Hi everyone! How's life? Hope everything goes well for every one of you. Finally, this is another blogpost about Surabaya that I promised to share with you. In this post I will share other iconic places in Surabaya that worth to be visited during your trip to Surabaya🙌🏻
Before we start, do you know that today is the birthday of Surabaya? Hip hip hooray!🎉
Congratulation Surabaya for hitting the age of 725! Thank you to the city mayor Ibu Risma for all the effort to make Surabaya a comfortable and beautiful city. There are still a lot of homework to elevate the living and working experience here in the city, but I believe we are on the right track to achieve the better version Surabaya!
Now let's scroll down and see the heritage and iconic places in every corner of Surabaya👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Before we start, do you know that today is the birthday of Surabaya? Hip hip hooray!🎉
Congratulation Surabaya for hitting the age of 725! Thank you to the city mayor Ibu Risma for all the effort to make Surabaya a comfortable and beautiful city. There are still a lot of homework to elevate the living and working experience here in the city, but I believe we are on the right track to achieve the better version Surabaya!
Now let's scroll down and see the heritage and iconic places in every corner of Surabaya👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
📍Jl. Kepanjen No. 4-6, Surabaya 60175, Indonesia
📍Jl. Kepanjen No. 4-6, Surabaya 60175, Indonesia
Consecrated in 1900, this church now stands as one of the oldest Roman Catholic church in Surabaya. The building was designed in neo gothic style with the red brick and constructed tower. This church was damaged terribly during the revolution era in 1945 and had been going through several renovations, but keeping the original architecture design. This church in the north Surabaya is not only beautiful from the outside, but also in the inside. The high ceiling decorated with stained glass windows gives a very heartwarming feeling and allows passage of natural light coming through.
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| Night appearance with the lighting |
Kenjeran Park
📍Jl. Pantai Ria Kenjeran, Surabaya 60122, Indonesia
📍Jl. Pantai Ria Kenjeran, Surabaya 60122, Indonesia
In the East part, Surabaya actually has beach called Kenjeran beach. In my personal opinion, the beach is not suitable for swimming or water activities since the water is not clean. Instead, you could here to enjoy other iconic sites such as this building called Tian Ti Pagoda. Tian Ti Pagoda is the replica of Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China. However, the purpose is solely for sight seeing and not for praying. Therefore, people can freely come to the pagoda to capture the moment as if they are in China.
Another icon is the Sanggar Agung Temple. The main icon of this temple is the statue of Guan Yin on the waterfront which stands 20 metres tall. Unlike the Tian Ti Pagoda, this temple is actually being used by the followers to worship, but also doesn't forbid others to just come, adore the set up and take some photographs. Usually during Chinese festival such as Chinese Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival, many people come to enjoy the festive event or do their prayers.
House of Sampoerna
📍Jl. Taman Sampoerna 6, Surabaya 60163, Indonesia
Do you remember the Red Bridge (Jembatan Merah) that I write in my previous post? Around that area, there is a big building called House of Sampoerna (HoS). In 1932, this building was used as the first hand-rolled cigarette manufacturing site in Surabaya, Sampoerna.
Now, part of the building is utilized as museum to showcase the history of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk., while the other part still being used as factory for the ladies to produce the company's signature hand-rolled kretek (clove cigarettes). If you are done wondering around, hop on to the bus of Surabaya Heritage Track (SHT). By riding on their unique red sightseeing bus, you can enjoy the old part of northern Surabaya. The SHT schedule runs every day except on Monday and the best thing is it's free of charge. However you need to come earlier to secure your seat by collecting the ticket from the counter.
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| The workspace for hand-rolled cigarette production |
Once you are finish with the city tour, chill out in the first Surabaya's branch of Tanamera cafe. Flying all the way from Jakarta to Surabaya, they just opened their coffee shop this early May and I think they serve pretty good coffee.
Tunjungan Street
📍Jl. Tunjungan, Surabaya 60275, Indonesia
This is probably the most iconic part of Surabaya, since we even have a song titled Mlaku mlaku nang Tunjungan or Strolling around Tunjungan street! Tunjungan street in the heart of the city was the central business district back then during the colonial era. There were wholesale stores, electronic stores, bank, restaurants even hotel can be found along the street. At that time, many people came and stroll around the street to do business and leisure on weekend. That's why we have the song with that title!
One of the landmark of the street is Majapahit hotel. This hotel was the place where the Surabaya's youngsters fought against the invader and torn the Dutch flag into Indonesian flag. The hotel has changed its name from the Dutch name (Oranje Hotel) to Indonesian name (Majapahit hotel). However, you still can see and feel the colonial architecture & ambiance once you step inside the hotel.
Now the the local government of Surabaya is trying to bring back the loud and live Tunjungan street. On particular weekend night, they close the street from any vehicles and hold a night market with food stall and music event on the middle of the street. This is to allow people to recreate the memories of wondering around on Tunjungan street, just like the song says. Early of this month I went there once and it was very crowded and packed with people and loud music. I also encountered a group of people dress up as traditional Indonesian puppet figure (wayang) and dance the night away. So fun!
Zangrandi Ice Cream
📍Jl. Yos Sudarso 15, Surabaya 60271, Indonesia
To close the day, visit the legendary ice cream shop in town, Zangrandi ice cream! However, be prepared to queue a bit to get your seat since it is always crowded. Located in the heart of the modern Surabaya, every aspect of the shop will take you back to the past time instead. The old fashioned rattan chair & table, open air area with fan, and monochromatic pictures on the wall are very nostalgic.
The ice cream menu in Zangrandi are humble with flavor selection such as vanilla, chocolate, mocha, coconut, etc. It's not like the fancy gelato or sorbet ice cream with the out of the box flavors selection, but the taste is classic and cannot go wrong. My personal favorite is vanilla macedonia ice cream --vanilla ice cream served with rhum. Yum!
Across the Zangrandi ice cream shop, while enjoying your ice cream, you could see the Balai Pemuda building. This building is commonly used for venue for photo or art exhibition of local artist and local event held by local community or university. Currently, the building is still under renovation and once it is done, it will be the Surabaya tourist center. Can not wait!
If you have checked all the list of places I shared to you in this post and the previous post, CONGRATULATIONS! You pretty much already visit every famous or well-known corner of Surabaya👏🏻👏🏻
Hope this post is useful for your visit to Surabaya! Feel free to contact me if you need a local tour guide to bring you to all around the city 😝 See you in my next post!
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