DAY 1 : DEPARTURE TO PHILIPPINES, MABUHAY MANILA!!

Sunday, September 1 2019 - Monday, September 2 2019
Today is the day that my friend Yosi Clara Dewanti and I have been waiting for, where our departure to the Philippines, we took part in a student exchange program from SEAMEO. We are students from the Islamic University of Kalimantan Banjarmasin Indonesia, majoring in English education in the 7th / 3rd semester of the year, and the campus where we exchange is the University of the Cordilleras. This program starts from 2- 29 September 2019. We are staying at UC's hotel in Baguio City. Here we have to be independent children because we do everything ourselves. In addition, here we have to mingle with local people, discover new cultures that are different from Indonesia.

Departure to Manila

This is my first time going abroad. At 20.00 PM I and Yosi departed from Syamsudin Noor Airport heading for Jakarta Seokarno-Hatta Airport. We arrived in Jakarta at 20.55 PM and waited to take our luggage for a few minutes. Then we headed to the next terminal, terminal 2f for International flights, from Jakarta to Manila. Yosi and I rushed because we had very little time while the distance between the arrival and departure terminals was quite far. After walking for a few minutes and asking some people where our 2f terminal, there we met our friend from Bogor, her name is Deris, who was leaving the same campus as us. At 00.10 morning we flew from Jakarta to Manila using the Cebu Pacific airplane.

My ticket and my Passport

 At 05.40 AM we arrived. After arriving we waited to take our suitcases. After that we headed to the door out there our coordinator Mr. Remir from UC and his friend mr.Gerry welcomed our arrival. They asked us to wait a few minutes, after that we went to the car and moved to terminal 2 to capture our other friends, Nia and Sugis. Mr. Remir told us that he had to pick up several students from Indonesia at three different terminals. After that we moved back to Terminal 1 to pick up Gilang and Rika who came last. In addition there is also our friend who had arrived 1 day earlier than us, she is Nurul, but Mr.Remir could not pick Nurul because the distance between Baguio and Manila was very far. Therefore Nurul stayed overnight at the place of hes lecturer friend. And on the day of our arrival mr. Remir picked Nurul in terminal Manila. After the students complete, we went straight to Baguio, along the way we were treated to a very beautiful view of tall buildings, rice fields and mountains. Along the way Mr Remir told us about the places we passed, he was able to communicate in Indonesian because he had worked in Indonesia especially in BINUS University. So when we met with him we felt like we were welcomed at home. Besides that he is very kind and humble.

arrived in Manila

At 11.54 AM Mr. Remir invited us to stop by for lunch at Jollibee there we also ate together. It was the first time we tried Jollibee and it tasted almost like normal KFC chicken but had a different sauce, brownish and sprinkled with black pepper. After that we continue the journey to Baguio city.

the first time try Jollibee with Mr.Remir and my friends

We arrived at UC hotel at 17.20 PM, here it is the rainy season and the weather is very cold because the city is located on the mountain. After coming, we took a short break and headed to the office for a briefing from Mr. Remir about the program we were following. At 18.20 PM we went out to buy a sim card and dinner, we were accompanied by a buddy namely Nick and Jamaica. After that we showered, had dinner and rested.

My hotel room

Bought Jollibee for our dinner