this trip is actually a exchange program between my school and this school in su-ra-ba-ya, which is called SMAN15. our students will be going to SMAN15 for a few days of school experience. and then in july, the SMAN15 students will come over to singapore.
altogether there are 32 students from my school going, led by 4 teachers. the students are divided into 4 groups, so each teacher will take charge of one group.
ok so let's embark on the wonderful journey!
the day started at six am, where everyone has to assemble at the changi airport terminal 2. can see stoned faces and also excited faces. some of them have nv travelled overseas before. some of them have nv travelled overseas without their parents. so we teachers are their surrogate parents and their safety is our responsibility. sound very noble rite.
the flight that we took is silk air, and the travelling time to su-ra-ba-ya is only two hours. upon reaching their airport, we were greeted by our vice-principal. he went there one day earlier than us. some of the SMAN15 students and teachers were also there to welcome us.
off we went to SMAN15. their principal gave a welcome speech which i totally dun understand cos it is in bahasa indonesia. after that we were entertained by their choir. their choir is good! and the conductor is quite sweet looking. haha.
next we went for some sight-seeing around the city. we went to this majestic mosque which has a very high tower. so we went to the top of the tower to enjoy a magnificient view of the city.
(my colleague, rene. he teaches physics)the next destination is a very nice and cold place, called mount b-r-o-m-o! it is a 4 hour journey on bus. before this trip, we were told to bring warm clothes. apparently most of my students nv go and research online about mount b-r-o-m-o. thankfully i did and i found out that the temperature up there is 5 degree celsius and it can get colder at night. i brought my adidas sweater and a brown jacket and it is still not enough to keep me warm. some of my students only brought a jacket and is definitely not enough, so they do funny things like using their pants as a scarf and bringing a towel to wrap their ears and mouth. but luckily the locals got sell gloves, winter hats and scarves. and they got rent thick jackets.
and now, let me present to you my group:
they are very nice kids and nv give me much problems throughout the whole trip.
we have to sleep very early because at 3 am, we have to wake up and make our way to the peak of mount b-ro-m-o to watch the sunrise. its even more colder at that time and all of us were shivering. i think it is a very good experience for the kids. haha.
the sunrise is very nice. but is a pity i din capture good pics. the view after the sunrise was simply breath-taking. can see volcanoes, with smoke coming out from the top. damn cool. you need to be there to witness everything with your own eyes to understand wat i mean.
after watching the sunrise, we went to another portion of mount b-r-o-m-o to see a crater. btw b-r-o-m-o is still an active volcano. the crater we going to see is very high up and far, so there are horses to bring us up there. we have to pay for the horse ride. there were limited horses, so some of the students din get to go up, so rene and i stayed together with them.
and then suddenly, one of the boys suggested going to the crater on foot! so i accompanied him, and together with another boy, all 3 of us begin a test of our physical fitness. let me show you wat i mean.
from my location, i have to go all the way up to see the crater. (use this ancient temple as a landmark)
(halfway up to the crater. already si bei shag)
(still got a steep flight of stairs to conquer)
(finally at the peak! the brown thingy at the top left hand corner is my finger. the region inside the black circle is our starting point.)
(the crater, with the smoke coming out)upon reaching there, all of us were shag like hell. i was panting. immediately i bought a bottle of isotonic drink and finished it in one go.
we stayed on top for quite a while to admire the beautiful scenery. and then we jog all the way down again. a very good workout for us. i am able to uphold my reputation as a pe teacher. haha.
it was already 7 am when we got back to our hotel. we ate breakfast, showered, and head back to the city of su-ra-ba-ya.
