The Superb 24 Hours

This is a story about the 24-hour non-stop adventure of--well--my tripod, my friends Clara, Tiwi, Koplak, and I going to the city of Semarang. Some of these pictures may be disturbing (disturbing = salah fokus, norak, alay, heboh, whatever you name it), but believe me, it was real fun! :D

Bukit Cinta, Banyu Biru

The plan was to catch the legendary sunrise at Rawa Pening Lake. My photo guru Wana already taught how to make a desired photo like his and I was so excited. Clara, Tiwi, Koplak, and I left at 3 in the morning and Koplak drove fast like a racer. But we got lost and we were too late. We missed the beautiful sunrise :(

Maybe next time.

Even if we arrived on time, we didn't think we could have the desired photograph. One, the sky was quite cloudy yesterday, so we couldn't have a clear shot at the sunrise. Two, there was not any boatman around when we arrived. We didn't have the moment like one Wana had, so his tips were not practicable. These might sound like excuses, but actually I don't mean to be defensive. I'm just saying my guru was super lucky to be in the right place at the right time and catch the moment and have those photo! Envy -.-

The look of sorrow. It was sad missing the sunrise :(

Gloomy time only last couple minutes. We then set my tripod and warmed my camera up, and also ourselves. First, we take pictures with the lake on the background. Not feeling good about that, we moved to the park of pine trees and tested every possible poses. Since I was so small compared to Clara, Tiwi, and Koplak, we had some trouble with the composition =.= Finally, after dozens of attempts, we found the perfect photo formation. And that was when the imbecile began...

Until now, we haven't decided what a dragon head doing in a site called "Bukit Cinta".

Air Terjun Semirang

We did not plan to go to Air Terjun Semirang until we saw the road sign when Koplak was driving at 80km/h. We pulled over to discuss whether to visit the waterfall or not, considering we didn't bring any spare pants in case ones we wore got wet, et cetera et cetera. But, simply since none of us ever went there, we decided to go.

The fancy landmark was made by KKN-PPM UGM 2010 students.

The track to the waterfall was much more brutal than one to Kawah Domas, Gunung Tangkuban Perahu. Much steeper, slippier, and a bit dangerous. This is no place for our parents.

The brutal track

After a kilometer exhausting hike through muddy path in the forest, we finally arrived at the waterfall.

I told you some pictures may be disturbing, didn't I? :P

Klenteng Sam Poo Kong

My favorite picture :)

Since yesterday was the Lunar New Year's day, Sam Poo Kong was very very very crowded. Some people were doing their prayer, some more were watching the attraction on the stage and taking some pictures. We were lucky to have not-so-mobbed photograph. Clara wrote the stories about our visit to Sam Poo Kong. To see the Sam Poo Kong review, click here.

Gereja Blenduk

Gereja Blenduk

This Gereja Blenduk is a famous building in Semarang's old town. Like any other old town in any other city in Indonesia, the architecture of the buildings were (I think it was called) colonial. I like it a lot, I think it was classy and antique. And I wonder why architects in this millennium era had to design like--well, like buildings nowadays, while classic building was much more beautiful.

Lawang Sewu

I suppose we all already knew about Lawang Sewu. Well, Lawang Sewu is being renovated and going to be the office building of PT Kereta Api Indonesia again by the end of this February (if I'm not mistaken). Unlike the last time I visit Lawang Sewu in 2009, some parts of the building looked shinier and more beautiful because it was cleaned and repainted, like the corridor on the right photo below.

Left: A la boyband. Right: A la Y.
God bless whoever invented the tripod!

The Culinary

We did not eat any of traditional food of Semarang like Lunpia, Tahu Gimbal, Bandeng Presto, Wingko Babat, etc. But we did eat at the best of its kind in town, except for breakfast of course. (We kinda had breakfast at a food stall at the waterfall. It was a bowl of instant noodle with egg which was cooked in a way that you don't wanna know :s)

For lunch, we ate at Tiwi's boyfriend's restaurant, Ayam Bakar Artomoro. It was spicy, juicy, and delicious, and I really like the smell. A kinda taste that I want to re-experience. (No picture of the meal nor the place because we were too tired and hungry then.)

After visiting the Gereja Blenduk, we had ice cream for afternoon snack at Toko Oen. Toko Oen is a classic restaurant, well-known for its Tutti Frutti ice cream. Koplak and his father and I ordered the Tutti Frutti. Clara and Tiwi ordered a Poffertjes Ice Cream.

Toko Oen

Left: Tutti Frutti. Right: Poffertjes Ice Cream

Left to right: Koplak, Koplak's father, Clara, Tiwi. Me behind the camera :D

The dinner, well, it was a long story. We spent the whole magrib time discussing where to have dinner with Koplak's mother and father at Koplak's new house in Semarang. We agreed to have tengkleng for dinner, but the place turned out to be closed every Thursday. We then moved to a nasi goreng babat but it was closed too T.T We finally eat at Sate & Gule Kambing "29", right in front of the Gereja Blenduk.

Thanks to Koplak and his father and mother. We wouldn't even have the chance to experience the best restaurant in Semarang if it wasn't for them :)

Click here to see more photos :D