#alivegurlmudik: Willem III Lighthouse

When I found out that I was going to Semarang to attend a cousin's wedding—this was actually months before our last meeting—I quickly thought I should spare some time to hang out with Amel of The Charming Berryz. This was way way before I knew she was coming to Jakarta that same month—meeting twice in less than two weeks? What a miracle! I thought it would be cool to go somewhere in town I've never been to before, but also quite historic and photogenic. That's how we ended up going to the Willem III Lighthouse at the Tanjung Emas Port. Amel (and apparently most Semarang natives) have never been here before, so it's both our first times. This time, though, Amel and I weren't alone. My brother, who just arrived in town a few hours prior, decided to come with us last minute, because a.) he had nothing to do until our next event later that night, and b.) he's never seen a lighthouse before and got curious. It worked out well for me, since my brother is a tremendously dedicated photographer—as you may recall—and Amel was super awed by how determined we both were to capture the best shots. Amel was kind of suffering, though (I'm so sorry, Amel!), because her skin is quite sensitive to heat. I hope she had a great time anyway, because I had a lovely time hanging out with her again!

I swear I wasn't pissed, I was just seriously blinded by the sun

Cool hairstyle courtesy of my Stepmom

Old top + hat // thrifted jacket + loafers // Book of Deer skirt // Sis's purse // photos by Cafa

I'd like to talk a little bit more about the lighthouse itself. Built in 1884 by the Dutch government, this lighthouse used to function as a guide for VOC ships who wanted to dock at the port—as Semarang used to be the crop export infrastructure, especially sugar. It is about 32m in height with 12 sides of iron prints and when the lamp is on, its light could reach up to 20 miles radius—it is said that one can even see it from the top of Mount Merbabu. In around the last ten years or so, though, it has been sinking into the ground more and more—now the front door is quite a bit buried—and when the sea water is high, which lightly floods the port itself, the ground floor of the lighthouse is properly underwater. It's very unfortunate, really, because we would have liked to climb the interior of the structure. According to the guards, though, it is still in use even now—although one always risks electrocution climbing inside the building. One of my reasons of wanting to visit this lighthouse is being heavily influenced by Tieka for years. In fact, upon taking these photos, we all looked through her blog photos first and tried to somehow recreate them—but failed miserably.

P.S: How does one wear this hat properly again?

Semarang Day 4: Stasiun Tawang

Last outfit post from our trip to Semarang from last month. Yep, it took almost a whole month to talk about this short trip. Strange how that works out, huh? On the last day, we really didn't do anything but start packing for our train trip home. It has been years since the last time we all as a family rode on a train together. Obviously, with every other trips out of town, we had to bring as much traditional and regional food as possible - both for ourselves and for our friends and colleagues. We spent the last few hours before we had to go to the train station scouring food we would want to bring back home. We arrived at the station around half an hour early. The train hadn't even arrived yet. My sister and I took this opportunity to snap some shots of my outfit inside the station. Stasiun Tawang is the biggest and second-oldest station in Semarang. It was open for public in 1868. The station has a unique way of welcoming each train that arrives there by playing our traditional music of Gambang Semarang by piano, which sounds absolutely cheery and joyful. I love the copper abundance in the structure. Old train stations, am I right?

Taman Safari tee // thrifted denim jacket // hand-me-down pants // vintage hat // Exsport slingback // DF Fashion shoes // photos by Akita & Dad

These days going out of town makes me quite reluctant to go back home; go back to Jakarta. My wanderlust is always roaring to be free. I'd really love to go to a different town sometimes soon, somewhere I haven't been before, somewhere I can discover new things. But sometimes it's important to go back to familiar places and reveal new things, explore new grounds and try new activities. I've been going out to Semarang my whole life and I never knew the places I saw on this trip. I never bothered to find out. Sometimes even Jakarta is a strange place for me. Funny, how I could honestly say I know Kassel and Karlsruhe like the back of my hand though I've lived there for a year, at most, but I can't say I know Jakarta the same way - granted, Jakarta is a huge city - even though I've been living there for practically my whole life. But I really would like to explore more and find out more about my hometown. Well, anyway, at least for now, I'm homebound.

Semarang Day 3 pt. II: After Hours

The adventure continues! After the reception, my sister, brother, stepbrother, cousins and I went off on our own. Remember the bus we missed the other day? Well, today was going to be the day we would finally get on it. Yaay! However, before we did, we decided to go to the antique flea market from the other day to haggle the price of this hat I had been eyeing. My cousin helped me haggle a bit and I tried to seem like I wasn't the one who was interested. My stepmom had this idea that the vendor might have given me such a high price because he knew I came from Jakarta. In the end, I stepped in too - plus the vendor knew I was the one who wanted to hat anyway - and we settled for a reasonable price. It wasn't too cheap but it wasn't too expensive. And I was super happy! We quickly hopped on the bus to take some pictures before it departed. The bus explored Kota Lama, showing us various old buildings and giving us the history. My absolute favourite is this building with giant fire ants on it, Gedung Marabunta. It used to be a theatre of some sort; the glass ornament on the doors and windows have Snow White mosaics. For a second there, it felt almost as if we just stepped out of this country.

Hand-me-down shirt // Esprit skirt (old) // Cotton On purse (Sis's) // ModCloth shoes (giveaway!) // vintage hat // photos of me by Milzam

After the bus finished its tour, we got off and decided to go to a small antique café on Jalan Noeri. It was so secluded, almost scary in the dark. But the inside was really, really old. It's as if the café came with a sepia filter. The menus were printed using old Indonesian lettering and the taste of the food and drinks were rather nice. I especially loved the mural of a grand cathedral in front of the door! There were actually more than one antique cafés around this part of town, though, so you could take your pick. The next stop was Semarang Contemporary Art Gallery, which is located quite secluded as well. Thankfully, my cousins and stepbrother knew this area well. The gallery was filled with photographs by Indonesian journalists at the moment. And the exhibition changes from time to time. The photos were marvellous and I was in so much awe. It was an afternoon well-spent, hanging out with the cousins and enjoying a different lifestyle from usual. Who says you can't do any of these things in Indonesia? You can, you just have to know where to look. Well, that's it from my Semarang trip. I actually have one more set of photos but I don't know if I'm going to post them. Well, I guess we'll see.

Semarang Day 3 pt. I: The Reception

This post was continued from the previous one. We started bright and early today because as bridesmaids (well, not really, since Islamic weddings don't need bridesmaids), we had to get made up and have our hair styled like two hours before the procession - and there was a long line of relatives. Yup, it was 6AM when we departed to meet up at the hotel where the reception would be held. You better believe I was still sleepy. If there was an empty spot, either at the hairstyling or the make up station, someone better filled it so as not to take too long. If someone was done with hair and makeup, they should go to the bathroom to change into their respective uniforms. Mine was too small on me - even after it was taken out! - that the buttons keep popping open whenever I move. Real sexy, I know. The skirt is a bit of a wrap, which was just tricky to put on. After we were done, we were asked to leave the hotel room because it was way too crowded. So we went downstairs and took some photos while we waited for the others - which felt like ages.

The whole outfit is courtesy of my cousin bride (except the earrings which are from Julikäfer)

When everyone was finally done and the men arrived - which was later since they didn't need make up and hair, lucky bastards! -, we all got ushered to the ballroom hall, where the decorations are already up and the food adorned the room. The men had a harder time in walking that I did. Ha! That's for not having to get ready at six! The first hour was spent by all the small families to take photos together. There was a photo booth and, boy, was it popular. Afterwards, it's the usual: the bride and groom came in, the line for the handshaking started forming and the time to eat began. We all spread out to see all the food and grabbing what we liked and only realised an hour later that we could've eaten like civilised people in the VIP room. Damn! To be honest, the reception was kind of boring, I just thought of sleeping the whole event. But let's talk about the make up and hair for a second, shall we? While the make up looks good on me, the make up artist obviously didn't participate different skin colour because it looked horrid on my sister. I love that the hairstylist went with a french twist because I didn't specify, I just wanted to wear the ornament. And there's that. Next post will be about the after hour.

Semarang Day 2: Freetime Friday

Photos are taken using Canon EOS 600D with EF 18-135 mm and EF 18-55 mm lenses (2 cameras)

As I mentioned in the last post, my family went out to Semarang last weekend for a cousin's wedding. The ceremony was on Thursday and the reception was on Saturday, which means that Friday was a full day off! Woohoo! It was also the day my sister and brother came to town. So the other cousins and I brewed up a plan to roam the town like a bit of a tourist by riding on a tour bus. But first - since they had to work - my parents, Stepbro and myself went out to lunch at Taman Erlangga, where it is famous for its traditional food court layout, the lush trees as canopy and the breezy atmosphere. There were some musicians there to serenade our meal too. The best eating experience, I'd say. Afterwards, my parents went home while Milzam and I went out to Lawang Sewu. If you're not Indonesian, you may not know that this place is quite famous for its "paranormal activity," shall we say? It even has its own horror movie. Back in the days, this colonial building was used by the Japanese to torture the locals or imprison them. There are various tunnels under the building, connected to nearby hospitals and were used by the Dutch to invade the city. Needless to say, neither I nor Milzam had the guts to go down there, even in broad daylight. The only thing I regretted was the restricted access to the upper level.

Hand-me-down batik top + pants // DF Fashion shoes // vintage hat // Cotton On purse (Sis's) // photos of me by Milzam

After a disappointing tour around the torture chambers, we went to the train station to pick up my brother and sister and went to the meet-up spot my cousins and I agreed on. We waited quite long but she came late and the bus already left. We decided to just walk around to where the tickets were sold and stumbled upon an antique flea market in this tiny alleyway. There were tons of beautiful, lovely items for sold there, including a hat I've been eyeing for the past couple years. But more on that on my next post. We decided to buy the bus tickets for Saturday, after the reception, instead. Then we reunited with another cousin and - after praying - we went out to Pecinan (Chinatown) for dinner. There were tons of food stalls there and we were drooling as we checked them out and looked for a good place to sit. You have to be careful, though, because you don't know where the porks lay - unless you're allowed to eat that, then you're fine. We wrapped the night quite exhausted with a lot of inside jokes to add to the list and hit the sack for an early start in the morning.