Thus far for me, travel in Indonesia has been a comedy of errors, but a comedy of errors that seems to have no end. In fact, it seems a little like hell at times. Nasi goreng (fried rice) every meal, I can't communicate with most people, even though I speak Indoensian now, I guess they assume that i can't speak it, and miserable, horrible bus rides that feel like absolute torture.

Then, I get to Java, which if you look in the encyclopedia, I think means mall in some ancient language. Surabaya has 17 malls. And they are building the 18th. that's just the major malls. There are also plazas, so many I lost count. There are also "shopping centers," which to me seem a lot like malls. Surabaya is basically a mall. There's absolutely nothing to draw a tourist here, which is why it's quite intriguing to me. I haven't seen another tourist in a week. And Surabaya won't be drawing the hoardes anytime soon.