Day 1 - A pilgrimage to Majapahit

The traveling teachers

Taking a "twofie" with my travel buddy who is also assigned to the same university before checking our bag. Cristine is wearning a very big exciting smile as she is about to take her first ever flight and her first ever international trip.

Perched in the heart of Java is Purwokerto city. A thriving city with a promising economy, rich culture and a home of gentle and peace loving people. The city is located in the island of Java which was a former empire of Majapahit in the old days. Our trip to Purwokerto was absolutely amusing. From Davao, we rode a plane going to Manila since there is no direct flight from the city. An hour and 45 minutes flight enjoying the scenery of billows underneath the wings of our craft. I find it amusing since I was traveling with my co-SEA teacher and it was her first time to ride a plane. It was a dream come true for her riding an airplane and also an exciting journey as we will educate young minds across boarders.

Lay-over

Killing some time while waiting for our flight to Jakarta by roaming around the airport.

We had to stay at the airport for 6 hours for our aircraft that will take us to Jakarta to arrive. Since there is enough time for us to roam around the new terminal three of NAIA, I toured Cristine (co-SEA Teacher) in the airport and even went to resorts world Manila bridge. After the long walk, we sat for awhile to rest our tired feet carrying our backpack stuffed with documents, personal stuff and a laptop. 3 hours left that we decided to join the queue of people in immigration. We passed the immigration with ease after showing them the letter of acceptance from Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto (UMP). The immigration just ask how long are we going to stay in Indonesia and asked for our flight ticket. After the long queue in immigration, we searched for a place where we can feast for dinner before our 4 hours flight. 8:30 when we boarded the plane and few minutes after, we left Manila.

Millionaire in an instant

Me flaunting my millions after I exchanged the peso I brought.

John is in Jakarta at last. Same thing that happened in Manila, we passed the immigration officer with ease ( a big thanks to the LOA that was given to us). My bladder was full and so as Cristine's that we hurried and look for the rest room. The airport in Jakarta was so calm when we arrived as there are only few people roaming around. Every people I meet along the hallway looks closely similar to us that if they don’t open their mouth and speak in Bahasa, I would say they are also Filipinos. After we empty our bladder, we went to the money exchange kiosk and converted our peso to Indonesian rupiah. To my surprise, I was holding bills that would some up to millions. I was still in disbelief that I counted and double checked the bills that I received. It was indeed a million in my hand which I was hoping to hold ever since. It was truly a funny moment for me. After we had our currency exchanged, we went to buy a sim card for our phone to restore our connection to our loved ones in the Philippines and to update our teachers on our whereabouts. That is when I realized the value of millions that I was holding in my hand.

Philippines meet Indonesia

Mas Amir from UMP treated us for our first Indonesian meal.

An hour later, we met the officer from the international relations of UMP and brought us to a hotel to where we spent our night as we will travel to Purwokerto the following morning together with other teachers from Thailand. He was such a kind and a very accommodating person in which every time we talk and ask queries, we don’t feel aloof at all. His name is Amir but we call him Mas Amir because he is like our brother here in Indonesia.

It is the start of my adventure and you will discover more amazing things I experienced as you browse each of my daily blog.