Reviving Memories of a Semarang Trade Center

Rows of thick wood that have been repainted strongly support the second floor of the Tekodeko, which is also covered with wood. On the facade of the building, four white pillars rise six meters high.

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

The atmosphere in front of the Soesmans Kantoor Building, in the Old Town area, Semarang, Central Java, Saturday (18/9/2021).

Life in the Oudestad, or the Old Town of Semarang, Central Java, has returned. The restoration of ancient European-style buildings is like a passage through time for romance hunters. Let's mingle and dine in the colonial-era trading center.

Aryan Nur Sasongko, 28, and his two friends were about to leave Tekodeko Koffiehuis, a coffee shop in the Kota Lama, or Old Town, area of Semarang on Thursday afternoon (14/10/2021). Before opening the door to the terrace, they stepped on a row of ancient marble arranged in an engklek (hopscotch) pattern. It was the remaining marble from a former wooden frame factory that operated there in the 1930's.