Ujik's Lifeline: A Short Visit to Semarang

Meeting and Travelling

Well, from the tittle seems to be a very pleasing journey by mentioning the word travelling. In fact, it wasn't a travel actually. It was just a short visit. I visited Semarang on Sunday, 8 March 2015. I spent Rp 40k for the public transportation I used from Ampel-Semarang-Ampel. Here is the story.

First of all, the main reason for me to visit Semarang is just for attending a meeting with friends from KOPHI Jateng. We discussed about the recruitment process for new Punggawa (member of kophi Jateng). The meeting was attended by 18 punggawa including me. The meeting was held in the second floor of KFC Pandanaran. We spent about more than four hours to discuss about the announcement and interview process.

Finally, the final outcome from our meeting related Open Recruitment of New Punggawa are: 1. the announcement was informed by website admin and also via sms. 2. There are three main locations for the interview selection process. They are Semarang, Surakarata (UMS), and Purwokarata. 3. The interview will be held on Saturday-Sunday, 14-15 March 2015. 4. The announcement for the second selection is in 14 March 2015. 5. There will be held first gathering and also super camp for further follow up.

There were more agendas beside Open Recruitment. Those were KOPHI Pusat, Earth Hours Semarang, and KOPHI class. There was also kind of sharing some problems related to intern KOPHI Jateng. That was a nice meeting for me, they were so friendly and warm to everybody and it made me feel good joining this organization. Second of all, what I like during in Semarang is the city. I met many good people and also good environment for walkers like me. I like enjoying some bulidings along Pandanaran street and I took pictures there until I finally found KFC

USING BRT FOR THE FIRST TIME
My friend ever said that you haven’t visited Semarang before buying Lumpia, that’s true because Semarang is very famous with its production of Lumpia, but for me, experiencing city’s public transportation is my only goal.

After finishing my meeting (actually the meeting hadn’t finished yet when I left) at 3:00 pm, I decided to have a visit in Simpang Lima. Unfortunately, I had to go home early if I wanted to go to Solo at that day. Then, thanks to My friend, Nofal, who gave a ride and dropped me in Simpang lima. I started to walk around and then I found a bus stop. It is quite different with the bus stop in Solo. There are some people who sell the tickets behind the bus stop. So I didn’t need to pay the ticket on the bus. One more thing, there is a “transit system” here that leads people only pay once for changing the bus route. For the example, I took the bus (BRT) from simpang lima (near SMKN 7 Smg) and my destination was bus stop in Sukun. From simpang lima, I had to transit in Elizabeth then took another bus which go to Sukun.

The things that I like from the service are they were polite and friendly to people who don’t know about BRT (just like me, that was my first experience using BRT), it only cost 3.500 rupiahs, and also I don’t need to wait longer to get another bus. When I got a bus which go to Sukun, I couldn’t enter it because there were too many passengers. After waiting no more than 5 minutes, another bus which go to Sukun arrived. It means that there is no delay or late problem here. Meanwhile, sometimes when I use Batik Solo Trans, I still need to wait more than 10 minutes to get the bus who has the same route as the previous one.

One thing that I still remembered well during my journey using BRT is that It was hard for passengers who stand up and get comfort position because the geography in Semarang is not as flat as in Solo. You everyone should hold at the handle so tight.

Bapak-bapak yang ramah

Tbh, this was my first time going to the central city of Semarang by myself. Even though I’ve ever visited Tembalang alone.However, Tembalang and Simpang Lima is not a same place so I don’t know how to get there. I brace myself to ask bapak-bapak tukang parker yang langsung melemparkan senyum ketika saya sapa dengan kata “permisi pak, saya mau bertanya…..” Dengan direksi yang jelas, saya “dituntun” dari Java Mall menuju ke perempatan yang terdapat angkot C5 which goes to Pandanaran street. I like visiting Semarang, moreover by using public transportation and alone. It gives me different experience. However, the disadvantage of travelling alone is that no one can take a picture of me. I’m to shy to make a slfie using back camera, unless I have front camera. Lol

Hopefully I can enjoy more places in Semarang.

Some random pictures