Surabaya, Indonesia’s 2nd or 3rd largest city, is actually a very pleasant place to visit.
There are not a lot of tourist sites – although the pinisi harbour and several of the old neighbourhoods are nice enough to walk around -, but Surabaya has a bustling modern centre, with great atmosphere and great shopping malls. Besides, it is strategically located, for a trip onto Pulau Madura, an excursion to the Bromo volcano and the Ijen Plateau, or a ferry to Makassar.
I wrote about the city in some length on our Indonesia travel blog, no need to repeat that here.