Sore in Surabaya V: CityChill

With not much planned for the day, we had a leisurely breakfast buffet at the hotel, and later did some exploring of the grounds. One could really wear a tuxedo with pin tails, pair it with a top hat and walking stick, and not look out of place at The Majapahit. But then, you could be mistaken for a poltergeist. My favourite spot is the Cafe 1910 with its grand stained glass windows, and antique furnishing. Too bad we didn't have time for the pool. 

Later in the morning, we took a Grab to Masjid Cheng Hoo, a Chinese-Muslim mosque that looks like a Taoist temple with its red Pagoda-like design. Its namesake is Admiral Cheng Ho, who had traveled to the  Malay Archipelago to trade and spread Islam. The mosque is actually pretty small and located behind a basketball court (many Chinese temples in villages also have a basketball court), so we were quite baffled when the Grab driver told us that we had arrived. Finished looking around in less than 30 minutes, and we were off to Raja Tore for a porky lunch.

The restaurant was just a short walk away, but there was some confusion on Google Maps because there were two outlets. Not knowing what to order, we just went for the Nasi Juara which literally translates to Champion's Rice, which has a little bit of everything~ roast pork with crackling skin, smoked pork, curried pork, pork soup, and a salad of cassava leaves and papaya flowers. 

Made a stop for local coffee at D'PRAPATAN, an open-air cafe with an ashtray on every table. Really a smokers' paradise. The latte here is sweetened by default. Yikes. Next visit was to the Nu Skin office at  Graha Bumi Surabaya (they share a very beautiful garden with a hotel next door) to get my supply of LifePak. Originally, LifePak is packaged as 4 different tablets. Pharmaceutical rules in Malaysia does not allow a single product to have 4 components, so Nu Skin had to mix it all up. For some reason, my tummy does not agree with that mixed up version. 

In the afternoon, it had started raining quite heavily, so we were holed up in Gelateria at Jalan Tunjungan. The gelato flavours were not very distinct at all, but beggars can't be choosers. For dinner, we went back to Plaza Tunjungan. Randomly chose to sit down at Carnaby Kitchen, a cafe with a fusion menu, and gaudy combination of neon lights, fake flowers, marble floors, and nordic furnishing. Not a vey memorable farewell dinner in Surabaya. All in all, it was a good trip with the hubby.