Adventure going to Jogjakarta, Indonesia

8-hour layover.

That's the summary of our journey from Manila, Philippines going to Yogyakarta in Indonesia to attend the Southeast Asia Outreach Summit organized by Google for the different communities (GDG, GBG, GSA, and MapMaker) in SEA.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

There's 25 of us travelling from the Philippines. We left Manila a little after 9:30 PM via Cebu Pacific going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While waiting for our flight, the GDG Managers from the Philippines (+Jomar+Josan+Reymart+Theo+anne+Ruben, and I) decided to use the time to discuss our DevFest 2013 plans. I also purchased from National Bookstore a new passport cover! Hihi.

GDG Managers from the Philippines

During our flight, Jomar suddenly had a headache. I am not sure if it's flight sickness or something else, but he was in so much pain that he could not sleep.

After 4 hours in the air, we found ourselves in Kuala Lumpur International Airport Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (KLIA LCCT). We were welcomed by people from the Plaza Premium Lounge (PPL). After making sure everyone is accounted for, we went through the usual lines for immigration, and we're off to chill and calm down at the PPL. Our flight is 9:45 AM the following morning.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Since we arrived in KL at around 12:45 AM already, everyone is hungry and finished what was left in the food buffet at the PPL. Since Jomar had a headache, I got him some soup and banana bread and gave him some medicine. After a few minutes, he's back and healthy. We decided to explore the airport, and I even exchanged some of my Philippine Pesos to Malaysian Ringgit so I could keep some for my money collection. Now that we have Malaysian Ringgit, we decided to try Marry Brown's chicken nuggets, and fish and french fries (Marry Brown is like their version of Jollibee). It was nice! I had fun exploring what was still awake at the airport.

We fell asleep at around 3:00 AM and are awake by approximately 5:00 AM. Not bad since we're sleeping on couches. We had breakfast at the lounge and decided to check-in our luggage already. Our flight this time is c/o AirAsia. Jomar and I explored the departure hall and even purchased keychains for my keychain collection.

After waiting for more than 8 hours, our flight took off and had to endure the near zero-visibility because of the forest fire in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Yogyakarta Adisucipto International Airport

We arrived at the Yogyakarta Adisucipto International Airport, and I suddenly had an appreciation of our airports in the Philippines. The arrival hall was small, and we had to fight our way to find our bags since everything is just on the floor. We then had to line-up again (there were no lines, actually) for bag security check.

We found our Google guides outside the airport and exchanged some of our money to Indonesian Rupiah. We rode the bus with the other delegates from the Google communities in Malaysia and Thailand.

Day 1: Southeast Asia Outreach Summit

We arrived in Hyatt Regency Yogyakarta which looked like a mansion surrounded by lush trees. We had to (again) line-up for the registration to get our room keys, as well as our goodie bags for the Summit. After freshening up and having our lunch, we changed into our national costumes then went to the event. After all the sharing and talk about the successes of the communities in Southeast Asia, the group is divided into their own track. We went to the GDG track and met the other leads from other countries. I was seated beside the lead from Sri Lanka (+Keshan) and Thailand (+Wittaya). We learned so much from what was discussed yesterday.

Later that evening, we had drinks with the other GDG leads, our Mommy Chelle, Tatay Uttam, and Godfather Van. We also had fun getting to know each other.

We all went to bed at 11:00 PM tired but happy.

Word for the day: #gdg #wisdom #gottashare

Today is day 2 of the summit! We'll try to blog again tomorrow morning or later today.

Good morning from Yogyakarta!

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