Can you still recall your educational field trips during your growing-up years?
Where did you go and what were your fondest memories ?
Last Friday, 15 January, Gabby accompanied Tina and I to our field trip to Subic and Clark. Oops, of course it’s the other way around, LOL 
The event was properly organized and went generally smooth except for some inevitable little hassles. Fees of PhP 900 per pax were collected a month ago. Memos were distributed a week before the date, requiring preschoolers to wear their P.E. uniforms and for companions to wear designated color of shirts. There were 5 buses; we’re assigned at Bus No. 4 and were asked to wear Gabby’s favorite color : YELLOW!
Others wore white, blue, red and green (I think color-coding is cool when joining a group tour for obvious reasons).
Inside the bus, we were attended by Gabby’s Kindergarten teacher, her aide and a facilitator a.k.a. tour guide from the Tours company. The tour-guide, Kuya Chris started his job for that day with bring-me-show-me-game complete with prizes for the kids. Gabby won a couple of pencils and an ID tag to his delight.
As expected the guide educated the kids and the parents with trivia about those places we passed by. Below are some things Tina and I learned from Kuya Chris :
1. EDSA or Epifanio de los Santos Avenue a.k.a. Highway 54 (called as such not because of its length in Km as found on the web but named after the number of engineers who worked on this avenue), Circumferential 4 or C4, has talks of soon to be re-named after the late President Cory Aquino owing to her contribution of what transpired along its streets.
2. The longest bridge in the Philippines isn’t San Juanico, a stretch between Samar and Leyte but Candaba Viaduct connecting Bulacan and Pampanga provinces. Candaba Viaduct is actually longer than San Juanico Bridge but being a land bridge, crossing only a few streams and ponds, it’s not generally considered.
3. One of the most prominent Pampangeno was President Diosdado Macapagal and incidentally, all the letters of his surname are found in the beginning of the names of the towns comprising his province.
M- Mabalacat, Macabebe, Magalang, Masantol, Mexico, Minalin
A- Apalit
C- Candaba
A- Arayat
P- Porac
A- santa Ana
G- Guagua
A- Angeles
L- Lubao
(Other municpalities are Floridablanca, San Luis, San Simon, Santa Rita, Sasmuan). After an hour of bus-ride from Quezon City, we reached Pampanga. Then we had a 10-minute-quick-stop to grab a bite buy some quick bites and have a bladder break at this famous bus-stop called DOUBLE HAPPINESS.
Tina, Gabby and I had baon of course – 2 liters of distilled bottled water, Chips Ahoy, Mini Chips Delight and some chips and nuts (yes, mostly junkies!) but still I bought some burgers and hotdog sandwich from Double Happiness just to try them to know if the food really live up with the name.
I paid PhP 32 for each Cheeseburger and PhP 38 for the Hotdog sandwich. Cheap but the name of this pit stop, based on the taste of the food, should not be such, because we felt short; we only enjoyed one ~not double, LOL.
Other interesting facts shared by our facilitator : SUBIC BAY also known as CUBI POINT which is a former American Naval Base in the Philippines was named after the phrases,
“Can yoU Build It?”
“So yoU Built It, Congratulations!”
uttered by someone whose name slips my memory, LOL. Have you heard of these before ?
Then several minutes more, we arrived here..
We’ve been to Ocean Adventure a few times before. We joined the field trip for Gabby to experience it. As parents, Tina and I also believe that learning should go beyond books and outside the four corners of classrooms.
I know some of you would prefer animals to be living appropriately in their natural habitats ~ the wilderness, the ocean, etc. and not as captives in zoos, or performing in circus and amusement parks like this. The staffs of Ocean Adventure explained that most of the dolphins, sea lion and rescued forest animals they feature are well-taken-cared of. And in my opinion, being in these places is the most accessible way to teach our kid/s about life itself and the value of preserving the environment.
We’ve been to Kelly Tarlton’s in Auckland, NZ; I’ve seen Shamu, the Killer Whale in Sea World in San Diego, Ca, and of course, the closest to Manila ~ Ocean Park in Hong Kong where dolphins also perform. The difference isn’t only location but Subic’s Ocean Adventure has an open-sea “stage” unlike where most sea creatures are featured abroad.
Long before Manila Ocean Park opens, Ocean Adventure has has been featuring collection of fishes found in Subic bay and nearby shores…
Environmental awareness was early instilled in the young minds of kids who have seen this…
Meet Madison, not a seal but a sea lion… She’s a member of the Marine Patrol that emphasized the 3R in their performance…
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The rest of our field trip on my succeeding entries.
OPINION COUNTS…