ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Have you ever heard about “kill two birds with one stone”? Yup, accomplish two different things at the same time. It is hard to get yet it is possible. At first I didn't expect to be able to get the best experience in a lifetime. When you think that you are carrying a big responsibility and only wrestle with your task without having fun and yet you realized that what you have imagined before is even more beautiful, that can be called as a rare situation in life. Spent my one month in Philippines for teaching practice makes me understand that human will be always as a human being who need to rest but still in educational way. While in Philippines I did not only learn about teaching, preparing materials and other teacher competencies, but also learned about the cultures, social life and traditions which still amazed me that Filipino cultures are so rich and fascinating.

We will not know whether we would have our second chance or not, but what I believe that whatever we get today that will be useful and will be as the lesson in the future. As this SEA-Teacher program which provides excursion week that the exchange students’ participants would have trip around Philippines, such a great chance right? When we learn how to be a good teacher in the same time we had a chance to explore Philippines, yay! J

The first place that really amazed me was Mount Samat National Shrine is the national shrine dedicated to the fallen filipino and American fallen during World War II. Mount Samat is a historic mountain in the town of Pilár, Province of Bataan, in the Republic of the Philippines. This place is one of many places, which saves their memories and sacrifices for the country. There is also a kind of museum which exhibit the state of war at the time, be it the photos, weapons or even the armor used at that time. On this monument, there is also a glimpse of the history that occurred at that time. Such an amazing experience J

Some historical monuments in Mount Samat

    After went to Mount Samat the trip was continued to Sky Ranch Pampanga in San Fernando City which is in one area with SM City Pampanga. we had s much fun during here. It has 22 rides, including the Pampanga Eye, Loop Roller Coaster and Super Viking. i tried the Tower Drop rides and that was amazing for adrenaline challenge, haha. The view also so beautiful, moreover we were there at evening. So Happyyy yayy!!

Sky Ranch Pampanga

The next place was Nayong Pilipino Clark which is a cultural theme park featuring Filipino culture at the Clark Freeport Zone in Mabalacat, Pampanga. The Nayong Pilipino Clark's attraction centers on Philippine history and cultures. The cultural park also provides picnic and green areas where performances of traditional dances such as the malong, sayaw sa bangko, singkil,and tinikling or more contemporary performances such as the Dakilang Lahi and the Philippine Fiesta parade are exhibited. That was a lucky day for me because I can saw some attractions of Philippines culture in Nayong Pilipino. Since Nayong Pilipino is a cultural park, the visitor can see the traditional houses based on different geography, Pilipino culture and also their traditional arts for Pasalubong or souvenirs. 

Representation of Philippines Cultures in Nayong Pilipino

We also went to SM (Super Mall) and Super Mall of Asia for buying our necessary needs. We always be accompanied by Sir. Gaboy. He is so kind and so great, couldn’t say more I really respect him. Along the way to the super mall, the view was really gorgeous which surrounded by rice fields. We also visited a lot of restaurant in Philippines especially for our lunch in our excursion week. So grateful to meet a lot of nice and humble people. I will never forget this precious moments

Our Excursion Time with the other participants

On the last day before the departure to Bali, we (Nita, Rangga, Mandala), Sir Gaboy, Ma’am Lalaine and the others Vietnamese with their supervisor visited the KM 0 in Rizal Park, Manila Philippines. The marble marker designated as KM 0 fronting the Rizal Monument in Rizal Park is Kilometer Zero for road distances on the island of Luzon and the rest of the Philippines.  We walked around the park and that was really amazing. I like the way the Pilipino government arranged the park for the family time because there are also the places for picnic or to spend time together with the family

We had a great time on our last trip in Philippines

Last but not least, I want to say thank you very much for the sea-teacher project, my sending university also my receiving university and school. I met the good people in my life since I arrived in Philippines also I met the best mentor, supervisor and lecturers also teachers that help me how to open widen my eyes that life is not flat. Especially for Sir. Gaboy who always accompanied us during our excursion week.

There are a lot of things that you can shared, explore and do in your life. Life is adventure, dare it! J