On the 24th of November 2012, I officially moved to Surabaya to start my job at English First. On the 25th of November 2012, I was mugged.
It happened on a quiet street in the wealthy neighborhood in West Surabaya on a Sunday afternoon. I was walking alone, my bag carelessly slung over one shoulder without a care in the world and without a single feeling of danger. I stopped in at Indomaret for some chocolate Indomilk and with a smile on my face I headed down Darmo Permai Selatan V. I'd been walking for over an hour and by now I was only about 10 minutes from my boarding house. I smiled at everyone I walked past because I was just happy to be back in Indonesia. I passed two men on the side of the road and said a quick hello. I continued along and saw a motorbike coming towards me. I smiled at the young guys on the bike.
Two seconds later I was on the ground. I was disorientated but I felt pain from my legs and my left arm. Then I heard a crash and saw the two boys from the motorbike had fallen about 15 meters away from me. I felt really worried for them. As I pulled myself up from the ground picked up my broken sandals and broken necklace, I started to realise what had happened. I saw my broken handbag on the ground next to the boys. The boys were trying to get on their motorbike again. The two men called for help and quickly a crowd of 15 men gathered and they pushed the boys off the bike again. I stumbled to my bag and picked it up, still a little dazed. A woman quickly ushered me into her nearby restaurant and told me to take a seat. She brought me some water and some cream for the abrasion on my arm. I don't know what happened to the boys. I'm sure the crowd of angry men weren't gentle with them but I'm not sure if they got away. A few minutes later, the crowd of men walked to the cafe where I was sitting and asked if I was okay. Then, a nice man and his family drove me to my boarding house.
My Havianas and my necklace were broken but otherwise I had all of my things. I checked later and realised all I had in my bag was 30,000 rupiah ($3), my $20 phone, some lipgloss and some random pieces of paper, doesn't really seem worth it hey? In the end, I felt fine about the experience because it made me realise the need to be careful in Surabaya.
Fast forward to the 23rd of December 2012. After a disagreement with the security at my boarding house, I decided to move into my current house in Ngagel (East Surabaya). A friend helped me move that day and not knowing the area I decided to go and explore. Having learnt from my mugging experience, I didn't take my bag. I instead put about 250,000 rupiah ($25) and my phone into the front pocket of my jeans and my ipod into the back pocket. I set out exploring the local area and actually got quite far. I got to the bridge on Jalan Sulawesi when I felt a hand on my butt, trying to take the iPod from my pocket. I reacted quickly by slapping it away and looked back to see a man on his motorbike. I turned into a quieter street and kept walking, now with my iPod in my front pocket. walking down that street, suddenly I felt a hand on my butt again and looked back to see the same guy. I screamed for help, but no one was around. Luckily, my screaming was enough to scare the guy away.
I think this was the first (and only) time I felt honestly scared in Indonesia. I could tell the sun was about to set and I didn't want to be alone in the dark. I started running around, I had no idea where I was or how to get home and my $20 phone obviously didn't have google maps. I was sure the man would come back again and I felt my heart racing each time I heard a motorbike. Eventually I found my way to Jalan Raya Darmo and flagged down a taxi. I didn't want to go home and be alone so instead I got a taxi to Tunjungan Plaza, sat down in Hageen Das and cried while eating ice cream. Ahh, my first few months in Surabaya were awful....
Despite two attempted muggings in one month, I'd still say these incidents are rare. Almost none of my friends have experienced any problems like this which makes me think that I was either very unlucky or just not anywhere near careful enough.
Fights
I want to stress, that in general, Indonesians are not violent or confrontational people. Fights are rare but I have witnessed a few. I watched a NOAH concert in Sidoarjo in late 2013. Free concerts seems to attract bored youngsters out to cause trouble, as I have witnessed fighting at almost all free concerts I have watched.
In Sidoarjo, I was watching with one friend. A few fights broke out during the event but one of them really sticks out to me. Right near me a guy was sitting on his friend's shoulders and as he tried to get down he accidentally bumped a guy nearby him. This guy and his friends took great offence to this and a fight broke out a few meters from me. A young guy standing near me, reacted immediately by pushing me further from the fight and standing between me and those fighting. I think this really shows the general good-nature of Indonesians, as I would have never expected a total stranger to literally shield me from a fight. A few seconds later I saw the boy from earlier finally escaping from the guys who were laying into him earlier walk away with blood dripping from his face.
A more unexpected fight occurred a couple of months back as I was buying Siomay Jakarta from my local supermarket. I heard a woman screaming and every male in the shop rushing outside. A man emerged from the car parking area with blood dripping down his face. His girlfriend/wife/lady friend was crying hysterically. I still don't know exactly how two people started a fight in a local supermarket's parking lot....
Fire
Waking up to your housekeeper screaming is never ideal.
One morning a small electrical fire broke out near the entrance to our home. Being early in the morning, Parmi (our maid) was the first to see it, and being hopeless in a bad situation, she dealt with it by screaming. Eventually she woke up my housemate Ash, who went around knocking on everyone's door and waking them up with a kind "You have to get up, there's a fire".
So we gathered in the living room, not really knowing what to do. The fire was small, but it was next to the only entrance to our house. We just sat and talked, eventually brewing some tea.
At one point some sparks flew from the fire and we all jumped. It was a stressful morning. We lost power for awhile but eventually some people came and put out the fire and everything went back to normal. Luckily that was the day of a long meeting at work and we missed it due to the fire. Best timing for a fire ever!
I actually witnessed one other fire. When I was studying to be an English teacher, a fire broke out opposite the school I was studying in. The flames seemed out of control and the fire went on for a long time before the fire brigade eventually came. I was excited to see the firefighters because I thought firemen where supposed to be hot? A very disappointing morning... But interestingly, even when the firemen arrived they just strolled in and had a chat first before putting the fire out. Ah, Indonesia- a country where even fire fighters are relaxed.
The bull
Last year, my friend Oliver and I headed to Kenjeran to watch some Karapan Sapi. Karapan Sapi is a traditional kind of bull racing usually held in Madura. We were really excited to watch the races. There were a fair few people watching, but as the token foreign guests we stood out (as usual). Fairly soon we were invited over a megaphone to sit in the "VIP tent", but considering it was shady and had free snacks, we were pretty interested.
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| a VIP tent selfie seconds before disaster |
We saw a couple of races and managed to take a few photos. We sat in the tent drinking from a coconut, ready to watch the next race. Suddenly, things went badly. One bull somehow got away from its rider and ran straight through the crowd towards the tent we were sitting in sipping from coconuts. Thankfully the cow stopped when it ran up a policecar and smashed the windsheild.
The scene was chaotic, I saw a mother running around frantically calling for her child. I saw some people lead away the offending cow. The policeman stood calmly by his car and took a photo of the damage without saying a word. Luckily no one was injured and the rest of the days races were called off.
So, overall I'm going to say that Indonesia is pretty safe if in over three years this is all that has happened. A fire, a stampede, two failed muggings and a few fights don't sound too bad to me actually. What do you guys think?
Wow you've experienced quite a bit during your time here (although it's nothing compared to what you might see in other countries). I need to get out more often haha btw great job with your posts. I love reading them.
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