Hello!
Finally got all the pictures in my laptop so now, a proper post.
I'll pretty much do it chronologically.
I hope that when I read this post 20 years down the road, i'll still feel the excitement i feel when I was there.
So, enjoy!
Day 1: 24th August 2013
So, the night before the trip, I went for Hari raya house visiting with my friends, and reached home about 12am.
We were supposed to be at the airport at 5am, so I set my alarm at 2.30am.
Ended up waking at 3am.......... :')
This time, my dad sent me to the airport so we reached pretty fast (though I could barely open my eyes the whole journey there)
But once we reached the airport, all my tiredness were gone.
Excitement filled my whole soul!
Got some coffee and settled down with my parents while waiting for the rest.
We checked in, and sat at coffee bean for a tad.
TERMINAL 3 IS GIGANTIC.
We had to take the skytrain to go to our gate.
So came our flight time!
(I really love the aeroplane why is it so amazing)
I got the window seat
//screams//
Got to sit beside nur farah liyana!
So let me tell you, on this trip I knew noone except syuhada and amirul.
(compared to the brunei trip where i knew half of the people)
So this was a great, great way to make new friends.
I really love this bunch of people!
This flight was AMAZING because why?!
Are you REALLY asking me why!?
CAUSE TWO DEMI ALBUMS WERE IN THEIR MUSIC PLAYLIST
//SCREAMS//
I was literally among the clouds
(omg i've always wanted to say that)
(dream come true)
FYI i didn't bring my phone for the trip :(
The battery was problematic and I didn't have time to buy.
Brought an iPad along instead!
Okay so we reached, the airport reminded me of Brunei's!
The weather was alike Singapore's, so we were fine.
We then met the really bubbly, well read, knowledgeable and humble tour guide!
Pak Hilman is his name, and he was really engaging and entertaining.
We were greeted with traditional cakes, kuih lapis and (one more i forgot the name).
Our first stop: Sunda kelapa harbour
A beautiful marina.
He told us the rich history of the place, from the history of the dutch right up to the present.
The weather was hot, but I didn't care because the sky was a beautiful shade of blue.
Captured a few photos and we're back on the bus.
On the bus, our two accompanying teachers were lecturing and demanding us for answers when they asked us questions about every place we visited.
Their strictness lasted a few minutes before their fun side came out, and they fitted in with us as students.
Miss Choo and Miss Adilah, you guys are the best!
We then drove to fatahillah square, a place where the Dutch colonial rules' were kept sake.
Got a few photos and saw some amazing street buskers.
These babies are for rent, and they come with cute matching straw hats! xD
This is the water jail, where prisoners are kept in a cell filled with water up to their necks as a form of punishment during the colonial rules. (i think)
We then walked to the Kota intan bridge, which holds a deep meaning in the Indonesian history.
After that, we visited the national museum.
Here, my interest peaked because we get to see how rich Indonesia is culture-wise.
There were models of different kinds of houses, which were super dope
(and we got to see them in real life on the second day!)
We then took a (what felt like half an hour) drive to restoran raja kuring.
Everyone was sleeping on this journey!
(duh, waking up at 3am!)
On the way there we drove on a puddle of water, because apparently the drain near the road was overflowed
(we could see how high the tide was!)
Then, we reached the empty restaurant.
It looked very 'atas', and the food was nice!
My tablemates were forced by the dictator (ms choo) to finish all the food and yo we did it!
When I went to the toilet, this tai-tai looking old lady spoke to me in bahasa,
Thanks to Indonesian sinetrons, I could communicate effectively.
(effectively being me pretending to be a part of them)
After that, we visited the Monas; Indonesia's national monument.
From left to right, Demi lovato (HAHA), syuh, poh ee, farah nur liyana, diana, farah dina and nur farah liyana
(scrabble much)
(inside joke)
We then visited Istiqlal mosque, and then we were off to dinner!
We went to a restaurant called Ikan bakar cianjur (IBC) and ate like 2 kinds of fishes and other dishes.
We then went to a convenient store AND I BOUGHT MY BENG BENG!
//SCREAMS//
but technically farah dina paid for it so.... heheh she bought my beng beng.
After the sumptuous meal, we were given an hour and a half to shop at (omg let me go and find out the name and i'll edit this)
So in the bus on the way to the hotel, we were given a namelist to order some traditional cakes, and Syuh pointed out that my birth date was highlighted.
(I didn't notice at first)
After that, we checked into Bluesky hotel around 8pm (which felt like 10pm)
Once we reached the lobby we were greeted with drinks.
Yay hotels.
My awesome roomate was Poh ee.
And our room was literally at the end of the corridor, facing a wall and beside the stairs!
Cool shit
(i can make noise at night meh)
um... heh.
Watched a documentary about earth with her, syuh and farah nur liyana.
(fyi there were 4 people named farah in the trip!)
And finally when someone came to survey our rooms, (supposedly lights off at 10pm) syuh and farah went back to their rooms.
Left the TV on because poh ee likes to sleep that way and I didn't mind it.
and I spent the whole night waking up every hour
CAUSE IT'S MY BIRTHDAY NIGHT
//I SAY YEAH//
And finally switched off the TV at 3am!
Goodnight, Jakarta.
You've been great so far.
Here's to another long day.
Excited because it's my birthday and we're meeting our buddies!
Day 2: 25th August 2013
Ok so the teachers told us to assemble by 7am Jakarta time (8am SG time)
So I set my alarm at 6.45am SG time (5.45 Jakarta time)
When my alarm rang and I saw the time, I jumped out of the bed and ran to the toilet, panicking.
I was furiously debating whether to bathe first or wake Poh ee up first, only to remember that I had a good hour more to sleep if I wanted to :')
Pai seh!
So, rise and shine, a happy, happy birthday to me.
Went for breakfast with Syuh (Poh ee went with farah nur liyana), and umm we tried to go up to our rooms but we didn't know how to operate the lift xD
Luckily, a local family were going to the same floor as us so ting ting ting, we were saved!
Dragged our luggage down and waited at the lobby.
Miss adillah wished me a happy birthday, aww.
Thank you very nice ;)
We then embarked (lolol) on a drive to pick up our buddies!
(Omg, I was looking forward for this since Ms choo told me that I was chosen for this trip)
On our way, they sang me a birthday song and I was smiling to myself HAHA.
(yesterday, we sang ms adilah a birthday song for fun when it wasn't her birthday hahaha!)
So in an email we received a week before the trip, and on the paper we received the morning at the airport, it was stated that my buddy would be a female.
So we stayed in the bus while some indonesian students boarded it.
There was a guy in white and me and syuh were exchanging looks like, "oh look so cute"
So they were announcing names so that we could identify our buddies.
And they said my buddy's name so I raised up my hand.
There was a girl behind the white shirt guy, and i thought she was my buddy.
BUUUUUT *jengjengjeng*, it turned out that my buddy WAS THE GUY.
Everyone was exclaiming and making noise and me and syuh were laughing like freaking idiots because the whole incident was so unexpected and hilarious! xD
So we had to stand up and introduce ourselves (yes, in the bus)
and when it was my turn Ms choo announced that it was my birthday.
(i had to put that in)
(why)
(because i appreciate it)
Um me and my buddy didn't talk much cause his girl friends and him were busy talking and I was busy talking to nur farah liyana :')
We first went to fatahilla square again to visit the wayang museum, which was so cool!
Watched a puppet show and witnessed syuh do her first dare of making haidhar say the word 'cucumber'
Here was their conversation
Syuh: You know what vegetable is in nasi lemak?
Him: Um,spinach?
(i was laughing furiously beside syuh)
syuh: No, oh yes it's called 'timun'! What's timun in english?
Him: Cucumber!
Hahahaha sweet memories!
Ok then, (as a supposedly bonding activity i guess) we went to a shopping mall called ITC.. (or something)
and Pak Hilman told us that it was not a large mall, only six storeys high.
So we were like okay....
And when we reached there my jaw dropped cause WHAT THE HELL IS THEIR DEFINITION OF BIG.
the mall was HUGE.
(photo from google)
If it was not, there were like a billion shops!
We were given one and a half hours to shop and I only managed to go no more than 2 storeys (and it was only one side of the mall!)
*Exclaims exclaims*
Sat down at A&W for awhile cause someone thought we were supposed to assemble at 11.45am when in fact we were supposed to meet at 12.45pm.... xD
it's okay, honest mistake.
And gosh, the food was so........cheap T.T
I wished Singapore's were like that!
(but then we'd all be obese)
(the variety of food in SG is fantabulous)
and might I say it: it's frigging A&W!
When is it coming back to singapore!?
(never)
//ok so at this time i tried googling for answers but i didn't get any//
Sat with pramesti (Syuh's amazing buddy) and syuh.
After that, we went for lunch at another kuring restaurant (i forgot the name slap me)
(actually 2nd day lacks photos because my iPad was almost dead and i was chargerless)
the food was great, and I ended up sitting with the dictators again.
but this time they were so nice to me!
ms adillah gave me extra chicken, and ms choo served me satay ;)
"Must treat the birthday girl specially"
After the amazing lunch, we went for a looong drive to Taman mini Indonesia.
It was super cool!
It was like a theme park and heck it was large!
we got to see the houses which we saw in the museum yesterday in real life, and it was the coolest thing ever!
I was in love with this cone-shaped house yesterday, and I got to enter it today!
//screams//
I don't have a photo of it yet, but I will get hold of it!
In the meanwhile, the huts we saw!
We then took a drive for dinner at warung teko, a restaurant opposite IBC we ate at yesterday.
The spread was fantabulous!
Sat at the table with such hilarious people which killed me!
with their jokes ofcourse.
AND THEN,
the bus driver suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and the teachers and Pak hilman ran down the bus.
we waited for like 10 mins,and in the meanwhile I was laughing so hard at amirul, haidhar, shafiqah and farah nur liyana.
one of the teachers came and called for syuhada and I was kinda worried cause I thought they were sending her to the clinic or something since she was not feeling well.
And like five minutes later they came with a cake AWWWW STOP.
they sang like 3 different birthday songs and we ended up cutting the cake (ms adilah's newest adventure) while the bus was moving!
Thank you so much for your thoughfulness guys,
i really loved it!
After that, was the time I was excited for since forever
the meeting with our foster families and homestay!
We reached their school around 7.30pm (which felt like 9pm)
and rayhan, my buddy's mum was there.
It was so surreal!
It felt weird when their driver helped carry my luggage but..... heh thanks.
Met his sister, Jasmin in the car and I found that she actually turned 17 on the 17th of august!
We wished each other happy birthday (HAHA)
(thanks to my buddy who told them)
(i appreciate it)
We drove to their house and I came across cultural difference number 1:
wearing your shoes up to your room!
It was really cool being able to experience weird things xD
I was given my own room and I think I fell asleep around 11pm, (which felt like 1am)
and woke up several times in case I missed the alarm which I set at 6.45am SG time (5.45 jakarta time) which was stupid because they told me that they usually wake up at 5am.
But luckily I woke up at 5.45am SG time (4.45am jakarta time)
Off to school we were!
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Part 2 to be continued