Pekanbaru Kota Bertuah

Pekanbaru is the capital city of the Riau province of Sumatra. The economy was originally built on coffee and coal but now relies on oil. The Riau Province produces half of the crude oil for all of Indonesia, 650,000 barrels per year. Pekanbaru is a large, busy, modern city. The Siak river runs past Pekanbaru.
The Grand Mosque dates back to the 18th century holding the graves of the fourth and fifth Sultans of Siak. This is one of the finest mosques in all of Indonesia.

On the main road of Pekanbaru, Jl. Sudirman there is the Museum Negeri Riau with an interesting collection of cultural artifacts from the Riau province.

  Traffic on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Pekanbaru

Internet Access

There are many internet cafes charging 4000Rp per hour. If you have your own notebook computer they will allow you to plug this in to connect to their network and internet. There are regular power outages in Pekanbaru so make sure you save your work if you are typing a lengthy email.
There is free WiFi wireless Hotspot Internet access at Le Gossip Cafe on the ground floor of the Mal Pekanbaru shopping plaza and they serve Bintang and Heineken beer there as well.
Shopping
There are lots of large, modern shopping centres throughout Pekanbaru including Citra Plaza on Jl. Tambusai, Ciputra Mall on Jl. Riau, Pekanbaru Mall on Jl. Sudirman and SKA Mall on Jl. Soekarno Hatta 
Money changers
There are plenty of ATM machines to withdrawer money. Even though there seems to be a different bank every 20 meters down the main road of Pekanbaru none of them do foreign exchange. There is a small money changer a few doors down from Bank Mandiri on Jl. Sudriman close to the overhead walkway crossing the street.

The Siak River passing by Pekanbaru

There is some very interesting architecture throughout Pekabaru including some of the official government buildings.

Golf in Pekanbaru
There are several golf courses close to Pekanbaru:
Labersa Golf Course is not far from the centre of Pekanbaru. Day packages can be arranged at the Aryaduta Hotel from 1,034,000Rp per person. See link for hotel below.
Rumbai Golf Course Ph: (061) 519 769 located in Rumbai, a sub-province of Pekanbaru.
The Simpang Tiga Golf Course is about 70Km from the centre of Pekanbaru.
  Food in Pekanbaru
Check out Vanhollano Bakery on Jl. Sudirman 153. Start of with one of their small chicken or beef burgers for 9500Rp and finish off with one of their cakes, pastries or some ice-cream.