Back in Batangas

Once again, I'm at the heritage town of Taal, Batangas with my class.

I really like going back to this part of Batangas. It feels like a place that's trapped in the past, and everything's so laid back and chill.

I'm going to drag Mark and D' Frendz here sometime soon.

Have class. Will travel.

After a few weeks of pencil pushing, hopping from one travel agency to another in search for the best deals, filling out forms, talking to the school administration, badgering and orienting students, and basically running around like a mad man, the Singapore field trip of my Journalism class finally pushed through!

I'm a big believer of travel as a learning tool. I'm blessed to have parents who taught us the value of traveling. As a kid, my Dad would bring me to his Balikbanda roadshows and we'd travel from one province to another in a matter of days. Even though this happened decades ago, I still remember those night bus trips with the SMC crew, including famous personalities like rock icon Sampaguita and the late funny man Bert "Tawa" Marcelo.

That time, we would be in Baguio in the morning, then Ilocos in the evening, then Laguna the next day. It was a thrilling experience, especially for a kid.

From domestic travel, we moved on to international trips. This ignited my interest in different countries and I vowed to see as much of the world as I could. When I started earning my own money, it was something I pursued with a passion.

Suddenly, I found myself backpacking around Thailand, exploring the nooks and crannies of Barcelona and Prague, walking around rustic towns in Mexico, navigating central and rural Japan, and simply discovering countries and cities that I would read about as a kid.

Travel isn't just a fun pursuit. What's important about traveling is the learnings that you get from it. Aside from learning about different cultures, you also learn to appreciate what you have in your own country, and you learn what can be improved. Traveling gives you a wider world view, and have a benchmark on what's good and what's bad.

It's a learning experience, every step of the way. From the airport to the airplane, to the local transport system, to the destination itself. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you'll be amazed at what you'll learn.

And this is the reason why I insist and take pains in ensuring that my classes go out of campus, out of the city, and even out of the country. Because while it looks like a simple junket, it really is an opportunity for students to learn about their world, their capabilities, and themselves.

Traveling is really one of the best ways to learn.

FMM: Sing!

Today's Friday Magic Madness song is inspired by the fact that my class and I are flying off to Singapore tomorrow.



See you, Sing! (Harhar!)

How to terrain your students

When I asked my class what they wanted to do in Bicol, they all shouted:

ADVENTURE!!!

So, I took them to Daraga to ride the ATV around the Cagsawa trails.

With all the rocks, streams and sand we went through, we definitely had the adventure they were asking for.

Follow the shepherd

While we didn't really have an itinerary for this Tagaytay weekend trip, we had a list of things we wanted to do:

1. Eat bangus at LZM

2. Buy tarts at Rowena's

3. Drop by Good Shepherd for their Lengua de Gato

Numbers 1 and 2 were easy to do. We had LZM for dinner - a hearty dinner at that, and there was a Rowena's store in front of the hotel. So, the only thing we needed to do was drop by Good Shepherd.

It came as a surprise to us that Good Shepherd actually moved already. I remember that their shop used to be located near the area leading to People's Park in the Sky. But we found out that it's now located along the Sta. Rosa road, and is right smack along the highway. How convenient!

While they've changed locations, the look and feel of the place is just as I remembered it. They still had the Good Shepherd statue at the front of their store.

The area where you place your orders is as organized as always. There weren't a lot of people when we arrived, but the crowds started to swell in a matter of 15 minutes.

The new Good Shepherd store was much more spacious. It had these ramps that went up and down which makes for good exercise.

And the parking spaces now are much wider, which was the usual problem of the old store. Not only was it spacious, it was also easier to maneuver.

On this trip, we discovered that aside from the Lengua de Gato, Oatmeal Raisin Chews, Buko Tarts and Ube, Good Shepherd also had great food offerings.

Their fried lumpiang ubod is so, so good! It had the right crunch, a generous amount of filling, and the most divine sauce I've had in a while. (Yes, divine is an apt word to describe something that comes from Good Shepherd.)

We also tried the turon with ube and langka, and yes, it was a hands-down winner! I devoured a pack of these goodies in minutes! It went well with their buko-lychee juice and guyabano shake which Mark and I ordered.

By the end of our 30-minute stopover, we were completely full! Not only that, our seats were almost full of Tagaytay goodies as well.

The weekend was simply so wonderful that it deserves a follow-up really, really soon.

Zoo you again

After decades, I found myself inside Manila Zoo once again.

Today, my Investigative Journalism class and I went to Manila Zoo to do field work and write an article about the current state of the zoo. So, while the students were interested in finding sources and resource people, I was just interested to see if the zoo is as bad as everyone says it is.

As I told Mark, I was expecting to see a decrepit zoo. When I got there, what I saw was an old and slightly dilapidated one. Not as decrepit as I thought.

The animals look like they're healthy and properly fed. Again, I was expecting to see gaunt animals who look like refugees. After all, there has been a lot of articles about how the animals there are starving. This includes the zoo's most famous - and controversial - resident, Mali the Elephant.

Aside from the usual mammals, the zoo had a lot of reptiles in captivity. Including these gigantor snakes and crocodiles! Thank goodness they were caged and asleep. They're uber creepy! (Although I touched the Albino Python that was on display outside.)

One thing that the reviews said that was very much true was the fact that the zoo was quite mucky. Despite the signs that peppered the property, people seemed to just throw stuff around. There were a lot of ice cream wrappers, (Magnum, natch!) snack packs and remnants of meals.

Some of the cages looked dirty, too. Take for instance the rabbit and hamster cages. No wonder these two rabbits looked bothered. Plus, their aquarium can use a little cleaning, too.

Overall, my impression of the zoo is that it really needs a lot of improvement, but it's not the hell hole that most people paint it to be. Honestly, it feels like the same zoo that I saw way back in Elementary School. And I don't mean that as a good thing.

That's just my opinion, though. I wonder what my Investigative Journalism class has to say?