"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report # 56 Semarang, Java, Indonesia February 25, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 90 degrees 61 Pictures Part #1 of 3

Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 2:26:02 PM
Subject: Report # 56 Semarang, Java, Indonesia February 25, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 90 degrees 61 Pictures Part #1 of 3

Report # 56 Semarang, Java, Indonesia February 25, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 90 degrees 61 Pictures Part # 1 of 3

The Amsterdam arrived quite early to the port of Semarang, Java. Sometime around 6am, we understand. Unknown to anyone, a huge marching band was present with officials to present the Captain and Henk, the Hotel Director, special commemorative gifts at a formal ceremony on the pier. It is not the first time we have been here, but the locals seemed happy to have us. Thus, a parade.

The passengers that were located on the starboard side of the ship heard and saw this activity, while it remained totally quiet on the port side, where our room is. Doubt we would have jumped out of bed anyway, but we could have watched it from our window. Since the tours to Borobudur were leaving as early as 6:30am, many more folks were up and ready to go. Otherwise, the parade and pier show would have been missed.

We had excellent service for breakfast in the dining room, since not too many of us were in there. It was apparent that it was going to be a dreary, hot day, with all of the overcast. At least, it wasn't raining. With a city of this magnitude, some of that overcast was probably smog pollution. It's unavoidable in this part of the world with such a dense population. No matter what kind of winds that arise, it never blows it away.

Many families were coming onboard today. We watched from the lower promenade deck as the wives and kids trailed behind their dads or moms, following them to the gangway. There was a huge tent where the visitors could relax while being processed to come on the ship. You cannot simply walk onboard unless you have ID and/or passports that have been previously approved. Any and all boxes or suitcases that were going on or off of the ship had to be searched by the local authorities.

Most of the organized tours had gone by 9am, and since the complimentary shuttle began at 8:30am, we decided to leave the ship around 9:15am. Expecting there to be a short line, we found about 50 people waiting for the next bus to arrive. We were told that HAL had arranged for four buses to take the folks back and forth to the center of town at Simpang Lima Mall. The ride one way was advertised as taking up to 45 minutes.

So we loaded up on the bus, and got the last two seats at the back of the coach. People kept getting on and filled up the aisles, or squeezing three across the seats. One lady tried to sit at the back, making it six instead of five. That did not work well. Anyway, a local got on the bus and announced that the police would pull us over if anyone was standing. So with that said, all of the late-comers got off, and went right to the next bus that just pulled into the parking lot.

The ride was interesting, and we realized that we could not have walked out of the port very easily. It was not the best part of the city, mostly industrial with shanties along the shoreline. The actual drive time was about 25 minutes, not so bad, considering the amount of slow-moving traffic. The intended mall was only about 5 or 6 miles from the pier, as the "crow flies". We did pass a few of the sites that we toured while here last year.

At the mall, we found a three to four story complex full of stores, restaurants, groceries, and pharmacies connected to the 5 star Ciputra Hotel. We watched a girl at a crepe stand make a large crepe in a special round pan, as her customer waited for his breakfast. While the thin pancake-like batter was cooking, she added what appeared to be sambal, a hot and spicy condiment, then something with chicken, and finally shredded lettuce. When the batter was set, she rolled it like an ice cream cone, and wrapped it in paper. The customer was a happy camper.

Continuing deeper into the lower level of the mall, we noticed that the center aisle was filled with small cars for sale. Very unusual, but a good way for folks to check out the new vehicles. The most interesting store was a grocery store, where we checked out the prices of recognizable food items. The exchange rate is 13,000 rupiahs to $1.00 US dollar. So when we saw items for 39,000 rupiahs, it seemed expensive, but in reality, it was only $3.00.

Most of the stores were clothing or shoe shops, but there were many cafes and restaurants as well. The big ones were KFC, Pizza Hut, and even McDonalds. Most of the other eateries served Indonesian food, of course. The mall was not busy yet, but we are sure when school gets out, it fills up. There were many things here for the young kids. We went up a series of escalators, then proceeded to get lost. It seems that the modern mall was connected to an older one, and it just kept going.

We had not gotten any rupiah, so there was nothing we could or needed to buy. We usually only buy souvenir-type keepsakes, and there was plenty of that at the pier. There we knew they would take US dollars.

After an hour of walking in the mall, we decided to go back to the ship. With the ride both ways, it wasn't hard to get some good pictures along the way. In fact, some folks simply took the ride, and never got off of the bus. Actually, you could have taken the shuttle just to get to the city center, then negotiate a taxi ride to see the city sights. According to the maps we got at the terminal, there were a few sites that could be reached by walking. You could even hire a tricycle driver to pedal you around the city. The speed limit is slow enough here for even a slow bike ride.

We got back to the pier, worked on photos, and went to lunch around 2:20pm. The dining room had been closed, so there were plenty of customers eating in the Lido, which stayed open for full counter service until 3pm today. Our regular sandwich maker was there, and he made perfect sandwiches for us, as always.

All aboard was at 3:30pm, which is really early for those passengers that went to the famous temple today. Konnie happened to be among the group. Gosh, we hope we mentioned to her NOT to sit in the front seats of the bus. We remember that ride very well, as the driver sped all the way up the middle of the road with police escorts leading the way, sirens blaring. The drive back was worse, since we were always in a rush to get back on time.

The sail away was held on the aft deck from 3:30 to 4:30pm, but there were not a whole lot of people attending. We are certain that too many people were tired from the early start of the 9 hour day. We darn near blew off of the aft deck watching the Amsterdam maneuver out of the harbor in the strong winds. It was so bad, that once we cleared the pier, a tent almost blew away. We remember a few years ago that this pier was under water from a two week long monsoon rain, high tides, and much flooding. Wooden planks had to be added to the pier for us to access the gangway. That problem has been resolved with the addition of a concrete wall, blocking the waves that overflowed the pier.

We had hoped to see another fabulous sunset, but it was not to be. Too many rain clouds blocked whatever sun there was. Dinnertime came soon, as we all shared stories of the day. Tonight was Bob's last evening on the ship, as he heads home from Jakarta tomorrow. He will be missed.

The show tonight was a night at the opera with Opera Interludes. Wonder how crowded that will be? We went to the ship's store to check out the new world cruise t-shirts that recently came in. We were really disappointed, because the t-shirts were under-sized, as well as too short. All of the larger shirts were gone already. The salesgirl said to buy one anyway, but what's the point? Maybe they will get more in, because very few folks are "small" on this trip.

Tomorrow we will be in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia….a huge city for sure.

Bill & Mary Ann

Entering the harbor of Semarang