Surabaya, the city of heroes and the second largest city after Jakarta. Many interesting places that we can find in this city. One of them is House of Sampoerna the Cigarette Museum. The building itself is a wonderful 19th-century Dutch structure,
originally an orphanage but later converted into a theatre (indeed
Charlie Chaplin once dropped by). The former lobby is now the museum and
is something of a shrine to the Sampoerna empire. It has exhibits on
the use of cloves and the history of kretek in Indonesia,
alongside
uniforms and drums of the Sampoerna marching band and other quirky
company curios. There's also an incredible collection of cigarette
lighters, holders and cases, mainly from Europe.
Upstairs there’s a bird’s-eye perspective of the factory’s shop
floor, where hundreds of women hand roll, trim and pack the Dji Sam Soe
brand (banned from most countries as the tar content is so strong). The
fastest rollers here churn out 4000 cigarettes a day, their fingers a
blur of motion. Because air-conditioning can affect the tobacco (and
fans would blow it around) it's a steamy, humid workplace.
You’ll
be accompanied by a highly informative, English-speaking guide; the
complete tour lasts between 30 minutes and an hour depending on your
interest. Note that the museum is open late, but the factory section
closes around 3pm. Source
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