One Night in Semarang

Semarang is a steamy port city on Java’s north coast of 1.3 million people, which most travelers don’t make it to, unless they’re on their way to or from Karimunjawa. This is a bit of a shame because its Old Quarter, or Kota Lama, currently being renovated, is dripping with Dutch colonial charm blended with a tapestry of alluring Javanese influence. Oh, the silver lining of colonialism (?). It has an air of Europe, but blended with Islamic hospitality and smiles, bike rickshaws, and a must try sweet treat called a “wingko.” 

The striking red bricked neoclassical Marba building is one of Semarang’s icons and its oldest cultural heritage site. The name Marba comes from Martak Bardjunet, who was a rich merchant from Yemen. 

Across the street, you will also notice the Blenduk Church which was a landmark Protestant Church founded in 1753, the oldest in Central Java. The dome is said to be inspired by St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. 

These distinctive fountains mixed with Moorish and emblazoned with embossed maps and lions are sprinkled throughout the Old Quarter and are part of the revitalization efforts.

The streets of the Old Quarter slip you into another time and place. For example, this quirky lumiere looks like he waltzed right out of Paris. 

This morning street scene was quite calm as we meandered along looking for  breakfast. There was a lot of eye candy, and newly refurbished Dutch delights.

However, even at 9 am, nothing much seemed to be open. We’re realizing this seems to be an annoying theme in Java. So clearly some Spaniard weaseled his way in with the Dutchies to create disorder. Anyhow, this is how we ended up eating an overpriced $2 quiche somewhere we really didn’t want to go. But, in true Seattle Spirit, we had no choice because  Starbucks was readily open for business…they are everywhere in Java.

In another effort to bring in local tourism, the Semarang tourism board seems to have plopped down London phone booths now serving as charging stations and photo props. They didn’t think to add USB plugs which could have got them extra credit. 

A historic bank building 

We read we “must try” a legendary wingko, originally from Wingko Babad. Truth be told, the retro store and its tiled floors may have won us over even more than the dessert itself.

We walked out with two treats, coconut and chocolate, for about $.40/each. Other flavors included jackfruit, durian and banana. Wingkos are “cakes” (the Asian, not Euro definition of a cake) made from sticky rice and young coconut. It’s a treat that has a squishily pleasing texture and is sweetly satisfying without being overly sugary. We enjoyed them. 

The Spiegal Building was once a warehouse and store for European goods. It’s now a popular cafe retaining much of its original charm and popular with Semarang’s youth. 

Who can spot the tourist with her elephant (for the record, they’re actually camel) pants and embarrassing Starbucks bag?! 

Semarang, which was previously known as the Oudstad, or Old Town in Dutch, was seriously a pleasant place to wander, and we wish we’d stayed another night or two.

But alas, we had a hot pink luxury shuttle van to catch for the next destination…so you know we couldn’t miss it….🤣

Getting to Semarang and Staying in a Box

To get back to Semarang from Karimunjawa we took the 11:00 two hour fast-ferry back to Jepara, which was another 510,000 Rupiahs, or about $31 for both of us. The ferry itself is definitely the expensive part of getting to the island. From the dock in Jepara, Kencana Luxury Travel, whom we’d booked with upon arrival to Jepara, met us at the ferry dock and took us to the waiting room for our 3:00 shuttle bus which would take another 3 hours. 

So, before leaving Jepara, we grabbed a quick lunch at Omah Sambal which was a couple doors down from the shuttle agency. Greg decided to buy a red shirt at Decathlon recently so now we look like Target employees, or perpetual patriots of Indonesia. 

See?! Red. It’s a thing here. The shuttles are quite posh rides for an affordable price tag of $5 each. They have foot rests, USB plugs and big huge arm rests so you don’t have to touch your neighbor (or your spouse.) 

And once we got to Semarang, we settled into a box, aka, a night clubby capsule which far exceeded our similar experiences in Tokyo and Taiwan. Checking into Bobobox Pods was a bit techie, and also annoying if you’re over the age of 40 and have been traveling seven hours. 

Rather than give us a nice key card and you know, a bottle of water, we were instructed to download the official “Bobobox” App, which of course led to 15 minutes of tech issues before virtually receiving our QR code room key.

Once we got past the not-too-friendly jammie-wearing teenager at the front desk, we held our phone up to the small window by the door of our designated pod. Kinda like a retina scan, but not quite….yet.

The rooms were much better than the ones in Taiwan or Tokyo, however because: A. They cost $12 instead of up to $50 and B. Because they were fully closed off from your neighbor. 

Plus, once you cracked the code and got in, you got to climb up the stairs to discover ample light selections which you could adjust for a strobing night club effect, or, if you’d rather, a tranquil love nest, complete with a sound and light panel with surround sound featuring bird song and flowing water. Be careful with that flowing water though because the toilets were down the hall at least 100 meters! 

The speakers were also used to tell everyone when quiet hours began at 9 am and ended at 8 am.  It was comfortable, clean and incredibly sound proof. Now this is hostel living! 

The bathrooms were squeaky clean and stocked with basic amenities as well.

Like in Japan and Taiwan, it’s also illegal to enter the pod area with your street shoes on, so they give you shoe lockers, and provide you with slippers, although these seemed to be used and not doused in plastic like the ones in Japan. You might notice their logo of a cutesy koala. We thought you this might be because the company is Australian or Japanese, but evidently this chain was begun by two you guys Indonesian entrepreneurs who studied in Melbourne. Smart guys. These are really going to take off soon. 

Like in Tokyo, they have the room numbers on the floor, although they definitely lack the spacey vibe. Unlike in Tokyo, they also have an addition of a prayer room, complete with a place for washing your feet. After all, this is Java.

Bobobox as seen from the street. What a fun overnight!