Surabaya City Tour Programme 4th of July  2008

ACCP 8th 2008 conference attendees who would like to see Surabaya in person, we are pleased to welcome you in Surabaya City Tour Program, This program is designed for all participants and it is free of charge. If you are interested, you could register on the information desk at the conference venue.

Below is the tentative schedule for our tour:

About Surabaya

Surabaya derives its name from the words sura (shark) and buaya (crocodile), which have been told in local myth fighting each other in order to gain the title "the strongest and most powerful animal in the area". Officially stood in 1293, Surabaya is the second metropolis city in Indonesia and the capital city of East Java. The date was taken from the glory of Raden Wijaya, the first king of Majapahit who fight against China troops. Surabaya has role to be an essential Port city for a long time. In that time, Kalimas River was a crowded river with many boats which sailed to Surabaya. Geographically, Surabaya located on a tropical area. So, it can be easily visited through the air, the sea and also from the land transportation. The East and North of Surabaya are directly facing the Madura Strain. They form coastal area along the beach. The citizen of Surabaya consists of a plural culture. The most are came from Javanese and Madurese. But these cultures have been living for years in peace. It's so, because of the people's characteristic is open mind. They prefer to say something they don't like to others rather than keeping in their mind as avenge.

Tugu Pahlawan (Heroes Monument)

In Indonesian history, Surabaya has a big role in freedom struggle of Indonesia. Once upon a time, something that would be an unforgettable moment by this nation is the struggle of people in Surabaya known as the "10 Nopember 1945" incident. The well known spirit of "Rawe-rawe Rantas Malang-malang Putung" had driven the citizen of Surabaya to fight against the ally troops which is intruded by NICA. This troops had a mission to take over Surabaya once again. In this incident, the ally general, Mallaby, was killed. They torn the blue color of Dutch's flag in the hotel and set it in the Yamato Hotel. Because of that incident, people of Surabaya or who has ever settled in Surabaya proudly being called "Arek Suroboyo". To memorize the spirit of people in Surabaya at the moment, built a monument called "TUGU PAHLAWAN" in the heart of Surabaya. This monument has been a symbol of Surabaya for years. The heroes monument stands like a rocked pointed toward the moon in Taman Kebonrejo opposite the East Java Governor’s office in Taman Pahlawan. A statue as tall as 45 yards erected on Pahlawan street is not ornate even decorative, not particularly large but it’s simplicity  may have been the deliberate plan of it’s architect to convey humble rather than bellicose, pride. Tugu Pahlawan monument becomes a centre of major attention on every November 10th, the day in 1945 when Surabaya commemorates those heroes who died during the independence war.

House of Sampoerna

Situated in “old Surabaya”‚ this stately Dutch colonial-style compound was built in 1862 and is now a preserved historical site. Previously used as an orphanage managed by the Dutch‚ it was purchased in 1932 by Liem Seeng Tee‚ the founder of Sampoerna‚ with the intent of it being used as Sampoerna’s first major cigarette production facility.

The compound consisted of a large central auditorium‚ two smaller buildings on the east and west sides and numerous large‚ single story‚ open-space structures behind the central auditorium. The side buildings were converted to family residences and the large warehouse-like structures were used to accommodate facilities for tobacco and clove processing‚ blending‚ hand-rolling and packaging‚ printing and finished goods processing.

Today, the compound is still functioning as a production plant for Indonesia’s most prestigious cigarette, Dji Sam Soe. In commemoration of Sampoerna’s 90th anniversary in 2003, the central complex has been painstakingly restored and is now open to public.

The original central auditorium is now a museum and the eastside has been transformed into a unique structure containing a café, a merchandise kiosk and art gallery. The building on the west side remains the official family residence.

The museum offers a truly unique experience for visitors. From the story of the founding family to closely watching a real hand-roll production facility and ending up with an unforgettable experience of rolling a stick of Dji Sam Soe cigarette yourself. Yes, you can join the 3,500 women in this plant, hand-rolling cigarettes using traditional equipment. They do it at speed of more than 325 sticks per hour.

The KiosK stand ready to supply you with a wide selection of merchandise including mugs, t-shirts, jackets, ashtrays, caps, bags and much more. These items are not only well suited for your personal use but also make great gifts.

Mirota Batik Art Center

Despite its simple exterior, the shopping centre actually consists of quite a number of floors with clothing, batik, handicraft, jewellery and home ware products. And they cost three times cheaper than the average store in other shopping malls as well! Entering this four floors building which is located in Jl. Sulawesi No. 24, traditional atmosphere is dominant.

Accompanied by the mild Javanese music, visitor can choose multifarious of batik and handicrafts which are conducive from inside and outside the country .In ground floor, there are all kinds of handicrafts and batik.
While in second floor, there are multifarious of matting, pottery, ceramic, painting, and antique goods. In third floor, visitor can chose assorted of furniture which is conducive from Pasuruan at the cheap price.

One of unique facility in Mirota that is Book Exchange Shop, a kind of book store. This facility enable the buyer to bring back the book bought and have been read. At the price of starting thousands of rupiah till tens of million rupiah Mirota stand by to provide various crafting from South-East Asia countries.