It is actually my first time to be invited by Google to ConnectLIVE 2025 in Tokyo, and to be honest, I’ve never expected that it would be happened in my life. First, I received an email, and I tried to search for my fellow Indonesian friends that may be invited to ConnectLIVE from social media groups. Then, I was helped by @NunungAfuah for some preparations, so I would like to thank her because of that. I also want to thank Google, especially @Kristen_NYC and team for their dedication to make this happened.
“First meet-up” at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta with @nyainurjanah, @doc_dells, and a new friend from Tangerang Local Guides
ConnectLIVE actually consisted of two days. There were some pre-events made by Connect Moderators at the first day. So, I joined the lunch event made by @HiroyukiTakisawa at Echigoya Sandayu, an Izakaya restaurant. I arrived a little bit late, and then I met @PaulPavlinovich and @iyudhi. It’s definitely amazing to have an authentic Japanese cuisine here. I forgot the name of my food, but it was rice, salmon, and miso soup. Here is my review, but I didn’t mention too much about the restaurant and the food since I was a little bit tired after a long journey.
Among the attendees, fourteen people were from Indonesia (I was at the far-right side)
At the welcome reception, I wore traditional Javanese stripe cloth named lurik. I’ve never thought that I would walk through infamous Shibuya Crossings with that cloth. At the venue, I met many well-known Local Guides and Connect Moderators. I felt happy that I met people with the same passion as mine. I brought some Indonesian snacks (chocolate crackers, herbal candies, mango-flavor candies) and a postcard about a lake named Rawa Pening (I’ll tell you about that on another post). Then, I took candies and crafts from another participants, such as Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Australia, and Nigeria (I hope that I haven’t missed one). All of them are my favorites, such as:
- @zac555 and @FalguniP that brought my childhood candies that never be found again in Indonesia
- Bangladesh-themed Local Guides passport by @MahabubMunna, @Designer_Biswajit, and @Trishatishu, it was brilliant!
- Taipei 101 acrylic keychain. Taipei 101 is one of my favorite buildings that I wish I will visit in the future
- Mexican snacks from @LightRich. One of the snacks actually has almost the same taste as a snack from my hometown!
- Snacks from @NyaiNurjanah (Ngeunah pisan, euy. Belum sehari di rumah sudah habis duluan. Hatur nuhun.)
New friends at the Welcome Reception
Me with @Trishatishu at the Welcome Reception
Many of attendees wore traditional outfits. My favorite one was @Trishatishu’s saree from Bangladesh (sorry for the quality of the photo). There were so many delicious foods at the welcome reception, and one of my favorites was Takoyaki.
Takoyaki as one of the menus at the Welcome Reception
On the second day, we have two amazing breakfasts at the hotel and the Google office 
. There were some NDAs about the activities on that day that I couldn’t explain to you. However, you should believe me that Google has done amazing things for the future. It was amazing that we could give some feedback about the Google Maps based on our experiences.
A Bento for the Lunch
Because this was my first ConnectLIVE event, I made new friends at the second day. On some occasions, we sat together, enjoyed the snacks, and talked about many topics, such as Seoul’s summer was hotter than Tokyo’s.
Finally at the closing reception, we enjoyed so many foods (again). I wanted to taste sake but unfortunately, I was afraid of the risk of something, so I decided to try it for another time 
. I was stunned to see the beautiful scenery of Tokyo wards and saw many planes that was ready to land at Haneda Airport. Amazing that we watched a wedding proposal live 
.
With @nyainurjanah, @NunungAfuah, and @Annisa1208
Before leaving the hotel in the next morning, we took a picture again. I met @MasaruKamikura at the restaurant of our hotel. He was a humble person that helped me to know about the underrated places in Tokyo and gave me (and the others) so many suggestions. Thank you, Masaru!
Thanks for my new friend that I’ve not mentioned before: @MariaNgo, @Cindy0422, @ChamnanMuon, @Sagir, and the others. So, that’s it. Thank you so much for reading my story and see you on another occasion!
fellow Local Guides.
