Ciputra Hotel, Semarang

What is a journey without a destination?

We finally arrived at our destination, Semarang. We were really tired due to the long road trip and several sightseeing. We were welcomed with a heavy rain making our heart longing to arrive at our hotel and refresh ourselves. It took us quite a time to get to Simpang Lima, a roundabout where our hotel was located. You know, there would always be trafic congestion whenever rain down in any part of Java island. A fact that I just knew about.

Thankfully, our hotel, Ciputra Hotel was easy to find. Just right when we entered the roudabout we can already its distinct building figure in one of the corner of the Simpang Lima. It had exact figure with Ciputra Hotel Jakarta. I would not miss it in any way. And just like its branch in Jakarta, this hotel was also in the same lot with Ciputra Mall with direct passage from hotel to mall. We arrived and welcomed with a fresh tropical drink, tipical of any five star hotel in Indonesia. We were refreshed in an instant.

Umbul Sidomukti

I am not a mountain person I have to admit. But this holiday, being cheapskate to myself, I decided to travel with my friend for a city tour and mountain view.

After 2 days of city tour in Semarang, a city in Central Java, Indonesia, we decided to go to Umbul Sidomukti. It is a resort up in a mountain range of Semarang. It was raining and the road was slippery and steep. But the place was worth to visit.

These are the 10 rooms they have. Yup. This resort only has 10 rooms! We got Room A to later find that we were lucky to get that particular room. 🙂

We took a walk under the drizzle to ease our car sickness. It was almost 1.5 ride from Semarang to get to this resort. And the mountain breeze really invited us to go around.

 

It's not raining anymore. 🙂

My travel companion 🙂

Our room... We got the one that is furthest to the right end.

 

Spa on The Sky

Tranquility at its best.

 

Isaiah 26:3

”You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

It was not a perfect peace but it was nearly as close as peace. Sometimes, small things can give you a sense of peace that you have never expected. And the story goes like this…

Lawang Sewu

Doors or windows?

This place is actually the only place I know about Semarang. A lot of my friends visited and talked about this place. There’s also famous local reality show, Dunia Lain (The Other World) that set their show here. So, when we were planning to go to Semarang, this is the first on our itinerary list.

The name Lawang Sewu means Thousand Doors, but  among the local Javanese the name conotates an eerie haunted house with a tragic history.  This Dutch colonial building was built in 1863  by C. Citroen. It was the branch office for the Dutch Indonesian train company but when the Japanese invaded in 1942, they used it as a gruesome interrogation headquarter where they jailed and killed a lot of Indonesians.  Long standing reports of multiple ghost sightings in this building has turned it into a local destination for young  students & tourists who would make their  visit on weekend nights to experience this legendary haunted house.

Well, there were no thousands doors there. But, yes, this building was built with lots of high and wide windows that locals called as doors. We went there around 4PM. Lucky us! Because I am not sure we have enough courage to go there when it’s getting darker. We have to pay 10 000 IDR for the ticket and another 30 000 IDR for the guide. You better get a guide and leave your i-know-it-all attitude behind. You don’t want to get lost in one of those doors, I am telling you!

Semarang

It’s holiday season for everyone around the globe. And as an inhabitant of the globe, I am mostly joyful to welcome this season. As I have decided to try all new things, I arranged some travel appointments to new places, near and far. Semarang is the first destination to go.

What’s in Semarang?
Yeah… I asked myself the same question when a friend of mine offered a trip to this city. But when I googled it, there were actually some nice spots to see in Semarang. So we arranged a return train tickets from Gambir (Jakarta) to Semarangtawang (Semarang) and guessed what, we got 100k IDR for a return trip tickets! It’s promo time! Sweet 🙂

After a day break from school, Sunday, December 11, 2011 we took the 7.30 AM train from Gambir train station Jakarta and arrived at Semarangtawang Semarang at 14.30. Speaking of a trip, It’s 7h trip!! Thankfully, Semarangtawang is a nice and clean train station. A modest high-end Javanese style. And as we proceeded to the exit, we were accompanied by a Javanese musical group, Gamelan. Nice welcome! 🙂 We got a taxi and headed to our smart simple hotel, Amaris at Jalan Pemuda, Semarang.

These are our recaps of the whole trip. Details will follow on separate blogposts. Please spend some time to check them once published 😉

Lawang Sewu (Thousand Doors in Javanese)