Hey again everyone! In this blog I’m going to be sharing about my 3 days trip to Balikpapan with my mom and dad! and also the reason why I wasn’t able to join last week’s Scout activity from Klub Oase hehe- This is also going to apply for the tasks we were given from scout of making a journal, one of them is about making data for plants in our envoirment but since I didn’t come to Scout activity I’m given a choice to wright about either the scout activities before or the things we do when not in scout and sooooo.. this is what I chose! Alright let’s get started!
On wednesday I had a piano exam the day before we went to balikpapan. I arrived at YPM (Yayasan Pendidikan Musik) the place I have piano lessons and the place I’ll be having my exam at 3:00 PM with my mom. my teacher Kak Tasha told me to stand by around that time. I could possibly join the Scout activity since we usally end at 12:00 PM but I decided to use most of my morning for practicing. It’s quite a tough exam to be honest!
I got number 18 for my order, so I had to wait for about 30 minutes to get my turn. I chat with my close friend Eva using the time before the exam to get rid of the nervousness running through us- her number order was 17 so she went in first and I went in before her.
I was so relieved when the exam was finished! There are some slips from the songs I played that I wished I could’ve done better and redo it but that’s nothing to worry about now! I’ll be going on a trip with my family tomorrow! 😀
Day 1: Meeting my Dad!
The next day I was woken up by my mom at around 4:30 AM. I was so excited cause I’ll finally get to see my dad again after almost a week. The reason we went to balikpapan was actually because my dad had training from his office since Sunday last week and he said we could also join him but that’s after I finish with the piano exam I had.
We prepared our belongings and was dropped off at Ciputra world 1 with my Grandma and rode JA connection Bus to the Airport Soekarno Hatta. It ‘s very kind of my grandma to drop us off this early in the morning. We made it at the airport around 7:30 AM but our flight was at 10:15 AM so we still have a spare of 3 hours to wait.
There is one thing that I’ve discovered about travelling.. Whenever I go somewhere far I always seem to get hungry more easily- Haha I don’t know maybe it’s just me who always feels this way– XD
So.. Something we rarely do when in airports. I ate maccaroni with hot milk as a beverage before our flight came. The plane we’ll be boarding is Citilink but there was a bit of the delay dew to bad weather(?) but that was only for about 15 minutes so we boarded the plane at 10:30 AM.
The flight took 2 hours for us to make it to the airport in Balikpapan, I slept through out the flight cause that’s what I normally do in planes hehe.. As we were about to land the pilot suddenly informed us that the rain was drizzling hard at balikpapan! Making it not safe for us to land. They said for us to wait around 5 – 10 minutes for the rain to dry out a little but if the rain still remains the same we had to make a few changes for the landing spot and move to Makasar! I was a bit concerned, sounds of the passengers complaining can be heard, it’s a long way from Makasar to Balikpapan! But my mom remained calm and told me to do the same.
A few minutes has passed and we were still going in circles in the air waiting for the rain to calm a bit down. Thankfully after 10 minutes of waiting we landed at the airport safe and sound! I was so glad and relieved. Me and my mom waited for the other passengers to get off the plane and went along. The time in Balikpapan is 1 hour ahead of Jakarta so it’s 3:30 PM when we made it meaning it’s still 2:30 PM in Jakarta.
The airport was surprisingly connected to a Mall! So I ate first before heading to the hotel called Jatra where I’ll be staying and finally meeting my dad!
We rode a taxi to the hotel, the place wasn’t as far as I expected. As soon as we made it, it wasn’t any ordinary hotel- we were dropped off at the entrance of a mall! What is this? Are we supposed to go shopping or something? XD
As we went inside the entrance, the hotel was just a couple blocks away from the mall. Both of the buildings were connected to each other as well! Woah so many connected buildings- it’s pretty convenient though!
My mom contacted my dad to inform that we’ve made it to the hotel, he said he’s still in the middle of a training session so we got the room keys that my dad kept with the receptionist for us and went up the lift to room 836 on the 8th floor
“HUEHUEHUEEE Time to break in Papa’s room!”
Was the thought I had when opening the door to our room XD the place was really great and comfy in my opinion! The first thing that caught my eye was there is this huge glass pane window that lets us see through the bathroom and I was like “Uuuuhh how are we going to get some privacy here…?” XD but turns out there’s a curtain we can pull down to cover it haha!
Me and my mom setteled in and waited for my dad to come back, as we were about to fall asleep the door bell suddenly rang! YES HE’S HEREEEEE!
I gotta say I have one crazy family to be honest XD I immediately opened the door and as soon as I saw my dad I almost screamed and greeted him with a big warm hug. He also did the same XD I’ve never been so happy to see him after so long!
We shared about the things we did before coming to balikpapan, my dad showed a bunch of pictures he took at his training session. It’s getting dark and were all getting hungry (Ha- yes food is the first thing I think of XD) So my mom decided to order some food and deliver it to our hotel room.
We had Gado – gado, fish, banana split(?) and a hot milk for drink.
“Let’s go up to the roof top and see the view to the ocean!”
My dad said after our stomachs were full. I had.. mixed feelings about this honestly, I just got here from a pretty tiring flight but at the same time I also wanted to go! I was ready to sleep but since this is kinda a one time opportunity for me why lay it off? It’s also very near since it’s still inside the hotel so alright!
Me and my Dad went up to the 10th floor while my mom stayed in the room since she’s still pretty tired- there’s a swimming pool and a restaurant that we can all enjoy! Also a jaccuzi as you go up one more floor from the swimming pool also known as the roof top view 😀
Sadly because it was night time we couldn’t see the ocean clearly since it’s dark, but I still had fun with the facilities the hotel gave! My dad took a bunch of pictures too since it’s his ultimate hobby! I didn’t bring my swimsuit (URGHHH WHY???) so I didn’t go swimming either for the next 2 days 😦 but that’s okay!
Here are a couple of pictures you can take a look at!
That night we had an awful lot of food! As my mom was all charged up my dad invited us to go and eat at a restaurant called Biru Laut he said it’s quite popular around the corner. I was like WHAT? We just ate a couple minutes ago! But my dad said it’s a pretty good place and worth to visit since you get to eat near the seashore so I went along.
We were dropped by Go Car near a deserted and quite restaurant, it was right beside the place were about to go. My dad told us it used to be very popular until the fame was taken by the Biru Laut. I’m honestly surprised how it still stands even for the lack of customers!
As we approached the entrance to Biru Laut it was like getting out of a void to the light, there were soooo many customers there! All around the place chatting and enjoying their meal together, we almost didn’t find a seat cause it was all taken XD
More pictures!
(i look pretty scary haha-)
Luckily there was one spare table in the corner outside just beside the seashore so we took a couple of seats that weren’t used that’s enough for the 3 of us. I looked down to the seashore and a lot of crabs started to come out from the sand, going in and out of the hole they made. The view was amazing as well! Even though it’s dark and hard to see I bet it looks great at day light, a waiter came and gave us the menu. Apparently my mom was still hungry so she ordered Seafood rice noodle that can be shared for the three of us with Es kelapa muda and Ice tea for drinks.
I wasn’t into eating but seeing my parents eat I just couldn’t help it XD The drinks were refreshing though! Great for the cool fresh air we have, until two men decided to start smoking near our table. For everyone’s information my mom HATES smokers, she just couldn’t stand the smell of cigarettes at all so whenever she sees someone smoking in front of her she would usally make these annoyed gestures or tell them that it’s bothering her to get rid of them, the same thing happened in this situation 😛
My mom looked at the two men with her deadly stare XD but no matter how threatening she looks they still won’t give up and move somewhere else. So since they won’t move we’ll have to move instead, we carried the food and drinks inside where there would be no smokers. Just as we found a seat the two men suddenly moved somewhere else “seriously?!” oh welp… that’s done XD
Sea Creatures!
(waiting for the Go car to arrive)
We enjoyed our food and took a look around the restaurant before going home. I was really tired and just wanted to lay in bed as soon as possible! And so I thought were going straight to our hotel room my Mom…. Wanted to go take a ‘quick’ look at the mall first OH C’MON!!
I had no other choice but to join- we went window shopping and even bought some more food even how much we’ve already had! Boi my mom was just so energetic but my whole body is drained already with the walking around.
Finally after an hour or so we got back to our room and prepared to have a good night sleep. I gotta be honest I didn’t immediately went to bed but instead making doodles for the whole night XD when it comes to drawing I know I can’t let myself go. But eventually I got tired myself and went to sleep anyways.
That concludes the first day of my trip in Balikpapan!
Indahnya Dunia Belajar Trisha 