College of Architecture and Allied Disciplines Eastern Visayas State University Tacloban City Educational Field Trip Narrative

Report Isolen Mae V. Nicdao BSAR 4B Arch. Maricel Lazarte-Modesto,uap Instructor April 2, 2013 Introduction Education is the greatest treasure of all and the greatest weapon a person can use to attain success in all walks of life. For this mere reason, the Eastern Visayas State University, College of Architecture and Allied Disciplines provides high standard of learning to the students with the incorporation of educational field trips. Since field trip subject was not included in the new curriculum, there was not even a slightest expectation from the students to have a tour, but fortunately, the 4th year students just got lucky when their instructors proposed a field trip to Luzon. The tour was proposed to give the students a chance to see the actual urban planning in more highly urbanized cities since the subject that requires this tour is Specialization which tackles about urban planning. By conducting the educational tour, the students will be more knowledgeable not only for their subject but for their course itself.

The Narrative Last March 14-17, 2013, we, the 4th year Architecture students of Evsu with our two instructors went to Luzon to have a tour in Makati City and some parts of Manila, and to the Ilocos Region specifically Laoag and Vigan which are the capitals of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur respectively.

The First Day We departed from our rendezvous point which is the Tacloban Airport at 6 in the morning. We booked a flight to Manila scheduled March 14 at 6am riding a Cebu Pacific aircraft. Since there are a lot of us and some have booked their flights late, there are 3 of our companions booked their flights in Zest Air with a flight schedule of more or less 30 minutes ahead of us.We landed at the NAIA Airport at an approximate time of 7:15 in the morning of the same day. After accomplishing other airport requirements and stuffs, we left the airport riding the bus from our hired agency, Executive Express, which accompanied and guided us for the entire tour. We went to the Zest Air terminal for our 3 companions and proceed with the tour. The first stop is the MJ Caf, somewhere in Malate, for our breakfast. After the breakfast, we went to Makati City for our visit to the Palafox and Associates architectural firm. We were divided into two batches and entertained in there conference room. They played a media file showing all their projects across the nation and abroad. We were inspired by the thoughts that someday we will be able to work or even own a firm such as Palafox. They had given us a magazine and a memo paper as souvenir. Since we are already in Makati, we managed to visit the city hall of Makati, and were entertained in their conference room as well, but unlike Palafox, this conference hall was a larger one able to assimilate us all. They showed us a PowerPoint presentation about Makati including its history, their completed and proposed projects and other stuffs related to the city. They also served us snacks which we are all so grateful of for it was already lunch time and we were already starving. After a long talk, we carry on with the tour by having our lunch in Masuki, a chinese restaurant. In my case, I was already full from the snacks served in the City Hall, so I did not enjoy my lunch that well, but it was a good dine nevertheless. We were supposed to go to the MRT Station for a littlt seinar and a ride but unfortunately, we run out of time so our tour coordinator and tour guide said that we will just proceed to Star City instead. Upon arriving, our tour coordinator, Mr. Bong Mariano, already bought us our tickets which bears ride all you can, so were all so thankful for that because we were kinda expecting that we still have to pay for our ride fees. So much for that, we roam the whole place in groups, except for the Horror stuff which we all entered as a whole batch. As we were not all together, I can only narrate my experience with my group, we first ride the sea dragon, then the kids version of the roller coaster, the magic forest ride, and all other rides we can afford to have in our 2-3 hours time in there. We were also supposed to ride the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster and the Jungle splash but the operators of the said rides told us that they still need time to let the rides dry for it rained that afternoon, so we suited ourselves by roaming

around the area selling stuff toys and like items and bought some souvenir items. Following our amusement in Star City, we then advanced to our dinner for the time is already around 7 in the evening. We had our dinner in the Bulalo Republic, and after some refreshing we will carry on with the tour by going to the Ilocos Region. We did some stop over somewhere in Araneta Avenue because the bus did some refueling at a particular gasoline station, which I hardly remember the name for I did not pay attention, and we also managed to bought some snacks for our 10 hours trip to Laoag that night. And that ends our first day of the field trip. The Second Day Here comes the second day when we we woke up and noticed that we were already in Laoag, in the Palacio de Laoag to be exact where we did some refreshments which includes our toilet habits. After suc, they served us our breakfast with the specialties of Laoag, and the most noticeable for me was their soups for I really loves soups, so mch for that, the Palacio de Laoag was supposed to be the one to accommodate us for the night but the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde managed to made their reservations for their tour earlier than us, so we were reserved instead in Renzo Hotel located in the downtown area of Laoag. After our breakfast, we went to Bangui, also in Ilocos Norte, to notice the famus and magnificient Bangui Windmills. We took some souvenir pictures while we were there and roamed around witnessing the beauty of the said windmills as well as the sea in that area which is very scenic and worth a shot. We also bought some souvenir items which include T-shirts bearing the name Bangui Windmills, a replica of the windmill carved in wood, and other stuffs. As we continue our trip, we then went to the arch of Pagudpud, another town in Ilocos Norte and in fact the farthest town if I am not mistaken, as our tour coordinator said, we were the very first architecture students they brought to Pagudpud, and we were happy knowing that fact. After some picture taking, we went back to Laoag for our lunch, we really did have a good time that we hardly notice that it was already lunch time. We ate our lunch and did some refreshments in Palacio de Laoag, for they were paid to serve our meals for the day and the breakfast of the following day. Following our lunch is the trip to Paoay, another town in Ilocos Norte, where we stop by in the Paoay Church and took some souvenir pictures with the church and we also did pray inside because this church is one of the heritage sites considered by UNESCO itself. As we march on, we went to the town of Batac where former President Ferdinand Marcos was born and lived. We visited the former house of the Marcos Family, as well as this house as it may seems, I did forgot what it was called, it turned to be the site where all

the memorabilias of Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda Romualdez-Marcos were house and we also did some picture taking for our souvenir. And the most epic of all, we visited the Mausoleum of Ferdinand Marcos himself; we did saw his preserved body lying inside. We were not able to capture this for it is prohibited according to their rules. As we continue, we went to Fort Ilocandia, a resort and hotel built by Imelda Marcos which served as the reception area for the wedding of her daughter Irene Marcos. The ambiance was impressive for we felt that we visited a foreign nation, most specifically a European country, because the structure and the statues and all other stuffs in there were inspired by European architecture. We did not let the oppurtunity passed as we took some pictures all around the place. We were already tired but yet we were satisfied for what we had accomplished for the day. We then checked-in in our reserved hotel which was the Renzo Hotel to have some refreshments and to rest as well. When evening comes, we traveled again to Palacio de Laoag for our dinner and for those who wished to stay to drink and all that stuffs were permitted to do so, and as for us who were so tired and sleepy, we went back to our hotel. As for me and some of my companions, we roamed the city to buy some goodies and other needs, and we found SM so entered and suited ourselves. We just walked as well in our way back to the hotel to enjoy Laoag City at night. Upon arriving at the hotel, we did some refreshments again, talked with our classmates, and when the night is off, we slept very excited for the next day. This marks the end of our second day of tour. The Third Day We woke up early to refresh ourselves and we checked out the hotel at approximately 6 in the morning and had our breakfast at Palacio de Laoag. As we proceed with the tour, we travel for I think 5 hours to the City of Vigan, Ilocos Sur, but before that, we dropped by at Four Star Shop, a store that sells delicacies of Ilocos Sur and bought some food, and as for me, I ordered the other items because there wasnt enough for all of us. After such, we proceed to Vigan, we were dropped somewhere near the Heritage Village, the area where all the houses as well as the streets were old representing the old Spanish era. We suited ourselves by roaming around and taking up pictures as souvenirs. As for me and my group, we rode a Caleza and tour the whole city. The kutchero allow us to drop around the church, I forgot the name of the church, and we took souvenir pictures in the bell tower and outside the church. We did pray inside in the church and donate some money. We rode the caleza again and ended up at our starting point which was the heritage village. We manged to bought some souvenir shirts and other items, but there wasnt enough time to choose for we had our signal to

go back at our rendezvous point which was near the Provincial Capitol where our bus was waiting. When all were aboard, we proceed to the Baluarte of Chavit Singson, he named it baluarte, but it was actually where his house is located. We enjoyed being there for there were a lot of animals, and not just animals, the wildest and grandest of all, there were tigers, ostriches, miniature horses, birds which I am not familiar with the breed, and other animals. We took pictures and rode the mini caleza drag by the miniature horses. And it was already lunch time so we traveled to Mel Sol, a restaurant where we had our lunch for that day. And as we are falling in line and waiting for our turn, the owner or staff of the Four Star shop arrived and delivered the delicacies we ordered. After our lunch, we then take another long trip back to Manila and as we are on our way, we just managed to wach some movies inside the bus. We had a stop over somewhere in La Union for the refueling of the bus. After approximately 5 hours of travel from Vigan, we arrived at Urdaneta City in Pangasinan where we had our dinner at a fine restaurant where I enjoyed there sinigang yet I forgot the name of the said restaurant. After our dinner, we proceed with the trip back to Manila, and we watched another movie again which I did not pay attention for I was sitting in the back row seats. I slept for quite some time and I woke up when we were somewhere in San Fernando in Pampanga where the bus refuels again and I think that the time was around 10 or 11 in the evening already. We passed the longest straight bridge in the country with a 5 kilometers length, according to our tour guide, which connects Pampanga and Bulacan. After hours of travel, we finally arrived at Andel Hotel in Makati City and it was around 12:30 in the midnight. We checked-in our designated rooms and had some refreshments. As for me and my roommates, we were kinda starving so we request some of our boy classmates to go down and bought us some snacks and they did so in return, we shared the snacks with them. Makati is like a nonsleeping city where stores are at 24-hour service, so we decided to roamed around the city, but we did not roamed too far for we might got lost. When we get backed to our rooms, and it was already 3 in the morning, we then slept for a few hours. And that ends the 3rd day of our trip. The Fourth and Final Day We had a wake up call at 7 in the morning, and even though we were still sleepy, we had no choice but to get up and freshen up for this day. We checked out at approximately 8 in the morning and then we proceed to our next destination which was at the Eastwood City, the Somethin Fishy eat all you can restaurant. We ate our breakfast and roam around Eastwood City afterwards. We took souvenir pictures

around and enjoyed the scenic view. When we returned to the bus, we were asked by our tour coordinator if where will we rather be nest, in the Worldbex or in the Mall of Asia, majority have chosen MOA so thats where we went next. We were divided into groups and as for my group; we roamed around and bought some items and snacks which were not yet available in Tacloban City. We were instructed to be at the rendezvous point around 1:30 in the afternoon, for we still have to travel to NAIA airport and we have to be there at least 2 hours before our flight bound for Tacloban which was at 4 in the afternoon. Thus, we were at the bus at the same time we were told to be there, and we ate our lunch at the bus prepared by MJ Caf, the same restaurant we had our very first breakfast for the tour. While on our way to the airport, the tour coordinator and the tour guide had their farewell talk for the end of our field trip had yet to come. We arrived at the NAIA Airport at around 2 in the afternoon, as for me I consumed my time falling in line to checked in my luggage, and yet I decided not to for I excess the free 7 kilos so I had to pay P500 for my excess luggage so I decided to hand carry it. After all the security requirements of the airport, some of us decided to bought some Krispy Kreme Doughnuts as pasalubong for our families. And we went on siiting in the waiting area for our boarding announcement. We were in the airport for like 3 hours because our flight was delayed. The 4 oclock flight was delayed to 5 in the afternoon but it was still fine for we had a safe flight back to Tacloban. We arrived at around 6-6:30 in the evening at Tacloban Domestic Airport and that ends our very epic and very knowlegeable Educational Field Trip.

Souvenir Pictures

4B girls class picture at Paoay Bell Tower

4B girls class picture with Arch. De Veyra and Arch. Modesto at Bangui Windmills, Bangui, Ilocos Norte

4B class picture with Arch. de Veyra and Arch. Modesto at Bangui Windmills

4B class picture in front of Paoay Church, Paoay, Ilocos Norte

Batch Picture at the Arch of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

4A class picture at Eastwood City 4B class picture at Eastwood City with Arch. de Veyra and Arch. Modesto

At Fort Ilocandia Resort 4B class picture at Bangui Windmills

Our group picture at Batac, Ilocos Norte

Group picture at Bell Tower of Paoay Church, Ilocos Norte

The Reaction As for my own point of view, I think that the field trip was very informative because as we go along from place to place, our tour guide keeps on telling us everything related to a particular place. He is in fact very knowledgeable that he is able to relate everythng he said to our course and in that alone we already gain informations. The other thing is that we, as students, need to see for ourselves the real thing about urban planning, and skyscrapers, and heritage sites and house, and other things related to our course. And in that 4-day field trip, we were able to explore and saw with our own two eyes real skyscrapers, subways, windmills, and other things which are not founf in our region and most specifically in our province. We were also able to know the living condition of towns in the northern part of our country and we were able t relate this and compare this to our own. The field trip was very successful and very satisfying and I really had a great time spending these very special moments with my friends, classmates, batchmates and our beloved instructors. Indeed a very epic 4-day educational field trip.