****disclaimer****
I spent a total of 2 days in Surabaya, I don't speak the language, I was drunk or high out of my mind on ecstasy most of the time I was there, I am no kind of authority on Indonesia and I have a little sleazier taste than allot of folks. This is just some simple information I gathered and since there is basically NO information on this board, I'll pass on what I found and others can add on to it or I will when I visit again in a few weeks. Don't use it as a beginners guide to Indonesia. Perceptions based on a two day sample may not be at all accurate.

Why Surabaya: There ALLOT of hookers there. More on that later.

Getting there:
Probably 4 decent options.

From Jakarta on AWAIR. This is incredibly cheap and can be booked online at http://www.airasia.com This is the option I took and it was all of about USD$23 total, one way.

From Batam on Mandala Air. I think it should be about USD$160 RT if purchased from an agent in Batam. There are no good online options apparent for booking with Mandala Air but they have a web site at http://www.mandalaair.com .

From Singapore on Value Air. This looks like a very good option. Right now you can book SIN-SUB round trip for SGD$278.00 total (~USD$170) at http://www.valuair.com.sg . Value Air is surely safer than Mandala.

AirAsia flys from Kuala Lumpur as well and you can make reasonable connections from Bangkok this way.

Arrival: I can only comment on domestic arrival. I assume International arrival is similar with added typical Indonesian immigration steps and a different terminal.

On domestic arrival you are bussed to the terminal, enter from the side and the baggage claim is right there. The exit is also right there but first go down the ramp where is says "transfer" to access the shops inside security in the rest of the terminal before exiting. Specifically, there is a KAHA desk just inside the transfer area as well as a news stand that has city maps for sale. There are also some good restaurants. After finishing any business inside the terminal, exit back where the baggage claim was. There were the usual crowds of locals just outside security but amazingly no one paid me the slightest attention. NO pushy touts or any hassles. This was amazing to me.

Airport taxis:

Analyzing the taxi situation I saw no meter cabs. There is an official airport sign designated taxi area but they did not look like meter cabs and there was no kind of organized structure to it. Just unmarked cars and SUV's with bored looking drivers sitting around. A few casual offers of "taxi" but refreshingly low key compared to Batam or Jakarta. There was also a window offering ground transportation but it looked like a limousine service type thing. I ask the nice old Moslem lady at the airport information desk what was the best way to get into town and she attempted to explain the local busses. I'm adventurous but for my first visit I figure I will pass on the local busses. The option that looked the best is a plywood stand curbside with a window and a lady inside with a private sign that says "Prima Taxi". Locals were mostly using that so I figured it was the correct option. Terms were 70,000rp fixed, non-negotiable rate airport to hotel, paid to the lady at the stand. She issued a 4 part ticket with the price preprinted on it and directed me to the taxi hailer. He tore off one part of the ticket and directed me to a nice shiny new "Prima Taxi". The driver then tore of his section of my ticket. He spoke no English but knew where hotels were. Overall a very professional taxi service and a pleasant introduction to a new and unfamiliar destination. The ride into town took about 40 minutes in moderate traffic. FWIW returning to the airport in a Blue Bird taxi was ~60k on the meter so you are only paying ~$1 premium for using the Prima Taxi and the terms are totally fixed and no opportunity for any funny business in the whole deal. If you really wanted to save $1, you could probably catch a meter cab dropping someone off or walk out to the main road and find one but I did not see anyplace obvious at the airport where meter cabs are allowed to queue.

Hotels:

Surabaya has many good hotel options. This is not really a comprehensive list. Just where I stayed, quite by random. I intended to stay in the Hyatt. KAHA had the amazing rate of 450k rp a night for this 5* hotel, IF, and only if, you can produce an Indonesian ID card. Foreigner with a passport for ID pays $61USD just the same as on hyatt.com . In any case it did not mater because Hyatt was totally booked. I didn't really have a plan B and didn't really look at other options before I got there. Really, any 5* hotel would have been fine but I did not know where the others were located at the time and was unsure about how important location was. I ask the KAHA lady for a hotel in a specific neighborhood chosen basically because it was the only neighborhood I knew anything about and she recommended 3* Sahid at 210k rp per night. At that price how could I go wrong? I took it for one night figuring I could move if I saw something better. Sahid was pretty decent. Maybe a 4 star at one time but now a little run down and housekeeping was not up to par. But it was one hell of a bargain at 210k rupia a night. I'll probably stay in a 5* my next trip but for you guys on a budget, Sahid is a awesome value at 210k. Counter ladies at Sahid spoke decent English and were warm, friendly and very helpful. Other than the lazy house keeping guys, the staff at Sahid were great. Any of the 5*'s should be fine as well. Marriot, Mandarin Oriental, Shangra-la et al. Plaza is a 4* that looks huge, is well located and has huge rooms. Many other good 3* and 4* options as well. Anyplace near downtown should be fine.

Taxies in town:

There are about 4 million meter cabs in town. I usually stuck with the recommended Blue Bird group but several times I took other companies as well. "Express" is another one that I was specifically told was good but I did not have a single problem with any taxi driver the whole time I was there. All ran the meter and all the fares were consistent. Not sure how much of that was luck but I had great experiences with the taxi drivers. Not a one of them spoke a word of English and I suspect they are inexperienced at scamming foreigners. Traffic was not as bad a Jakarta except during rush hour it jammed up pretty good. Actually traffic was pretty orderly, by Indonesian standards anyway. Typical meter fare was ~15k-~20k rp for rides across town.

Malls:

Hotel Sahid was 2 blocks from Surabaya Plaza. This was an awesome modern 4 story mall as nice as anything I've seen anywhere. Everything you could want in a modern mall. Also the largest McDonald's I have ever personally seen anywhere on the planet.

Tunjungan Plaza is another even larger mall which is said to be even nicer than Surabaya Plaza. I didn't go there though. I think it is close to the Hyatt and has a nice disco attached. I'll investigate more next trip.

THR Mall is where you allegedly go for electronics and computer stuff. But I didn't check out that one either.

Internet. There was none at Surabaya Plaza. I ask the hotel counter staff where was an internet cafe and they were stumped but offered a wild guess that there may be one at Tunjungan Plaza. I gave up on finding internet and went and fucked hookers instead since they were easier to find.

ATM's. Hundreds of them everywhere. No trouble with ATM's. Most had 1,200,000rp limit but one bank had 2,000,000rp limit. I forgot that bank.

Locals:

I don't discount for a second that there is a percentage of the population who would like to stab me for my cell phone and a probably a few who would like to chop my head off and videotape it for Indonesia's Funniest Home Videos. After all they very recently killed Bali bomb maker Azahari bin Husin in a house with over 30 ready to go backpack suicide bombs just 50 miles south of Surabaya. So how did I go over as a pale skinned, blond haired American? Like a rock star. In general I never received a warmer more friendly reception anywhere. 23,000 “Hellllooooo Meister's” a day. Lot's of smiles. Generally much friendlier than Batam or Jakarta. In the local's karaoke’s, guys would share there beer with me and always wanted me to sit with them. I even got suckered into dancing with some local guys. (it's not gay to dance with guys in Indonesia.... or so they told me). Everyone ask where I was from and I always answered America. Response was always positive. I got several "Amerika strong, vely good" and even a "George Bush Number 1!!!" from a Moslem guy. I don't mean to paint an idyllic picture. It's a big city and there are bad guys around. I took very serious precautions and was on high alert status out in the brothel areas. But overall I was very welcomed by the general population. Minor bad reaction was limited to one group of teen boys who 'might' have said something derogatory as they passed me. I'm not sure since I do not speak bahasa Indonesia but it sounded like an insult by the tone. In any case they just walked on by. Some guys also wanted to hang with me just so I would buy the beer. At 12k rp a big bottle not bad if they are feeding you useful information. But some guys were drunk and annoying and obviously that is out of the question. Just as often though, it them buying ME the beers. There’s allot of middle class businessmen types in the locals type karaoke’s and they would often invite me over and share there beers with me. The only problem there is they tend to insist that you drink with them and keep topping off your glass so you can become much more shitfaced than you intended.

Safety:

As is often the case with me in Indonesia, I'm not really totally sure I grasp how safe it is. It seemed passably safe to me in the brothel areas at night but others have differing opinions and I do not discount that dangers may be lurking that I am not picking up on. I do not have enough experience in Indonesia to assure myself I'm not just a reckless idiot getting by on dumb luck or if I am accurately gauging the situation. I've been in allot of really bad places in my life both in the US and overseas so usually I like to think I have street smarts but Indonesia is kind of a unique situation for me anyway. I don't read it as well as other places. In the brothel areas at night I took security very seriously. Money belt, no more cash than I needed, distributed cash in various pockets, $20 cell phone, xerox of my passport and a note I had the counter lady at the hotel write in bahasa Indonesia explaining for a taxi driver I had no money on me but had money at the hotel (just in case). In the brothel areas prepare to be touched, grabbed, and have hands put on you. It's hectic, crowded, the pimps are pushy, locals get drunk and annoying, etc. etc. I found the very firm but friendly approach worked well if a drunk local made a nuisance of himself. Keep your cool but don't take no crap. Drunken locals may try to rattle you but seem harmless if you stand your ground. Pimps are pushy and will grab your arm and try to lead you to their ladies but most seemed friendly to me and I was buying what they were selling after all. Timid guys should stick to Dolly area in the afternoon and early evening. If you aren't put off by a little chaotic environment, I was out till around 11:00pm or 12:00pm both nights and it seemed more or less OK.

Discos:

I tried two discos. Kowloon, and Kantor.

Kowloon is attached to Surabaya Plaza mall but is not accessible from the mall. It is on the 5th floor of the indoor parking structure and must be accessed from the garage as far as I can tell. A taxi will just drive you up through the garage. Kowloon was the largest disco I saw there. Typical Indonesian disco, pitch black, blasting ear shattering techno music. They had freelancers and "escorts" employed by the disco. I think the escorts get off duty at midnight and then freelance without you having to pay the disco. They also have ST rooms on premises for either escorts or freelancers. It was 100k for the ST room with a FL and I paid 200k to her. These discos are kind of expensive higher end places. 50k cover charge. You get a drink for this and then drinks were 50k. Ecstasy was 120k. You can just ask any waiter or just motion towards your mouth like you are feeding yourself and he will send over the Ecstasy guy. He is affiliated with the club so it's a pretty simple strait forward thing if you want ecstasy here. Just make sure you get it from someone referred by a waiter, not by a girl. And let me tell you, Indonesian discos are WAY WAY better when you are high out of your mind on ecstasy.

Kantor Disco. I was disorientated and have no idea where it was at. Somewhere south of the zoo???? I just told a taxi driver and he took me. It was kind of the same as Kowloon but smaller. They had a fish bowl right next to the entrance if you want to pick a lady there. I never ask how much for that. Fewer freelancers but still some nice ones. Ecstasy was 125k here. What was funny is there were several 50+ year old Chinese businessmen in suits high out of their mind on Ecstasy. I have to be careful because I REALLY REALLY REALLY like the whole Indonesian techno/Ecstasy/lady experience. It is quite addicting and I stayed out until after sunrise both nights.

Other discos not tried (next trip). Stasium Disco (Station) near Tunjungan Plaza which is said to be like Kowloon, and Desperados Disco at Shangrala hotel. Desperados is said to be more western orientated, somewhat quieter, better lit, western music..... I never went there.

BTW I got a good explanation this trip as to why many Asian orientated venues are so poorly lit. Of course many Asian societies are in reality quite conservative. Allot of locals in any number of countries in Asia simply feel more comfortable behaving poorly in public when it is not well lit. Ladies too. In Indonesia or 'local' Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China et al you would NEVER see a man groping a lovely young lady in public but it's 'OK' when the lights are dim. Or so I was told.

Streetwalkers.

I stumbled across street walkers quite by accident. Across from Surabaya Plaza I was just walking down the street and a very attractive young lady in an apron sitting at a cigarette stand yelled out "hey mister, jiggy-jig???" and motioned me over and had a huge grin on her face. I don't think it is possible for an Indonesian woman to be more direct than that. She was quite doable but I passed on her.

Later when on my way to Kantor disco from Dolly at night the taxi passed a park I 'think' was the zoo. There were dozens of obvious streetwalkers lined up along the curb. I 'think' it may be Jalan Raya Diponegoro where it passes the zoo on your right hand side if headed south but like I say I was drunk and disorientated so I could be wrong. I'm sure any taxi driver would know and it is very obvious when you find it. It was dark and I was shitfaced drunk but some looked well dressed and higher end. Not sure the terms there. I did not have time to investigate this trip. More work need done in this area.

DOLLY!!!!

This is why I came. The huge local brothel district. This is blocks and blocks of brothels, bars and karaoke’s. Generally a low end area but there were some quite attractive ladies available cheap an enough numbers that anyone should be able to find someone to there liking.

Where is it? Headed south from downtown on Pasar Kembang it turns into Jalan Girilaya. Dolly area starts somewhere along Jalan Girilaya and then Jalan Girilaya turns into Jalan Jarak. Much of Jalan Jarak has brothels and side streets and alleys have brothels bars and karaoke’s. Namesake, Jalan Dolly is a street headed south off of Jalan Jarak and has the densest clustering of brothels. It is a very "in your face" scene. Jalan Dolly is solidly lined with brothels that have big fish bowels open right onto the street. Like store front windows stocked with tiered couches and ladies. Some of the alleys off of Jalan Jarak are narrow 3 meter wide strips lined with low end karaoke’s. Basically every time I turned a corner in the whole area I found more places. Many low end. But hundreds of places with ladies. I walked for several hours and probably did not even cover the whole area.

Prices were often posted right on the wall like "tarif 80,000rp". Prices in general were 70k to 100k rp. for one hour in fish bowels with attractive ladies. 50k is possible with second tier older less attractive ladies in the low end karaoke’s. More time for the same price is a negotiable point and was offered to sweeten the deal by some pimps when I was walking away to look some more. Since price was often posted I believe they do not make a habit of overcharging foreigners. I did not always see the difference between 70k places and 100k places but the locals apparently do since those were posted prices.

I never did inquire as to long time options since I spent the nights high out of my mind on extasy in the discos until dawn.

Conditions range from total shitholes to quite nice. You fuck the lady in the room she lives in so she decorates the place. In some cases the quality of the room depends on the homemaking skills lady you chose. Some ladies fixed up their rooms real nice. Some did not give a shit. Some places advertise "100% air-conditioned", some rooms only had fans. Shower was often just a spray nozzle and a floor drain in the corner.

Service was generally quite good. BBBJ was standard and BBFS was ok with them but I always put on 37 condoms per session just to be safe. You can take two ladies but the pimps are more enthusiastic about selling this option than the ladies are about it in the room. I did one threesome but basically they lay side by side and looked away while I fucked the other. Still, I could freely switch back and forth on the fly so it was fun but after that I stuck to singles.

I did not take any pictures there because I was unsure of security on the street and did not want to carry a camera.

As I said it gets very hectic, chaotic, crowded and crazy at night on the streets. I was fine with it but it will be a bit much for some guys. It is well lit though in most places. My big security plan was if I got in a conflict with locals was I would just tell the nearest pimp I wanted to look at his ladies and aggressive pimp trumps drunken local. There is private security goon squads patrolling later at night too and apparently it is legitimate to get a 5k rupia security surcharge on your bill at some places. Afternoon they are open but the fish bowels are not stocked. Pimps will take you and show you ladies who are off duty. Fish bowels seem to be stocked between ~7:00pm and Midnight. Even I would be uneasy on the streets there after midnight when allot of places kind of close.


Other areas I did not get to check out:

Moroseneng on Jalan Raya Tandes east of town. This is said to be like Dolly but smaller and more laid back.

Jalan Tambak Sari. This place is said to be low end, sketchy and dangerous.

Dupak??? and Bangunsari???? I have no idea what or where these areas are but there is said to be hookers there. Take that at face value.

That's about it. Like I said I have spent all of two days there and am no expert on Indonesia. I will be back next week and will fill out and add to this. I'm posting what I know now since others may be going soon and there is very little info here. That’s what I got. Take it and add to it.

Outstanding Sancho, thanks for the details my friend. I've been curious about SUB every since you knighted the place your favorite monger place in the world! That endorsement alone, coming from a monger like you, explains the tunnel-vision I have for this place these days
:-)

Anyways, my research confirms Dollys is THE place to be. Stadium disco was a repeat plug by others and is not to be missed (the biggest disco in town but difficult to find). The plaza for Stadium was pronounced "Tenjungun Plaza", but I guess all drivers would know about it.

There also appears to be a healthy massage presence, such as Symphony located next to Majapahit Hotel. Supposedly some hotties here.

Ah, one travel tidbit, for FF junkies, SIA air seems to fly into SUB (using a Silk Air A320) as well and you get UA miles. You can also use UA FF miles as well.

You can also book directly on Silkair.com from SIA.

I think Stadium disco is the same as Stasium??? Station??? Disco at Tunjungan Plaza. I got my disco information from a drunken local who barely spoke English over blaring karaoke music so I could be off. If I were a betting man I would bet it is atop Tunjungan Plaza's parking structure since both the other discos I went to were atop multi story parking structures and only accessable by going up the spiral drive. It seemed to be the prefered setup. The guy who told me about discos said Kowloon and Stasium were almost identical. Since I only had two nights I skipped Stasium in favor of Kantor since I wanted to try someplace diferent but I was told Kowloon and Stasium were the best. I hit Kowloon over Stasium since they were having a special party the night I was there.

I love Surabaya but it's a little raw for some folks. The scene is huge though and for someone with as little Indonesia skills as I have it was very easy to navigate. Most places were western friendly but noplace I was at was western orientated. In some respects this was good since I did not always get the feeling they were trying to scam or overcharge me but you have to accept the Indonesian way as well. In fact I did not see even ONE pale face my entire two day stay.

The biggest culture shock? Beer was often served warm and ice was unavailable in many of the low end local's karaokes. I did have to squat on a squat toilet out in Dolly as well (and pay 500 rupia for the privelage). It's not as easy as it looks. Especially when you are drunk.

My ideal hotel was the Plaza Surabaya which was priced reasonably around 265k from KAHA with breakfast and from there, it's a short walk to Kowloon disco everynight. And if I had a FL to bring back, it's a short walk back to the room.

Staying there allowed me to bring back 2-3 FLs over an evening from 11pm till early morning and it was always the highlight of my trips.

This besides the fact that there are numerous FLs cruising the Plaza Surabaya Mall. In fact, on one trip, I picked up a FL within 5 minutes of walking in right at the top of the first escalator.

(note: My last trip was more than 4 years ago, so things may have changed).

One of my favourite ST massage places was at the Andhika Place along Jl. Simpang Dukuh. This is a short taxi ride from the Plaza Surabaya - Garden Hotel vicinity.

There, the Shinta Massage had some great nice SYT in their line-up. Cannot remember the prices I paid but I easily found candy for my eye! The ST rooms were terrible though but I did not care!

At the same location, I noticed a disco Studio East (Etan) which seemed to attract all sorts of young FL ladies at night and typically, Indo discos get busy late after 10.30pm.

The Tunjungan Plaza is the centre of Surabaya's FLs walking ladies cruising the mall. A good place to start would be the McDonalds (or was it Kentucky) at the ground floor. I have met a couple of ladies there myself.

Funnily enough, I did not like Dollys although so many have sworn by it. To be honest, I did not give it a chance considering that I had limited time in the city and there were so many ladies to choose from for me at Kowloon most nights when I was free. (Days, I was busy earning my bread!).

I did visit and take quite a number of booking ladies from the Jl. Kedungdoro Areas of the city. Here, packaging and prices were higher with LT takeaways at 2k to 5k all night. Then, I was in business entertainment mode.

The highlight of all my Surabaya mongering was a Kalimantan girl I took out of a small booking house in the centre of the city. (Inappropriately named the Suka Suka Mini Pub located at Embong Sono Kembang 5 - this outlet may not exist anymore as it was just a house!)

She was probably to date, the most enthusiastic sex machine I have ever had anywhere and the screams of delights she gave out must have transcended right through the hallways and corridors of the Shangri-la Hotel then! While she cost me a small fortune, she made up by sneaking out to see me the following day for no extra money except what tips I threw into the pocket of her jeans!

Yes, Surabaya can be intriguing if you take the time to discover the city and the numerous mongering venues that there is.

For those wanting to waste good money, the Klub Deluxe at Tunjungan Centre (not Plaza) is one of the higher end places with a mix of some of the finest locals and imported Chinese ladies catering to the local business community.

Lastly, more than 10 years ago, reknowned Indonesian Explorer- Journalist "K. M." once remarked to me that Tretes was "heaven on earth". The way his eyes rolled when he was telling me was enough for me to remember the name Tretes till today. And if any "Bule" knows his Indonesian women, K. did!

I will probably hit Tretes next week. I was only in Surabaya two days but there was way more venues than one dick can handle in two days. I was looking at Plaza hotel. I saw it last trip and it looked good and I do like the location. It's 'only' 4* though ;-) and I do love 5* treatment some times. I did not detect any FL's accually inside Surabaya Plaza but I was never there in the late afternoon or evening. The lady freelancing on the street across from Surabaya Plaza was around noon though.

Not sure they were hardcore FLs; the girls I managed to pull at PS were more like newbie part timers seeking some income!

Oh, by the way, in the main lobby area of PS, there's always some promotion going on and sometimes, you get lucky with the SPGs (sales promoter girls) !

Yes, in Sby, 5-star hotels are truly CHEAP esp if you get a local to book and check you in on their ID!

Have your best cewek (From a previous visit) to greet you in the lobby as you arrive, check in with her ID, have a quickie and sent her off on her way!

Unless she's a gem, then, its cat & mouse rendevous time during your stay!

The only reason I am not jealous of you guys out there in Sby and heading to Tretes is becos I am heading to another mongerin "heaven," in DongGuan China! !!!!!

TTHFFYBO

Back in Surabaya right now. I've been out in Dolly until 2:00am the last couple of nights and it really dosn't seem really unsafe out there. A few sorunding areas I wandered off into were kind of sketchy but the main drag Jalan Dolly and Jalan Jarak were more or less ok if you watch yourself and use common sense. It really starts getting going good late. It seems the later it got the cuter the ladies got. (or maybee the drunker I got) I checked out Stasiun disco. The correct name is "Stasiun" meaning Station and it has a train station theme. Like the other discos, pitch dark, blaring techno music, extacy and of course free lancers. Many cute ones there. I think of the three discos I tried so far I like Kowloon best but variety is good. I got offered call girls by a taxi driver. No time to follow up. Just WAY to many opourtunities to follow every lead. I haven't had much time to do much more then fuck, drink and do extacy. I'm kind of getting strung out on thar stuff. Its REALLY good when the lady AND you are on that stuff. But man are you sore when you come off.

Last night I was hanging with the locals in a dive karaoke bar between sessions. They dared me to eat dog meat they were sharing. I did. Wasn't half bad.

Sancho, Do U know if Dolly brothels open early PM? did U find daytime poontang like in JKT? Or is it freelancers or LTs from the night before?

The fish bowels seem fully stocked from ~7:00PM or so through at least 2:00AM if not later. Daytime you see a few in the fish bowles but if you just tell a papasan what you are looking for he will take you in to the ladies rooms for a look see. I figure if you just ask you can find action there 7/24 but night time is when the fish bowels are full and everything is on display.

Crazier writes:
"I am heading to another mongerin "heaven," in DongGuan China! !!!!! "

What exactly does that mean? Please tell us more.

"What exactly does that mean? Please tell us more."

After 3 wonderful days/nights in Zhuhai, China, I have now arrived in DongGuan Province in China and here is where the Hongkong men have been mongering and 'crakin nuts'with some of the best women of China.

Great ST; LT, with some accomplished sauna action (see DM's China post recently).

If I can find some time after this trip, I will post some kind of FR!

IAS,
Sorry for posting this here but it deserved a reply!

(Message edited by crazier on December 28, 2005)

Damn...Merlina and Sancho are singing high praises for Indo. I better get my butt there soon.

IAS, great reporting as usual

IAS and Merlin are singing high praises for Indo...I better get down there real soon.

IAS, great reporting as usual.

Another travel option could be to Fly in to Bali as is quiet close to SUB and most airlines fly there. from Bali you can get flight or ferry to Sub. Never been to Sub myself but did live in Indo for a couple of years. HIV was not around much back then but you got to watch out for the galloping Ghon. If a brothel area is frequented by local guys you can bet the girls will be full of it