A glimpse at my life...: From Sydney to Surabaya

The last couple of weeks have been a real whirlwind. Started off with an official school trip to Sydney to visit 3 local schools to learn more about their leadership and boarding programmes. Then, it was the last week of school and there were so many meetings and dinners and farewells that I could barely catch my breath. Immediately after the last farewell party on Saturday (which incidentally was also the first time in a long time that I actually stayed up all night!), I had to prepare for the overseas immersion programme in Surabaya. Phew. (Deep breath…)

I’m in Surabaya now and have been here for about 6 days. Although I have been involved in many overseas programmes and arranging for homestays, I must admit this is the first time that I will be staying with a host family for so long – almost 2 weeks! Of course, at times, it does feel like I am intruding on the family’s privacy but at the same time, the family members are very warm and friendly and do go out of the way to make my stay pleasant. Another student is also attached to this same host family so I also get to enjoy sharing the same bed with another student! Don’t think I’ve ever done that….. EVER….

Surabaya is really hot. I mean 37 degree Celsius hot. We went to the beach today and took a boat out to some sand isle and wow… the sun was burning at my skin through my long pants! It’s my first time in Surabaya and if memory serves me right, not counting Bintan, this is the fourth Indonesian city I’ve visited, the other three being Jakarta, Medan and Jogjakarta. There really isn’t much to see in Surabaya as far as tourist sights are concerned. It’s pretty much a financial/business/port city. But the malls here are quite incredible. I’ve visited Tunjungan Plaza, a mall which is about 3 times that of Ngee Ann City. You can try to imagine Suntec City… but multiplied three times in terms of the number of floors. Lolz.

I’m off for an outdoor experience for the next two nights. Again, it’s been almost 8 years since I last went for such an outdoor trek. Thank God I understand we will be staying in dorms and not tents. Sorry for sounding a little spoilt, but it’s really been a long time and I don’t know if my body can take the shock. Heh.

Will try to blog about it when I return on Thursday night… provided I am not like half/completely dead.

Until then, here are some pics. The first was taken when I was in Sydney, when I took my first ever outdoor jog around the Sydney Opera House! The others were taken in Surabaya - one taken in a cave where there was beam of light shining from the ceiling, so I couldn’t resist having a ‘Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus’ moment (google it if you don’t know what that is) and the other is me at the jetty at Kenjeran Beach. The last was taken at the Suramadu bridge, supposedly Indonesia’s longest bridge (about 5.4km long).