Watching movie at Thailand Cinema (Week 1, Day 4)

Last night Aj. Aranya gave us choco steamed bun and chicken sausage to all room at the dormitory, so our breakfast today is choco steamed bun with a glass of milk. Because we don’t have any plans for today, I asked Nurul and Olivia to try watch movie at the cinema. I heard issue that cinema in Thailand is different with other country. Nurul don’t want to join because she have problem with her stomach. At 10.00 I and Olivia go to Major Cineplex at Tesco Lotus Supermarket, around 2,8km from VRU, we decided to go there by walk so we can see Thai people activity.

We arrive at Tesco Lotus at lunch time so we looking for the restaurant and the food price is expensive about 80-140 baht per portion. Okay, maybe we buy the movie ticket first. We go to second floor and choose the film, then we choose “Ghost Busters” movie. After that we go to ticket counter and ask for the ticket. The ticket counter is like vending machine, the screen show menu of movies with the schedule and there is a waitress to help us if we don’t understand. Unfortunately the waitress can’t speak English, so we just pointing the movie, choose the seat and ask for two tickets. The waitress shows us the price it’s cost 180 baht per person. After we pay, the ticket come out from the machine, of course we exited with the system because it’s very different with cinema in Indonesia. The movie start at 14.10 so we have 2hours for walk around.

Olivia is hungry, okay let’s find food here. We found food court at first floor and the food price range 60-90 baht hmmm not too expensive like in the restaurant. Because Olivia is a Christian she can eat everything but I’m a Moslem so I can’t eat pork. While Olivia waiting for her order, I try to find halal food but I can’t find one so I decided to eat after we go back to our dorm. After finish the food Olivia also buy milk tea.

The milk tea taste good, we walk around and drink the milk tea at the same time. When  the milk tea is exhausted, we try to find trash bin to throw it right? But we didn’t find any trash bin in first floor or in second floor. We ask the security where is the trash bin, and unfortunately again he can’t speak English too. Okay we open the google translate and show it to him, but he doesn’t understand too. We exhibit that we want to find trash bin to throw the cup away use body language but he still doesn’t understand. He called his friend to help him, and then there are three securities come to us and three of them also can’t speak in English too. Oh my god please, we just want to find a trash bin to throw the cup of milk tea away but why involve to three securities. I got an idea, I search the trash bin image and show them and they said “ooooh” (yes! They understand). One of them asks the cashier of supermarket and takes us to in front of the supermarket and let us to get in with happy face and speak in Thai. We confused why we have to get into supermarket to throw rubbish? You know? He thinks that we want to buy a trash bin so he ask us to get into supermarket and buy it there. What!!! Please, we just want to find a trash bin to throw a rubbish, have we buy a trash bin first? This is a big misunderstand, so we say thank you and go. I really can’t hold myself, I want to laugh so loudly even Olivia wants go to toilet because of that. And you know what? We find a trash bin in the toilet. Oh my god why we don’t think that way. Finally we can throw the cup of milk tea away. Thanks goodness.

At 14.10 we go inside the theatre and sit in our chair. Before the movie begin there are some trailers of another movie same like cinema in Indonesia, but after the trailers are finish there are Thailand national song with slide show of the king activity. All audiences stand up for respect the king, we also follow other audiences to stand up. After the song is finish they sit down again. Wow, It’s amazing, Thai people are very love and respect their king and their country anywhere anytime.

Okay let’s watch the movie, we are so excited and so happy. The movie is begun and . . . Oh my god (again) it’s dubbed by Thai language. We surprised and just can gape because we can’t understand anything. Finally we just try to enjoy the movie even we don’t understand it all.

After we finished,  we made an appointment to meet up with Nurul and Rahmi at the market. Then we buy a brush, mop, and clothes hangers. When we ask the price to cashier, she ask us where are we come from, and then say welcome to Thailand. Wow she can speak English, we are so happy for it. We also buy some rice for our dinner. There are many kind of rice at the rice shop, the seller ask something in Thai language but of course we don’t understand. He take his mobile phone, open the google translate and ask “what kind of rice do you want?”, then we just point at one of rice and he type again “jasmine?” and we say yes because we didn’t know anything about kind of rice.

At 18.30 we back to our dorm and have a dinner. Then I know that jasmine rice is the best rice I ever eat in Thailand, so if I want to buy rice again I have to buy jasmine rice. Well that was my experience today, maybe it looks stupid when I and Olivia want to throw a rubbish until three of securities come to help us and we watch movie but we don’t understand the language, but for me it’s a big experience that I will never forget.

Go to Ayutthaya Province (Week 1, Day 3)

Today I, Nurul, Olivia, Rahmi and Evan invited by Mat and Ing to went to Ayutthaya province, but we got announcement that the teacher coordinators Aj. Aranya and Aj. Tangmo will come to our dorm. So we prepared ourselves and ready to go. Aj. Aranya and Aj. Tangmo come to welcome us because this is our first meeting, they also give us information about our school, they said that student who placement at Boonkhum Ratbumroong school have to move into new dorm because the school is so far from VRU. I got surprised because Boonkhum Ratbumroong school is my placement school, so I ask them to see the new dorm first before we decided to move. I am glad that they allow us to see it first.

After the meeting with Aj. Aranya and Aj. Tangmo, we walked to in front of the university, Mat and Ing already waiting for us and they also bring their aunties to join us. At 10.39 we go to Ayyuthaya by van. After we reach Ayyuthaya we move from van and continue the journey by Tuk-tuk.

Tuk-tuk is a car that only have three wheel and looks like a fish I guess, tuk-tuk usually used to take the tourist to go arround in Thailand. We lease two tuk-tuk because each tuk-tuk only can bring 4-6 people and we are 9 people.

The first place of our tour is “Wat Chaiwatthanaram”. There are so many temples, start from little temple to the biggest one. Mat's auntie go to buy the ticket, after that she come and said to us that we don't talk with English language, Why? because she said that our face is looks like Thai people and she buy tickets for local citizen not for foreign, so we just act like Thai people and get in. It’s so beautiful, so we take a lot of photos here.

  That is ticket for local citizen just pay for 10 baht and for foreign 50 baht.

 After that the aunties take us to muslim café near Wat Chaiwatthanaram, the waiter is so friendly, even he try to speak in Indonesia language. I order Chicken Indian steam rice, and the taste was good and of course all food are halal.

 The second place is “Wat Tha Ka Rong”. It is a place where Buddhist pray and prepared for festival. I also see the people made big candles for new year celebration.

 

I see many people go to toilet, I wonder why, so I decided to go to the toilet. Do you know what I see? They decorate the way to go to the toilet beautifully, flowers everywhere. Maybe you will not believe if you just see the picture because it’s not like the way to toilet, it’s more like flower garden.

 

 Okay now we move to the third place “Wat Phu Khao Thog”. It is a big beautiful white temple which has so many stairs if you want to go upside. Aunties and mat don’t want to go upside because they are so tired, so I, Olivi, Nurul, Ing, Rahmi and Evan go upside, and we are really tired when we reach the upside of temple. When on the upside I heard Adzan from the nearest mosque. Subhanallah, it was my first time to hear Adzan in Thailand, and I’m so happy for it.

 

 Thailand is known as “The land of white elephant”, so the next destination of our journey is “Ayutthaya Elephant Palace”. There are so many elephants and we can feed them too with cucumbers. Although they called as White Elephants, but their color was actually dirty grey in color with a few pink spots. In Thai language elephant means “Chang”.

 When I take photo with the elephants, the baby elephant escape from the stall pass the fence, the visitors are surprised but laughing by the baby elephant doings.

 And the last place is “Wat Phra Si Sanphet”. It is the debris of temple, so the view is very exotic and we can feel historical sense there. Although it is debris of temple, but there are so many Buddhists come to pray. I also try pandanus steam cake and it’s so delicious hmmmm yummy.

 

 

 Because its already afternoon we decided to go back to Pathum Thani, Mat and Ing ask us about our dinner, but we still don’t know “maybe we will buy our dinner at FamilyMart” our reply. “No, no, you have to try Patay” said Mat. Patay is Thai traditional food, it is fried noodle with dried shrimps, tofu, bean sprouts and local celery. If you want, you can ask shrimp or seafood for topping. The taste was good but the portion was big, so I can’t eat it all.

 

 We come back to our dorm at 21.50, after take a bath we go to sleep. Today was a great day, thank you to Mat, Ing, the aunties, Nurul, Olivia, Rahmi and Evan.

First Arrival at Thailand (Week 1, Day 1&2)

Wake up at 02.00 I prepared to go from Bandung to Soekarno Hatta Airport (CGK) at Cengkareng, Indonesia. I go there by car with my family at 3 o'clock and arrived at 5.00 at CGK airport. We go to pray and have breakfast. I meet my friends Intan and Dinar, we are in same university and same flight. Check in at 08.00 after that go to immigration line, and we waiting inside.

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At 09.29 we get in to the plane and at 10.10 the plane is take off. It took 3,5 hours to go to Thailand. We are arrived at 13.35 and go to immigration line again, after that we waiting for our baggage. When we walking to arrival waiting room there are big banner of Valaya Alongkhon Rajabhat University (VRU) and two beautiful Thailand girls hanging my name , they are Ing and Mat who pick me up at the airport. Then Nurul from UNY, Rahmi and Evan from UPI coming too. After that while waiting for the van, coming Meen and Pond (Ing and Mat's friends), so four of them are our buddy while we are in Thailand. The van is coming at 15.30 , it took about 20-30minutes to go to VRU. Weather in Thailand is so hot, I got weather  shock here because in Bandung the weather is so cold. We got nice and clean dorm, each room fill by two person, so I shared room with Nurul. After praying, I, Nurul, Rahmi, Evan, Ing, Mat, Meen and Pond went to FamilyMart to buy lunch, then we went to Tesco Lotus Supermarket to buy SIM card. For the number it's cost 49baht and for the internet it's cost 220baht for a month. We go back to the dorm by taxi at 18.30. I got surprised because it still bright at that time, i just knew that in Thailand the day is longer than the night even the time is same with Indonesia. So, if maghrib (sunset) in Indonesia at 18.00, in Thailand maghrib at 18.50.

The next day, at 08.30, I and Nurul decided to explore the Uni, we walk around and also take some photos. There are many building like the Demonstration school of VRU, faculty of education, art and culture department, library, language center, artificial lake and the 15th building.

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Because the weather is very hot we decided to go back to the dorm at 13.00 and have lunch. After that the last participant of the program come named Olivia with her buddy Fatma, but Fatma didn’t bring the key of Olivia’s room, so she ask me and Nurul to let Olivia stay in our room for a while. Suddenly, the coordinator teacher from VRU come and explain that there is misunderstand about student participant data, so I think maybe it’s not too bad if three of us stay in a room together.

In the afternoon we decided to go to market outside VRU about 2 km from our dorm. It’s big market with hundred shops selling daily need and the price is very cheap.

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We walk around and buy some food and drink. The good thing I learned that even the people can’t speak in English, they try to communicate with us using Google Translate or write the price on a notebook.

Then we go back to the dorm around 19.45 and then have a dinner together in our room.