On September 3, 2019, 8:30 PM we embarked on the first phase of our trip. We had to travel by bus from our province (Camarines Sur) to Metro Manila (Pasay City), it took about 8 hours. My butt was numbed by the constant sitting but I endured.
I have traveled by plane before, but this would be the first time that I will be going abroad and without my parents too. I was nervous, but if we lock ourselves in our comfort zones we will never grow. I wasn't alone, Jelyn, also a student from my University is a participant of the project too. We were the first pair to go, so, the morning of September 4, 2019, we headed to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. We didn't book a direct flight so we had to stop by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 2 hours before proceeding to Jakarta.
The flight from the Philippines to Malaysia was delayed so we had to hurry to the transfer desk. It was a good thing our baggage was to go directly to Indonesia. We didn't have to track it down. In no time at all, we were boarding for the flight to Jakarta. The in-flight meal was an introduction to to how spicy Indonesian food would be.
There was a little turbulence during the flight. All in all we arrived tired but safe at the Soekarno Airport around 8PM. We were met by the Coordinator of UHAMKA, Mr. Purnama. He explained that since it was already late, we can't go directly to the university. they booked us a room at Hotel Banggalawa. That is where we spent our first night in Jakarta.
