Through this 13 days student exchange trip, I have gain a lot from it. Hearing from my peers who have already went to the first TFSCALE, I find that the project itself is very challenging for me since I do not have any knowledge on Raspberry Pi. But what makes me come on board this year TFSCALE 2 is because I wanted to explore new places with my fellow friends who are also graduating this year. I wanted to have one last adventure before we go on a different path. I never knew that I would be doing those technical stuff much since my knowledge on coding is not strong.

However, little did I know I was able to contribute at least something to my team for the project. When I first look at the resources/equipment given (wires, relay board, raspberry pi, water pump, sensor etc.)  I thought to myself how I am going to be unproductive to the team because I predicted how lost I am going to be. So I decided to let my teammates take the lead and I will support them in any way I can. Turns out, all the resources/equipment is not so hard to connect them up when we do it together as a team. I was guided by my teammates on where to place the wire and all. With their help, I was able to contribute to the team, which is to do the setup of the resources/equipment while the smart ones deal with the coding in the Raspberry Pi. Along the way, I actually learn more about Raspberry Pi itself, how to run the script, what is the command to edit the codes, the programming language used and many more. It is amazing how me and my teammates were able to make the whole project work. We did faced many challenges along the way but I am happy that my team members were cooperative enough to stick together and think of ways to overcome the problem.

In my opinion, this trip is by far the best trip because I have learned so much from it. In terms of knowledge on how Raspberry Pi works, to learning about the cultures there and also learning how to adapt to an unfamiliar surroundings. I am very thankful to be included into this year’s TFSCALE team despite my constant absent from the meetings.

And not forgetting all the places I have visited in Malang, Indonesia together with this year bunch of awesome TFSCALE students. We had fun together, work together and learn new things together. Thank you to each and every one of you that have made this trip an amazing one. This sweet memories will forever stay in my heart. I definitely did not regret getting on board this ship~

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From the start of the trip till today, I was given the opportunity to experience all kind of new activities that was exciting.

When we first touchdown, I was touched by the fact that some of the students from Malang were at the airport to welcome us despite the flight reaching the airport late at night and the long distance to Malang. They even prepare food for our journey to the guesthouse, to make sure that we have enough food to fill our stomach.

Following to day 2, we were given a tour around the polytechnic. No doubt their polytechnic is different than ours such as the environment and the facilities. In RP, we are pampered with fully air-condition campus together escalators and lift to each floor. But here in Polinema, their campus is similar to primary and secondary schools we see in Singapore, where there is open concept and going up and down is just through stairs.

Following that, we went on to exploring parts of Malang, such as going to the museum, mount Bromo, water rafting, the orphanage and many more.

The sight-seeing trip was amazing, where we took the double deck bus and I sat at the upper deck throughout the whole journey. At the end of the trip, most of us including me got burnt by the sun but at the same time, we got to enjoy the breeze.

The museum afterward was fun. It was very interactive such that most of the stuff placed inside the museum can be touched. At the end of the touring around the museum, we were given a mask to paint on and some went for the clay making. Through this museum visit, I was able to learn a little bit more about the culture here in Indonesia.

For mount Bromo, the view was just simply breathtaking. As we make our way to the top, I was able to observe the lives of people there. Looking at them trying so hard to sell their products to the tourist gave me a tingle of sadness. But as they interact with their neighbors and all, I can see that even though they don’t make much, they are still happy with their life. The view when we reach the top is the best view of stars I have ever seen so far. In fact, I was not looking forward to the sunrise because the stars were too beautiful.

For the water rafting, there is nothing much I can say other than how fun it was. No doubt it was a rough ride going to the starting point of the stream. I was so afraid when we took the lorry up, never have I stand on a moving lorry. Nonetheless, It was a great experience overall and I had loads of fun.

Moving on to the orphanage visit. When I first reach the place, I was questioned by the fact that the place is pretty small, but yet they are able to provide shelter to quite a handful of orphans. Looking at each of them, I believe not only me felt the sadness in our heart as we sympathize with them all. Given the opportunity to interact with them through games, I was able to get to know them more. At the end of everything, we share goodies bags we have packed for them beforehand. Seeing the smile on their face makes my day. Although the time spend with them was short, being able to play together laugh together with them is really heart-warming. This visit have taught me to appreciate my family more and also the people around me.

And 1 thing that I have observe the most and got fascinated is the traffic here. It is amazing how they are able to fit into the narrow roads and not caused much accident/damage. Usually in Singapore, when a vehicle gets near to another vehicle, people will start showing unhappiness and start a conflict. It is different here, the drivers are all kind and willing to give way to each other.

So far, I have observe so many things and gain from them. I am really grateful for the Malang students that have been around us for the past few days, making things easy for us. And also for the friendly RP students that is willing to work together with me for the project (yay to team 3!), despite the fact that I missed most of the meetings.

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