Saturday, 21Oct06

Highlights: morning market, pahlawan museum, downtown Surabaya by becak, Sidoarjo and scene of mud crisis

Ahh,,, I actually didn’t need any alarm clocks this morning to make the 3am sahur… there was war in progress, between me & a nasty gang of mischievous mosquitoes who were apparently savoring the taste of foreign blood. Ah!
I used my sarong as a top sheet, but it could only give so much protection- and I didn’t bring my mosquito spray =/ dirty buggers…

There was no going back to sleep either… so I waited for mas Harris to wake up at 7, and we hit the downtown market. Every weekend there is a flea-market phenomenon which happens around downtown Surabaya. It’s been getting livelier lately, with the end of Ramadan approaching, and the Muslim gift-giving season in full swing.

Last night mas Harris, Bhakti and I breezed through one of the malls. In several American brand stores (Nike, Adidas, Polo…) I saw shoes, shirts & clothes at prices I’d expect to see in America… $80 sneakers, $37 shirts, etc.
Wait for the Saturday market & you’ll find “close enough” stuff for pennies on the dollar. I got a batik shirt ($2.70) and five soccer jerseys ($12) in the market (=