Departure Day

Sunday, Jan 21^st 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 20^th to Feb 18^th. 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.