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!