Plant Tour 2014 (part 2)

Note:

As one of the plant tour rules, we are not allowed to take pictures inside their plants and to share their information about their processes.

Day 2: Laguna and Side Trips

2nd Plant Visit - Yakult

After having breakfast, we proceed to Yakult in Calamba, Laguna. 

Yakult Plant, Calamba

Once inside, we were given free Yakult! (single bottle only) Once the tour ended, we had a chance to buy Yakult products and to take photos of their giant Yakult figures (regular and light) and their mascot. 

Lactobacillus mascot (I think)

Yakult Regular

Yakult Light

Off to Rizal Shrine

Since it was still early to have lunch, our tour guide decided to let us visit Rizal shrine in the heart of Calamba. It was the house of Jose Rizal's parents and also where he  lived while he was young.

Rizal Shrine

The house today is just a replica of the actual house which is non-existent today. Also, the actual house was way bigger than the replica house. Inside the house, you will get to see the typical interior of the rooms of the house. There were also paintings, artifacts, and writings relating to the Rizal family. 

There is also a museum beside it. This is where most artifacts are placed. 

Having Lunch

We went to Waltermart - Calamba to have lunch at Chic-Boy.

Chic-Boy at Waltermart, Calamba

3rd Plant Visit - Gardenia

We proceeded to the Gardenia plant in Binan, Laguna. Just like Yakult, they gave us free Gardenia slices and a chance to buy their products inside. 

Gardenia Entrance

Gardenia Plant

Side Trip to Tagaytay!

Since we have plenty of time to spare, we decided to go to Tagaytay. Though we will only gonna visit 2 places due to our schedule ahead of us. 

First in our list was Tierra de Maria. It houses a giant Mother Mary with a chapel inside where you can offer your prayers. There is also a garden at the top where you can have a splendid view of the iconic Taal Volcano. 

Tierra de Maria

View of Taal Volcano from the top

Second place we visited was the People's Park in the Sky. It sits on top of a hill overlooking Tagaytay and other neighboring places. From the parking area, you have to walk to the top of the park. You can also ride a jeepney from the parking area to the top for a price of 5 pesos. 

Once you're at the top, you'll see an unfinished mansion which was converted into a park. There are places where you can take pictures and selfies of the surroundings of the park. There are also shops that sells shirts and handicrafts. Lastly, there is also the Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love located within the park. 

Unfinished Mansion

One part of the Park

Unfinished Mansion

Some Shops

We went back to Paseo de Sta. Rosa after our Tagaytay expedition for dinner. Since we still have time to spare before dinner, we decided to explore the paseo. Some of us shopped while the others just want to explore the place.

Paseo de Sta. Rosa

We had dinner at Bon Chon. After that, we went back to the hotel to rest and to prepare for the coming days.

Stay tuned for the 3rd installment of my plant tour blog.

See you guys later!

See other parts of my plant tour:

Part 1 - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/10/plant-tour-2014-part-1.html

Part 3 - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/11/plant-tour-2014-part-3.html

Part 4 - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/11/plant-tour-2014-last-part.html

Plant Tour 2014 (part 1)

Day 1 - Off to Luzon!

Before Take Off

As agreed before we started the tour, me, my classmates, and my professors had to meet at the airport to check-in as a group. Since our flight's ETD is 6:05 am, we had to be at the airport at around 4 am. We're using Cebu Pacific for this flight and the return flight. 

Flight Info: 5J-962 DVO-MNL, ETD: 06:05, ETA: 07:45

Check-in was uneventful. After check-in, we went on to pay the terminal fee of Php 200. Then, we proceed to gate no. 7. 

Note:

In the Philippines, terminal fees are collected before proceeding to the pre-departure area. They are not included in the purchasing of plane tickets. However, terminal fees are already included in domestic flights originating from Manila and Cebu. Therefore, you don't need to pay the fee directly at the airport.

At around 5:45 am, we boarded the plane. At around 6 am, we took-off. 

Good bye Davao . . . for now.

Arrival

A rainy morning greeted us in Manila. Through  the announcement of the flight attendant, we arrived 10 minutes early (around 7:35 am). The plane parked at the remote stands of NAIA terminal 3. Since it's parked there, we had to be fetched by bus going to the terminal. 

In the bus going to the terminal.

As we got out of the terminal, we were greeted by our tour guide Sir Ricky (I hope I got your name right sir). After that, we put our bags to the mini bus and proceed to our first destination. 

The Tour Begins

We were informed that the first company visit, which was a visit to GRAM Industrial Inc., was cancelled. I don't know why it was cancelled. Because of that, our facilitators had no choice but to let us check-in early in the hotel. By the way, we stayed at El Cielito Hotel, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. It is just along Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Rd.

After we settled in, it was time for lunch. We had lunch at Shakey's in Paseo de Sta. Rosa. 

 Shakey's Paseo de Sta. Rosa

During this time some of my classmates decided to try Dairy Queen on the other side of Paseo de Sta. Rosa. (Since DQ doesn't have a branch in Davao City yet)

Dairy Queen

By around 1 pm, we headed to Toshiba Information Equpiment (TIP) in Biñan, Laguna. 

Toshiba entrance

Note:

As one of the plant tour rules, we are not allowed to take pictures inside their plants and to share their information about their processes.

We finished the tour around 5:30 pm. According to our tour coordinator, it was by far the longest single plant visit that she had experienced. To give you guys an idea, our plant visits usually were 1 to 1.5 hours long. But in Toshiba, we  were there for almost four and a half hours! 

After a tiring day, we headed to Mang Inasal (located near our hotel) to have dinner. 

This is the end of day 1. Stay tuned for what's next to come. 

See you guys later! 

See other parts of my plant tour:

Part 2 - click here

Part 3 - click here

Part 4 - click here

Plant Tour Awaits Us.

To begin with, as one of our graduation requirements for the college program that I'm enrolled in, we must attend a plant tour during our 4th yr stay in the university. This plant tour/ educational tour usually takes place outside Davao City. 

Tomorrow (Oct. 15) will be the start of our Plant Tour/ Educational Tour in Laguna and Metro Manila. I'm so excited about this and also my classmates! hahaha.

It's been 5 years since I haven't set foot on Luzon. This is how excited I am! Also, we get to explore several plants and factories to learn how their internal operations work (the reason why we have plant tours in the first place). Lastly, we will go to malls and other popular tourist attractions!  

I will be posting pictures and an official blog entry about this. I think I'll have to make 2 or 3 entries of this event.  So stay tuned.

See you guys later!

Hello World!

Hello everybody! I'm Emer Operario, and this will be my official blog.

So far, I haven't posted anything yet because I just started. So stay tuned guys!

For the content, I'm not sure on what specific content that I will be posting. For now, I'll just post anything that I wanted to share.

That's pretty much about it. 

See you guys later!