Third Day in Indonesia

Last Day of SEARCH Summit

It was the last day of the SEARCH Summit. Time flies when you're having fun! We're having fun and making friends in Jogja. Now, I have acquaintances and friends from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and more places! Thank God for blessing us with opportunities like this.

We had another excellent breakfast even if +Jomar and I woke up late. We had GDG Managers sharing their experiences the rest of the morning: +Samdy (+GDG Phnom Penh) shared about how to keep the community engaged. Next, +Ruben (+GDG Cebu) shared about collaboration between the groups. Then, +Louis (+GDG Singapore) shared about the success of their work with the government to create a contest in making useful applications using big data. Lastly, +Josan (+GDG Cagayan de Oro) shared about the success of their Student Developer's Day. We learned so much and had bonded over the last few days. The SEA GDG Managers is the best group ever!

Right before we leave for Borobudur
Photo from Mama +Chelle

We, later on, had swags exchange. I got many things, and I haven't even opened them yet. Godfather Van and Mama Chelle, also placed GDG tattoo on our left hand. It was cool. Sadly, the summit had to end as some of our community leads have flights to catch going back to their own countries.

Swags Exchange!
Photo by +Samdy Lonh

Josan's left hand with the GDG tattoo
Photo by +Josan Astrid Dometita

Borobudur Temple

Right after the SEARCH Summit, the GDG Leads from SEA went to a Borobudur field trip! We were riding the bus with +Van, +Uttam, and Mama +Chelle. They were having fun on the bus - singing and laughing.

Wacky GDG SEA Managers!
Blurry moving bus picture through the front camera of my tablet

We arrived there an hour before they close. We climbed the stairs leading to the highest point of the temple. We were teasing each other and are generally just enjoying this magnificent temple. We learned that it is one of the oldest (if not, the oldest) Buddha temple around the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many Indonesian teenagers were taking a picture with Van (like he's some celebrity LOL!). We also purchased our temple key chains!

Balinese Dinner: Ikan Bakar Jimbaran

After the tiring trip, we all returned to our rooms in Hyatt to freshen up then went to Jimbaran restaurant to have dinner. We ate with our bare hands. We had spice clams, calamari, and so much more! We even discovered how closely related our languages were with the word Kang Kong (Philippines), Kang Kung (Indonesian), and Pang Kung (Thailand) - it's the same vegetable.

Group Photo during Dinner
Photo from Mama +Chelle

After dinner, Mama Chelle and I discussed that we (Reymart, Josan, Jomar, and I) should stay in Hyatt instead of moving to a different hotel. With that said, we looked at the fine print of our reservations and decided to visit the Pop Hotel. It was a colourful hippie hotel. It was decent for PHP 3,400.00 for two nights. But since we wanted the pool and breakfast buffet, we stayed in Hyatt.

So after arranging the necessary paper works in Pop, we went back to Hyatt and was adopted by different rooms. +Jomar shared the room with +Wittaya, +Reymart was with +Vince, +Josan shared the room with +Pat, and Mama +Chelle welcomed me into her room. Now, we only have to pay for one more night in Hyatt. +Yansen (+GBG Indonesia Country Champion) helped us get the new ones at a discounted corporate rate. Thanks, Yansen!

GDG Leads Midnight Full Moon Swimming Party

Yes, the day isn't over. After going back to Hyatt from Pop Hotel, +Jomar, +Josan, +Reymart, Mama +Chelle, +Wittaya and I went down to the pool. I gave +Keshan a call as well to inform him that we're planning to swim. There, we saw +jimmy and +Oreka already enjoying the full moon. We were playing around, teasing each other, and laughing so hard as some of the boys decided to try the dry pool slide. They weren't sliding! It was funny! We transferred to the other part of the river-shaped pool. By this time, Ola, +Dan, and Eleonor joined us in the pool and called it the GDG Full Moon Swimming Party. Dan and Ola had the pictures, so I have no idea how we look. All I know is I had fun.

The Paradise - Hyatt Hotel during the morning

That was one fun day-night! I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. That's the first full moon swimming party I had, and hopefully, it won't be the last.