I will start off this reflection just like how most of us would, which is to talk about how this Malang Trip has gifted me with wonderful and memorable experiences which I have never had before. From making new friends to undergoing thrilling adventures, I realised that I have done a lot of things during this trip (most of them were actually my firsts). These new experiences were definitely very eye-opening and beautiful. One main lesson that I have gained from this trip is: Learning how to be independent.

This Malang Trip is my very first long overseas trip without my family. I have never travelled overseas without my family for a long period of time, especially not for 2 weeks. Thus, I can say that it was quite challenging for me to adapt to the new environment. I had to do so many new things and make some tough decisions, all without my parents, which is something that I am not used to do. I admit that I am quite a dependent person. I often need the presence of one other person with me when I do things, to get a second opinion. So, it definitely took me a while to get used to doing things alone (I mean without my family).

But overall, I like being independent. It is interesting to know how far I can go by myself and how good I am in making decisions in my life. It is sad that I am not able to experience this amazing trip with my loved ones but I am also happy at the same time because through this trip, it has made me become a better and mature individual.

Read More

Overall for tfscale2, I feel that it has been very successful because during these few days of the trip, I have bonded very well with almosy everyone in the team, including the Malang and Riau students. On the first day of the trip, I was quite shy with the Malang students because I was not present during the Inbound of tfscale2, also I was quite unfamiliar with the Raspberry Pi. However, during the first few days of the trip, my friends, Jonathan, Daryl and the gang helped me to bond with the Indonesian friends, which I am very grateful for. Also, during the trip, I experienced a lot of new experiences because in Malang, there are some things that I will never be able to experience in Singapore, examples are climbing to the freezing top of Mount Bromo and experiencing Car Free Day and Pasar Besar in Malang. Thus, I feel that this trip is beneficial in building not only my programming skills, but also my social and physical abilities, as the climb on Mount Bromo and water-rafting allowed me to push above limits that I never experienced before in Singapore.

Read More