Day 8 - Fourth Day in Surabaya

It's day 8 of our trip! We woke up early and headed off to Elyon Christian School. The school was really big, and we were shocked at the sheer size of it- there were 6 levels! We were warmly welcomed by many students, and we started with a painting activity. However, the painting was surprisingly different! We didn't paint on paper or canvas, but on a board shaped as different things made from recycled plastic and wood powder. It was very interesting, as the board felt like natural wood. There were many designs to choose from- sanrio characters, Patrick Star and even a cartoon picture of Jesus!

After completing our painting, we were given time to roam around the school and explore the various exhibitions. These exhibitions are done by students from different streams, like Science, Commerce, Computing, Art and Design and Music. Students are tasked to create a booth relating to their various streams as part of a graded project. This exhibition is held annually and truly is a creative approach to allow students to research and develop their talents in their streams. The majority of these booths were based on saving the earth like reducing plastic use and recycling materials to create new items. For example, there were displays of dresses made from recycled plastic bags and newspapers. We were all impressed by their creative approaches to environment sustainability.

Moving on, we took the bus to a kampong where we visited a local's house, Pak Jarwo. He makes tempe everyday to sell at the Surabaya traditional market. He told us his story, and we found it quite inspiring- back then he sold coffee at the Red District, but after the district closed down, he refused to close his coffee shop and ended up being a fugitive chased by the police. He moved to Surabaya in an attempt to escape, and started the Bang Jarwo tempe business. We found his life story very touching- even though he faced many difficulties after the district closure, he managed to get back up and sell tempe through persevering.

We watched the tempe making process done personally by Pak Jarwo, and we got the chance to make the tempe hands-on, like mixing the soybeans with fermentation powder and packing them up for fermentation. Our hands smelled like beans afterwards!

Pak Jarwo generously gave us some packed soybeans to take back home, which in two days time would become tempe. We're sure they will be incredibly tasty! Even though it was blazing hot, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and we learnt a lot from Pak Jarwo, both tempe-making and character-wise.

We then went to have lunch at a cozy restaurant. There were many dishes, like fried fish, satay, and we were even given juice! It was an extremely tasty meal.

Next, we headed to the Environmental Agency where we learnt the various approaches taken to reduce waste and handle waste. For example, the government will appoint pickup trucks to collect trash from locals which is then brought to a temporary holding place for processing, Jambangan. They do not directly bring trash to Benowa so the landfill will not be full so easily. These trash will either be turned to compost or sold to private companies for money. We definitely developed a greater sense of responsibility for our earth through this sharing!

Afterwards, we went downstairs to eat dinner at the food court in the Tunjungan plaza where we were able to select our own choices of food. Ranging from Hok Ben to Yoshinoya to even Wingstop, our choices of food definitely satisfied our cravings. Finally, we headed back to our rooms to get a good night's rest for tomorrow's journey back home.

Signing off,
Megan and Nathanielle