diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 89ba198..22609b2 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ authors = ["Dzmitry Malyshau <kvark@mozilla.com>"]
 name = "portability"
 crate-type = ["staticlib"]
 
+[dependencies]
+winit = "0.7"
+
 [dependencies.gfx-hal]
 #path = "../gfx/src/hal"
 git = "https://github.com/kvark/gfx-rs"
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index feb72f9..7c7dcc1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ OBJECTS=$(NATIVE_DIR)/test.o
 LIBRARY=target/debug/libportability.a
 
 CC=gcc
-CFLAGS=-I$(VULKAN_DIR)
+CFLAGS=-ggdb -O0 -I$(VULKAN_DIR)
 DEPS=
 LDFLAGS=-lpthread -ldl -lm -lX11
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ $(LIBRARY): src/*.rs Cargo.toml Cargo.lock
 	cargo build
 	mkdir -p target/native
 
-$(NATIVE_DIR)/%.o: native/%.c $(DEPS)
+$(NATIVE_DIR)/%.o: native/%.c $(DEPS) Makefile
 	$(CC) -c -o $@ $< $(CFLAGS)
 
 $(TARGET): $(LIBRARY) $(OBJECTS) Makefile
diff --git a/native/test.c b/native/test.c
index 20e525e..4908856 100644
--- a/native/test.c
+++ b/native/test.c
@@ -4,16 +4,17 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 
+VkSurfaceKHR vkCreateSurfaceGFX(VkInstance);
+
 int main() {
     printf("starting the portability test\n");
 
-    VkInstanceCreateInfo inst_info = {};
-    inst_info.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_INSTANCE_CREATE_INFO;
-
     VkInstance instance;
-    VkResult res;
+    VkResult res = 0;
     unsigned int i;
 
+    VkInstanceCreateInfo inst_info = {};
+    inst_info.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_INSTANCE_CREATE_INFO;
     res = vkCreateInstance(&inst_info, NULL, &instance);
     if (res == VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER) {
         printf("cannot find a compatible Vulkan ICD\n");
@@ -23,6 +24,9 @@ int main() {
         return -1;
     }
 
+    VkSurfaceKHR surface = vkCreateSurfaceGFX(instance);
+    printf("\tvkCreateSurfaceGFX\n");
+
     uint32_t adapter_count = 1;
     VkPhysicalDevice physical_devices[1] = {};
     res = vkEnumeratePhysicalDevices(instance, &adapter_count, physical_devices);
@@ -91,6 +95,7 @@ int main() {
 
     vkFreeCommandBuffers(device, cmd_pool, 1, &cmd_buffer);
     vkDestroyCommandPool(device, cmd_pool, NULL);
+    vkDestroySurfaceKHR(instance, surface, NULL);
     vkDestroyDevice(device, NULL);
     vkDestroyInstance(instance, NULL);
 
diff --git a/src/handle.rs b/src/handle.rs
index 4df54df..c82d602 100644
--- a/src/handle.rs
+++ b/src/handle.rs
@@ -1,32 +1,23 @@
 use std::{fmt, ops};
-use std::marker::PhantomData;
 
 
 #[repr(C)]
-pub struct Handle<T> {
-    pointer: *mut u8,
-    marker: PhantomData<T>,
-}
+pub struct Handle<T>(*mut T);
 
 impl<T> Handle<T> {
     pub fn new(value: T) -> Self {
-        Handle {
-            pointer: Box::into_raw(Box::new(value)) as _,
-            marker: PhantomData,
-        }
+        let ptr = Box::into_raw(Box::new(value));
+        Handle(ptr)
     }
 
     pub fn unwrap(self) -> Box<T> {
-        unsafe { Box::from_raw(self.pointer as _) }
+        unsafe { Box::from_raw(self.0) }
     }
 }
 
 impl<T> Clone for Handle<T> {
     fn clone(&self) -> Self {
-        Handle {
-            pointer: self.pointer,
-            marker: PhantomData,
-        }
+        Handle(self.0)
     }
 }
 
@@ -35,19 +26,18 @@ impl<T> Copy for Handle<T> {}
 impl<T> ops::Deref for Handle<T> {
     type Target = T;
     fn deref(&self) -> &T {
-        unsafe { &*(self.pointer as *mut _) }
+        unsafe { & *self.0 }
     }
 }
 
 impl<T> ops::DerefMut for Handle<T> {
     fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut T {
-        unsafe { &mut*(self.pointer as *mut _) }
+        unsafe { &mut *self.0 }
     }
 }
 
 impl<T> fmt::Debug for Handle<T> {
-    fn fmt(&self, _formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-        //TODO
-        Ok(())
+    fn fmt(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(formatter, "Handle({:p})", self.0)
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 4c654d4..6df57bf 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 #![allow(non_snake_case)]
 #![allow(non_camel_case_types)]
 #![allow(non_upper_case_globals)]
+#![allow(improper_ctypes)] //TEMP: buggy Rustc FFI analysis
 
 extern crate gfx_hal as hal;
 extern crate gfx_backend_vulkan as back;
+extern crate winit;
 
 mod handle;
 
@@ -5197,12 +5199,17 @@ extern "C" {
                                 commandBufferCount: u32,
                                 pCommandBuffers: *const VkCommandBuffer);
 }
+
+//NOTE: all *KHR types have to be pure `Handle` things for compatibility with
+//`VK_DEFINE_NON_DISPATCHABLE_HANDLE` used in `vulkan.h`
 #[repr(C)]
-#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone)]
-pub struct VkSurfaceKHR_T {
-    _unused: [u8; 0],
+pub struct VkSurfaceInner<Backend: hal::Backend> {
+    raw: Backend::Surface,
+    window: winit::Window,
+    events_loop: winit::EventsLoop,
 }
-pub type VkSurfaceKHR = *mut VkSurfaceKHR_T;
+pub type VkSurfaceKHR = Handle<VkSurfaceInner<B>>;
+
 pub const VkColorSpaceKHR_VK_COLOR_SPACE_BEGIN_RANGE_KHR: VkColorSpaceKHR =
     VkColorSpaceKHR::VK_COLOR_SPACE_SRGB_NONLINEAR_KHR;
 pub const VkColorSpaceKHR_VK_COLOR_SPACE_END_RANGE_KHR: VkColorSpaceKHR =
@@ -5314,10 +5321,16 @@ pub type PFN_vkGetPhysicalDeviceSurfacePresentModesKHR =
                                                pPresentModes:
                                                    *mut VkPresentModeKHR)
                               -> VkResult>;
-extern "C" {
-    pub fn vkDestroySurfaceKHR(instance: VkInstance, surface: VkSurfaceKHR,
-                               pAllocator: *const VkAllocationCallbacks);
+
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern fn vkDestroySurfaceKHR(
+    _instance: VkInstance,
+    surface: VkSurfaceKHR,
+    _: *const VkAllocationCallbacks,
+) {
+    let _ = surface.unwrap(); //TODO
 }
+
 extern "C" {
     pub fn vkGetPhysicalDeviceSurfaceSupportKHR(physicalDevice:
                                                     VkPhysicalDevice,
@@ -5353,6 +5366,22 @@ extern "C" {
                                                          *mut VkPresentModeKHR)
      -> VkResult;
 }
+
+/// This is an EXTRA function not in original vulkan.h
+#[no_mangle]
+pub extern fn vkCreateSurfaceGFX(instance: VkInstance) -> VkSurfaceKHR {
+    let events_loop = winit::EventsLoop::new();
+    let window = winit::Window::new(&events_loop).unwrap();
+
+    let inner = VkSurfaceInner {
+        raw: instance.create_surface(&window),
+        window: window,
+        events_loop: events_loop,
+    };
+
+    Handle::new(inner)
+}
+
 #[repr(C)]
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone)]
 pub struct VkSwapchainKHR_T {