The E.K. Day
Or, Rants and Raves of A Disappointed Teen on Her Second and Last High School Field Trip
(whoa, that was looooong)
After about a month of eager (and I do mean EAGER) anticipation, us seniors finally had the chance to leave the tall walls of RC, away from the clutches of teachers, priests and prefects (though not completely).
If my memory serves me right, we started counting down 28 days before ‘The Day’. The infamous Ria wrote on the chalkboard, “28 DAYS TILL E.K.!!!” We were all so excited, the usually calm and level-headed Sir Batuto even nearly shouted when he couldn’t get a word in edgewise. And if the long wait wasn’t enough, there was also the fight of which section was to be separated in the bus—Jude, Matthew or Peter. We totally wanted to be together because the bus part was half the fun. But in the end, all of the sections were divided according to place. It was an upland-lowland division, with the people from Mendez and Alfonso riding in the (one and only) van.
We arrived at the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) early. It was scorching hot in the area even though it was only about 8.30 in the morning, and it didn’t help that we were donning our P.E. uniform, jogging pants and all. US girls were still required to tie up our hair, much to my chagrin. I had always thought that Sir Loyola would let me off the hook, even just for that one day. But I digress.
We were all neatly ushered to the IRRI Auditorium (I suppose that’s what they call it) the moment we got there. We were shown a film on...you’ve guessed it...rice. It showed interesting information that practically no one knew about. There was a weak attempt on showing off a bit of ‘coolness’’ after it (guys trying to court a girl or something), but it failed quite miserably, with the ‘hip’ film they were supposed to be showing stopping and going much like a pirated disc. They stopped it before it could get any worse, thank goodness.
We were led to the museum proper after the film showing. Truthfully, we didn’t get to look at the artifacts very much (at least I didn’t) because we were too busy taking pictures. The photo op was too good to waste.
After the (extremely noisy) IRRI trip, we went straight to Enchanted Kingdom. I think we were supposed to go to two other places, but I guess the teachers were eager to go to E.K. too. Teehee.
It was hot as ever when we arrived at E.K. Mateo immediately went inside (after waiting for quite a while in a tent, that is, as did the others) and posed for pictures in Victoria Park (or whatever the place with the carousel is called...I never could remember the name).
Then...the rides. First we went to dodgem (or bumper cars as normal people would call it), then to roller skater (it was an unusually short ride), then to anchors away (I nearly died)...well, there are too many to tell, but judging by the goofy smiles on our faces on the gazillion pictures we took, you could tell we totally had fun.
The place was amazing, hot as it was. The themed places were cute, especially old Brooklyn. It was like being taken back to old New York Broadway-style, dancers and all. There was even a soda fountain right at the middle of it, completing the whole feel.
The day was almost perfect, especially for us who have been itching to get as far away from the teachers as possible. One thing though—the trip was disappointingly short, with us leaving at exactly four in the afternoon. I mean, the real fun hadn’t even started! The fireworks display was supposed to be the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the ice cream, the ‘something additional that makes something good even better’...but, as expected, the fun was cut short. I think the teachers should have given us a little extra time. After all, we are seniors, and it’s not like our parents are going to pace for hours if we got home at, like, 8 or something. And it was to be our second and last field trip (in high school that is). It’s not like they let us out of the school too often. We have to run loose every once in a while too. I mean, we aren’t even allowed to go to fast food chains or kikiamans on Friday afternoons. I’m not mad or anything. I’m just saying. LISTEN TO REASON, PEOPLE!!! (Just kidding)
Overall, the trip wasn’t a complete bust. We got to have fun, bond, and take about a gazillion photos. Who could ask for more?
(whoa, that was looooong)
After about a month of eager (and I do mean EAGER) anticipation, us seniors finally had the chance to leave the tall walls of RC, away from the clutches of teachers, priests and prefects (though not completely).
If my memory serves me right, we started counting down 28 days before ‘The Day’. The infamous Ria wrote on the chalkboard, “28 DAYS TILL E.K.!!!” We were all so excited, the usually calm and level-headed Sir Batuto even nearly shouted when he couldn’t get a word in edgewise. And if the long wait wasn’t enough, there was also the fight of which section was to be separated in the bus—Jude, Matthew or Peter. We totally wanted to be together because the bus part was half the fun. But in the end, all of the sections were divided according to place. It was an upland-lowland division, with the people from Mendez and Alfonso riding in the (one and only) van.
We arrived at the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) early. It was scorching hot in the area even though it was only about 8.30 in the morning, and it didn’t help that we were donning our P.E. uniform, jogging pants and all. US girls were still required to tie up our hair, much to my chagrin. I had always thought that Sir Loyola would let me off the hook, even just for that one day. But I digress.
We were all neatly ushered to the IRRI Auditorium (I suppose that’s what they call it) the moment we got there. We were shown a film on...you’ve guessed it...rice. It showed interesting information that practically no one knew about. There was a weak attempt on showing off a bit of ‘coolness’’ after it (guys trying to court a girl or something), but it failed quite miserably, with the ‘hip’ film they were supposed to be showing stopping and going much like a pirated disc. They stopped it before it could get any worse, thank goodness.
We were led to the museum proper after the film showing. Truthfully, we didn’t get to look at the artifacts very much (at least I didn’t) because we were too busy taking pictures. The photo op was too good to waste.
After the (extremely noisy) IRRI trip, we went straight to Enchanted Kingdom. I think we were supposed to go to two other places, but I guess the teachers were eager to go to E.K. too. Teehee.
It was hot as ever when we arrived at E.K. Mateo immediately went inside (after waiting for quite a while in a tent, that is, as did the others) and posed for pictures in Victoria Park (or whatever the place with the carousel is called...I never could remember the name).
Then...the rides. First we went to dodgem (or bumper cars as normal people would call it), then to roller skater (it was an unusually short ride), then to anchors away (I nearly died)...well, there are too many to tell, but judging by the goofy smiles on our faces on the gazillion pictures we took, you could tell we totally had fun.
The place was amazing, hot as it was. The themed places were cute, especially old Brooklyn. It was like being taken back to old New York Broadway-style, dancers and all. There was even a soda fountain right at the middle of it, completing the whole feel.
The day was almost perfect, especially for us who have been itching to get as far away from the teachers as possible. One thing though—the trip was disappointingly short, with us leaving at exactly four in the afternoon. I mean, the real fun hadn’t even started! The fireworks display was supposed to be the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the ice cream, the ‘something additional that makes something good even better’...but, as expected, the fun was cut short. I think the teachers should have given us a little extra time. After all, we are seniors, and it’s not like our parents are going to pace for hours if we got home at, like, 8 or something. And it was to be our second and last field trip (in high school that is). It’s not like they let us out of the school too often. We have to run loose every once in a while too. I mean, we aren’t even allowed to go to fast food chains or kikiamans on Friday afternoons. I’m not mad or anything. I’m just saying. LISTEN TO REASON, PEOPLE!!! (Just kidding)
Overall, the trip wasn’t a complete bust. We got to have fun, bond, and take about a gazillion photos. Who could ask for more?
