!! I settled for an Indian vegetarian selection and it was delicious, although while waiting for my food to be served, a fellow next to me was handed his martabak and I instantly regretted not ordering that as it looked very different to the martabak I enjoy in Indonesia. My meal cost SD$3! I wolfed it down and then sat briefly enjoying the feeling of a full tummy while looking at the people sitting nearby. Very entertaining watching locals going about their morning routines.

Back at Jo’s place, we agreed on the price I was to pay for the night, SD$58, and then she accompanied me to a nearby ATM and also showed me where to catch the bus to the airport. Once I’d handed over the money, I couldn’t see any point in hanging around, so grabbed my bags and said my goodbyes. Just as well I’d made a hasty exit, as no sooner had I reached the bus stop, it began pouring with rain and in just the tiny gap between the bus shelter and the bus door, my bags and I got quite wet. It was absolutely beautiful sitting in the bus enjoying the thundering rain on the windows and watching the 3-4 meter wide splash the bus tyres made over the lawns adjoining the road from the pooling water in the gutters. 

I now am in a quandary. Do I write a review onAirbnb about my stay with Jo? What on earth would I write anyway?? While I found her approach very detached, other travelers might prefer that.

I am now preparing for my next Airbnb experience and already I anticipate that it will be a totally different experience. For starters this host has accepted my booking request and secondly has offered to pick me up from the airport! I sit here now enjoying the cool Surabaya air while eating soto telur (egg soto) and drinking an icy cold dragonfruit juice! Absolutely delicious.