Demak Kota Sakti (Demak - Jawa Tengah, 29 Desember 2011)

Setelah berkendaraan selama satu jam dari Semarang, akhirnya kami tiba di pusat kota Demak, tepatnya di sekitar Masjid Agung.

Demak adalah sebuah kota kecil di Jawa Tengah. Saat memasuki kota ini kita akan merasakan suasana islami. Tentu, karena di Demak yang dulunya juga terdapat satu kerajaan islam, terdapat makam Sunan Kalijaga. Salah satu dari sembilan sunan atau Wali Songo.

Karena saat tiba di masjid masih jauh dari waktu sholat Juhur, saya dan anak-anak memutuskan untuk ziarah ke makan Sunan Kalijaga.

Mungkin teman-teman bingung ya, kok milih Demak? Well, yang ini memang sudah di rencanakan. Malah kita mau nya sampai ke Kudus dan Jepara. Akan sangat bagus buat anak-anak saya, agar mereka bisa langsung belajar mengenai sejarah penyebaran Islam di tanah Jawa dan melihat bukti fisik nya. Kalo sampai Jepara juga, siapa tahu bisa ketemu sisa-sisa peninggalan R.A. Kartini.

Nah, jadi deh saya dan anak-anak ke Demak. Sayangnya, rencana ke Kudus dan Jepara harus dibatalkan karena ada satu ruas jalan yang sedang mengalami kemacetan. Takutnya kalau dipaksakan nanti malah terlambat balik ke Semarang nya, bisa ketinggalan pesawat ... gawat kan!

Sampai mana tadi ya? Oh, kami memutuskan untuk pergi ziarah ke Makam Sunan Kalijaga.

Lokasi Makam terletak sekitar 10 menit dari Masjid Agung. Entah karena saat itu sedang musim liburan atau memang itu suasana umumnya, banyak bis wisata yang parkir di dekan kompleks pemakamanan. Di sekitar sana juga banyak warung-warung makan.

Sebelum mencapai makam, kami melewati selasar pajang yang sisi kiri kanan nya diisi oleh penjual suvenir dari peralatan sholat, surban hingga gendang.Setelah melepas sendal dan memberi donasi, melewati kompleks pemakanan keluarga Kerajaan Demak, kami tiba di area Makan Sunan Kalijaga. Banyak peziarah yang dengan rapi duduk dan berdoa.Makam Sunan sendiri tidak kelihatan, tapi berada di dalam bangunan berbentuk rumah yang tertutup. Mungkin bertujuan untuk menghindari perbuatan sirik ya? Di sekeliling bangunan tersebut, banyak juga makam-makam lain.Terus terang, saya tidak pernah membayangkan bisa bawa anak-anak saya untuk duduk diantara banyak makam. Memang, lantai nya sendiri sudah di tegel dan besih, sehingga tidak takut kena tanah. Anak-anak malah sempat merapikan beberapa kertas halaman Al-Qur’an yang berserakan di lantai.

Kami berdoa beberapa saat.Kemudian saya mengambil beberapa foto setelah mendapat izin dari penjaga makam.

Dari kompleks makam, kami makan siang di Rumah Makan Rahayu. Tempat nya kecil, namun penuh pengunjung. Apalagi saat itu waktu makan siang.’Pasti makananya enak’, gumam saya dalam hati. Ternyata saya benar. Makanan unggulan warung tersebut adalah Asem-asem Demak.Ukuran per porsi nya sedang dan rasanya gurih. Karena saya tidak makan daging merah, maka saya hanya menikmati nasi, kuah dan potongan cabai nya. Rasanya tetap enak! Sementara anak-anak memesan ayam goreng.

Kami tiba lagi di Masjid Agung sekitar waktu Juhur dan langsung melaksanakan sholat.Setelah sholat kami berjalan-jalan di halaman masjid. Banyak pengunjung dan banyak juga penjual asongan. Sambil berjalan, saya jelaskan ke Lulu pentingnya peran Masjid Agung dan para sunan dalam penyebaran Islam di Indonesia, terutama Pulau Jawa.Well, ini memang jalan-jalan yang ngak biasa ya. Kecuali libur lebaran, ngak kebayang kan ngajak anak-anak ke Mesjid atau ke makam? Tapi kapan lagi bisa liburan sambil belajar dan ibadah. Jadi kalo ada orang tua yang mau coba, silahkan deh.

Sebelum selesai membaca catatan perjalan ke Demak ini, pasti masih ada yang mengganjal ya? Kok judulnya ‘Demak Kota Sakti’ apa ngak harusnya ‘Demak Kota Wali’? Wah, saya lupa cerita nih.

Alasannya adalah karena saat memasuki kota Demak, kami semua sempat dibuat terkejut-kejut akibat tingkah pengenadara motor nya. Mereka tidak teratur dan kadang-kadang langsung nyelonong entah dari mana, ngak pakai acara liat kiri kanan. Karena itu saya berpikir, ’Ini kota orang nya sakti semua .....!”.

Semarang in a Day (Central Java, Indonesia – End of December 2011)

I have been to many parts of Java, however never to Semarang. Semarang is the capital of Central Java. Its existence has been shadowed by its famous neighbor Jogyakarta. So, at the end of 2011, I finally took the kids, Lulu and Lilo, to visit the city.

We arrived in the afternoon of 27 December 2011 by Garuda. Because there is no direct flight from Balikpapan to Semarang, we have to transit in Jakarta. Long journey eh ….

We booked rental car at the airport, the Golden Bird. The rate was reasonable and we could have the driver took us out of town as well. Great, because beside travel inside Semarang, we planed to go to nearby areas as well such as Gedong Songo, Ambarawa, Demak and Kudus.

We stayed at Novotel and it was a terrific choice as it was located in the opposite of a big mall and a becak away from Kota Lama (The Old City).*Becak is a Pedi Cab, commonly found in Java.

We spend the afternoon and night mostly resting, had dinner at the mall and had a taxi driving us around the city for sight seeing, including the Simpang Lima area where most of the malls located.

The real adventure started on the next day.

So, at 9 am on the following day, we drove up to Bandungan where Gedong Songo was located. It took about 90 minutes to get there.

Gedong Songo (The nine temples) is a complex of Ancient Hindus temples. Some said they were built in the 10th century. Even the name was nine temples, there were only five that remained to be found and they were scattered from the top of the hill to the bottom where we started our walk … whoops … no, our horse riding.

Yup, we got to every temple by horse riding. We could rent each horse for 50,000 Rupiah or around USD 5.5. The trip took about an hour and the sight …. Breath taking Actually, we could choose to walk if we wanted to. However, considering the distance, I thought horse riding was a better idea.

I had only one regret, the timing. It was school holiday so the area was crowded. I promised myself that I would come back sometimes when it was quiet. Must be great!

But not for Lilo, no matter how crowded it was, as long as there is cup noddle, there is no problemos!After Gedong Songo, we went to Ambarawa where the Train Museum was located. It took only around 30 minutes.

When I got to museum I understood why my friend recommended me to take the kids there. It may be called museum, however because the old locomotives were parked or should I said displayed outside, the kids can play and learn at the same time.Most of the engines parked there were over 100 years old. Some were the only one kind left in the world.
There was also some information and photos about the train history in Indonesia.One thing impressed me when I showed Lulu a picture showing some Indonesians working on the train track with three Dutch men supervising them.

‘Look Lulu, this was the colonial looked like. We worked so hard and some stranger from across the ocean took the benefit’ I said.

Lulu look at the picture and said, ’Yes Mom, but the quality of work was much better at that time compared to what we are having now’.

Wow, that hit me! My 13 years old daughter knew about how corrupt Indonesia is. Yes, because Indonesian now is in Top 10 as most corrupted country in Asia! Something we are not proud of.

After watching Lilo ‘making connections’ with some old locomotives, we headed back to Semarang.

Our next destination is Gedong Lawang Sewu. Gedong means building. Lawang means door, and Sewu means thousands. So, Gedong lawang Sewu means a building with thousands door.

Yes, there were a lot of doors!
Lawang Sewu used to be the head quarter of Java railway industry. It was built in the early 20th century by the Dutch. I like the building, it was beautiful.Beside for being old, Lawang Sewu was also known as a haunted building.... at least for some people. During Japanese occupation, the building basement was used to detain people who fought against them.

But, when we visited it, there were many tourist who lined up to get down the basement. Me? No ……. To scary for me.

It was two o’clock and we hadn’t had our lunch. But we weren’t so hungry yet, so we decided to visit the Kota lama (the Old City). Semarang is the only town in Indonesia that still maintained the existence of the town from the Dutch era.

Yes, it might not as beautiful when it was hundreds years ago. But I could see little resemblance of this little complex with Amsterdam.

There were bridges and cannals …Community buildings …Train station ......Church …..And there is good restaurant in the opposite of the beautiful church! Yes, it was an old Dutch house but it has been transformed into an Indonesian restaurant.Good for us, because we were starving.After the late lunch, we went back to the hotel for a rest before getting on a becak to the 80 years old Toko Oen for dinner.What a fine day in Semarang!