It's really nice to go back to a place you've liked. There are those nice familiar bits that make you feel you're putting on a comfy old pair of slippers you forgot you had. But there are also always new bits.

Thus it's been with Semarang, where we took a break in October 2013, and where we just stopped for a day and a bit en route to Malang.

We had to revisit Toko Oen, of course (where we sampled poffertjes for the first time).

And it was good to once again stroll the old streets nearby, particularly as afternoon turned into evening. This is such a wonderfully eclectic locality. You can wander the labyrinthine lanes, hearing mosques intoning the call to prayer, and then turn a corner to witness lions and a dragon performing at Tay Kak Sie temple...

New to us was Jalan Wotgandul, a whole street of Chinese temples and evening food-vendors. We stopped off for sate babi from one of the angkringan one evening (delicious pork, with peppy sambal, mild raw onion slices, and rice). And Waroeng Juice does really excellent drinks (the strawberry and orange blend is particularly good).



New to us also was the Museum Jawa Tengah Ranggawarsita Semarang. For me, the best bit was the fairly extensive collection of wayang (particularly some really lovely wayang golek in different styles). But the ceramics and wood-carving sections also contained many lovely pieces.

Outside the museum, the first thing we came upon was an es dawet vendor. Love that stuff... Ice, cincau, cendol, green pulut (the pieces extracted individually from natty little leaf packages), gula merah, and coconut milk... Yum.