Girls' Day Out in Semarang, Indonesia

I was staying at Imam Bonjol Hostel in Semarang sometime last year. It was the start of my first solo trip around Jawa since my travel mate bailed out and flew home due to diarrhea. I wasn't going to chicken out just then and decided to proceed without him. =)

After he flew back to Malaysia, I teamed up with a couple of Indonesian girls who were staying at the same hostel. They were all from Palembang and just came back from KarimunJawa. Since I wasn't due to Jakarta until next morning, I decided to tag along with them.

Here were their rough itinerary for the day for Semarang City Tour.

• Sam Poo Kong temple with Rizma and her merry gang of Palembang doctors 
• Masjid Agung Jawa Tengah 
• Museum Ranggawarsita 
• MURI (Museum Rekor Indonesia) 
• Vihara Tanah Putih - Cityview above Semarang 
• Vihara Buddhagaya dan Pagoda Avalokitesvara
• Lawang Sewu (night time)

Unfortunately, all my pictures taken during these visits were corrupted and thus delayed this Semarang post. T__T

The ones I have left are the ones saved in my iPad. =)

First stop - Sam Poo Kong Temple

My Palembang travel companions for that day

Sam Poo Kong (三保洞), also known as Gedung Batu Temple, is the oldest Chinese temple in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. (wikipedia) Aside from being a place of worship, today Sam Poo Kong Shrine is also one of religious tourism destination that is favored in Semarang. The complex is divided into two parts, the main plaza and shrine buildings. This is what we found in the main plaza. (picture below).

Statue of Admiral Cheng Ho at 10.7m, the tallest in Southeast Asia

The place itself made us feel like we were in China. Behind the iron fence, there is a Shrine building which should only be entered by visitors who want to pray or to read their fortune, known as ciamsi. We only came to visit so were able to visit the main plaza only. Hehe.

Second stop - Masjid Agung Jawa Tengah

This makes my second visit here and the first for the Palembang girls. The difference?  The girls sure know how to take awesome pictures at the mosque. Hahaha! We pretty much made quite a scene near the entrance of the mosque by taking pictures like below. =P.

Picture taken via Rizma's iPhone. So dramatic! Haha!

Third stop - Museum Ranggawarsita and MURI (Museum Rekor Indonesia) 

I can't find any pictures for these two. I remembered that the museum houses the biggest stuffed elephant with very long tusks and MURI displays all the record breaking events or activities done by Indonesians. For example, the longest banner, the biggest cake, or something like that. It's a place that archives all the record breaking things with pictures and trophies. =)

Fourth Stop - Vihara Tanah Putih - Cityview above Semarang 

The driver of our rented car had difficulty in finding this place but once he did, the view was breathtakingly beautiful! We had to climb some stairs to reach a wide stoned area and from above we could see the whole town of Semarang!

I didn't realize that many of the houses of Semarang were built on the sides of hills, making it a very picturesque housing area on hills! Too bad my pictures were ruined and I can't show them to you. :(

This photo was taken from Rizma's facebook account since I didn't have any pictures to show. Ampun ya Riz! 

Last Stop - Vihara Buddhagaya dan Pagoda Avalokitesvara

Pagoda Ayalokitesvara is noted to be the TALLEST pagoda in Indonesia. I guess Semarang is really a center for spiritual places in Indonesia. You got Masjid Menara Kudus in the East. the famous Mekah look-alaike mosque of Masjid Agung, Sam Poo Kong Chinese temple in Semarang and now this tallest pagoda, located south of Semarang

Pictured on the upper right is the Goddess Kwam Im Statue. The tallest pagoda is depicted on the bottom right . And this is also pictures taken by Rizma.

We ended our Semarang city tour with Lawang Sewu before we went back to our hostel rooms. =)

Finally, a picture of mine.

My last time with some of these girls before they fly back to Palembang the next day. T__T

I left out some details of some of these places as I might want to blog about them in an individual post. Well, that's a "maybe" and I don't know when. Haha.

Till then, happy traveling guys!

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