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The Adventure Awaits

Saturday, January 20, 2018

All i need for the next one month already packed up, and i was wake up very early in the morning. I took a bath, get dress, eat my breakfast, and then go the... to campus. Unfortunately, there was an exam that i have to finish, five hours before my flight to Kuala Lumpur, it's the most hated subject by whole class, and even worse, i wasn't even study for the exam. My name is Cahya Himawan, a student of Educational Biology in Universitas Mataram, and this is my story as Pre-Service teacher for the SEAMEO program in Saint Mary's University, Bayombong - Nueva Vizcaya, Philippine.


What about the exam? well, i didn't do it well, neither all of my friends. It was started on 7 AM and finished at 10.30 AM, i don't really care about the exam actually, but the flight schedule to Kuala Lumpur is at 12.15PM, that's really "grind my gears" because normally, it takes about 1 hour from my home to the Lombok International Airport. 10.35 AM, and i'm still on campus, even after the exam, i still have to submit my report to my lecturer. Usually, i have to wait for the lecturer to come and give the report or assignment, but i don't have time to wait, so i decided to take the risk by putting my report on the table and pray to god wishing everything will be fine, i leave the room afterward .

10.45 AM, my phone was ringing, it was my mom, she is also worrying me because the time is very close to the flight schedule, and i'm still at campus. I walked to the parking lot, started my motorbike and go quickly. 10.55 AM, i'm finally home, my mom yells at me because i'm staying too long at campus. I have no time for this. I just take my jacket, buff, bag and luggage, i don't even think to change my dress. I also don't have time to wait for the taxi, so my dad take me to the airport with his motorbike. I give a hug to mom and leave to the airport.


My dad knows what to do. He take the bypass route so he can take a full throttle, because the bypass route in Lombok is not that crowd. Aaand, he did. It just take about 30 minutes to the airport (it was 11.28), thanks to god for my dad driving skill. i give him a hug and leave into the airport. I checked in, my luggage and bag are checked by the customs and 11.40, i already in the waiting room.


During in the waiting room, i just sit and thinking "What am i gonna do there?", to be honest, i never been teaching in a real classroom before, just some simulation in "Microteaching" subject and giving some lectures for Invertebrate Zoology for 3rd year's class. I'm scared if i will fail in the practice teaching program, and bring the shame to my university, but in the other hand, i am excited for the new experience i will get, yes, this is my first time to travel abroad. Suddenly, my phone was ringing and it's a call from one of my friend - Nadia, she is telling me that she was "fixed" my assignment because she was checking it and take an initiative to make a revision. I don't know what's going on with her, so i just said thank you to her. I can't go back to the campus and solve the problems. Well, the time was 12.13 PM, the airport staff open the gate and announcing the passenger to line up in the front of the gate.

12.15 PM, the plane is already take off. The pilot says that it will take around 3 hours for the flight to KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport). It will be the most boring moment in my life because there is no entertainment, the wifi is not free, and also my seat is far from the window, so i decided to sleep, i don't care about the safety demonstration. Honestly, i'm really starving at that time, i thought there will be free food given to the passengers, but later, i found that there will be no free food, we have to pay for it, so annoyed. Hungry stomach is hungry, so i decided to buy some food from the flight attendant. I ordered the chicken rice and a small bottle of mineral water. I'm surprised by the price, it was $9 just for the rice and mineral water, it's equal to Rm 35, or Rp.122.674, so damn expensive, but can't disagree anymore, so i take it. The food portion itself is not that much, and the taste isn't that great for the price, truly disappointed. I finished my meal and sleep.
Behold ! The $9 in-plane meal.

Later, i woke up, and shortly after that, the pilot announced that the plane is preparing to landing soon and fasten our seat belt. The plane was landed safely, and for the first time in my life, i'm in another country, alhamdulillah. It was 3.10, i checked my cellphone, and the weather location changed to Malaysia but it can't update the weather and location because my sim card network is in roaming mode which mean i can't use my internet data, but later, i found that the KLIA provide free wifi around the airport, and it quite fast. I walked to the immigration section, and take my luggage. Luckily, Kuala Lumpur has the same timezone with Lombok Island (GMT+8) so i don't have to change anything.
Roaming mode, nothing useful


The first thing i'm looking for is the mosque, because the time was already near to Ashar, luckily, it's easy to find one, because most of the Malaysian are Moslem.


Just follow the sign....

So, what's next? i don't know where to go, KLIA is vast, so i just walked around the airport for looking around. KLIA is like a mall i guess, there are lot of department store for branded stuff, i'm not interested with any of those. Then i went outside and enjoying the view of the airport. My next flight will be at 1.30 AM midnight, 9 hours to go. 6.18 PM, i believe it's the time for Maghrib pray, and i was thinking that i'm already late for Maghrib pray, because back in Lombok, the Maghrib pray start at 6.05 PM, so i went to the airport mosque.

Well, luckily, i'm not. Maghrib pray in Kuala Lumpur started at 7.20 P.M, so i take wudhu and wait inside the mosque. There are a lot of people staying in the mosque, some of them are reading Quran, sleep, or just charging their phone while waiting for the prayer time. No wonder, because the mosque is clean, air conditioned and pretty comfy i think. I was staying in the mosque until 10.02 PM and then go out to get some food. Unfortunately, the restaurant in the airport doesn't accept the dollar bill, which the only money i have, so i went to the money changer to exchange my money. I only exchange for about $20 it's like RM 78.37 or equivalent to Rp.273.180,- and then i went to an airport restaurant.

The outside view of KLIA is just...nice.
Pretty interesting, because the restaurant i choose is providing some kind of Indian food i guess? The only menu i found are some variety of curry, i don't really know any those kind of curries. So what they do, is putting the chicken with the rice and pour the curry onto it. The price is RM 13 or (put indonesian currency) it's not that bad like the food in the airplane. The taste?  well... I can taste some spices, but it's not that strong, not as what i'm expected. After i finished my dinner, i went to the outside (again) to the same spot on the afternoon, the view even more beautiful at night.

The same spot, at night.
11.20 PM, i found my flight schedule in the information screen, and it says that the gate has already opened, so i'm checking in and went to the immigration counter. Some custom check later, finally made it to the waiting room. There are lot of people already waiting in the room, most of them are Filipinos. 1.20 AM, again, the most boring moment in my life, there is a tv, but it only showing some boring stuff like ads for the department store and restaurant in the airport and some old comedy tv show. Finally, 1.40 AM, the gate was opened, it was delayed for 10 minutes, i was really worried, i thought i'm in the wrong waiting room, everyone lined up in front of the gate, and the officer asked the senior citizen, pregnant woman or with their children to go first, and then the rest.

Philippines arrival card.

Found my seat, and i put my bag into the cabin drawer, except my camera bag. A moment later, a flight attendant come to me and speak in Tagalog, i don't understand why, but then i said that i can't speak Filipino, he surprised, and speak to me in English, he told me that i also have to put my camera bag into the cabin drawer, well, okiedokie sir. A moment later, the flight attendant give me an "Arrival Card", it just some basic information about you for immigration. The flight was around 5 hours, but this time, i don't feel any boredom because i was sleeping. Manila, here i come. (C/H)


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