19 Southeast Asian influencers, 5 Indonesian online rockstars, 5 amazing days, 2 destination places, 1 amazing country! This is Trip of Wonders 2016 South East Asia Batch 3!
I feel very lucky and thankful to be part of this trip not just because I would be able to travel in Indonesia for the very first time, but also the fact that from thousands of amazing influencers out there, I was able to be included in the list! How awesome was that ?! I’m super glad that the Ministry of Tourism in Indonesia didn’t drop me off the list! 🙂
I felt ecstatically happy when I first receive the email invitation. My friend, Ruth Dela Cruz (read her blog: Day 0 – Trip of Wonders) was supposed to join the second leg first leg of the trip but hesitated and decided to rather join the last batch. Glad to know I’ll be travelling with someone I know. Yey!
I travelled to Macau, Hongkong, Singapore and Malaysia a few years back and glad to cross out Indonesia in my list. Its been my dream to travel within the neighbouring Southeast Asian countries and told my self to accomplish that with the span of three years. I know some would easily say that they could probably do that for a month or two (specially for the hardcore travellers) but because travelling could cost one a big amount of money, doing 2-3 destination within a year for me would just be okay.
Here are my traveling essentials. Hope I could be able to use all of my gears in this trip! Now off we go to Indonesia.
Travelling from Manila to Jakarta, Indonesia
Our flight from Manila was at 8 in the morning, meaning I needed to be at the airport by 5 a.m.. I was supposed to pick up Cha Ocampo along the way but because of an unexpected accident the night before, too bad she decided to back out on the trip.
I know that aside from Cha and Ruth, there are also other Filipinos joining. Seph Cham and Trice Nagusara was already at the airport when I came in (Trivia: Did you know that it was Trice’ first International trip! Nice). Ruth was also on her way, while I along with the travel bloggers Kirk Acebron and Julius Estur had the chance to get to know more while waiting to board.
(1) Fixing my hand carry bag from Urban Traveller (2) With Ruth (3) Some delegates from the Philippines, Seph, Trice, Lissa Kahayon, Ruth and me.
I haven’t met the other Filipinos on this trip and was excited to get to know them as well. I heard most of them were online rockstars! #fanning
(1) At KL, Malaysia Airport (2) Answering emails while waiting (3) the view while we wait at KL (4) filling up forms inside the plane. Btw, the pen came in handy inside the wallet that I bought from Belroy (UrbanTraveller)
The flight took us almost 6 hours from Manila with connecting flight in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to our final destination, Jakarta. From Soekarno Hatta International Airport, a bus waiting outside took us to our hotel.
The view at Soekarno Hatta International Airport
Other Filipino delegate includes Kisty Mea, Haley Dasovich, Lissa Kahayon, Kimi Juan, Thomas Caja, Pat Henson, Ashley Yee and Lilliane Co, who took a different flight to Jakarta.
Welcome Dinner at Swiss Belhotel Aiport
At the hotel, I was able to finally meet the lovely Leya and Vesta, who I have been exchanging e-mail since last month. From the Ministry of Tourism, Vesta acted as the head of the trip while Leya and Kama, who were introduce to us at the hotel, would be our coordinators. The other Indonesian Influencers was also tasked to assist us if we would be having any questions needed to be answered.
Early birds Thanis (from Brunei), Satya from Indonesia, Leya and Gzul from Brunei
Time to do a quick rest at Swiss Belhotel Airport, and prepare for an early welcome dinner.
The dinner gave us a quick introduction of what kind of cuisine we would be expecting in the trip. What I’ve notice is that they are like the other neighbouring countries who loves to eat anything spicy plus most of their foods are healthy eats, will tell you more of that in a different blog posts.
Each of the influencers were also given a moment to introduce themselves. I know I’ve been in the spotlight for quite a lot of time but still I have this feeling of always having butterfly in my stomach, each time i’ll be speaking in front of people. But I think, my short introduction was okay, explaining to everyone the things I do and also the story behind the blog “Nognog in the City.”
It was a bit sad that we wouldn’t be able to stay for long here in Jakarta. We don’t even have time to stroll around, but I know that a quick photoshoot can always be squeeze in. Thanks Ruth for this not-blurry amazing shot!
#NognogWears: Komono (Sunglasses), Memo (Tanktop), Evisu (Denim), Ed Hardy (Jogger Pants), Sperry (Shoes)
At the dinner, I was sitting together with some Filipinos and delegates from neighbouring countries. Thanis was a foodie from Brunei while Jia Qin was a writer/student in Singapore. Longdy was a Cambodian who works in Singapore while Sasha was a twitter rockstar/influencer in Indonesia. The two filipinos seated in our table was Kirk Acebron who works in a call center and Julius Estur who is practicing Law. Both of them are hardcore travel bloggers.
In total there were 5 Indonesian influencers who will help us in the trip, two influencers coming from Brunei, two from Singapore, one from Malaysia and the dominating race in this trip, 13 Filipino influencers.
The social gathering was filled with stories, cultures and expectations in this trip and lots of names that needs to be remembered. I can’t wait to share everything I’ve learned from this trip. Here is a quick highlights of our 5-day stay in Indonesia (Yogyakarta & Bali).
- Staying for three days in Yogyakarta to experience Bicycle tour and Sunrise at Borobudor.
- Learning about the culture by watching the Javanese dance, doing pottery, batik and visiting museums.
- Restaurant Hopping and Shopping at Yogyakarta.
- Two days in Bali to experience the unique Balinese life
- Balinese Cooking class, Nightlife and a visit at the beach.
#NognogWears: Komono Watches & Shades. Speaking of time, there is no time difference between Manila & Jakarta Indonesia so no need to adjust your watches.
More of the stories soon ... #NognoginIndonesia is a trip sponsored by Ministry of Tourism. Check out the tags #TripofWonders & #WonderfulIndonesia to find out the destinations we visited.
