WELCOMING FRIENDS TO SURABAYA - AND THE ADVENTURE BEGAN

   25th JULY 2025    ~ The other group members who flew out from Kuala Lumpur at 3:15 p.m. finally arrived at Juanda International Airport at about 5:40 p.m. I was there with the guide to welcome them to Surabaya, Indonesia and was able to greet them with "Sugeng Rawuh" [which means "welcome" in Javanese].

The group members comprised of three TESL UPM friends: Puan Hazlina Aziz, Puan Hanna Sheikh Mokhtar [and her husband] and Mr. Ridwan A. Wahid [accompanied by his wife and daughter].

Everybody was extremely excited to check the small, blue bus which was called "Alf" by the locals.

The adventure of the seven people then began and the first activity was to stop for dinner at Pondok Tempo Doeloe in the city before we continued the journey for another approximately 2 hours.

The final destination of the day was Bromo View Hotel. We checked in but was there only for about 2 hours and a half, just to freshen up and rest a bit, perhaps to catch the forty winks. We had to check out at 12:30 a.m. and started the journey to Mt. Bromo. That was my shortest stay in a hotel ever. I did not even dare to get a short sleep for the fear of not being able to wake up at all.

Everyone was so ready for the highlight of the Surabaya trip: watching the sunrise at Mt. Bromo. The fun had actually begun when I saw them at Juanda Airport Arrival Hall nonetheless.

[If you need to get a guide for your trip to Surabaya and Bromo, you can visit the website of Agent Surabaya Travel HERE.]

[MY SURABAYA TRIP MAIN PAGE]

BLOGGING FROM ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

I am here in Istanbul International Airport, Turkiye, waiting for my flight to take me home in about 3½ hours. I will only get to know which gate I should go to at 11:55 p.m. This is such a huge airport and I still could not get over the horror of running from one get to another when we were on our transit to Milan last week.

Guess this should be the end of the one week trip to Europe. I still have time to window shop before going to the designated gate.

BLOGGING FROM MILAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The connecting flight from Istanbul finally touched down at Milan International Airport, Italy, at about 6.00 p.m. local time. However, the group members' baggage did not come out from the carousel. The reason: the Turkish Air flight from Kuala Lumpur was delayed for one hour, hence they might not be able to get our bags transferred into the waiting connecting flight to Milan.

There was the drama as we were instructed to run to the waiting vessel at the airport in Istanbul as soon as we got out from the plane. It was just like an episode from the reality TV Show The Amazing Race.

What a way to start the adventure.

BLOGGING FROM KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Arrived at KLIA International Airport Terminal 1 at 4:30 a.m. Another journey is about to begin.

Had to get coffee [and kaya toast] while waiting for other group members to arrive.

Just got to know my flight is delayed. Pray it won't delay for too long as there is another connecting flight to catch.

BRUNEI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

We arrived at the airport on the 28th May and had to bid farewell to Brunei at the same place on the 30th May 2023.

The airport was a small one and not busy at all.

The sign of the cafe in English was not only written in Jawi [Arabic letters] but was also translated into Bahasa Melayu.

You have to make it a point to visit the surau, or is a mosque?, when you are here. [READ HERE]

I am setting high hope to be coming back to Bandar Sri Begawan again some other time.

This is the very last post of my 3D2N Brunei trip with my ex-student, Mr. Solihin Ramli. Finally, everything was reported after almost 4 months. Hope I have shown you enough of what you should miss if you do not have any intention to be here.

[MY BRUNEI TRIP MAIN PAGE]

THE SURPRISINGLY BEAUTIFUL "SURAU" AT THE AIRPORT

   30th MAY 2023    ~ We went to search for the "Surau" [a smaller version of a mosque] upon arrival at the airport. We were surprised when the building that we found was too beautiful. It looked more like a proper mosque rather than a "Surau".

I guess that is how things work in a rich country. This should be something commendable as travelers should be more comfortable to perform their prayers at Brunei International Airport.

[MY BRUNEI TRIP MAIN PAGE]

THE LAST MEAL AT THE AIRPORT BEFORE DEPARTING

    30TH MAY 2023    ~ The most convenient way to get lunch before leaving Brunei was finding an eating place at the airport. We saw this Jolibee Restaurant, which I don't think could be found many places in Peninsular Malaysia, and wanted to get our first experience dining in.

Jolibee is actually is Filipino owned company which has branches in Sabah, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

It looked like just another fast food restaurant but I think we had more choices of food here. I, for example, decided to have Bolognese Spaghetti instead of the usual burgers and fries.

That should conclude our gastronomic adventure in Brunei. I could just tell people I would be returning back to Bandar Seri Begawan for its food, if people were to ask: Why Brunei again?

[MY BRUNEI TRIP MAIN PAGE]