Before I graduated in college, I wrote this small article about our field trip last February 16-17, 2015. This was the second article I wrote for our school newspaper that time. Sadly, I never got my own copy so I have no idea what the final output of the article in the newspaper looked like. I would’ve taken a picture. I also haven’t been able to take pictures of the aforementioned places concerning the two groups. So most of what I’ve mentioned here was from my own experience and a few verbal accounts from the students of the other departments who also went to the field trip.
All in all, even though it was just a short trip, it was fulfilling for me since I don’t get to go out of the town that much. I really wish I could still find some time to travel even just here in the Philippines. I’d do my best to ignore the scorching heat if I would really be given another chance to travel outside Baguio.
Anyway, this wasn’t an article written by a professional so I’m sure you’d find mistakes, especially in the structure of the article. Even still, I hope you’d enjoy reading this one! You can probably think of this as just a blog entry rather than an article for a school newspaper. I think that’s for the best.
BCT FIELD TRIP
By Florence Joyce A. Dongael
For the graduating students mandated to go on an educational field trip as part of the curriculum was usually done every year, two months before the students graduate. The graduating students of Baguio College of Technology (BCT) were no exception as they had their two-day field trip conducted on February 6-7.
The students were divided into two groups. One was mainly consisted of Information Technology students, with IT department instructors Nelson Tacadena and Tristan Ochangco accompanying them. The other group had students from the Engineering, Electronics, Electrical, and Education Departments altogether; accompanying them were Engineering instructor instructor Lorena Dayrit and Electronics department instructor Leo Abaya.
First day—February 6
Both groups left Baguio City at 12:45 AM. They had their first stopover at Sison, Pangasinan and had their breakfast at the second stopover in Bocaue, Bulacan at the Shell expressway station. The second stopover marked the start of the different destinations to travel on for the two groups.
The IT group took time to explore Quezon Memorial Circle where the tall mausoleum that stood in honor of Manuel L. Quezon, the second official President of the Philippines. They had Ryan Mar Cabrera as their tour guide. Despite the warm temperature that morning, the students enjoyed taking pictures of the area, especially the monument that contained the remains of President Quezon, and his wife, First Lady Aurora Quezon. The three vertical pylons of the monument were said to represent Luzon, Vizayas, and Mindanao standing 66 meters (217 ft) tall (Quezon's age when he died) while the three mourning angels surmounting the pylons represented birth, life, and death. Right after touring the national park, the group headed to SM North Edsa and TriNoma to take their time to enjoy at the mall (whichever mall they chose to go to) and had their lunch as well. This was done in preparation for the Android Application seminar held at UP Information Technology Development Center at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City.
The second group started their first day touring the Clark Air Base stationed at the Subic area with Melvin Bartolome as their tour guide. The group then proceeded to SM City Clark. Just like the first group, they took their time to enjoy at the mall and had their lunch. But one student commented during the interview that the mall didn’t have many visitors. This was done after the tour at the Clark Air Base. Their next stop after the mall was at the Yokohama Tire Philippines, Inc. The Clark Air Base, SM City Clark, and the Yokohama Tire were all located in one area—the Clark Freeport Zone in Angeles City, Pampanga.
The two groups later joined for a tour at the Meralco Museum in Ortigas Ave., Pasig City. This was referred to as “having a glimpse of Meralco’s stored past and historical milestones as binding proof of the company’s partnership with the Filipinos through decades of committed service.” They had watched a 20-minute video in the briefing room summarizing 100 years of Meralco’s history. Some of the highlights of the museum located in various sections were interactive exhibits, full-sized replica of a 1920’s Meralco tranvia and some memorabilia connected with it, some original corporate documents dating from 1903 as well as other memorabilia of later vintage, a full-sized replica of Meralco’s 1929 vehicle, a complete set of electric bills from 1916 to 1965 of one address in Malolos, and many more.
After the first day’s tours, the two groups had their stopover at a Shell station along the expressway somewhere in Sta. Rosa, Laguna before heading to La Vista Pansol Resort in Calamba, Laguna for dinner and rest overnight. The students enjoyed having a night swim in a warm water of the swimming pools right after dinner and have found their assigned dorm rooms that could accommodate 16 people in one dorm room.
Second day—February 7
Wake up call began at 6:00 AM. The students took their time to fix themselves and their belongings to get ready for the next set of trips and tours for each group. At 7:00 AM, breakfast was ready to serve to the students, instructors, and tour guides. The originally planned departure at 8:00 AM was later moved to 9:00 AM due to some changes in scheduled company visits. Upon leaving La Vista, the two groups headed to their respective first stops for that day.
The IT group headed to Parañaque for a short tour and seminar held at Festo Electronics. The seminar mainly discussed a summary of Festo Electronics’ history and technology over the years. The students took pictures of some of the electronic stations on display, most of which dealt with robotics, soon after the seminar was dismissed. Lunch break for the group soon followed after the company visit upon having a stopover at the Shell station somewhere near Biñan, Laguna. When lunch break was over, they headed to the Gardenia Bakery Factory located in Biñan where the group had a plant tour with regards to the company’s bread production. They had a close view on how the production of Gardenia’s breads actually happens. The tour ended with everyone receiving free Gardenia Toasties and buying Gardenia bread products at their bread store where they could avail for their products at a factory price.
As for the second group, they started their tour at the Gardenia Bakery Factory. They went there first while the IT group went to have a tour there during the afternoon. Right after the tour, they had their lunch break somewhere either Biñan or Sta. Rosa, Laguna. The group later headed to the Lucky Me! Noodle Factory for a tour on its noodle production factory. The tour ended with them receiving one free noodle pack for each of the students. The instructors accompanying them received five.
For the finale of the two-day field trip, the two groups later joined to enjoy the rest of the trip at Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. But the IT group arrived earlier (at precisely 3:00 PM) than the other group who arrived at the theme park at around 4:00 PM. Up until 7:00 PM, the two groups tried different rides like Space Shuttle, water rides such as Rio Grande Rapids and Jungle Log Jam, EKstreme Drop Tower, Anchors Away, Flying Fiesta, and Bump Cars, among others. Going through these exciting rides, especially for first time visitors at EK, had never been so exhilarating. Dinner soon followed after parting ways with each of their tour guides on the way back home.
The two tired and (obviously) satisfied graduating students reached Baguio City at 5:00 AM the next day, February 8.
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