Six Degrees South

These pictures tell the story. The first picture is at the campus opening (with students from both campuses together then) and the second is the current Naryn group now. Though only five years have passed, in many ways it is a lifetime ago. Just look at the faces, which back then, seemed a bit unsure, and still carried the remnants of childhood.  These remnants have completely disappeared and now we see men and women who are ready to go out into the world in full confidence, filled with knowledge, wisdom, and strength. I have never been more proud of a group of students than I am of the UCA Class of 2021.  They have had to endure more challenges than any students I have ever been associated with: the growing pains of a brand new university, community hostility directed against them, a hepatitis outbreak, personal tragedies, and now the effects of a terrible pandemic which so disrupted the final stage of their UCA lives (just to name a few). But they have done more than endure:  they ha

Last post about Semarang. Any time I take a trip for fun, my staff checks to see if there are any current students and alums in the area. Luckily there are four current students in Semarang who were able to join me for dinner at the Spiegel. We had a delicious dinner and a nice time together chatting about SU. The Spiegel, housed in a building constructed in 1895, is one of the highlights of the Kota Lama renovation efforts.

Most of you who follow me realize that when I travel, my photos are usually of three basic topics: buildings, nature, and food. Seldom do I take pictures of people. This is because I find that most of the people I encounter are engaged in seemingly mundane tasks, but mostly because I don't wish to intrude upon people's space and image. As you can see, I've made an exception here. Generally it is very poor policy for quinquagenarian men to take photos of young women, but there seems to be something happening in Semarang.  Or maybe this is a worldwide trend to which I have been utterly oblivious. Regardless, I have been astonished to witness almost every young woman in Semrang traveling in a group of two or three and they seem to spend all of their time taking each other's photos. Not regular old photos, but they are engaged in a range of dramatic and theatrical poses that seem rather unexpected to me. It's as though they are all vying to land on the cover of Elle. Or

 

If there's something the Dutch love more than tulips or windmills, it's their trains.  And it stands to reason that when the Dutch were colonizers of Indonesia, that one of their first impulses was to create an extensive train system to criss-cross Java. And from 1860 to 1940 the Dutch did precisely that, building over 6500 km of rail lines on Java during that time. Toured Lawang Sewu, the architectural monolith that housed the Dutch Railway headquarters after its completion in 1907. Semarang served as HQ due to its central location as the hub of the system. It is an imposing building, given its local nickname of Lawang Sewu, meaning "1000 Doors," by the city's inhabitants whose minds were boggled by this symbol of colonial power. After WWII and the Dutch departure the building fell into serious decay. But this art deco/colonial hybrid has been restored and now serves as the national railway museum. The massive stained glass windows in one of the towers are truly

My hotel's safe in the middle of a random hallway.  Being guarded by a giant deer.

It wasn't in my original agenda, but my driver, sensing a theme in my travels, suggested we take a detour into the hills above Semarang to visit the Vihara Buddhagaya Watugong temple complex. It's an unusual complex in that it is very new, built entirely in the second half of the 20th Century. It was constructed by an Indonesian Buddhist of Chinese ancestory who wanted to create a temple area to rival other great Indonesian temples. The complex was also created to serve as a center for Buddhist education and worship. The Pagoda Avalokitesvara is the tallest pagoda structure in Indonesia at a height of 45 meters.  It is reminiscent in design of the great pagodas of China and Japan. The Dhammasala Temple contains a noble 5 meter high bronze Buddha and has a prayer hall with an exquisite sky light and space for 1000 pilgrims to pray.  It is unusual in its architecture in that it intentionally avoids all references to Javan style.  Though this temple complex has little historical s

The captain of the local police precinct playing an impromptu game of soccer with the neighborhood youth in the precinct parking lot.

A reminder that safer alternatives are often only the domain of those with ample resources.

The Sam Poo Kong temple complex is the most important site related to the Chinese presence in Indonesia. It is where Chinese Muslim explorer Admiral Zhang He (Sanbao) established a temple upon landing at Semarang in the early 1400s. The original temple was destroyed in a landslide in 1704, with most of the current core buildings constructed in 1724, though the complex has fallen into disrepair several times since, requiring several renovations, the most recent one completed in 2005. Sam Poo Kong is special, in my view, not only because of its remarkable fusion of Chinese and Javanese architecture, but also because it is now a place shared by peoples of various ethnicities and by Buddhists and Muslims alike.

On Saturday, I visited Semarang's Kota Lama (old town). Today, I am exploring many of the crucial sites related to Semarang's Chinese heritage, which extends back to Circa 1400.  Semarang's Chinatown is graced by over 20 Taoist temples, the oldest, largest, and most important of which is Tay Kak Sie. This temple was established in 1746. Many Taoist deities are worshipped at Tay Kak Sie, with the goddess Kwan Im Pho Sat being central. This temple has a beautifully contemplative feeling as several worshipers were praying and soothing chants were being played during my visit.

 

The only creature almost as peaceful as the Buddha is the sleeping temple cat.  At the pagoda temple at Vihara Buddhagaya Watugong, Semarang, Indonesia.  

Ate on Saturday night at an oustanding Sundanese restaurant called IBC. The Sundanese are an ethnic group from the Western Javan highlands (and some Central areas) who utilize a very distictive cuisine. I chose Sayur Asem, a somewhat sour tamarind soup with veggies, raw peanuts, and various raw nuts and seeds. My favorite was the Karedok, which is a veggie salad with wickedly spicy, but utterly delicious, peanut sauce. The main course was Nila Pensol, pan fried whole Tilapia, then stewed with giant tomato slices in a spicy/sour/sweet yellow curry sauce. Not a big Tilapia fan, but cooked in this manner, it was out of this world.  Need to work on my fish deboning skills, though. As an added bonus, this restaurant, which has been in business for generations, is housed in a lovely 19th Century Dutch mansion, giving me the feeling I was dining in a decade that was long ago and far away.

Semarang is doing all it can to position itself as a creative center of the arts. Enjoyed roaming through Kota Lama (old city) visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art and other galleries and shops.  Cool place to spend a day.