Visiting the Big Mall

A little bit of a side-track, yesterday we took a day of Bahasa Indonesia course for us to get introduce to some common Indonesian words that we can use while staying in Samarinda. I was able to learn the following the words:

• Nama mu = Your name

• Tujuan = Objective

• Kita = Us

• Menyapa = Hello

• Sama-sama = You're welcome

• Maaf = Sorry

• Terima kasih = Thank you

• Many more

We attended this course in preparation for our first day in our practicum schools next week, but I later realize that this is also convenient when we went to the Big Mall. Our cultural activity got cancelled due to certain circumstances, so we decided to visit the Big Mall, the biggest mall in Samarinda located 30 mins away from our dormitory. We took a grab to go to the destination. I sit in front while Nissa, Raysa and Enthel stayed at the back. When we arrived in the Big Mall, I remember hearing them saying, "terima kasih mas and sama-sama" which made me feel happy because I can finally understand some of their words!

The entrance of the Big Mall looks kind of like a 5 star hotel, with a lot of cars going in and out of the entrance. The mall is huge, similar to the main mall and half of the annex area of SM North EDSA in the Philippines. It has variety of food and shop to go to. When we entered the mall we first meet a group of people. Nissa and Raysa introduced them as the outbound students of UNMUL, they added that they will be going to the Philippines in a couple of days, specifically in Ilocos City. Enthel and I were excited hearing this, and asked the school they will conduct their practicum. They answered, "Mariano Marcos University."

For our lunch, we went to cabemerah, an Indonesian restaurant. The place felt cozy and they have huge Krupuk that you can eat at the side! "That krupuk is huge!" I thought to myself. When they gave us the menu, I ordered a spicy dish (which name I forgot) that contains fish, sweet sauce and a bunch of chilis, and I added ice coffee as my drink. I was excited to eat the dish as it is spicy, and I wondered how spicy really is the meal. When I get to eat it, it is incredibly spicy. There are no vegetable but rather it is all chillis! I love spicy dishes, but having 95% all chili is a bit too much for me. When I asked for water, they told me that I need to purchase a water bottle. They added that water is not free in Indonesia, and you will rarely find a restaurant that will give you free access to a drinkable water.

After our lunch, we went and go find Miniso for me to buy a pair of socks. When arrived, Enthel saw a lot of cute stuffed toy and decided to buy one, while I look for socks and saw a cute cat keychain and decided to purchase that as well (It reminds me of my cat snow). We visit other stores after this and say goodbye to the outbound students. I wish them all the luck and hope that they will have a fun time in the Philippines. For our last stop, we went to a cafe and chill. Once we arrived back on our dormitory, I receive a Whatsapp message from Regina who introduce herself as my buddy in my practicum school, SMAN-10.