Desperate for Entertainment in Surabaya

Posted on February 15, 2013 by jipp

Surabaya that we found out is not really an entertainment city. We’d been through some physically and mentally challenging days in Bromo and later Ijen (will write about them in my  next post) so we wanted to find a little bit of relaxation before wrapping our trip up and returned to our normal life back in Malaysia.

Looking for a place to chill out has proved to be not an easy task in Surabaya. Even taxi drivers didn’t seem to be able to come up with their own suggestions. Some of them even admitted that there’s nothing much to see around town and that most of the attractions are located outside of the city. In the end internet is still the best source of information. Continue reading →

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Surabaya, Oh Surabaya!

Posted on February 13, 2013 by jipp

So, I opened my travel adventure this year by going to the East Java of Indonesia last week – the island with the most number of active volcanoes in the world.

The trip was actually intended for doing a climb to the beautiful mountain of Semeru, the island’s highest mountain and which is still very much an active volcano itself. Unfortunately, news that the trail was temporarily closed due to the rainy season came to my ears a week before the trip, shattering my hope of doing my very first climb quite in style this year. Uhuk!

But still, I decided to go on with the plan of hitting into East Java and see what other options that we could probably look into.

We flew into Surabaya after spending the night at the LCCT Airport in Kuala Lumpur. It’s been awhile since the last time I slept on a cold concrete floor but looking at how Air Asia has been quite tricky with its passengers lately, I just thought may be it was probably worth it after all. Continue reading →

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How to Arrange a Trip to Mount Trus Madi

Posted on January 20, 2013 by jipp

Mount Trus Madi at 2642 m is the second tallest mountain in Malaysia after its neighbor Mount Kinabalu. It can be reached via Tambunan which is currently closed due to some ongoing upgrading of road and Sook which is the one that I took. If you’re thinking of conquering the beautiful mountain, there are a few things that you need to know.

Arrangement

Whoever wants to climb up Trus Madi nowadays shall first get a permission letter from the Director of Sabah Forestry Department. When you’ve got the approval letter, you should then go to the Sabah Forestry office in Keningau (I think everything can be arranged via phone though) and pay for the necessary fees (refer to list).

Trips to Trus Madi used to be arranged through tour agents in Kota Kinabalu but the Forestry Department has recently stopped any business connection with them so you have to deal directly with the department itself. The department has appointed their own agents with whom you’d have to deal to arrange for tour guide, porters and accommodation. Just be careful though because what they ask you to pay might differ from what the Foresty Department has told you so always keep everything in check. We found a lot of inconsistence in the fees that they impose. Continue reading →

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