SURABAYA AITAKATTA!

1:23 AM

I landed in Surabaya with no money, no schedule, and too many feelings. Only five days (rude), so I did the responsible thing: ate like I had tenure and hugged every friend I could catch.

Collateral damage: +3 kg in 5 days. My two-month diet died a hero.

Chinese New Year chaos (the cute kind)

I arrived right as Chinese New Year (Feb 19) spun up: malls blasting drums, barongsai everywhere, promos sprinting across storefronts like coupons learned to walk.

Galaxy Mall: packed but survivable; I fought my way to the front for once (short-girl victory).
Tunjungan Plaza: ultra-crowded; the lion dance did a mall marathon up all those floors. Breathing? Optional.

I snapped photos like I wasn’t shaking, collected a random candy from a roaming mascot, and decided to keep it forever as a relic (shelf life: emotional).

Crowd survival & short-person physics

If you’re under 155 cm, commit to front-row or enjoy a butt-level documentary.
TP during CNY is combat mode: pick one floor and let the parade come to you.
Bring earplugs if drums + echo chambers make your skull hum.

The friend audit

Everyone was busy except Koko, who gets drafted into my nonsense by default. I censored my friends’ eyes in photos because they’re all prettier than me and this is my blog. #boundaries

Food I did not resist

Yoshinoya (finally in Surabaya): beef bowl nostalgia activated. Ocha on loop, self-control on mute.
Taiwan street snack (Chubby): XL crispy chicken ~Rp25k; I’ve broken up with certain other chains—this one still tastes like the point.
Nanny’s Pavilion: bumped into barongsai again because fate ships us. Someone handed me a voucher; I took it like a sign from the carbs.

Pros & cons (speed run)

Pros

🧧 CNY atmosphere: lion dance, drums, red overload
🍚 Fast comfort food (Yoshinoya) where nostalgia lives
🍗 Street snacks that still deliver (hi, XL chicken)

Cons

🧍‍♀️ Crowd crush at TP; Galaxy is “mild panic,” TP is “advanced”
🏋️‍♀️ Weight gain speedrun; jeans staged a walkout
🥁 Mall acoustics = free internal percussion

have a happy happy day!
ikkeru van dersen

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