I am Home:The Phlippines (March 2013)

So i posted this quite late, but i would like to share about my first days in the Philippines.

I arrived in Clark's Diosdado Macapagal International airport, in Pampangan, about 2 hours drive north of Manila.And I was welcomed by my very warm-hearted and super nicely friendly local, Darby.

I know him from couchsurfing. I sent a request to stay in his house for a night and he was ok with my request. He detailed all the explanation about how to reach him and when and where to meet. I met him in the Mall in Pampanga.

We introduced ourselves and before we headed to his house he asked me to join him shopping for foods. I was so excited to join with local to shop. Actually I was hungry since i didn't get any meals (meals mean rice for me :p ) just grabbed bread while waiting for him. Actually he was 23 and i was about too turn 22 that time. i am struggling to pursue my bachelor degree but he is already working in very nice place in government for SME program (CMIIW). The first thing that awed me.

What we purchased in the super market? (i didn't buy any from there anyway. only he did). He bought some seasonings to cook and vegetables. Then in the midst of shopping he showed me the 'java rice' derived from java island in Indonesia (when i live) and rice. They call that one because they think it's originally from there. I'll tell you what the java rice is later in Javanese's view.

We were all done shopping, time to go back home! (his home). Before we went to small money changer stall in the local market, so surprised that they even had money changer in this place, then i was thinking about the abundant of balikbayan. We rode a tricycle (pronounced traih-seeh-kohl) to reach his home. it was motor tricycle, and it took about 8 minutes to reach his house. a bit near but he told me that he thought i might be tired so he didn't want to ask me to walk. And to be hones, i was so tired but i pretended to be ok. 

Oh finally, home in local filipino. I met Mrs. Bognot who opened the door for us. She was very nice mom and friendly. She's definitely mommy. Darby handed over the stuffs he bought to his Mom. We talked a bit about where i was from, my activity, bl bl blaaaa. Then he asked me to wait a moment while she will cook for our dinner. I was so happy to have that one, dinner with local family. But i know it wouldn't take 5 minutes to prepare and cook the all. So I chilled out in living room, put off all my bags to the floor. I was still unsure where i would sleep that night.

Darby was going upstairs to change his working attire then he went downstairs. He asked me to join him seeing around the city. He has hobby for jogging and running (which is those are not me, i am not that physical fit hehehe). Okay we went out the door started roaming the road in the dusk. A few minutes later we passed intersection with under reconstruction food eateries mall. He told me about how the young people spent their night in weekend. We continued jogging (actually walking) to see his University. His uni looked small compared to mine, but it was the best uni in that province (i guessed) and nice church he and his family belong to.

We were quite tired then we stopped for young coconut. He bought me a plastic of sweetened young coconut water, for 10 Pesos. We walked after several minutes we met a child beggar, she begged to us (and i was saying inside that she was begging to the wrong person). Suprisingly, Darby gave his unfinished drink and i gave nothing. I was thinking it was rude to give that, then  it turned out that it was normal in the philippines. You cant do that in Indonesia,, here the beggars dont want anything but money only. enough with that surprised, we stopped again to fish ball stall to buy that street snacks, i was loving that snack, cheap and delicious.

We ventured back to home, and actually i was getting hungrier than before and hoped for the dinner soon. We arrived home and surprised, the dinner was not yet ready hahahaha. Then okay I stopped thinking about dinner, i thought about where to sleep. Then darby invited me to go upstairs and asked me to bring all my belongings but shoes down. Yeah, that the place i slept, darby's private room. I'll say that his room was very cool. not that big but enough for everything. very well-packed, sophisticated but simple. I still remember that room. He gave me additional mattress  for me to sleep. we talked a bit and just to-knot-each-other time. His mom then called out to go to dinning room to have dinner. Anyway, his father was home too. Mr. Bognot was so friendly as well, less talkative, looked firm but nice.

The foods were ready! Mrs. Bognot served us the steamed rice, chicken (with curry and it was not spicy), stirred fried eggplant, and java rice! She asked me about Java rice. So Java rice in the philippines is Rice cooked with special seasoning that makes it yellowish look and it tastes like 'nasi goreng jawa' in Indonesia. So basically we call it Fried Rice here in Indonesia.

Mrs. Bognot was TV series lover. She has very good knowledge and very nice to talk to. We were done with all the dinning, it was late time to go to bedroom. 

So it was time to sleep!! No I mean. Darby was very smart guy. He knew almost everything I knew but i knew few what he knew. There was no dull in our conversation. We decided to watch a movie from my laptop, so we watched Hindi movie called ENGLISH VINGLISH, and I think he must have loved that movie. We talked about random things so there was no dull of use till the time clicked to 1 am, he had to work in the morning so time to officially sleep.

Amazing "RACE" Journey: Clark DMIA (The Philippines)

Clark, Diosdago Macapagal International Airport (DMIA)

AA Notification

I was supposed to depart from KLIA LCCT at 9 am, then Air Asia changed the flight at 9 pm and scheduled to arrive at 00.30 in the next day. It was not planned before and i was shocked hearing this info.

KLIA LCCT

After short one day trip to Batu Caves and Petaling Street, i came back to LCCT Using the same bus without purchasing new ticket since i bought round way ticket. I was sleeping again along the way to go to LCCT. There was nothing to see along the way actually, so i am not disappointed. I lost my cap in KL, I forget where i put it on.

Arriving in LCCT very early to catch my flight, I decided to go surfing on Internet since i had bought Malaysian Power plug in Petaling Street for 8 RM. I was still worried about myself in DMIA since in many information told me that This airport was not operating 24 hours and none was allowed to sleep in This Airport. I tried to be calm and keep surfing. I used this opportunity to talk with my friends and chat with them in the same time. after 2 hours, i decided to check-in, in here i used self check-in. It was so easy and i did not need to queue in the check in counter since i did not book the baggage. That’s the reason too why i checked-in by using this facility  so that they would not pay attention of my bags which might exceed the threshold for 7 kg.

Once i finished checking-in, i went to Immigration, i passed the immigration and also the belonging security check. The lounge inside the airport was fascinating, it was far from the name LCCT. It was about 2 hours before the flight and i had not yet took any shower yet since the previous day and i was sweating a lot in KL. I wandered and finally found shower room. the room was quite big without any hanging port to hang our belongings. In order to keep my belongings safe and dry, i put all on the very corner of the shower room and splashed my body slowly to keep my belongings. About 10 minutes i finished showering, i changed my clothes ans pant. I was using long pants with long sleeve shirt, and then i used only short pants(sport short pants) and T-Shirt. I was different with any others passengers who looked so fancy with their outfits.

I was so thirsty and i forgot to tap water to my bottle outside and there was no any free-tap water available inside the boarding room. i bought one small bottle of Mineral water for 1.5 RM in shop upstairs. This shop sells many sweets made from spices. They had free-try-for-costumer sample. I tried all the products for free to keep my stomach full. They were so spicy-ishly sweet and i was happy to have them for free. After this, my flight was finally called to depart. The flight took more than 3 hours and it became the longest flying i took so far (till may 2013).

Diosdado Macapagal International Airport

Flight was smoothly arriving in the LARGE Landing area i ever saw, it looked even LARGER than Changi Airport i think for landing area. I was still worried about what i could do to save my life without spending money for hostel. And also i read before that DMIA was far from city center, no more bus in the midnight since the last bus/jeepney leaving DMIA at 10.30pm.

I kept positive. I walked out from the aircraft and in the halfway i remember my book which i put my money inside. I run again approaching the aircraft and walked into it. The stewards there was shocked knowing his passenger coming back to cabin. He asked me what i left. I said that i left my book. However, the book was not there and i lost 60 RM in the same time. I walked out again from the cabin sadly and felt embarrassed with the cabin crews. I lost the money that every single penny was very important.

My fear was not ending, it was more fluidized this time. After I wrote the immigration card which i had to state the place i would stay and the period, i was leaving them blank. I joined the line to go to immigration. There were only 2 available counters for foreigner. i saw group with couples of middle age Indonesians. They kept speaking bahasa. I was standing behind one of them. When they talked to each other they mentioned their hotel, the name was PALM HOTEL. I had no idea about this hotel or hostel. Then when i was about to proceed myself to immigration, i wrote PALM HOTEL, Manila to my immigration card and 1 day for the period. The officer did not ask me anything about it and i could proceed to the next stage, which is going out the airport. I was so shocked since the terminal was so small for international airport.

I walked against the immigration to proceed to exit. It was really late, no stores open, except 24 hours convenient stores outside the arrival. I starred figuring out what i could do. There were some hard benches and taxi drivers offered me to go to city. The best thing and made me release all my fears was there were some people sleeping on the bench. I found out the best spot for me to sleep.

Sleeping on the floor and bench in DMIA (Midnight)

I was afraid of my belongings since there were some people there. I hugged my bags and slept beautifully. It was about 5 am and i was woken up by the sound of plane there. I just realized that DMIA was the military zone airport. I was some military aircraft equipped with some equipment i watched in war movies.

Good Morning DMIA

I got flu that time, i walked in and out to toilet until the office boys starred at me. Then when i could not see clearly what happened out there i remembered my glasses. I sought it to toilet and i did not find it until the officer approached me asking what made me go back and forth. Then he actually found my glasses and gave it back to me. That was the best first impression in the Philippines, also the first time i interacted with Filipino in The Philippines land.

The sun came up and the heat hit the area of DMIA. The helicopters and flight passengers started coming, the shops also started opening. When i was walking, there was a guy shouting “DARI DEPOK MAS?” (are you from depok?). I was so shocked that somebody knew Bahasa and where i am staying in Indonesia.  He recognized me from the goody bag i brought stated UNIVERSITAS INDONESIA. Then we talked to each other and he planned to stay only 2 days in Manila and he was waiting for PhilTranco, bus to go to Manila. Anyway, his name is Putra.

I knew that in DMIA (and in the Philippines) that we had to pat Terminal Tax and it cost me 450 PHP in DMIA, However it was discounted since in NAIA (Nino Aquino International Airport) in Manila costed 600 PHP. I knew then why DMIA was called THE MOST AFFORDABLE AIRPORT in Asia.

Cheap Breakfast?

Since i had no any Peso, i Withdrew in ATM for 1000 PHP and i had to pay the charge for 100 PHP. I was hungry and finally i had money that time. i went into Convenient store. I bought Banana, Bread with custard inside, and also mineral water. They costed me 51 PHP.

My flight was at 12-ish in the midday. I went into the airport. I did not print

my Ticket and at first the door lady asked me about it. she at firat did not allow me to get in. i showed them my passport then they allowed me.

I myself saw how small this airport, but they were equipped with wifi, and also it was very nice in this small airport.

Expense in DMIA

ATM Fee 100 PHP

Breakfast 51 PHP

Terminal Fee 450

total: 601 PHP

Pampanga Province from above

Kiss Down- Angeles City.

Touched Down the Philippines, Mabuhay!!

It was 4.20 pm in Philippines’ time. I arrived [again] in Clark Airport with AirAsia. The flight from Taiwan was good. One thing that i am surprised about this airport is they do not check our bags, we just need to fill the paper that stated that we are bringing or not certain good, but they do not even check out bags. They already believe from previous checking security.

When i arrived in airport, i just brought NT Dollar (New Taiwan Dollar). Then i approached the money changer inside the arrival gate, and they only accepted USD. FYI, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport is small. They only one terminal, so you will not get lost to this airport.

The Air conditioned Jeepney with swarms of Passengers 

Then i decided to withdraw money by using ATM, The ATM in The Philippines charged me PHP 200 for each withdrawal. Then i had to be in Nepo Mall in Angeles City to meet my Host. The cheapest way is by using public transportation. The public transportation in The Philippines is notoriously called JEEPNEY, A modified Jeep i think. And also there are several taxis waiting outside, also Buses to go to Manila (about 2 hours). There was a guy with sign “JEEPNEY to SM Mall, Angeles City, And Dau Bus Terminal), then i approached him and he told me to go to his Jeepney. The jeepney costs PHP 50 to go out, and the jeepney is air conditioned, that’s why it’s little bit expensive for me. The journey to get to the main gate of Clark Airport is about 15 minutes. We passed the army base camp and barracks. The main gate is in C-Point (they call it that name) near the SM Mall. Then i had to find jeepney, blue jeepney with sign written “C-POINT-HOLLY-HI WAY”. Then i tried to figure it out, the i saw a jeepney with that sign. I decided to hop on and asked to the driver whether this jeepney was going to those mall or not. The jeepney run OK. Since i am Indonesian and i used to live with chaos situation, the traffic, unruled thingies happened. A little bit shock since i was coming from Taiwan.

The first thing came in my mind was that Angeles city, or pampangan, is quite big and crowded. Jeepneys are everywhere. The rule that just knew from Jeepney in the Philippines is people pay just right after hopping into. When i was in the jeepney, a young lady hopped to the Jeepney, then she gave me money, 8 PHP. Then i just starred at her, the another lady  took the money and gave to the driver. Then i realized it’s money for the driver. Did i pay after that? No, i am still Indonesian, i pay when i hop off. Then i saw the mall, JENRA MALL. Then i knocked the jeepney and asked whether that was right or not. Then i paid 8 PHP (As my friend said to me). I walked through the crowd of the street. It reminded me about Jakarta. Then i decided to buy Local SIM CARD. Then i went to the cellphone stall just right in front of the mall. The lady told me the Best provider, and yes, i bought it, no clue whether she was saying true or not, or she was the ambassador of that product? Who knows. Then with my backpack and 2 handy bags, i entered the mall. The security checked, then I PASS!! I was so happy. Heehehe

Having the SIM CARD, now how i could use it? I saw the convenient store next to the entrance gate, i forgot the name. I bought Mineral Water costing 39 PHP for 1500Ml (IT’S QUITE COSTLY FOR ME), sit for awhile, inserted my card to phone. AND YES, IT WORKED without any registration, i was so surprised. Then i texted my friend (the name will be mentioned on the next post :p), he replied so fast, and it’s FREE hahahah but the credit in my phone just 1 PHP, so it’s fair enough, it was not free then i realized. He asked me to go to another mall, NEPO MALL, just right next to JENRA Mall. He asked me to wait in 3rd floor, in the food court. AND THE STORY BEGAN!!! (to be continued)