#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Indonesia Forum >  >  Surabaya, East java information

## darkrelic

Hi guys,

This is my first post, just joined today. I have been living in Surabaya, East Java for 2 years and I want you to know I am happy to answer anyone's questions about culture, girlie bars, places of interest, language or anything else related to the area. If anyone is looking for ESL jobs here let me know because I have a bunch of contacts with many schools here and I work for a large internationally recognized private English school and we are always looking for teachers. Please feel free to ask anything you want.

I love the forum and actually spent all day today looking at the Rayong thread so I can plan my next trip to Thailand.

Cheers all

darkrelic

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## nevets

Welcome Darkrelic :Smile:

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## Neo

Welcome. 

Some picture threads of your local area would be awesome, or even the odd snapshot in the 'post a picture of anything anywhere' thread in the lounge. 

Don't be afraid of the teakdoor gallery, it's not as complicated as it seems, click the gallery link at the top of the forum page, then hover over this icon  to get links to your own gallery, when you have gone through the process of uploading an image, double click the image and it will appear in a filmstrip format, click this icon  to the left of the image and a box will appear underneath with it's location code, copy the whole VB code starting with [IMG] and paste it directly into your post, and the picture will appear when you submit the post.


This is 800x600 and is about the max you can use without stretching the page too much. 

Cheers

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## buriramboy

Is Surabaya worth a visit then, as i'll probably be visiting my old man in Semerang later in the year????

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## kingwilly

Welcome. 

BB, if you're going to Semarang, Surabaya is worth a visit, as is Mount Bromo, Jogya, and Solo which are all 'within' the area.

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## nostromo

Good first post, welcome.

I was about to visit Surabaya recently but that got cancelled. 

And Rayong is nice, you need to have a car to find the best spots.





> Hi guys,
> 
> This is my first post, just joined today. I have been living in Surabaya, East Java for 2 years and I want you to know I am happy to answer anyone's questions about culture, girlie bars, places of interest, language or anything else related to the area. If anyone is looking for ESL jobs here let me know because I have a bunch of contacts with many schools here and I work for a large internationally recognized private English school and we are always looking for teachers. Please feel free to ask anything you want.
> 
> I love the forum and actually spent all day today looking at the Rayong thread so I can plan my next trip to Thailand.
> 
> Cheers all
> 
> darkrelic

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## buriramboy

> Welcome. 
> 
> BB, if you're going to Semarang, Surabaya is worth a visit, as is Mount Bromo, Jogya, and Solo which are all 'within' the area.


Done Jogya years ago. Is Mount Bromo the one where everyone climbs up to see the sunset/rise????

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## kingwilly

Yep. (though you can do that on Mount Merapi also)

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## darkrelic

Joga is def worth a look but make sure you go to Borobudur Temple, buddish temple which is absolutely amazing. If your coming to Surabaya let me know what your looking for here, not much in the way of touristy things to do but there are some cool areas of interest. Bromo is def worth looking at but that is out of Surabaya

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## buriramboy

^My old man has lived in Indonesia for 30+ years or been his base while working elsewhere in the world, i used to go out a lot when i was younger and he lived in Jakarta (Bintaro) but ain't been for a while and overdue a visit. But he's in Semarang now built a mansion there a few years back so later in the year i may dump the misses in Thailand and go have a couple of weeks in Indonesia, just don't fancy being stuck in Semarang for the duration though, don't mind seeing the sights to fill up the days but much prefer doing damage to my liver!!!!

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## darkrelic

Yeah I don't think I'd fancy being in Semarang for too long but I often say that about Surabaya. Surabaya is a great base to travel to other places though.

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## The Ghost Of The Moog

How straightforward is it to do a Mt Bromo trek from Surabaya? 

Does one do it solo, or are there daily tours? Does one need to book ahead?

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## darkrelic

Just turn up and walk into any tour/booking agent (they are everywhere) and buy your ticket or you can show up and jump on a cheap local bus to Bromo and when you get there hit the ground walking and look for cheap accommodation. Easier to go to an agent in my opinion

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## kingwilly

You can camp on Bromo too, if you have your own equipment. 

Thus avoiding some of the hordes. (it can get busy)

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## mingmong

Wellcome DR

 I loved Indonesia once, learned a bit Bahasa, now its comming back to me when I try to learn Thai! 

never made it to  Borobudur but Im told it starts of Hindu then turns into Buddist, same as Anchor Wat

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## The Ghost Of The Moog

I'm planning a trip to Rinca/Komodo. 

Any advice for that expedition please!?

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## darkrelic

Cant help ya on this one sorry mate

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## sunsetter

> I am happy to answer anyone's questions about culture, girlie bars,


nightlife? girlie bars?

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## kingwilly

> I'm planning a trip to Rinca/Komodo. 
> 
> Any advice for that expedition please!?


Sailing and diving, they're pretty much all inclusive, not much to organise other than turn up.

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## darkrelic

> Originally Posted by darkrelic
> 
> I am happy to answer anyone's questions about culture, girlie bars,
> 
> 
> nightlife? girlie bars?


Girlie bars

Not much in the way of that sort of thing, you wont find anything like Thailand girlie bars here but they do have a scene. They have many karoake bars where you hire a room then hire a girl by the hour and negotiate her services in the room. Some girls will sort you out in the private karaoke room and others will want you to take them home. If you go to dangdut bars it is usually easier to have your wants taken care of in the private karaoke rooms. There are quite a few nightclubs here that have a lot of freelancers, Colors Pub and Desperato's are the 2 most popular or there is a huge techno club call Stasion in TP shopping mall that has hundreds of freelancers. If you want a massage service with the lot then they are very easy to find, the best in my experience was COSMO near TP shopping mall. you can have a spa, sauna, watch tv and a 1 and a half hour massage with a happy ending thats fairly cheap. If you want to visit the world famous DOLLY area then just get in a taxi and tell him Dolly, they all know where it is, personally I don't like the place but there are lots of massage places and cheap girls. Below is a rough guide to costs all in $USD

*Karaoke bars*

Girls company from $4 an hour (no sex)
Private karaoke rooms from $10 an hour
You negotiate the price for extra services, could be as little as $30 up to $200

*Dangdut bars*

Same as karaoke bars but the extra services are usually cheaper

*Freelancers in nightclubs*

Usually start at $30 and go as high as $200 (usually only let you cum once)

*Dolly*

Prices vary but start at $10 up to $20 an hour, depends on the girl really

*Massage with happy ending*

Usually costs around $30

Darkrelic

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## fridgemagnet

I'm interested to know about teaching jobs in Indo - I teach English conversation at a Thai Technical college now, but have an Indo girlfriend, so would like to know the typical workload & wages to be found over there
My degree is in Maths - I'd prefer teaching that subject over English....

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## kingwilly

Plenty of work for English teachers, wages higher in Jakarta (obviously). Wages around $600-$1,200 per month AFAIK.

You're most likely to get a job teaching English, but you might be able to get work teaching Maths at one of the National or National plus schools. (wages between $1,000-$2,000) - but the work permit, called a KITAS is getting harder to get for things like that if you are not qualified.

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## darkrelic

The company I work for has starting salary of $1000 per mth for English teacher, free housing or a housing allowance, end of contract bonus 1 mth salary, flight reimbursement, medical insurance. Work load is 24 teaching hours per week maximum with about 18 being the average. If you have a degree then a KITAS is no problem at all, if you don't have a degree it's still no problem just takes a little longer, companies that require an education degree will usually pay higher salaries and most companies increase your salary by about $100 if you sign a 2nd contract 3rd contract etc

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## darkrelic

FYI

No degree is required through my school, KITAS no problem without a degree

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## fridgemagnet

Thanks for the information.
Qualificationswise, I have a maths single subject degree, and a TEFL - that's all.
My age may be a problem, as I'm 64 now - though active & in good health - I like surfing, for example, and spend time in Bali each year  (That's where I met the live-in girlfriend).
Seeing as I much prefer Nasi campur to Grapaw khai daow, Indonesia is very attractive. 
Can you find jobs online? Any good websites for Indonesia teaching jobs?

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## kingwilly

Ya might find a bit of info on www.livinginindonesianforum.com or dave's ESL cafe, but really, for those sort of jobs you need to be on the ground there. Online just doesn't cut it.

In the bigger international schools you cannot get a job once over 60... However, teaching English jobs seem to be different. 

Good luck.

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## The Ghost Of The Moog

> Originally Posted by The_Ghost_Of_The_Moog
> 
> 
> I'm planning a trip to Rinca/Komodo. 
> 
> Any advice for that expedition please!?
> 
> 
> Sailing and diving, they're pretty much all inclusive, not much to organise other than turn up.


Would that be turning up in Labuanbajo, Lombok or Bali though?

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## kingwilly

Are you talking about a liveaboard diving trip, or a liveaboard sailing trip, in which case you organise it before you leave, if not, then my mistake.

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## The Ghost Of The Moog

> Are you talking about a liveaboard diving trip, or a liveaboard sailing trip, in which case you organise it before you leave, if not, then my mistake.


Not diving. It would either be sailing, or just go and stay nearby (on land) and visit the islands.

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## kingwilly

Ok, I know you can organise boats to get to Komodo from Bali, or 3-4 day packages including accommodation. Other than that, not sure, but I would think you'd be right.

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## darkrelic

> Thanks for the information.
> Qualificationswise, I have a maths single subject degree, and a TEFL - that's all.
> My age may be a problem, as I'm 64 now - though active & in good health - I like surfing, for example, and spend time in Bali each year  (That's where I met the live-in girlfriend).
> Seeing as I much prefer Nasi campur to Grapaw khai daow, Indonesia is very attractive. 
> Can you find jobs online? Any good websites for Indonesia teaching jobs?


Give me an idea of where you want to work mate, don't worry about your age as it might work for you not against you, I only teach corporate language to some of the largest companies in Indonesia and they have a lot more respect for you if your older and have plenty of life experience, if your looking to work in Surabaya then let me know, maybe we can have a chat on the phone about your options mate

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