After so many pictures in the last post, you would think we would have moved on to the next city already. We were, after all, on a road trip, no? But after spending oh so many hours the previous day just to reach Semarang..... we figured, why not just enjoy ourselves in the city before haring off again? So we booked another hotel in Cirebon (along the way to Jakarta), and took quite a big part of the day around Semarang, swimming at the hotel, visiting Lawang Sewu, followed with this one, the Sam Poo Kong temple.
Just like Lawang Sewu, actually Mama did not know anything about the temple, and since there was no guided tour or anything, even our visit did not do much in enlightening us. We did manage to overhear snatches of history from a tour guide who was bringing along a group of Russians to the site.
Still, we did try our best to 'educate' Kecil about how the temple is one of the places where people pray etc. Mama fondly remembers her childhood days when she used to tag along her grandparents to such temples.
We meandered around the complex for a while, peeking at the pyre, climbing staircases and generally poking around. You might see a few of the Russians I mentioned earlier also doing their part of 'poking around' the site.
For some inexplicable reason, Kecil was thoroughly enamoured by the yellow lion. Well, I guess they kind of look cute together. Hihi....
Anyway, after a while, we decided to follow something that caught our eyes earlier. Get dressed up!
On site, there was a vendor offering rental of 'period costumes'. The site was a Chinese temple, so obviously they only provided Chinese costumes, albeit from various eras. Kecil was pretty psyched about the whole thing.
Oh, but she wasn't the only one getting dressed up, though.
Mama and Daddy too! Well... since we've never done this kind of thing before, why not, right? Anyway, with Kecil along, it was more fun.
So, basically what the vendor offered was photography package. For about $8 per person, you get to 'borrow' the costume and they will take pictures of you, of which you can get a total of 3 printed out. For a small additional fee, you can also get the soft copies of ALL the pictures. Why, if you have your own camera, they can also take some pics using your camera. All in all, it was a good deal.
It was quite interesting to 'get dressed', as the clothes were all made in such a way that they will fit most people. We love the bellowing sleeves. I guess it helped that both Mama & Daddy used to watch all kinds of period gong-fu movies and series.
Kecil took to her role as a princess like a duck took to water. Seriously. I guess all the pink costume and accessories helped. She especially liked her poses near those flowers as they matched her dress, according to her.
Daddy, too, made a pretty convincing Chinese warrior/King/whatever. Unbelievable!
Mama, on the other hand.... good Lord. I guess Mama was neither fish nor fowl. Too friendly to look like a proper dragon lady, and yet, too stout to fit the image of a demure Chinese royal. They even tried to have Mama doing those hand postures like what Kecil did. Gah.... awkward did not start to describe the resulting pic. So... just this pic for Mama, OK?
Still, I think there were a few family pics that turned out all right.
Then we started goofing around.
Haha... this Mama can't help it. You simply can't put Mama into those billowing sleeves without her doing this.
Done with all the picture taking, we went off to get changed and collect our print out. Obviously, we also took the option of getting the soft copies as well.
As happy as Kecil was pretending to be a princess, I think she was even happier in her own skin (clothes) haha...
These are some detail shot of the temple.
We had lots of fun pretending to be Chinese aristocrat from the olden days, even if we did not learn a whole lot of things or anything.
Anyway, the temple was our last stop in Semarang. So, we continued our roadtrip by driving towards Cirebon straight from the temple. We still arrived at our hotel pretty late at night, but at least the drive was not as harrowing as our first day on the road.
Of course, that will be another story. So... until then.
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