Philippines, 19-22 July 2018
Assalamualaikum guys….
This time, I will tell you my experience when I visited Philippines 19-22 July 2018. What did I do in Philippines? Actually, I joined the youth exchange program from Intercultural Friendship Society or IFS (you can get more information at ifs.or.id). Its name is Friendship from Indonesia Philippines. Total members who have joined this program are exactly 21 participants.
This time, I will tell you my experience when I visited Philippines 19-22 July 2018. What did I do in Philippines? Actually, I joined the youth exchange program from Intercultural Friendship Society or IFS (you can get more information at ifs.or.id). Its name is Friendship from Indonesia Philippines. Total members who have joined this program are exactly 21 participants.
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| Friendship From Indonesia Philippines Delegates at Indonesia Embassy |
I
arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday 19 July 2018. I
arrived at Terminal 1 around 10 am by used Jet Star Flight. My first impression
when I saw this terminal was (I have to say sorry before) this airport like bus
station in Indonesia. Maybe because it is the old building. Meanwhile, my
friends said in terminal 3 is much better because of the new building. Okey,
I hope it’s true because I would fly back to Indonesia through terminal 3.
While
waiting for the other participants arrived, me, one of participant, Poppy, and
two committees Ardi (Indonesian) and Christian (Filipino) were had lunch at
Mang Inasal in Mall of Asia (MOA), the biggest mall in Southeast Asia. On the
way to MOA and hotel, I looked the environment and situation of Manila. It
looks like Jakarta. But, the urban planning in Jakarta is better than Manila,
especially for drainage. I found some flood spots and there are no good
drainage to solve it.
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| From left to right : Christian (Filipino), Me, Poppy, and Ardi (Indonesian) |
What about the traffic jam? Jakarta and Manila have to work hard to solve the traffic jam by the way. Both of those cities have same problem in traffic jam. But, in Manila the amount of motorcycle is lesser than Jakarta. For the public transportation, Philippines has a unique vehicle, Jeepneys. Meanwhile, Indonesia has angkot as one of public transportation.
What did we do in Philippines?
Our
activities in Philippines are visited Indonesia Embassy, De La Salle
University, and volunteer activity in Bahay Pag Asa. I have shared detail story
in De La Salle University and Bahay Pag Asa at Bahay Pag Asa : The House of Hope from Philippines. You can read that post.
Hehe.
In
Indonesia Embassy, we discussed about the friendship between Philippines and
Indonesia. We also talked about the education system in Philippines. Overall,
Indonesia has better education system and technology. But, Philippines has
better human resources because of their second language, English. The ability
to speak English is one of advantage of human resources in Philippines. In
contrast, Indonesia has limited access to compete in the International career
because of English skill.
Philippines Cuisine
For Muslim visitors, you have to choose carefully the food that you eat. In
Indonesia or Malaysia, It is easy to find halal food. On the other hand, it’s
harder to find halal restaurant in Philippines because the majority religion is
Catholic.
When we visited MOA, we choosed Mang Inasal because it’s grilled chicken and the taste is yummy. It has a special oil as a compliment. Christian said it is chicken oil. Not only tasty, Mang Inasal also has big size chicken.
When we visited MOA, we choosed Mang Inasal because it’s grilled chicken and the taste is yummy. It has a special oil as a compliment. Christian said it is chicken oil. Not only tasty, Mang Inasal also has big size chicken.
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| Mang Inasal Chicken |
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| The red one is special chicken oil in Mang Inasal |
Unfortunately, I didn’t eat many Philippines’s cuisine. One of the famous Philippines food is Balut. Balut is the boiled bird egg (usually duck egg) but it contain of the growing embryo. I gave up, I couldn’t eat it. Hahaha. While in Philippines, I just tried Mang Inasal and Jolibee fried chicken. Because of Halal Status, I had limited option of food.
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| Balut |
Oh ya,
one of difference thing between Indonesia and Philippines is the taste of the food. Indonesia has spicy
and strong taste. In contrast, Philippines cuisine has sweet taste. Thus, Indonesian
people have to bring “Bon Cabe” to complement your food in Philippines. I can’t
eat spicy food actually. But, in Philippines, I still need Bon Cabe or Chili
sauce.
My Impression about Philippines
In
general, I actually didn’t enjoy Philippines too much. First, because I couldn’t
enjoy the local cuisine especially the street food. I wasn’t sure it is halal
or no. Second, I came when Philippines got Henry Storm. So, it brought extreme
rains and flood. Moreover, one of my friend’s umbrella was broken because of
the storm. In conclusion, my suggestion for the people who want to visit Philippines
especially for Indonesian,don’t forget to bring Bon Cabe or chili sauce,
umbrella, and flip-flops.
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| Henry Storm at Rizal Park : Don't forget to bring your umbrella and flip-flops |
Photo by : Me, Ervina, Oky, IFS
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