I'm in the midst of doing lab reports and preparing for another test for next week. I just decided to take some time to share this out. It's been almost 21 days I got home after two weeks of being away. Everything feels so surreal, till this moment. I walked into Taylor's University on Monday (20th April) morning with a different feeling. Everything seems to be different, strange, like a whole new environment.
That 2 weeks Short Course on Environmental Conservation and Indonesian Culture (SEECONIC 2015) had been an eye - opener for myself. The first few days were pretty rough. Ahh... You know that moment, when you've been sleeping in a very comfortable room with air conditioner at 16 degrees Celsius every single night, and then you traveled to another country, there isn't any fan in the room. My roommate and I (plus another 2 friends that crashed our room for the first night) got a small fan for the first night and we got a bigger one few days later. You thought the weather in your country is hot, when in fact, there's another country in which the weather is hotter than that and you can't complain cause you've made the choice. That moment, you know you have to embrace whatever challenges that come along your journey.
4th April 2015, I had not pack even a single thing in my luggage. I had loads of errands to run before I leave for Indonesia. Flight ticket, boarding pass and passport are ready but not my luggage. For those who know me well, know that I never travel light. Even for a night trip I'd bring at least 1 luggage full of my clothes, shawls etc and a backpack with me. I knew that night I won't be able to sleep soundly on my comfy bed. I knew I have to pack my luggage since I ran out of time. It's either I pack within 3 hours or I burn the flight ticket and forget being in Semarang at all. The thoughts of my parents spending some money for the flight (yes, it's only few hundreds ringgit - less than RM 600 but stil ... It's not easy to earn money ! I'm working as a part timer and I know it's difficult to earn even RM 50 a day) and also the thoughts of how Taylor's staffs (Mr Adrian, Ms Alina and the rests) who had been working tirelessly to materialise this trip rushed my mind that night. I kept on praying that we'll be landing in Semarang safely. I took my first flight in 2015 to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in March and I still remember how I tried to hide that nervousness. Everytime I'm about to board an aircraft, I'd pray there will be no plane hijack, no plane crash. I prayed that many times. I'm scared, definitely scared after 4 - 5 tragic aircraft incidents that had happened in 2014. Immediately, I told myself, "Anis, let's just pack and fly to Semarang." The moment I finished packing, the clock stroked 0300 Hours. Bathed and jumped into parents' car. The whole family sent me to KLIA2 that morning, approximately at 0430 Hours. I prayed in the car that in 2 weeks time, I'll be back safe and sound. I'll be in KL again, inshaAllah. We reached KLIA2 at 0515 Hours, it was a long queue before I could finally dropped my luggage at the baggage drop counter. Then, I met my friends, my Global Ambassadors family. All wide awake ! Almost all of them did not get any sleep yet ! Our Global Ambassadors Mummy cum Advisor, Ms Alina came to the airport to send us off too. Yeap, early in the morning ! She's cool, awesome and loving like that :) If you read this, Miss Alina, thank youuuuu for sending us off ! 0545 Hours whole family is ready to let me go off. Salam, kissed each other and we bid goodbye. The other 12 of us including Miss Lin then took a group photo upon Ms Alina's request (because she knew she's going to miss us for 2 weeks :P). Then, we bid goodbye to her and we're ready to go through the immigration checkpoint followed by the boarding gate. The plane was supposed to take off at 0655 Hours but there was some technical error that happened (something to do with the luggages), and it took off at 0755 Hours. Delayed by an hour and I still couldn't sleep. Wina who sat next to me fell asleep few minutes after she changed her seat. Woke her up for breakfas and she went back to sleep after finishing it. I tried to read a book and finally fell asleep few pages after the first one.
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| Last group photo before going through immigration. Photo courtesy of Ms Alina. |
2 and a half hours later, we landed safely at Ahmad Yani International Airport, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Ryan and Nova the Project Officer and Liaison Officer were already there waiting for us for more than an hour. They did not know that our flight was delayed. Sorry Nova and Ryan ! We did not have your contact numbers at that time. We got onto the Semarang State University Bus and they brought us to a Warung Soto where all the other Liaison Officers waited for us. They greeted us with "Selamat Pagi, Good Morning. How was the flight?" and also their warm and friendly smiles. The soto was delicious. Weather was rather hot, hotter than Kuala Lumpur. Right after that, they brought us to the university area which is located in Sekaran - up on the hill of Semarang, 30 minutes from downtown. They sent us to our respective dorms. The boys were given a room for four near the Sports Faculty, whereas the girls were given five rooms in a private dormitory area owned by Tia's family - in - laws. Girls' dorms are located 5 minutes away from the main gate of the university. Cyndee took room B6, Elida and I took room B8, Farah and Leena took room B7, Myra and Wina took room B9 and Ms Lin took room B11. To our surprise, there wasn't any fan in all our rooms and there was no electricity. But there was cockroaches in B6, B7 and B9 ! At first, Elida and I were so grateful that we did not have any cockroaches in our room until the moment I wanted to charge my powerbank... I accidentally pushed an empty plastic cupboard away and a big lizard popped out of nowhere, and I screameeeeeeeeeed ! Myra came to the rescue thinking it was cockroaches. She pushed away the cupboard further to the other side and there was a weird thing that grew out from the floor tiles, leaning to the wall. Elida and I screamed even more ! Elida then decided to sweep it off because I knew I would jump all over the place. So, I sat out, she did the honour to sweep it off. Thank you, babe, love you ! So, there was no electricity = no way for us to do our business in the toilets. There was no fan = no way for us to sleep (bear in mind, most of us haven't had any sleep !). In the end, we decided to go to downtown (30 minutes from Sekaran, university area) by cab. Ms Lin suggested us to get detergent, mop, extension wires and etc besides chilling ourselves at Paragon Mall. Well, to chill myself, I went to the bookstore after having a cup of Frozen Yogurt. I bought 4 Indonesian books at Toko Gunung Agung, Paragon Mall! Then, I rushed to the hypermarket located at lower ground floor to buy extension wires and mineral water. We got back few hours later with all those things as if we're newly married people who want to start a whole new life in a totally new environment (okayyyy... that's so hyperbola). We raised the issue to the committee. We cleaned the rooms wherever we could. By the time we finished, it's almost Maghrib. Since I'm still a musafir, I just jama' my prayers. We decided to go for dinner. The committee took us to Cowek Ireng (turned out to be our 'love at first sight'), a local cuisine warung. After dinner, I stopped by the grocery shop near to our dorm with few others. We met Afit and Ryan. Afit is the Chief Project Officer for the programme. Afit told us that he had cleaned all our rooms by himself and the rooms are now ready for us. Thank you Afit for being so kind... We're touched by your sincere gesture. However, Farah's room had to wait till tomorrow as they needed to get a special insecticide to kill the cockroaches and to clean the room. So, that night Farah and Leena crashed into mine. All four of us cramped into a room. Oh we got a small fan that night. We slept early after an adventurous and looooooong day.
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| First meals in Semarang. Soto and Satay ! |
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| First night dinner at Cowek Ireng. Our love at first sight kind of relationship with 'warung makan' :P |
The next morning, we woke up around 0600 Indonesian time and put on formal clothes for an opening ceremony at Rector Building (Rektorat). We were late as we had a long breakfast at a warung near to our dorm. The morning walk to the Rektorat took us approximately 15 minutes. I was sweating the entire walk and I knew I looked like a 'diva' fanning myself in the meeting room. I'm still in my adaptation phase remember? Opening Ceremony was pretty simple, started off with greetings from the management, Ms Lin and a video about Semarang State University/Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES). UNNES is a conservation university hence, the reason they practice 'One Student, One Tree,' every new student that enrol him or herself in the university, will have to plant a tree, a small tree will do as long as there's one tree. They gave us lunch box of Nasi Padang/Nasi Gudeg/Nasi Ayam Penyet/Nasi Goreng everyday including the first day. After finishing our lunch, we headed to our dorms to change clothes for Campus Tour by bicycle. They gave a bicycle to each one of us. I didn't join the rest. 10 years since I last rode a bicycle. I forgot how to stabilise myself on the bike and I forgot how to cycle. I got on it the first time after 10 years, I almost dropped the bicycle and myself off. I said no. I'll just walk. Bety felt bad to be on the bicycle while I walk. So, she walked with me instead to the Rektorat. I saw a buggy (the university has a small driving range, thus, the presence of that buggy) and asked her if I could go on the buggy since Ms Lin couldn't ride a bicycle too. She brought me to the office to meet Tia. The management approved the request. I texted Ms Lin if she wants to go with me on the buggy, she said she wasn't feeling well and decided to stay in her room. I went with Tia on the buggy with a security guard - for Campus Tour. 30 minutes later, I'm done with it. I asked the rest their whereabouts, I passed by the location they told me but I didn't see them at all. I went back to the office with Tia. Tia gave me fruits, we had a talk before I left to perform Zuhur. Terima kasih Tia ! In the evening, Bu Wati took over the hall for Bahasa Indonesia Class. It was fun. Class ended with a drama from us and a dangdut song. Knowing me, I had never liked dangdut. Ayah always sing along to dangdut and I normally would stopped him. If you ask me to sing and dance to a dangdut song, I'd turn it into a ballad song. I had almost no problem speaking and understanding the language as I grew up watching Indonesian sinetrons and reading Indonesian novels. The boys were given a bicycle each as they stayed quite a distance from the Rektorat (the place where most of our classes will be held at). We went to Ciputra Mall for dinner as Elida was craving for McDonalds ! Supposedly all 12 of us went to the mall but the other cab didn't turn up, so, half of us went to Cowek Ireng instead for dinner.
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| Opening Ceremony. |
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| Bahasa Indonesia Class with Bu Wati. |
The next day, on Tuesday, 7th April, 2015, we had Wawasan Nusantara Class with Pak Hendi Pratama and Gamelan Class with Pak Indrawan. Both were interesting. I've never liked any musical instruments other than acoustic guitar and drum, thus, I never thought that one day, I'd try Gamelan till I flew to Semarang. Pak Indrawan 'wow'-ed us by the way he plays Gamelan. We had dinner at Maspur, 15 minutes by motorcycle from the university compound. Bety gave me a ride on her motorbike. Thanks Bety !
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| Post Gamelan Class. Photo courtesy of Farah Danial. |
8th April, 2015. The day started off with Javanese Culture Class by Pak Yusro Edy. It was full of knowledge - now I understand why Javanese men wear something that look like a turban on their heads. In the middle of the class, we went to the rector office for a short meeting with him. At 1100 Hours, we made our move to visit Labschool - Elementary School of UNNES. That was one of the main highlights throughout the 2 weeks. We became instant celebrities for an hour, had to sign on the kids' papers/books, saw them running after us with their backpacks. It's hilarious! I had the opportunity to ask the ambitions of a number of kids. Some want to be a pilot, soldier, teacher, doctor, etc. Most of them want to be teachers. By then, I know, kids wherever they are, they need exposure. They need inspiration. They need the knowledge about their life choices. I meant, it's not wrong to be a teacher or a doctor but for once in a while, we need to take the road less traveled to succeed. Why be the ordinary when you've all the opportunities to be extraordinary? I know, when I go back to Malaysia, I'd have to work seriously on my social community project with the intention to give kids in Malaysia especially those in orphanages/shelters an exposure on their career choices. We had Cultural Discussion Class in the evening. I found out that the facilitator aka Project Officer Ryan Marina is also a bibliophile ! Wohooo same species :D That night after having dinner at Cowek Ireng, the boys, Farah and I went to the Rektorat to do assignments and some study. I had the chance to FaceTime with Ibu and Ayah in KL and also Mummy in Kiev.
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| Javanese Culture Class. |
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| Visit to Labschool. |
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| Wingko Babat. Yummy |
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| More local snacks. |
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| With the adorable kids. |
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| One of the most brilliant kids. |
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| Group photo with the kids. |
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| Kids waving and bidding us goodbye. |
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| Happy faces after getting our signatures. |
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That's me signing on one of the kids' paper :D Instant Celebrity :P
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Before leaving the school.
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9th April, 2015. We cycled early in the morning to Fakultas Teknik for Batik Class with Bu Rodia. The faculty is located more or less 20 minutes away from our dorm and it's up on a 30 degrees hill. She introduced us with different designs of batik and the meanings behind every design. There was also a design for the single people who intend to get married as soon as possible ! LOL ! After that, Bu Rodia gave us two cantings made out of copper (to 'hold' the wax - the locals call the wax 'malam') and bamboo (as the holder). She also gave a piece of paper for us to draw our designs and a piece of white cloth for us to transfer batik design. Batik canting was actually interesting, but Anis being Anis, who is not artistic at all, my batik turned out rather bad. My design was just lines and circles. Life of an inartistic girl -_-. But I love, Batik Stamping ! We had a Batik Stamping Class the following week on 14th April, 2015. I truly enjoyed the session. We used different stamps made up of copper. The stamp needs to be soaked in a hot wax and immediately we had to stamp it on the white cloth. That was fun and easy !
10th April, 2015. I woke up to mixed feelings knowing that, on this date, 3 years ago, I lost my grandpa. He passed away 3 years ago due to heart and kidney failures. I miss him ! Always and forever. I was so closed to him. Losing him 3 years ago was the most painful and darkest moments in my entire life. May you'll be placed among the chosen ones, grandpa. I miss you ! Al - Fatihah..
I knew I had to go on with my life. Hence, I still go for the Morning Exercise that morning. Well, UNNES has this culture of every Friday is a sports day. So, everyone will wear sports attire and there will be a Morning Exercise in front of the auditorium building. We had Lontong Opor (Chicken) for breakfast after the exercise. It was scrumptious ! Apparently, not all breakfast pack contained a piece of chicken, I was one of the luckies to get chicken :P. Following that, we had a Conservation Class with Bu Eta at the Biodiversity Park. We went to explore their mini 'jungle' where they plant herbs trees and various fruit trees. At the end of the mini jungle, there's an area for flying fox. She told us that we're going to go on the flying fox once we finish all activities for her class. We also visited their mini butterfly park and they shared with us the butterfly species that they have in the park. After that, we had a skeleton leaves session. They plucked leaves from the mini jungle and soaked it in a special chemical, magnesium if I'm not mistaken, and then we removed the chlorophyll layer of the leaves, gently with a toothbrush. At the end of that, we'll get the skeleton of the leaves. The next step, they boiled it in a hot dye to colour the skeleton. Once dry, we'd make decorations from that; fold it into roses, tulips, etc. It's beautiful. I did a rose ! Wohooo !
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| Skeleton of the leave. |
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| I made this ! |
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| So proud of myself for being able to do this. |
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Our snack box for the day.
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Once finished, they brought us to the mini jungle again for Flying Fox. There are 2 stages before we could go for the real Flying Fox. First, we had to climb a small ladder on a tree, walked across a wooden bride hanging between two trees. Then, continue with a hanging rope that's about 4 metres. I have a really bad acrophobia. I fell of a staircase at my grandma's flat once. When I say fell, it's not just one staircase but tenths of them, I rolled down from the second floor to the first floor. Since then, I have never had the guts to do anything related to heights ! 10 of them were very supportive, even Said was following me from behind to take care of me, the rest of them were cheering from below. But this girl with acrophobia broke down half way through (at the second stage - the 4 metres rope) and this girl didn't manage to finish. 6 of us; Aizat, Said, Myra, Farah, Leena and I also went for a movie at Paragon on that Friday night. Well, the original plan, Aizat and I wanted to go to Toko Buku Gramedia in Pandanaran, near Ciputra Mall to buy some books. And the rest of us also intended to watch Fast Furious 7. We took a cab and all 6 of us cramped into a cab. The driver dropped Aizat and I at Gramedia, then sent the other 4 off at Paragon to buy the movie tickets. I bought another 6 books from Gramedia ! We had pasta for dinner since all 6 of us wanted a meal other than rice, but it wasn't really good. Told you, Grilled Chicken, Rice and Sambal topped any Pastas in Semarang ! Fast Furious 7 was sold out. We ended up watching Insurgent - a science fiction movie. Oh, I haven't share how posh their cinema is ! Wow ! The entrance of the cinema is way posh than the one in Malaysia. It reminds me of the cinema in Champs Elysees, Paris - very much similar to the one I went in Paris with Mummy, Kak Nisa, Aina and Heidi to watch The Wolf of Wall Street. IDR 50 000 for a movie ticket, IDR 10 000 for a 250 ml mineral water and IDR 35 000 for a 700 ml size - popcorn.
11th April, 2015 - We had breakfast near to Maspur. This time, we had to cycle through a 45 degrees hill. Elida's bicycle broke down just before the hillside. Nova and Bety came to the rescue. Elida then rode Bety motorcycle. The rest of us had to push our bicycle up on the hill. I was again sweating. My Tshirt was literally wet ! As I pushed the bicycle up, I cracked jokes by asking the rest if we're in a Biggest Loser programme. They cheered me up, to continue pushing the bicycle up. So, all of us survived that part in the end. It was really a good workout :P We proceeded to Wall Climbing area on campus. I tried climbing up, but I couldn't lift myself, my fingers and palms hurt. That evening, we didn't go anywhere else except for dinner at Warung Indomie. A bowl of Indomie costs us less than IDR 5 000.
First week passed by slower than we ever thought. I thought I'd be never able to ride a bicycle again after more than 10 years of not riding any. The first time they asked me to get onto it, I almost fell off. Few days later, taraaaa... I'm on the bike, cycling here and there with friends. Thanks to the 10 of them who would always be on standby to make sure I'm stable, whenever I'm about to get on the bike. The first few days, they would have to push my bike before I could cycle on my own. And once I cycle I'll never stop until I reached the destination. But almost a week later, I was able to do everything on my own. Thank you guys, love you !
Every Sunday is Car - Free Day in the city. So, on Sunday, 12 April, 2015, they brought us for a City Tour - full of information about Semarang. We walked around the Pandanaran area early in the morning at 0700 Hours. Many people were there either on the bicycle or walking with their pets; dogs. cats. Some others would sell drinks, food and etc on the roadsides. At 0800 Hours, we left for breakfast before proceeded to Sam Poo Kong Temple. Sam Poo Kong - I was amazed by how God created and designed one of the branches of a tree. It looked exactly like a metal chain. Then, we went to Lawang Sewu. This place was rather scary with cab drivers and locals been telling us, if you're brave enough, go to this place at night...Go Google this place ! I thanked God I didn't encounter any strange things there... We had lunch at D' Cost. The meal was scrumptious ! They brought us to Kota Lama Semarang where the Arts Center, Gereja Blenduk and Ikan Bakar Cianjur are located. The last stop was Masjid Agung Jawa Tengah. It's one of the most famous masjid in Indonesia because of its beautiful architecture. It's similar to Masjid Nabawi in Madinah. We had the opportunity to go to Masjid Agung's Tower. The tower gave us a breathtaking view of Semarang. I couldn't stay long on the tower due to the acrophobia that I'm having. I was so exhausted by the time we got back to our dorm. Was even lazy and tired to walk for dinner but no, I have to eat. So, we ended up in Cowek Ireng again. Love at first sight, I told you !
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| Indonesians are creative ! These are alive snails ! |
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| First Milo ! IDR 8000. But it doesn't taste like a real Milo. |
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| One of the temples in Sam Poo Kong |
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| Entrance to a cave at Sam Poo Kong |
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| Looks like real metal chains ! |
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| Soni and his cute watch :) |
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Ryan and Fiki. Sweet girls.
Probably the most haunted place in Semarang. Underground area was closed. I'm relieved.
You wouldn't want me to get sick and find me a traditional doctor, don't you?
The top floor of Lawang Sewu.
Lunch of the day was at D'Cost.
Visit to the Art Center at Kota Lama Semarang. The 3D effect - WOW !
Try to understand the meaning behind this !
That's Darren posing like the statue :)
Was jumping happily when I saw this. Immediately bought it cause I've been looking for Milo everywhere.
From the tower.
Beautiful Masjid indeed :')
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We survived the first week in Semarang ! The following day, 13th April, 2015, we attended their weekly assembly with the officers in front of the Rektorat Building. It was pretty short. Then, we headed to Painting Class with Pak Aryo at Fakultas Bahasa dan Sastra. I love seeing how Pak Aryo could draw the Javanese puppets smoothly and how he coloured the drawings nicely. Right after that we had a Traditional Javanese Dance Class with Pak Bintang. He made made me love Traditional Javanese Dance. Too bad, I'm not that girlish :P I've never know anything about Javanese even though my late grandpa was from Java Island. I could only understand one to four in Javanese language. Other than that, no I don't understand at all. That Monday night, we decided to go for dinner at a steak place called HOLYCOW ! It's 30 minutes away from Sekaran, and it's in the elit area of Semarang where all the mansions are located. Wow, the mansions are designed beautifully ! Made me feel like buying one of them soon ! LOL. Steak was good. IDR 129 000 for a plate of 400 g steak with spinach and mashed potatoes. Pak Bintang's class continued the next day. He taught us Tari Denok. He told us he would select four out of 12 of us to perform during the Farewell Party.
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| My painting :P I told you that I'm not artistic. I'm bad at arts. |
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| Pak Aryo's Painting. |
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| Dinner at HOLYCOW ! |
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| Got a free ice cream when I post this. |
Tuesday, 14th April, 2015, we had breakfast near to Fakultas Bahasa dan Sastra. Simple yet fulfilling meal - fried rice and fried chicken. Then, we went to Pak Bintang's class to continue and finish our dance practice. In the evening, we had Batik Stamping Class with Bu Rodia at Fakultas Teknik and went back to the dorm approximately at 1845 Hours.
On Wednesday, 15th April, 2015, we went for Outbound Activity at Umbul Sidomukti, an hour and a half from Sekaran by bus. There's a swimming pool, ATV ride, Flying Fox, Marine Bridge and Triangle Bridge. I went for ATV ride only which cost IDR 25 000 for 2 rounds which lasted around 20 minutes. ATV ride was FUUN! The scenery was amazing and serene. I brought along my swimming suit but I was just too lazy to change and swim. Hence, I was sitting at a corner with Elida, Ryan and Rian talking about books, roller-coasters rides while enjoying the breeze. We had lunch after that at a very nice place. Gurami was so fresh and tasty ! Later, they brought us to Pandanaran to buy snacks to bring back to Malaysia. I bought the famous Keropok Udang Sidoarjo (my personal favourite :P), grilled banana with cheese, cashewnuts and a pack of another type of peanuts. I requested the salesman to pack them in a box so that I don't have to worry to pack them in my luggage. The keropok and banana were fragile !
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| My crazy friends, playing Avalon at 8 in the morning ! |
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| Mountain covered by the cloud. |
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| Serene. |
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| Triangle Bridge. |
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| Friends on Marine Bridge. |
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| Pink and sweeeeeeet guava ! |
On Thursday, we had our last class with Pak Indrawan for Gamelan Class followed by Advisery Session with Afit. Second week passed by like a bullet train. It was just last week, we tried adapting to the surroundings and the moment we're adapted, pooof ! We're almost at the end of that short course. We had our dinner at Cowek Ireng again :P We knew it's gonna be our last day to eat at Cowek Ireng as we'll be going for dinner with the university's management the next day. Right after dinner, all of us went to the Rektorat Building to practice for our Farewell Performance. Farah and Cyndee will be performing Zapin since they are from Taylor's Traditional Dance Club (TRADISI). Aizat will be singing Sedetik Lebih by Anuar Zain. Myra, Leena, Farah and Cyndee were selected by Pak Bintang to perform Tari Denok or Tari Semarangan. Elida, Wina, Leena, Myra and I chose to sing All About That Bass to hype up the ambiance. We had planned that the final performance will be Kenangan Terindah.
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| Lunch box for Traditional Dance Class. |
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| Snacks after lunch. That popia was sooooo tasty ! |
Friday, 17th April, 2015. Farewell Party - what a day ! We had sound check session in the morning. After many years of not performing on stage...there I was on the stage with the other four girls performing a song before we performed Kenangan Terindah (Samsons) along with the rest. Well, Kenangan Terindah represents our journey, experience and memories that we had with the committee and community of Semarang throughout our 2 weeks course. That night, the university invited us for a dinner at Ikan Bakar Cianjur, Kota Semarang Lama. They also took us to Inul Vizta's VVIP Karaoke Room for 2 hours till 2300 Hours. Ms Lin, Cyndee, Darren and I went back to our dorm after that along with the committee, while the rest went to a famous club in Semarang; Babyface. I was so tired. After all, we had to wake up early the next day to catch the bus to Candi Borobudur, Malioboro and Candi Prambanan.
Saturday, 18th April, 2015. We ended our course with a trip to Jogjakarta by the university's bus as early as 0700 Hours. The journey was breathtaking. Green scenery. Misty. I could see mountains everywhere. The first stop was Candi Borobudur. Took us almost 4 hours to arrive there. It was almost 1100 Hours. The weather was very sunny and humid. Many people were already around the compound. The committee bought the tickets for us. Cost USD 30 for both Borobudur and Prambanan. I bought keychains, few pieces of T - shirts and fridge magnets at Borobudur. I'm amazed by the fact that Borobudur was once buried under volcanic ash, they found it and decided to open it to tourists as it's the World's Biggest Buddhist Temple. We had lunch on the bus. We stopped by the most famous road in Jogjakarta (1 and a half hours from Borobudur); Malioboro on our way to Prambanan to hunt for souvenirs for our family at home. We were given an hour. So, I walked with Farah, Elida and Darren at first and lost their track. In the end, I walked alone. I managed to get a 4 metres batik for Ibu and another few pieces of Tshirts for my family and I. Jumped on the bus approximately at 1435 Hours and bus moved around 1530 Hours to Prambanan Temple. It took us another 1 hour to reach Prambanan Temple. Some of us wanted to watch the dance in Prambanan but because most of us were hungry, we decided to forego the idea. The dance fee is IDR 120 000. We had dinner with all the committee except for Aji that night. Our last dinner together :'( .
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| God's Drawings. So beautiful isn't it ? |
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| Said and Zid posed under the hot sun. |
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| Monument at Malioboro.That 1 hour shopping spree. Wish I could stay longer to buy more batik T_T |
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| Prambanan Temple |
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| Effect of 2006 Earthquake |
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| One of the temples being lighted up at dusk.. |
19th April 2015, I woke up at 0545 Hours, got myself ready. My luggage was all set to go. I packed three days before departure as I knew I had lots of things to pack and we wouldn't have enough time on Friday and Saturday to do the packing. Elida, Cyndee, Leena, Aizat and I were flying back on Sunday. The rest will be flying back on Monday. The girls got onto the bus few minutes before 0700 Hours. We were behind schedule. Afit, Rian, Tia, Intan and Nova came with us on the bus. Ryan rode her motorcycle to the airport to send us off. As the bus moved around the campus to fetch Aizat at the boys' dorm, I whispered to myself, "Two weeks had been really good experience for myself. Two weeks full of life lessons. I adapted in 2 or 3 days time. Perhaps because I have a quarter of Indonesian blood in me. Thank you Project Officers and Liaison Officers, thank you UNNES, thank you people of Sekarang, thank you Semarang! I'll surely be missing this simple and memorable life of Semarang. One day, I shall come back to reminisce all the memories I had here. InshaAllah. The friendship that we build, will lasts till His Heaven, inshaAllah." We reached the airport 40 minutes later. Took one last group photo with them, thanked them for everything they had provided us with, wished Afit the best of everything for his marriage and that his marriage will be a smooth ride. Then, we headed to the baggage drop off counter. My luggage was exceeded by 3kgs so, I had to take out that 3kgs and put in my hand carry luggage. Headed to the immigration checkpoint and boarded the flight 30 minutes later.
Home bound. Thank you Air Asia for flying us home, safe and sound !
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Last selfie with the girls before boarded the aircraft.
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That's the end of the 2 weeks adventure. To be given the opportunity to live in a dorm surrounded by friendly, warm, humble community was indeed another memory that I'll cherish throughout my life. Back at home, the community is very different. We know each other but it's very rare that we get to greet and talk to each other. Semarang, it's another story. You could feel the sincerity in them whenever they talk to you. Even the lady who does our laundry is also friendly and could remember our names after first time meeting us.
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| Thank you B8 for letting Elida and I to stay without any serious problem throughout that 2 weeks. |
I enjoyed the food as much as I enjoyed being in the humble community. In KL, I normally would travel all the way to Shah Alam or Kampung Baru for a scrumptious Indonesian sambal and grilled chicken. But in Semarang, it's everywhere! We cycled almost every night around the university for delicious grilled/fried chicken and sambal. Cowek Ireng was our most favourite dinner spot for that 2 weeks, hence why we keep on going to Cowek Ireng. Sambal and grilled chicken definitely topped any pastas in Semarang ! We had good steak at HOLYCOW, Semarang though !
There was one point of time, few of us went out for dinner at a warung nearby ourdorm. Turned out that one of our local friends also was there for dinner. So, we sat together at a table. We ordered Indomie and that friend ordered a plate of plain rice, fried egg and sambal. We were touched, feeling guilty as everyday, every meal, we insisted to have either chicken or fish. In my case, I ordered a piece of chicken and fried rice for breakfast if I don't have breads for that morning and another two pieces of chicken breasts for dinner. There were times where I ate Nila or Banding or Gurami (types of fish) but most of the days, I ordered chickens. I felt bad. And that simple meal our friend had, roughly cost less than IDR 5000 or probably less than IDR 10 000. And I spent roughly IDR 25 000 for every dinner in Semarang. In KL, I'd spend more than that. Roughly RM 20 - RM 25 (IDR 60 000 - IDR 90 000) a day for breakfast, lunch and tea or dinner on campus with 6% GST included. Damn GST, I hate you ! And I admit, sometimes, I do complain that the meal isn't good enough. Bad, bad Anis. You see, we take things for granted easily. But those people, they are happy with whatever they have on their plates. It is so obvious that money doesn't bring happiness (80% of the time). At that time, I remembered another friend on campus whom I know since a year ago. There are few times that I had the chance to eat next to him and talk to him. He's the type of person who disagree with the idea of wasting food and he's the type of person who would prefer to give food to the less fortunate one rather than 'chucking in' the food into the dustbin. Recently, before I flew to Semarang, there's an event that I was partly in-charged of. The food was in excess. My friends and I distributed the food to our friends and students that passed by that area. Coincidentally, this friend passed by, so we gave more or less 8 packs to him and his friends. I had the idea of giving it out to the janitors. These janitors deserve small awards like this as they have been working round the clock to make sure the campus is clean. Before he left, he told me to give to the janitors. Aaahh, I wonder how did you get to read my mind... So, then, I took the food and walked around campus to distribute to the janitors. If you happen to read this, thank you, my friend for reminding me to always share the food to the less fortunate, to be humble wherever we go. You know who you are :) Now, you see, things like this, we've to experience it in order to understand. We need some kind hearted, down to earth people to remind us that no matter how high our rank is, how much wealth do we have, always, always share with those who are less fortunate than us. Give, give and give.
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Landed safely at the airport, 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Alhamdulillah.
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I know I'd never be able to repay the people who have made this trip a memorable one. Anyhow, Alhamdulillah, thank You to the Almighty for giving me the opportunity to be there, experiencing precious life lessons. My parents for allowing me to go, for paying my flight tickets and giving me pocket money. Mr Adrian Chong who made the trip happened ! Miss Alina , Ms Denise Loke, Mr Patrick who worked hard to ensure everything goes smoothly. Ms Lin Ong for accompanying us throughout that 2 weeks, for being very patient with 11 of us. 10 dramatic yet caring and supportive friends - my roommate Elida Emil for 'tahan' with my annoying alarm and myself, Cyndee, Darren Yap, Myra Biusing, Wina,zid, Said, Farah Danial, Leena Pathma and Aizat thank you soooo much, crazy bunch of people! Local friends aka Project Officers & Liaison Officers of Semarang State University; all - the - time - smiling - man who loves Dangdut; Afit, my bibliophile partner; Ryan, singing partner in the bus; Intan, the one who would pick us up at the dorm almost every morning for breakfast; Bety, the two sweet girls; Fiki and Tia, the guy with frozen tummy and cute watch; Soni, the guy who was so patient in waking up the boys every morning; Nova, the one who would sing along with us in the bus and took some of us to the rooftop of our dorm for a wonderful view of Semarang at night; Rian, last but not least, the best photographer and videographer in UNNES; Aji, terima kasih kerana sudi layan 11 'spoiled brats' dari Malaysia ! Thank you for putting a smile on our faces every single day we're there. Missing all of you <3 font="">
I'm grateful that I made the choice to join the course. Semarang made me realised that I should be more grateful of what I have back at home. Waaaayy more grateful. Semarang taught me loads of things that I will never get to learn in classes and in Malaysia. Thank you, Semarang ! Thank you for the adventurous two weeks which I'm starting to miss so much !
Aji made this video for us. Compilation of all our activities. Thank you again Aji ! You're the best !
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