After squeezing through the narrow lane of fish market, we went to the House of Sampoerna, which is a museum owned by the Liem Family, one of the richest Chinese families in Indonesia. There are live exhibits, art gallery, cafe and shops.
The museum is located in front of a cigarette production plant which is still in operation.
House of Sempoerna is a Dutch colonial-style building built in 1862, previously used as an orphanage managed by the Dutch. The founder, Mr Liem Seeng Tee bought over in 1932, using it as a cigarette production plant.
The compound consists of a large central auditorium, the east side has been transformed into an unique structure containing a cafe and an art gallery whilst the west side remains the official family residence. The large warehouse-like structure housed the cigarette production plant, from tobacco and clove processing , blending, hand-rolling and packaging to printing and finished goods processing.
Hmmm.... It shows 1893 here instead. Maybe this portico was built later than the main building.
The founder and his wife.
Still the founder's portrait. But notice his wife was wearing kebaya in this painting as compared to cheongsam in the earlier one.
These tinted glass door panels show high ambition of Mr Liem. The two Chinese characters on the entrance is ' Liem ' and ' king ' .
Tobacco leaves mixed with clove made this hand-rolled cigarette.
This is how they roll the cigarette. First you place a piece of paper on this machine. Then some tobacco on it and you pull the handle like pulling an one arm bandit. And it's done ! An experienced worker is able to roll at the speed of 325 sticks per hour!
This is the most prestigious brand, Dji Sam Soe, means " 234". We were told this is Mr Liem's lucky number. If you add up the three numbers, it equals to "9", Mr Liem's favourite number too.
Even the toilet is decorated with the cigarette's wrapper as wall paper. Walao, 还真顶他不顺！
When Mr Liem first came to Indonesia, he was selling groceries and sundries.
An old safe. Must have kept lots of money then.
From the story of the founding family, we have a good understanding of how Chinese came to this part of the world, how hard they had worked and finally found a base in this land. No hard work, no sweat and tears, there would be no gain. Same old story everywhere, right?
It's already dinner time when we came out of the museum, so we decided to pop into the cafe for a western meal.
Fish and chips. No big deal though.
I had salad for dinner. This is yummy.
She lost one of her tooth today. So the big smile is to commemorate this occasion.
If we have a heart like a child, we will also enjoy ourselves no matter where we are, what circumstances we are in. Smile, and the world smiles with you !
掉了一颗牙齿，也该如此开心！我们若能常保童真，以赤子之心看这世界，一切都会是如此美好。
Back to our hotel. Looking out of my room, I see this beautiful garden, quiet and peaceful. I am so blessed to be here, happy, healthy and enjoying every moment of my life.
What an enjoyable and eye-opening trip I had over the past 9 days. ( Including two days in Jarkata ) This trip has truly changed my perception of this country called Indonesia.
Thank you.
坐在房内望着这宁静的花园，回想九天来的点点滴滴，尽是甜蜜温馨。雨天晴天，天天是好天。爬山涉水，山灵水也秀。事事称心如意，样样心想事成。禁不住好想给老天一个大大的拥抱！
除了有超棒的旅伴外，我想，心境的转变，是促成这一段愉快旅程的重要因素，也是我这行最大的收获。
感恩！
