Welcome to my Hometown! - Semarang, Indonesia - by Audrey Lukito

Sziastok, 😊. I am Audrey Meivina Lukito, and you can call me Audrey. I am from a small city in Indonesia called Semarang. Although it is small, it is the fifth biggest city in Indonesia. Semarang is located on Java Island, Central Java, to be precise, and it is the capital city of Central Java. The population is around 1,6 million people and approximately 558 km from Jakarta, which means it takes around one hour by plane to go to Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.

Semarang is from two words: ‘sem,’ which means pohon asam or tamarind tree in English, and ‘arang,’ which implies jarang or distance in English. So, Semarang means the tamarind tree grows with a space. There are several things that I find it unique in Semarang. First, Semarang has both the beach and hills; hence, we separate the areas with Semarang downtown, where the location is close to the beach, and Semarang uptown, where the site is close to the hills, and I live in the uptown area, that is why my neighborhood is a little bit cooler than the downtown area. Moreover, you can find some European buildings here since European people used to live in this area and built a villa. 

Second, Semarang is a port city, and it was a vital area during its historical site as a trading city. Therefore, Semarang is an assimilation of different cultures: Europe, Arab, China, and Java. Near the port, you can find three various sites with this culture; we have Kotalama Semarang or Semarang Old Town, where you can discover the old European buildings. I used to work here and felt I was in Europe when I walked around this area. Semarang Old Town used to be an abandoned district, but in 2014, the government tried to revitalize this area, and now, this place is trendy among tourists. This area is also listed on the World Heritage List since 2015.

Not far from that, you can also find the Pekojan village, where you can find Arabs cultures, including the old mosque built more than 100 years ago. Also, Pecinan Semarang, or Semarang Chinatown, is where you can discover Chinese pagodas, and it has food stalls in the primary traditional market from Friday to Sunday night.

This is why Semarang traditional food is a mixture of the four cultures that differ from other cities in Indonesia; my favorite food is lontong cap go meh, which I usually eat by the end of the Chinese New Year. Unlike other cities, we have more than ten toppings, and this food is a mixture of Chinese and Muslim Javanese culture. Also, as we are used to living in harmony with different cultures, we rarely have a dispute with each other compared to other big cities in Indonesia.

Third, Semarang also has a language different from Bahasa Indonesia, named Javanese. Although in Jogjakarta and East Java, people also speak Javanese, the dialect is different. That is why, when I was born, I was already bilingual. Usually, people from other cities who do not speak Javanese will not understand when we talk.

So, you should visit my hometown because you can find interesting things here; besides Semarang Old Town, Chinatown, and Pekojan, we also have a top-rated tourist site called Lawang Sewu in Javanese, which means one thousand doors building that was built for the private train company by the Dutch. 

In other regions, Semarang also offers beautiful nature and mountainous areas.