12th of January 2019
The sleep that I had since the night before was so good that waking up has been ignored. Sounds silly but exhaustion seemed to swallow my entire body for a week and then was my only chance to escape. Eve, one of my friends from Bicol came inside the room, telling us to get up for it was already turning 9 o’clock in the morning and still none of us was ready to go. She was constantly shaking me, hoping that she could wake me up from my good sleep, but she failed. It was probably on her third attempt when I decided to get up. “Hurry up, Fem and Jean! We have to leave now.”, she exclaimed. I was not really in the mood for any trips that morning but they were pushing us, that’s when I decided to finally take a bath. After an hour-long preparation, we went outside the school and waited for a van to come along to take us to our destination, Ayutthaya. Travel time was about 30-45 minutes going to Tesco Lotus, it was a mall wherein we had our lunch and again took an almost 20-minute travel going to Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon in Ayutthaya. According to our Thai buddies, it was a monastery constructed by King U-Thong to accommodate the monks that were ordained by Phra Wanratana Mahathera Burean. We walked around the place and got the chance to take a look at a very deep well inside. The stairway going up was a bit too steep and I really felt my hands and legs shaking. But then with the help of my friends, I was able to overcome my fear of heights and managed to even take a walk around the monastery.
Another ride took us to Ayutthaya Floating Market. It was then when I had my first encounter with an elephant. I wanted to have a ride but the 600 Baht payment was way too much expensive for me and so I just made myself contented with elephant feeding. There were also horses and fishes in the place. Going inside the floating market, I felt the urge of spending much money for everything around me were sold for a very cheap price. Though it was a struggle talking to sellers, I still made it possible to buy souvenirs for my friends and family back in the Philippines as well as some stuffs like clothes and shoes for myself. It was already sunset when we decided to finally go home. I paused and seized the moment of looking at such a wonderful event. The sky was covered by shades of peach and orange and the warmth that I felt inside was nothing but incomparable.
19th of January 2019
I was having second thoughts regarding today’s trip. The exhaustion that I felt during our last trip still haunts me as if it’s now again ready to welcome me once more. But since everyone was invited, I’ve finally decided to come with them. It was 7 o’clock in the morning when we gathered together. We just took some group pictures together and immediately went inside the bus. It felt amazing for it was my first time to ride in a double-decker bus. It was like I’m an actress having a shooting for a movie. After a while the bus took off. The trip was unexpectedly long and exhausting but being able to see other places than Pathum Thani really made me happy. The excitement came into its peak as I started seeing road signs saying we’re already in Amphawa, our second excursion destination.
We first headed to Amphawa Cultural Heritage Museum and King Rama II Memorial Park. The place was so relaxing for you can hear nothing but the sounds produced by nature. The joy I felt inside was doubled when I met more Filipino SEA-Teachers along the way. The circle between me, Jean, Eve, Marian, Jinn extended by having Al, Cathy, and Roxanne. They were the closest to me along with my Indonesian friends, Jhuly, Eke, Eni, Karina, Yuly, Cicha, Hindun, and Sima. The museum showcases the rich culture of the Thai people. One of its major attractions are the life-size mannequins showing the Thai customs and way of living. Antiques and some memorabilia of the late King Rama II were also displayed there.
We jump straight to our next destination, the Amphawa Floating Market. Even if I had already gone in a floating market, still I can feel the excitement for the place was a bit different to that of the floating market in Ayutthaya. My dream of riding the small boats lurking in the middle of the floating market was finally granted when Aj. Kiatisak Neung, Roxanne’s cooperating teacher offered to pay half of the total payment. As we got in the boat, all the moments were filled by singing and screaming for we were all overwhelmed because of the joy that we felt within. We visited five Thai temples, each has something unique to show, each has its own story to tell to the people. We no longer had the chance to shop around the market for it was already past 3 o’clock in the afternoon and we were already told to go home.
1st of February 2019
This day was really remarkable for this was the time wherein I felt the happiness of nearly going home to the Philippines and the pain of leaving Thailand along with my new-found friends. A surprise Ayutthaya trip was organized by my cooperating teacher, Teacher Adam along with our Thai buddies, Pia and Ploy. This time, this trip was no ordinary. We were all dressed up in traditional Thai dresses and wore those during the entire trip. We went to another temple and another market in Ayutthaya. After a couple of hours, we were told to go back to VRU for a surprise farewell party was waiting for all of us.
As soon as we got back, the teachers of the VRU Demonstration School were all present to celebrate with us. It’s where I felt like the pain was getting real. I tried to hide the emotions within and preferred to seize the moment. After the party, we submitted our requirements and went back to the dormitory.
Since I and Jean has to leave earlier, the rest of the group decided to organize a farewell party. Since then, it was our first time to gather altogether for dinner and spend the rest of the night until dawn talking, sharing stories, and dancing altogether, pretending as if we won’t be giving each other a farewell in the next few hours.
It was already 2 o’clock when everybody decided to take a rest. We were scheduled to be fetched at 5:30 AM so we decided not to sleep anymore, and instead, spend the remaining hours for preparation. In the middle of the preparation, Marian, came near the door and started crying. She was very close to us that’s why we were not able to hold our tears back and eventually cried together. We went to their room and talked a lot. Eve, on the other hand preferred to cover her face with a pillow for according to her, she prefers to see nothing that see us leaving. As we bid each other good bye, we went outside their room, got back to ours and started writing letters for each of the girls in the room. It was never to write those letters. It was never easy to leave the family that we once had in Thailand. As we took our steps away from the dormitory, tears started to run across our faces, with a heavy heart but with much love gratitude, bid farewell to the Land of Smiles, Thailand.