Semarang (1-30)

The bus to Semarang was a fancy one with spacious, comfortable seats. What a treat that was. In fact, it was so comfortable that I slept most of the way. When it arrived at the bus terminal, I was the only passenger of the original ten left on the bus. There was no visible transportation out of the terminal. A man took me to his friend who could drive me to the hotel for Rp 90, which I knew was too much. When I suggested Rp 50, he countered with Rp 70. Based on previous taxi rides for similar distances and times, I knew that was too much but had no choice, as there was no other way to leave. I guess I was lucky he agreed to reduce the price in the first place. When I saw the hotel, I wondered if the high price had to do with my hotel as well as the fact that I’m a “rich” foreigner who was stuck at the bus station.

After relaxing in my room, I headed to Lawang Sewu because it’s close to the hotel. It’s a beautiful, huge building that was originally a Dutch train company’s office. The first floor of the main building is dedicated to the history of trains in Indonesia. I walked through it quickly as there wasn’t much to see and the signs are only in Indonesian. Since the building is in the process of being renovated, the rest of it is empty; so there isn’t much to see. 

The main entrance is beautiful 

and has stained glass windows on the second floor. When the renovation is finished, it will be beautiful inside as well as outside.

As I finished touring the house, it started to rain. On the way back to the hotel it rained very heavily. Water along the curbs was over an inch deep; so my shoes were wet. It accumulated very quickly.

The hotel is the fanciest one I’ve stayed in this trip. The room isn’t special, but the hotel has a pool and fitness center as well as a restaurant. It even has a non-smoking floor, which is where my room was. It also has air conditioning, which I haven’t had often. The receptionist spoke excellent English and gave me a map of places to visit. It felt quite luxurious to be in such a place. I had dinner in the dining room, which is huge. I was asked if I wanted smoking or non-smoking. Since no one else was there, it didn’t matter, but I chose non-smoking. I selected lumpia, a local specialty I’d seen at a few street venders but didn’t know what it is. The menu explained that it is a spring roll filled with bamboo. I learned later that lumpia is a spring roll and can have a variety of fillings. Half way through my meal, the musicians arrived and started to sing English songs—amplified too loudly, of course. I wondered if they chose English songs because I was there. When I left, I saw that two other men were also in the room. The server asked if I liked the music. Not really, as I prefer quiet while eating, but I said I had noticed that they were singing in English. He smiled. I stopped to look at the pool and might have considered using it, but there were only men in it and it’s very small. That got me wondering if headscarf-wearing Muslim women swim in pools. I think probably not in public places. So I joined the men in the fitness center. The man next to me chatted a bit. Sometimes I feel self-conscious being the only women in these cultures where mostly men are out. Not uncomfortable or unsafe, just self-conscious.

Friday morning I headed to the other three main sights in Semarang—a church, a mosque, and a Chinese temple. Gereja Belenduk is an 18^th century Protestant church. The outside is very white, and the inside is rather simple in design. 

I was surprised to see that the sanctuary still has Christmas decorations.

Next I went to Masjid Agung Jateng. Completed in 2006, this is another very modern mosque. 

The towers leading to it look like rockets. Shoes must not be worn on the upper level going into the mosque. Since the temperature was about 80^o, the tiles were already quite hot, and walking the last hundred meters was challenging. Another woman was also walking in when I was there, and we walked fast or ran from the shade of one tower to the shade of another. Even so, my feet were burning.

The mosque is lovely. With marble tiles, it felt warmer than the iron one in Jakarta. A few people had already arrived for the Friday noon service. 

The women went to a separate, small room beside the main room where the men were. After a while, a woman started to go upstairs and motioned for me to follow. So I did. I stayed on the side while she and later several other women stood in the middle overlooking the main room. I was glad that women are able to enjoy the beautiful main room if they want to. The muezzin was playing. At about 11:40, the imam started chanting/praying. 

Men sitting along the edges used prayer rugs. Those in the middle didn’t. Most of the men wore traditional dress like sarongs but some wore jeans. Some wore caps, but some did not. Women wore long skirts and head scarves that went half way down their backs or lower.

After relaxing and enjoying the service for a while, I headed to the food court for lunch. I chose chicken noodles, which turned out to be chicken noodle soup.

When I left, there was no transportation; so I started walking to the main road to get a taxi. After several minutes, a shared taxi van stopped to pick me up. The passenger told me to go past the stop light. Then I showed the driver my map and destination and he took me to the end of his route, which was in a busier area where I was able to get a taxi.

The final destination of the day was Sam Poo Kong, a Chinese temple. Since I’ve seen a lot of Chinese temples, I thought about skipping this one, but I was curious about a Chinese temple in Indonesia. After seeing it, I was glad I’d gone, as it is different from any I’d seen before. The buildings are very bright red. 

Some have green features, and some have yellow. 

One of the buildings honors Zheng He, a famous Chinese mariner who some believe found what is now America in 1421. 

There is a stone mural depicting relationships between China and Indonesia and Malaysia.

After visiting the temple, I waited for a taxi. The first to come was one of the shared taxi vans. I showed the driver where I wanted to go, and, luckily, he was going there. So the trip back was easy and inexpensive. I got out at Lawang Sewu and walked along the street parallel to the hotel because I wanted to see if there was an ATM near Carrefour at which I could use my Chinese bank card. There wasn’t. Then I decided to walk up that street for a while. When I came to a street that looked like it should go to the one the hotel is on, I decided to take it. This street goes through a residential area. Since I enjoy walking through residential areas, this was good. However, after a while I wasn’t sure it was going where I wanted to go; so I asked some people sitting outside their house. The man was on his motorcycle and told me to get on and he would take me to the hotel. The street turned a few times; so I was glad to have the assistance getting out of the residential area.

Then it was time to eat again. The hotel receptionist had suggested I eat at the place on the map when I asked her what that place was. It’s one of the places featuring local fish. I had what turned out to be fish chunks in a soy-based sauce. It was quite good. To drink I had avocado juice with chocolate decorating the inside of the glass. I’d seen it earlier at a juice stand where the woman was making one while I was waiting for my watermelon juice. It was surprisingly delicious and became one of my favorite treats in Indonesia.

After returning to the hotel, I decided to go swimming even if I was self-conscious. I was surprised and pleased to see two women and a man in the pool. One woman and I chatted, and I learned that they all work and they use the pool and fitness center a few times a week.

I liked Semarang. It’s a new city that is clean and rather quiet. Many of the buildings have a European appearance from the Dutch influence. People there were friendly and helpful.