Lauren 10PIB2 Fieldtrip (Assignment)

On the 8th of February, the school held a 3-day-2-night fieldtrip event to Jakarta and Bandung. We had to gather at the airport at 5 AM, but I was 15 minutes late. I woke up at 4.15 AM and the trip to the airport took longer than I thought it'd be.

After we all went on air with the Garuda Indonesia, we spend one whole day on it's training center. First we went to the place where they fix all the airplanes. There was a model airplane, there were workers. We were asked to do an interview to some of the workers there, and video the interview. After we done that, we got a chance to go on the pilot cockpit and see all the buttons they had to memorize in order to operate the flight. We spent approximately 1 hour there, walking around, asking questions, taking pictures. We never thought that it'd be that complicated. I never thought that the back section of the plane is being used as a storage for beverages and meals. I guess I never thought where the flight food appears.

And then we move on to the Aerofood, it is where they prepare all in-flight meals. Turns out it is also, not as simple as we thought they were. We didn't know that a single hair on a customer's meal would cause 2 million rupiah  from the company. Then the PIC took us to the freezer, where they keep all the food and cook it. The kitchen and the storage room was very sterile. All ingredients must be used within a period of 3 months, or else they'll be thrown away. I even caught a glimpse on 10 baskets of rotten fruit being piled up, ready to be thrown away. Then we moved on to the kitchen. The kitchen itself is divided into many departments, the Japanase flight have their own meal, prepared in a Japanese style. The menus are also different in every flight. For example, if the flight is from China they prepare noodles, or dim sum. If the flight is from Indonesia then they prepare ordinary menus. After all food are cooked, they are all being placed on trays. We got a chance to come to their warehouse, where they keep all their silverwares and dishes. Every flight has their own silverware, with the colors resembling their own company's logo.

After all that, we were so tired but we had to go to the Garuda Training Center. This is kinda special, because this is where they train all their stewardess and their pilots. We didn't really see actual training of the pilots, but we did see how they train and shape their stewardesses. They were forced to get used to being a true lady, talking almost with a smile, sitting with legs crossed, back straight, and other things I couldn't possibly do! We also saw a big pool, which was 2 meters deep, they used it as an emergency training. So that the pilots and the stewardess know what to do when they accidentally crash on the land or on the waters. That is why swimming is also one of the qualification that they must fulfill. And with that, they first day was over. The trip from Jakarta to Bandung took over 5-6 hours. It was already 9 PM when we reached Bandung, and we a very late dinner at Kampung Daun restaurant, a very village-like surrounding. It was quite relaxing after a long, tiring day. Then we go straight to the hotel, to get prepared for the second day.

The second day we went to the KAA (Konferesi Asia-Afrika / Asian-African Convention). It was an important museum for Bandung citizens, it shows. It is Bandung's pride that they are able to prepare a world-class convention for leaders all over the world with an international style. We first arrived, and we sat on a large hall, on the very chairs that the world leaders used during the convention. All the chairs were still in perfect condition, even the stage, which is very impressive because it must've been hard to maintain them since it's been around 50 years since the big event. The speaker was very passionate about this convention, and I was almost brought in by the way he tells the story. I was amazed, too.
We were also given an assignment to the a role play. One of us will pretend to be a reporter, and several of us will pretend to be a visitior. The idea is to do a talk show. After that, we didn't really get a chance to look around even more because the time is limited.

We immediately left the museum and head to an area where there are a lot of distros. Distros are small shops that sells a lot of clothes and accesories in a much cheaper price. After about an hour spent there, we had lunch at Pagoda, which was very good. And then we went to the geology museum, where we examine rocks, and prehistoric fossils. The geology museum was actually a laboratorium, where Dutch scientists study human fossils. But then their collection grew, and finally they decided to open the lab to public, and turn it into a museum. If you were there you could still see the historical touch of the building, since the original shape of the building was never reconstructed, only maintained. We had an interview assignment there, and we interviewed a staff, he was a security. He told us that there are also many social activities held by the museum for schools visiting there, such as movies, games, and et cetera.

After we went to the geology museum we went to C59, which was a T-shirt making factory. We examined the makings of the T-shirt. From pattern making, sewing, printing, we even got a chance to print a t-shirt for ourselves. Then, we go to Rumah Mode. It's like a small factory outlet with lots of clothes. The quality of the clothes here are much better than the ones in the distros. We spent around an hour there, and then we head on for our free time at the Paris van Java mall. The mall was outdoor, with stores on your right and left. There are so many of them, and many are branded stores such as Zara, Guess, Mango, Cache Cache, etc. I bought a whole lot of stuff here, and I spent too much but I managed to get all my family members something. We went back to the bus on 9 PM, and we were all very tired and late, because we were supposed to gather at 8.30 PM.

The third day was the last day. We didn't go much, but we went to Saung Angklung Udjo, which was the most interesting of all. In the performance they combine angklung with modern instruments such as bass and drums. It was really nice, they were very creative and I have never heard they play music like that. There are many children that took part, most are at a very young age. The purpose of this place is to preserve our cultural values and not let it fade by implementing it to children from a very young age.
After going to Saung aklung we went to Primarasa, which is a place where we buy food souvenirs for our family. And then we go straight back to Jakarta, went on board, and go home.

This fieldtrip has been very tiring but it was incredibly fun. Since this is new and Cita Hati has never done this kind of field trip before. I think the Week Without Walls is a very fun and useful concept and I look forward in participating again.