Novotel Surabaya Hotel

Today is my last day in Surabaya, I have purchased my train ticket to Semarang. Prices are still up and I had to pay for the full fare to Jakarta. The ticket for executive class from Surabaya to Jakarta is 440,000. I am told that the prices will be going down on October 4th!!!

Surabaya presented Indonesia as its most modern, even more so that Jakarta. I was planning to spend a day or so there but I don't know if I was just feeling city wary but I did not bond with the place. Maybe I was not staying in the right part I don't know but it didn't seem like there was much to do so see so in the end I ...

... chinoise) 3 ieme journee, (5 janvier) Finalement, le depart pour Bali suite a une comtabilite ardue pour la facture, nous avons prit un mini-van pour redescendre a la ville puis un autre bus puis un autre bus (un antiquite, pas d'air climatise, pas de ventilateur et tous des fumeurs. Rejean respire tout ca et fulmine) puis un bateau (avec le bus dedans) pour arrive a bali vers 9.30 du soir. Un trajet de 12 heures et pas tres facile parque le chauffeur semblait avoir hate d ...

... For instance, Burma requires 3 years of bank statements. Cambodia just wanted a picture and twenty dollars. I can do that. My visa was really cool because it said the Kingdom of Cambodia. In a one week span, I have been to a ball and now will be traveling to a kingdom. How cool is that? Another thing, I needed to investigate was malaria. It turns this area has a small amount. The ...

... colourful souks and numerous perfume shops, where the scents are still hand mixed to fit their veiled customers, are quite alive and kickin' and have a genuine middle eastern touch.



In the outskirts of town impressive modern mosques and busy shopping malls in XXL sprout wildly between empty office buildings and other unclaimed territory. At weekends the mosques remain mostly empty but the malls are filed to the hilt with teenagers who flock in ...

Definitely no photos with this entry. My previous efforts have been full of exclamation marks because of the fun/luxury/excitement/novelty etc. This story is far more real and I am very aware of my incompetence to tell it. SES supports a charitable foundation based at a government hospital in the city centre. Our students who opt for homework club and receive help/guidance to improve their work, pay for that activity ...

... well-equipped gym where all the classes are free (I did aerobics last week - wow what a sweat!) Next weekend we are off to Bali so today will be spent ensuring we are well-planned (these kids just lap up the work and demand more)and lazing by the pool before venturing into the real world and walking to a local restaurant for dinner (had enough of the 5* hotel business) Hasta la proxima or sampai jumpa lagi lotsaluvmexxx

... He led me to a small dark room where a group of them were sitting around a small fire. One of them was sitting on a wooden stool and offered his seat. They were sharing fried chips from a small bag and offered me some and even encouraged to take a handful. I was touched because these workers don't have very much but they are willing to share what little they have. Compare a billionaire giving a thousand dollars to charity while someone with only 10 dollars giving 1 dollar ...

... in ritual. Every day, we would see people (usually women) putting out offerings. A common offering was a leaf holding a rice-based treat, a flower and some burning incense. These would be put at shrines or even just on the sidewalks. There are temples all over the place, and every home has at least one shrine/temple in it. It was not strange to see processions of one sort or another going down the street, with all the people dressed in their temple clothes.

... sprayers, the whole nine yards. A huge Marlboro display was a bit perplexing; there was a lot of fake snow and a couple of skidoos. I'm not exactly sure what they were giving away but I am pretty certain that we were the only ones in the building that had ever actually driven a skidoo. I doubt most people even knew what they were. Internet was ridiculously cheap there, but as we found out, there was a reason for that. That's why you haven't ...