University of Southeastern Philippines
Bo. Obrero Campus, Davao City
Institute of Computing
TRAVEL REPORT
Major Fieldtrip and Seminar-Manila
September 10-12, 2012
Field Trip Overview:
The whole trip was actually very fun and exciting but it is not as educational as they claimed since most of the company we went to did not actually suit our courses except for SPI GLOBAL and PLDT innolab however the other companies we went to like SSS and others were also beneficial.
FIRST DAY: September 10, 2012
September 10, 2012 marks the very first day of our major field trip. Gone to the airport around 5:30 in the morning. Funny thing was I forgot to print my itinerary and the airport guard won’t allow me to enter the building luckily I took a picture of it, showed it and explained to the guard that my ticket was at the check in counter though hesitant the airport guard allowed me to enter the building. Lesson learned, must print itinerary at all times. On the check in counter we got our boarding pass after the weighing of our luggage, went upstairs and paid the terminal fee then off to departure area. The whole gang waited for like an hour and 45 minutes at the departure area. While waiting, picture taking occurred. Posed here and there; smiles and laughter filled the area and in fact a lot of people watched and smiled with us too until the moment we all been waiting for came, the arrival of the plane. An announcement was made and we prepare ourselves for the flight, we fell in line showed the guards our boarding pass and finally bored the plane. After the take-off and the plane went steady, almost everyone in the gang changed their seats and went chit chatting with close friends and had some picture taking sessions. Some sit near the window to get a nice shots of the clouds and saw nice views below the craft. Later on the captain announced that we are about to land at the Manila International Airport and asked everyone to return to our seats; and we did what the captain said to us. We patiently seated at our designated seats fasten our seat belt until finally the landing took place and when everything is already fine we had our first step at the Manila International Airport that was around 9:45 in the morning.
After the arrival we patiently waited for our luggage and while waiting some of us texted our loved ones who were left in Davao. After the short wait our tour bus arrived: the big bus and then the small bus. Due to the huge number of participants the tour company divided us into two groups that’s why we have the big and the small bus. Everyone was so eager to hop on the bus to find a seat that would placate their satisfaction. When everyone was on the bus, our tour guide welcome us warmly and introduced his self to us and gave us our very first meal in Manila, chicken meal and pancake. Yum yumyum. While on the road and eating still, Kuya Byron (tour guide) was giving us a lot of information about famous landmarks and places our tour bus passed by. I was really impressed of how well conversed and informative our tour guide was, above all he had an excellent sense of humorbut of course he needs to be like one since it’s his job to guide the tourist.
Company Visits and Side Trips (1st day):
First stopped was at the Department of Science and Technology at Bicutan, I was impressed with the land area however when I saw the buildings inside my impression faded. We went to a hall inside the compound and the DOST gang greeted us and the discussion started. Next was our sumptuous lunch at Great Eastern Hotel in Makati where we had a buffet lunch arrangement. Food was great however there are only few viands available for my taste. The place was totally awesome maybe because of their lightings and decorations. Our second company visit was at the very interesting MMDA traffic engineering office. Their office was not that big in fact they had a hard time accommodating all 69 of us, we actually started kind of late because they were like arranging a seats for all of us. My excitement faded when I saw their monitors I was not expecting that they just have a small monitors for monitoring compared to our very own MMDA like command center (a big smile). When we finished with the discussions they let us have a tour into their main command center and my pride about our very own command center sink, they have a lot of monitors for monitoring plus the fact that they commanded a great deal of human resources for them to be able to monitor their streets on time (pitying Davao city). When we are about to leave the place someone called us back to let us have a tour on their server room because of my excitement I run to that person right away together with my bus seatmate and she brought us, only the two of us, into their sever room to my surprise the room was full of empty see through cabinets, the person assigned to that area told us that there are no more servers since PLDT already cut their services to them (disappointed). We are done for the first day company visits, its “laag-laag” time I mean gala time since were already in Manila that day. For our gala time the tour guide brought us to SM mall of Asia or MOA. The funny thing about this was that when I and a company of girls from the field trip went to the toilet, since we were very comfortable with each other and the feeling that we are still in Davao city and the feeling that we are very comfortable talking in vernacular and suddenly somebody starts to looked at you as if you were an alien or something or like “you don’t belong here look” made us realize that were no longer in Davao (laugh trip). I was not so fond of “malling” and maybe the rest of the girls with me too. What we did was we walked a little until we reached the ice skating rink and we stayed there watching the figure skaters do their thing and we left and went to the “The Bay” and we had the fun were looking for. We sat near the beach however we didn’t like the smell of it that’s why started walking towards a bunch of performer near the fountain and there we had a good laughed after that we sat and had our picture takings and the rain poured down and we ran into a shelter where a carousel was also located and since we don’t have anything to do we rode the carousel like children (hahahaha). To end the whole day event we went to Giligans for our dinner and that was my favorite meal of all because of the quality of food they were serving plus the fact that I was very very hungry because of our walking and standing trip at “The Bay”. After our dinner it was check in time at the Kabayan Hotel in Pasay and without any further ado they gave us the key and we went directly to our respective rooms and took our bathes and slept.
Learning’s:
I learned about the difference between IPV4 and IPV6, I can relate a little since we had a subject of Network Technology. I also learned about the project NOAH and what it is about. They also shared some information about their incoming projects and what they have done in the past years. This was all in DOST.
In MMDA I learned that they have a lot of CCTV cameras located in almost every corner of their jurisdiction plus there services are not just to control traffic but also to monitor accidents, floods, earthquake, and fires, hold ups etc. and aside from it they are also rescuers. TV stations went to them to ask for traffic monitoring’s for their reports. I also learned that when all else failed they would still go back to manual. Technical part was not tackled that much except for the kind of connection they have with their cctv cameras and how they controlled it.
I LIKE:
What I like about our visit was that they were very friendly and accommodating. The speaker had a sense of humor and we had a good laughed throughout the session plus the freebies.
I don’t LIKE:
It’s not what I’m expecting. I thought that they would share with us the technology behind every projects they have, how it was made, how secure the connections behind it. Stuffed like these were not tackled except for the kind of connection they have.
SECOND DAY:September 11, 2012
I wake up at around 4am because of the very “cool wind” coming from the hotel’s air-condition but it’s actually our fault why we had a freezing temperature. Anyways to continue, I had my very first morning shower at manila in Kabayan Hotel and it was awesome because our room had a cold and hot shower. After I took a shower I brushed my teeth and prepared my clothes for that day’s activity. I patiently waited for my roommates to finished dressing up and together we went to the lobby for a free breakfast. I had my morning coffee and a ham and egg for my meal. Then our bus waited for us outside together with our tour guide. After everyone finished eating our breakfast, we headed to UP Diliman for our national seminar. But before that we had our side trip at BahayniKuya and did our picture takings. The weather was not good at all, it’s a rainy Tuesday morning but still we did our picture taking sessions at BahayniKuya. On our way to UP Diliman we encountered flood, we were not even expecting it because the rain was not pouring at all but the flood was very high already in fact it almost reached the second stair of our tour bus.
I was really excited while we are still on the road to UP Diliman, why? Because it’s not only my first time to set foot to one of the most prestigious and famous school in the Philippines but it was really a great pride for me. When we get there we fell in line for like an hour or more and when finally we are nearing the entrance they (ushers for the event) told us to transfer to another building “AngBahayng Alumni” building because the UP Theater was already full of participants from different schools and colleges. We fell in line again for like eternity and finally we were inside the said building, they (ushers) were strict when it comes to seating arrangements and as much as we want to seat side by side with our close friends sad to say we cannot because we need to follow them and we seated their silently. The moment we all been waiting for came. The great GWAPO as he said starts to welcome the guests and participants of the event and when he acknowledged the participants from the University of Southeastern Philippines, the whole building roared. Do you know who this great GWAPO was? Yes, it was none other than Sir Randy Gamboa. He did the welcome address for the said event. After his welcome address our energy become less and less until such time most of us fell asleep. We woke up for our packed lunch from Kabayan Hotel and transferred to UP Theater and feel asleep again.After our boring Y4IT seminar, we bought UP souvenirs and took some pictures and we went to Trinoma and again we had our series of pictorials there, for our dinner, went to Tramway Restaurant in Timog, Quezon City. It’s all about sushi and chicken and fish and salad there. The food was great however the sushi did not fit my taste well (yucky).
The most exciting part of the trip was when the tour guide let us rode the train on our way to the hotel. Actually, in front of our hotel was the last MRT station there is at TAFT so basically it’s impossible for us to get lost but for our safety he rode with us. We paid for our fare which was 15php.
Learning’s:
As what I have said we did not listen much and most of us fell asleep, but three things remained. When I was listening to one of the speakers I learned about three things a person need in life: first, TALAS ngisip; second, TIYAGA; and finally, KAPAL NG MUKHA. Funny though it’s true if you don’t have the KAPAL ng MUKHA in your life you wouldn’t get anywhere because you’ll only get ashamed of what little you have. I also learned about animations, the history of it, and how big and wide the opportunity for animation there is. Lastly, I learned the process of riding a train: first, you need to pay for your fare which was 15php: second, get the card and insert it at the card slot so that you can pass and wait for the card to come out: third, wait for the train: fourth, get inside the train super-fast so that you can grab a seat because if you don’t you’ll get to stand up all the way: fifth, learn to listen to the driver of the train because the driver will announce every station they are in; sixth, get out the train when you’re on your station: seventh, when you get out of the station never forget to insert your card again in the card slot so that you can get out of the station and never wait for it to come out again.
I LIKE:
The picture takingsessions, the almost whole day of sleep, the food and most of all the train ride on our way to the hotel.
I don’t LIKE: The flood, the traffic and the long distance U-turns.
THIRD DAY: September 12, 2012
As usual I woke up ahead of time so that I can have my morning rituals undisturbed by my roommates, after the preparation went to lobby to get free breakfast and rode the bus for our company visit. I tagged the third day as the most interesting day of the tour.
Company Visits and Side trips:
Because most of us were early, we went to our next company tour, which was PLDT INNOLAB located at Mandaluyong a little too early. When we reached the placed we stayed inside the bus for like couple of hours because they will entertain us during their office hours which were around 10am. We kept on waiting, patiently, and waiting still until 10am arrived.
After the clock strikes 10am we fell in line again and had our name signed on the guest book at the security officers table, they instructed us to not bring any electronic gadgets like cameras, cellphones and etc. We had a discussion and then a tour to their facilities. The place was very big and very interesting. Almost all their doors were electronics, I wonder if they have electric generator in case power failure occur because for sure they cannot easily get out from a certain room if there is no electricity available. They have this hall museum where a piece of the history of PLDT was being displayed from old telephones to new ones. I also noticed a lot of room for testing newly developed products, because the place where we went to is like a development laboratory for PLDT. Then they have this certain room for fiber optics development and they also have show-rooms where in they display different products partnered with them.
Our little discussion was fun because the whole gang was very interactive and the speaker was very knowledgeable about his topic. When the tour starts, they explain each of the pieces displayed in their hall, its connection to the current PLDT, its importance during the year it was launched and a lot of history about them being the PLDT. Next was we went to their show-room where they introduce a certain product from ACER, an ultra slim ultra-book, then we went to one of their testing laboratory where in they test the speed of a leased line rented from them by a certain client. From the testing lab to their product room and from the product room to the meeting room where we get to sit to the most comfortable chair arranged in the biggest table I ever saw in my entire life and there they shown us the monitoring system of PLDT which was very veryvery interesting.
After our visit at PLDT we ate our packed lunch inside the tour bus, fortunately our tour guide did secured a water for us to drink. Our tour guide was indeed the best tour guide I ever met.
After our meal we went straight to SSS. They (ushers) lead us straight to their museum and they gave us a lot of fact sheets and they let us seated for like five minutes before our discussion started. The whole gang participated actively with the discussion because maybe of the giveaways the SSS were giving us. After the discussion they tour us inside the operation building and since there were less people available in the afternoon, operations were not that visible anymore.
When the company visits were done, we passed by Intramuros to Rizal Park and took some pictures after that we went to the night market located in Divisoria, Manila. Since our tour guide gave us a meal allowance of 200php, we had our dinner at Tutuban 168 and after it we did our night shopping. The place was very crowded however you need to be in the crowd for you to be able to buy few things and you also do need to take good care of your belongings “bantay magnanakaw” then went back to the hotel for a long “cold” night sleep.
Learning’s:
From PLDT-most of my learnings are in the field of networking. How they secure their connections through the use of VPN. How they monitor calls from here to there. I also learned the difference between a copper wire and fiber optic cable.
form, how and when to use it. What to do if the SSS holder has multiple accounts. How to apply for a pension and many more.
I LIKE:
What I really really like about this wholeday trip was that it was not boring at all, because the company we visited were very accomodating specially when it comes to Q and A portion of the trip plus they gave us a chance to tour their facilities and they gave us a satisfying answers to every questions we asked during the tour AND the giveaways from SSS
I don’t LIKE:
Plain and simple, I really don’t like the bias speaker (smirk).
FOURTH DAY: September 13, 2012
The most fun filled adventure day of all. A day where we get to relax our mind from all the stresses of thinking and analyzing thingy because this is the day where we went to TAGAYTAY and ENCHANTED KINGDOM.
Company Visits and Side trips:
Before all the adventure started, we started our day with a morning breakfast and a prayer lead by our tour guide. Since the company cannot accommodate as many visitors as us, the tour company divided us into two. So the big bus went to Tagaytay before us and all of us were sad because instead of visiting Tagaytay first we were stocked on our bus waiting for the company to entertain us. So, we waited for like one to two hours because we were very early for our appointment. On the bus, to kill the boredom our tour guide was wise enough to let us have a videoke inside the bus. So we wait and wait until the time has come. Finally were inside the company, SPI Global. Their company was an outsourcing company however they do a lot of programming’s and designing’s for their clients abroad. We started discussing a lot of things from their vision, mission, and goal to their job and obligations, from designing to programming to network designing and administration. They also had facility tour and some picture taking on their lobby.
TAGAYTAY moments, finally were done with our company visit and we quickly headed to Tagaytay. It was a rainy Thursday afternoon and the tour guide told us not to expect much from Tagaytay because we might get their kind of late and considering the weather we might encounter a foggy place. We took our sumptuous lunch on our way to Tagaytay. When we reach the place called palace in the sky, true to his words the place was indeed very foggy and because of the heavy fog we can barely see the landscape that’s why we just enjoy ourselves with “pasalubong” buying along with some picture takings. To sum it all it was not a very nice visit, however when we were on our way to the next destination we stopped at a certain place in Tagaytay and what’s really exciting was that we get to taste a Buko pie for free. It was the most appetizing Buko Pie I ever tasted, sad thing was that I no longer have the money to buy for it.
The most awaited destination of all ENCHANTED KINGDOM. We had a ride all tickets and I swear we tried to rode all the rides available at the place but sad to say we did not even rode half of the rides they have because of the long waiting lines of students like us. Fortunately we get to ride the most exciting ride of the place and that was the SPACE SHUTTLE, it’s a roller coaster ride with three loops and it was the best ride I ever tried in my entire life. We also rode the ferris wheel, the flying fiesta, we also watched 3D movie, we did the Riogrande rapids, where we get soaking wet then off to bump n’splash, it’s like a bump car but in water then each ride has its own water gun, we were like kids playing to our hearts contentment. The scariest ride I took was the ANCHORS AWAY, it’s a boat like ride where the boat swings as high as it could get and swear to everyone it was very scary when the boat swings back and forth with its not so fast pace and with the swing getting higher away from the ground. Riding it was like killing you in a slow manner. The park closes at seven, and we get out at around 7:15 in the evening and since we were soaking wet we changed outfit and waited in the toilet for like half an hour. After our ENCHANTED KINGDOM escapade we then headed to our dinner destination, Taste of Asia. The food was great however the entire place was really, really, really cold. We had dinner and went back to the hotel. Around 11pm a peer of ours woke us up because someone from the group bought an ice cream for all of us as a post celebration on his birthday. We ate until our stomachs were full and fell asleep again though some stayed late.
Learning’s:
I learned that all work and no play make man a dull man. From SPI Global, I learned that it is best to design under a low light because it is when the colors truly show. As to programming they talked a lot about Microsoft programming language because it’s what they patronize so we learned that Microsoft has a better debugging style because it points directly to the program error. They did not talked much about the programming details but they did talked about networking which was almost the same with PLDT so it was sort of a review to us, About vpn’s and how it protects the system, about RJ45 which we already tackled with our net tech subject, and fiber optics.
I LIKE:
The warm welcome of the company we visited plus the fact that they invited us to apply to their company when we finished our courses. The facility tour they prepared for us. The trip to Tagaytay, and the getaway we had at Enchanted Kingdom.
I don’t LIKE:
The weather that hinders our views in Tagaytay, the time we wasted while waiting inside the bus and most of all the limited time in Enchanted Kingdom.
FIFTH DAY: September 14, 2012
This marks the final day of our educational tour. The night prior this day, we already packed our things and our “pasalubongs” and did some luggage weighing to check if our luggage was more than 15 kilos; luckily mine was around 13 kilos only. In the morning after our sumptuous breakfast we checked out from the hotel and waited for our bus to come and fetch us for our final company visit.
Company Visits and Side trips:
The last company we visited was at JP Morgan Chase and Co. located in Fort Bonifacio. On our way I was very impressed with the medium rise condominium surrounding the area plus the fact that the place was very clean and very elegant. It was like you’re in a very different place. With its rapid development it could become the little Tokyo or Hongkong in the Philippines. When we reached the JP Morgan Chase and Co. building I was stunned to how big the building was and I had no idea of what the company is all about. Then they greeted us and lead us to a very large meeting room in I think 11th floor, everything was electronic from their entrance to every room we looked into. They have elevators assigned to every floor of the building. When we reached the large room, since the speaker has not yet arrived. They let us have a tour to their facilities until we reached their very own cafeteria where every corner was air-conditioned plus the chairs was very comfortable to seat with and the food was very cheap. It really amazes me. Then we head back to the meeting room and start the discussion. Then we bid our farewells and goodbyes and took some group pics in their lobby.
After the company visits we went back to Kabayan Hotel for our final hotel lunch. After the meal, everyone was so excited to take pictures in almost every corner of the Hotel and the time we all been waiting for came. We rode the bus and headed to the airport but before that we passed by Divisoria and did our final shopping of pasalubong there; we just stayed for like 30 minutes and off to the airport and bid our farewells to our tour guides. Some cried however most of us were very excited to go back home.
While we are at the departure area, we took some pics and shared some smile and off to the plane. The ride to home was not that good at all, since our take off we encountered a lot of turbulence plus our planed turned three times in the air because of airport traffic. When we landed I got very dizzy and a ringing air. It’s really painful, that’s why when I got my luggage I bid my goodbye to my professor and went home with my mother, a friend, and my boyfriend who patiently waited for me at the Davao Airport.
Learning’s:
I learned that the company we went to was the number one megabank in US, and that their company was the one behind the rise of the almost bankrupt economy of the US during their trying times.
I LIKE:
What I like about this day was the free coffee and juices of the company, drink all we can. Their warmth welcome to us and their job invitation to us plus the freebies they gave us after the discussion. Seeing the happy and excited faces of my mom and boyfriend really made my day.
I don’t LIKE:
I really hate the turbulence we encountered on our way home and the seemed never ending turning of our plane in the air.
APPENDICES
RECOMMENDATION:
I recommend that major fieldtrip should be imposed to the next and coming batch of IC Students for they will get the exposure of their lives to next level.
BLOGSITE URL:
For more detail you can visit my blogsite at www.chumzygirl.blogspot.com.
PICTURES:
DAY 1 PICS:
DAY 2 PICS:
DAY 3 PICS:
DAY 4 PICS:
DAY 5 PICS:
TICKETS:
back and forth ticket
ITINERARY:
List of Students
1. Abarquez, Argen Pearl V.
2. Aberjedo, Che May Ann A.
3. Alderite, Jon Ares A.
4. Amistoso, Emmanuel E.
5. Amora, Kristine Faith M.
6. Anzano, Jordan M.
7. Asueros, April Anne A.
8. Bacaoco, Joanna P.
9. Barayan, Marco C.
10. Bargamento, Claire R.
11. Belayro, Yvonne P.
12. Bestis, Sheila Mae A.
13. Biloy, Victorio Q.
14. Bonto, April Mae B.
15. Cagnaan, Ruby Jean P.
16. Canoy, Jeffrey D.
17. Cariño, Louella Marree C.
18. Casal, Sherry Ann Marie J.
19. Catalan, Xevler B.
20. Chavez, Laian Joy D.
21. Chua, Rina Richie M.
22. Comidoy, Nikko P.
23. Cubelo, Jhun Rey T.
24. Datoy, Jerland O.
25. Dela Luz, Chenny G.
26. De Paz, Ricardo Jr. R.
27. Diacono, Jose Jr. B.
28. Dicon, Jonie T.
29. Espina, Firlyvir T.
30. Flores, Brian
31. Flores, Roscel O.
32. Galindo, Jesmael G.
33. Gallardo, Jecris P.
34. Gascon, Miguel Paulo Anthony
35. Insierto, Jeanie Joy L.
36. Juarez, Jazel Noreen C.
37. Larayos, Arpi S.
38. Lejano, Benjamin A.
39. Letchadores, Raquel D.
40. Librea, Eldrin Jay Chit L.
41. Literatus, Nikki P.
42. Magallen, Febie Jane D.
43. Manipis, Ozy Hale D.
44. Mendez, Kevin P.
45. Miguel, John Cyril D.
46. Morado, Welfred L.
47. Narciso, Loren E.
48. Obiso, Karina N.
49. Olmedo, Kleant James R.
50. Osiones, Vanessa Joy C.
51. Paman, Jesse Rhey V.
52. Panoy, Rhea Eleonor B.
53. Partosa, Therry Charm R.
54. Perez, Jasper Humprey O.
55. Polinar, Joemar M.
56. Reyes, Jomarie L.
57. Saclauso, Salveah M.
58. Salar, Mary Ann A.
59. Santos, Sandina Y.
60. Sarga, Myrine A.
61. Sarino, Jefalyn B,
62. Soriano, Uriel Emmanuel R.
63. Sumalinog, Fretzeil Mae V.
64. Tomanding, Khelly M.
65. Tomas, Jed Wil T.
66. Torres, Jay Erickson T.
67. Travilla, Zyra Jane M.
back and forth ticket