Europe Trip : Departure Day

--October 19, 2011
big news: before lunch time, an offer to have
an educational trip to Holland and Belgium.
there's a chance to have extend trip for 3 days 2 nights.
deadline to decide the extend plan, after lunch time before 5:00 PM.
decision: an extend to Germany, to Cologne and Frankfurt.

not a good news: departure date 14 November 2011, less than a month!
Schengen visa, flights and trains tickets, hotels confirmations,
travel insurance, tour itinerary? let's pray!
--November 01 2011
Schengen visa applications procedure at Netherland Embassy.
with all the documents ready, arrived at the embassy at 07:15,
appointment at 08:00. tic toc tic toc, yes, i was so nervous!

--November 09 2011
got the Schengen visa! yes, Europe, i am coming!!

(yeah, i don't like my photograph either.. *sigh)

--November 14 2011
Still went to the office for half day working. :)
after lunch, went home, took all the luggages, went to the airport.
arrive at the airport at 17:10, flight departure at 20:55.




flights details :
from CGK to SIN, SIN to MUC, MUC to AMS
a long long long journey! haha!

yeah, since the flights are done by our office, looking for the suitable
arrival time for me in Amsterdam at AM time before the lunch time,
then i got 3 connecting flights from Jakarta to Amsterdam,
all by Lufthansa.

i really don't mind about it, i was still too excited for this trip.
even i didn't gave concern about the transit time for each flight. :P
so after departure from Jakarta (CGK) to Singapore (SIN) at 20:55,
arrived at 22:55 Singapore time, transit for 1 hour.

okay, before everyone ask, i will explain one thing.
what i'm doing in Europe with this educational trip? :)
based on my job that i'm doing works for Japan office
for making tour itineraries, in Europe i joined a Japanese group for a tour.
after arrived in Amsterdam Schiphol,
i met the group which came from Tokyo,
and then joined them for the next 7 days, went to Holland and Belgium.
i walk, entrance the places, eat, drink,
sit and took the same bus with them.
my job? observation. :) nice isn't it? :P

----------------------------------------------------
from Jakarta to Singapore, i was too tired for anything,
traffic jams from office to home, home to the airport, yes exhausted.
had a window seat, and just minutes after i took my seat,
a guy took the seat beside me, my first tought, a foreign college student.
then i slept!

after around 30 minutes sleep, i woke up just when
the stewardess offered snack and drink.
a chicken sandwich and orange juice.
took a light journey to the entertainment screen, but then i felt no interest.
i saw the guy beside me just had finished his snack,
and why not for a chat? :)

slap me for my first thought of him! a college student?!
yeah, such a young face, but after the introduction, my jaw dropped!
he's a Ph.D from St Gillen University, Switzerland people!
we had an interesting talk about what's he's doing (a study with ITB),
how Jakarta traffic made him stayed hours
in the airport to avoid miss the flight,
and how Indonesian people are crazy about the Facebook and Twitter.
but then, after trade our Facebook address, we landed in Changi airport,
i took the transit line, and he went to
the imigration gate for enter Singapore.
then i thought, i should have talks with the
person who will have a seat beside me
on the next flight to Munich for sure! :D
after 1 hour transit, took the same plane,
with more longer journey, to Munich.
idea: would like to have chats with the person
who will take seat beside me.
reality: empty seat. hahahaha!

12 hours flight it was, from Singapore, to India region,
then to the arabian gulf region.
i woke up at the mid night, and then saw
a military jet just passed our plane,
check the flight information on the screen, and voila!
just passed Baghdad, Irak!

dinner time! dinner on board by Lufthansa.
how it tasted? it was the first encounter for my tongue
to the 'real' European food taste!
hahaha! if i we're in Indonesia, i would called the food as taste less. :(
but it was good afterall, ate it all. especially the bread with the jams,
orange juice, and red wine for sure for a good sleep! :P

had a time to check my preparation.
checked the Cologne and Amsterdam maps,
marked the route from the stations to the hotels, etc.
still, so excited with what i'm going to face at that time!

and there goes my first day, ended with me watching
the black sky outside the window,
leaving the middle east, entering Europe.
thank you God, for a dream came true.