Spoiler: it is free entry!
In West Surabaya, there’s a place called Food Junction. It is specifically located in Grand Pakuwon, which is quite accessible from the city center. As the name suggests, this place of course offers many food and beverage stalls. There are also several restaurants that you can visit. They even have a supermarket, a cinema, and even a lake! which is rare to find in a food court area, right? I won't write about food in this blog, cause besides the food, this place offers so much more things. Let’s explore!
When you first enter the area, you will see rows of food and beverage stalls for you to choose depending on your preferences, as you can see in the previous photos. However, if you walk a little bit further to the back area, you will find a view like this one below. There’s an artificial lake surrounded by several different spots at each corner. On a sunny day like when I was visiting, the vast blue sky and the fluffy clouds just blend perfectly with the surrounding scenery, making it looks even more beautiful.
There's plenty of outdoor seating, but of course, no one wants to sit there in the weather like this haha. Surabaya is one of the hottest cities, and even though I’d say that the sun makes the scenery more vibrant, but the fact is you’ll fry yourself if you try to sit in the outdoor area in the afternoon😂 However, if you come for taking beautiful photos and such, you might still want to try sunbathing, as some people do.
The decor of this place is simple yet eye-catching. Beside being surrounded by greenery, several different types of flowers are also planted around this area. One of the corners even look like a small flower garden with its aesthetic circular layout. In this kind of weather, I personally prefer sitting indoor but close to the outdoor area, because that way I can still gaze at this beautiful view without getting too hot. Oh, and they’ve also installed lots of lights around the lake and even around the trees. Wait until I show you how it looks when the sun is setting.
Here we go.. as the sun sets, the golden hue begin to appear, the lights are on; and it looks magical in its own way, or at least for me. Even though the sky suddenly turned cloudy that day, I still found the sunset to be incredibly beautiful. I may just lack photography skill, but this is the best I could capture with the phone camera.
I think evenings might be people’s favorite time to visit this place, because there are many more people come in the evening. Maybe right after they’ve finished work for the day, or couples who want to catch a romantic sunset, or even families on their little vacation. Every lights are on–around the lake, near the rides, and even wrapped around tree haha. Plus, this place sometimes changes its decoration spots, and it is also filled with lights, so there are lights everywhere. That's probably also makes the atmosphere feels even more magical.
The lake is definitely the main attraction here. As I mentioned, they change the decorations probably every few months, and when I was visited, they installed this flowery corner with some lit stars and a crescent moon ornament in the center. Taking photos right there with the entire lake reflecting the beautiful sunset as a backdrop is probably very aesthetically pleasing, which is why people take turns taking photos there.
Did I mention that this magical place is free to enter? You just need to pay the flat parking fee and spend time here as much as you want. Of course, you’ll have to spend some money on food, but you can adjust the prices to suit your budget. Since there are so many options, you can choose something affordable or something that a little more expensive. There are also many exciting rides for kids to try–from ferris wheels to train rides, and the price depends on the ride.
In another corner of the lake, several duck-shaped rides float there, ready to take you around to enjoy the view of this place with a swing on the lake water. Unfortunately I haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t give any information about how much it cost. Another interesting thing about this place is often hold various type of events, especially something like a food bazaar and such, but with many different concepts.
Last year, they attracted people’s attention with their Pasar Terapung, which combined the concept of traditional floating markets in Kalimantan and Thailand, but packaged more innovatively with a modern atmosphere. It also provides an engaging cultural exploration experience for visitors, which is interesting.
You will see rows of small boats floating on the lake, beautifully decorated and offering a variety of delicious food. From what I experienced, the food is diverse from traditional dishes to trendy snacks, you can find them all here. I read in this article where the management said that they wanted to connect tradition with the urban lifestyle. So, Pasar Terapung at Food Junction isn’t just about food, but also about the experience.
Overall, this place is a good destination for hangout with loved ones or even spending time by yourself. And I feel like this place also designed for people from various background, because if you want a good meal, there's plenty to choose from. But you also could just chilling with an affordable drink while watching the beautiful sunset.
Lastly, that cute dog decoration to conclude today’s blog haha thanks for reading as always :) have a great day, hivers!