Did you ever hear about House of Sampoerna? Maybe first thing came into your mind is one of cigarette brand in Indonesia. Yes! But House of Sampoerna, is a museum about Sampoerna company. This place is one of Surabaya tourist attractions and you must go to this place when you in Surabaya. This place is located in "old Surabaya", this building was built on 1862 with Dutch colonial architecture and it was purchased in 1932 by Liem Seen Tee, the founder of Sampoerna, with the intent of being used as Sampoerna's first major cigarette production facility.
This place have three main part, which is central auditorium (museum), west are and east area. First impression when I enter the building is strong tobacco smells (Haha! of course). Actually I don't like this smells, makes me sick, but i this is more than just a smells. In the main entrance you will see nice fountain in front of the door, and you meet a nice staff. They ask you for your ID card, they just check if you are adult since this is cigarette museum. On the right side you will see the Liem Seen Tee's family stuff, like his working desk, some pictures, a kebaya that his wife wore long time ago. And on the left side, you will see a bags full of tobacco, a small traditional "warung" and a bike that Liem Seen Tee use.
 |  |
 |  |
The next room, is more like the history of Sampoerna company, there are some pictures from they important persons, there is something like printing stuff for the cigarette packing. Ow, and the toilet is on the right side of this room. The toilet was impressive, because they use the cigarette packing as wallpaper. Moving to the next room, you will find more interesting stuff, like the Indonesia map, i guess this explain about the Sampoerna's expedition in Indonesia. On the right side of this room you will also find some stuff like a chemist bottles (I'm not sure) and an old motorcycle and a typical Indonesian street seller booth. And on the left side, there's Sampoerna's marching band stuff and the video history about it. Also you find a big old machine (I forgot what this machine use for).
On the second floor, there's a souvenirs shop and a place where you can see the worker make the cigarette, but it only on Saturday and several time, if i'm not mistaken.
The two other part of this museum, the east side, there's fancy cafe and art gallery. I don't have chance to go there. And the west side is for the family residence. On the outside you can see vintage car par on the west side.
One thing interesting about this museum, they have a program, which provide the tourist to see more about Surabaya. This called Surabaya Heritage Track (SHT). So, by join this trip, you can see some interesting places in Surabaya with unique bus. They have several different routes, depend on the theme. Usually each month they have different theme. This trip is available on Tuesday until Sunday, in three departure time. It's better do make reservation, because mostly the schedule is full, especially in holiday season. My route that day was Kampung Keraton - Cak Durasim - Kampung Arab, if i'm not mistaken. At Cak Durasim, you can see kids practice traditional dance and other stuff. Actually, I almost forgot what I saw on that day ;p so hope this pictures can explain some.
I went to House of Sampoerna two times during my on job training, it's around April - May 2014. My first visit was with my friend, and the second one to join that SHT tour. It was fun day. Hope I can go there again, maybe to have dinner at the fancy cafe with someone ;p.
Love, Ninu
House of Sampoerna
Free of charge
Address Taman Sampoerna 6, Surabaya 60163, Indonesia
Phone +62-31-353-9000
Fax +62-31-353-9009
Email hos.surabaya@sampoerna.com
Open from Monday to Sunday
Museum, Shop, & Art Gallery 9 am - 10 pm
Cafe 11 am - 10 pm
For more information, just click
here.
