Bound to Naga city from Manila: A long trip road in abroad
I departed from KL at 10:55 am and arrived in Manila at 3:33 p.m on January 6, 2019. Upon arriving at Aquino International Airport in Manila, I met with another delegate from Indonesia, namely Feby from Makassar. When I met Feby, I invited Feby to buy a handphone sim card that could be used while in Philippines. Incidentally, we met at immigration, where at that time I saw her holding an Indonesian passport. I easily recognize her because all the delegates from the Sea-Teacher of Universidad De. Sta. Isabel (USI) had previously been invited to the Line group, and I also had previously saved Feby's and Bimo's contacts, the one who is coming from Majalengka.
After going through immigration and picking up a suitcase from a drop in baggage, I invited Feby to buy a handphone Sim card for cellphones. Incidentally, when we came out at the exit, we also did not find the coordinator of USI, Maam Tin. So, after going out to pick up the suitcase, we went straight to a place that sells sim cards for mobile phones. The mobile sim card that we bought is a card that has an internet package at the same time.
There is an interesting phenomenon, that is when I meet or come to the seller, the seller greets me in Filipino. Pretty funny hahaha shortly after hearing that I immediately laughed and said that I couldn't speak Filipino. And after that the seller immediately apologized and chuckled or slightly murmured in Filipino. Hearing the greeting issued by the seller to me, Feby is also laughed. After smiling, the salesman apologized and said if he thought I was a Filipino. After that, I said that I wanted to buy an internet package that would be used for one month. When we were about to pay, suddenly Maam Tin (Coordinator from USI) came and greeted us. We were quite surprised and immediately greeted Maam Tin, and after that we immediately paid for the sim card that we bought.
In my opinion, internet packages in Philippines are quite expensive, because 1000 PHP can only buy 8GB for internet package. In Indonesia, I can buy 15Gb with only 80 IDR. At that time I was quite surprised but I was able to understand that if these were the differences between Indonesia and the Philippines.
At that time, I also met with the other Sea-Teacher delegates from VRU, Thailand. There are two people from Thailand, namely Diana and Pim. I also met with another Indonesian delegate, Bimo from Majalengka. I smiled at them and they also smiled at us.
After meeting and carrying our belongings outside the airport, we immediately rushed to the car park and rushed straight bound to Naga city which will be traveled in 8-13 hours by road. At that time, USI facilitated us with a large enough white car, such as a van, which could accommodate approximately 10 people. At that time, I sat next to the glass on the left, behind the driver. This is the second difference between Indonesia and the Philippines that I found, that is the driver's position in Indonesia is on the right, while in Philippines it is on the left, due to this I was watching the driver for a long time hahaha.
From Manila we leave at 5pm, which is already late afternoon and dark. At that time, when I looked around the area to Naga city, I thought that the conditions were not much different from what I saw where I lived. In fact, I thought the surrounding conditions were almost the same as the trip I usually traveled from Padang to Payakumbuh (district of 50 Kota) as my mother’s hometown.
When I was on the way, I initially looked at the surrounding conditions before dark, and took photos and sent them to my family. Honestly, every activity that I do, I always report it to my parents, to make it easier for my parents to know my news and not worry about me who is being the only delegate from Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Then, when the road was dark, I tended to sleep on the road.
At around 19:30 Philippines time (+ 1 hour from Padang), we stop at Jollybee for dinner. At that time, as a Muslim, I and 2 other Indonesian delegates did not take part in the meal because we doubted whether the food was halal or not. We hesitated and we decided to stay in the car. Shortly after ordering food, Ma'am Tin went out and went to the car, and accompanied us to shop at seven eleven. At that time, we only bought food with a halal logo, even though the food was not too good or not really has a good taste with what we usually eat in our home country. Fortunately, I initially brought lunch from KL so that I could still eat rice with Rendang dishes that I brought from Padang (canned Rendang can last up to 3 months). I certainly shared with Bimo and Feby, but they turned out to have eaten their own food.
After finishing the meal and stopping at Jollybee, we continued our journey to Naga city. When I continued my trip, I decided to go back to sleep, even though I didn't sleep well. In the end Alhamdulillah we all arrived at Universidad De. Sta. Isabel (USI), Naga city, Philippines at 3 am on January 7, 2019.
