Sunday,
Jan 21st 2018.
Sawaddi kha!
My name is Tivani Monic
Sandria, majoring Geography Education in Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP). Days
ago I have been selected to join the Seateacher program to Chiang Rai Rajabhat
University, Thailand. It’s the fifth batch, that will be held from Jan 20th
to Feb 18th. There are 14 delegations from UNP, 12 are joining
Seateacher program and the rest two joining the SeaTvet program.
The delegations from
UNP and two buddies for the exchange students. It was two days before my
departure time (20/1).
So, today is my
departure day from Padang, Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I bet you are
wondering why I take a flight to Malaysia, right? So let me explain why. First,
there’s no direct flight from Padang to Chiang Rai, Thailand. So i have to buy
separate flights. First, from Padang to Kuala Lumpur. And then Kuala Lumpur to
Chiang Rai, but i have to transit in Bangkok for 7 hours.
This is my first time
flight overseas the country and I’m so nervous. At 1.30 pm, me, my family, and
some friends drop me to Minangkabau International Airport. My friend Riska, the
delegation to Chiang Mai Rajabhat University arrived earlier than me. We take a
same flight to Kuala Lumpur, and tomorrow morning Riska would take a direct
flight to Chiang Mai while i’m taking the transit flight to Chiang Rai.
So both of us are
already checked in, drop our baggage, and then we go to the waiting room at 3
pm. Our departure time is 4.10 pm and we have to wait about 1 hour. After that
we take off from the airport and fly to Kuala Lumpur. It’s so glad that my seat
is next to the window so I can see the view from top, just like the Google
Earth’s view. I’m trying to recognized some places like the mountains, rivers,
and some landmarks. We arrived at Kuala Lumpur at 6.20 pm. Actually the flight
from Padang to Kuala Lumpur is only 1 hour 10 minutes. But Indonesia and
Malaysia has a different time. Indonesia is GMT+7 while Malaysia is GMT+8. So
Malaysia’s time is 1 hour ahead than Indonesia.
I and Riska passing the
immigration then claim our baggages. The immigration officer is so nice. She
asked me with her Melayu accent, “Nak kemane? Sendiri je ke Thailand?”.
After claim our
baggage, we have no idea where to go or what to do. So we just walking around
and get lost together. At around 7pm, I decided to change my Indonesia Rupiah
(IDR) with Malaysia Ringgit (MYR) because I’m so hungry and I need some food.
We go to the third
floor and find a halal restaurant there. It’s MAMAK restaurant. We order some
menu and take some rest while waiting. We stay in that restaurant like 2 hours
because we don’t know where to go. We have to sleep at the airport but still
can’t find a place. Finally we found a spot for sleeping, sharing with a
stranger, but she’s a nice person.
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