DAY ONE:

Nakonsithammarat via Kuala Lumpur - Johor Baru

DAY TWO:

Johor Baru - Singapore

DAY THREE:

Singapore - Malacca

DAY FOUR:

Malacca - Kuala Lumpur

DAY FIVE:

Kuala Lumpur - Genting Highlands

DAY SIX:

Genting Highlands - Nakonsithammarat  (and bed)

OUR TRANSPORT

DAY ONE

  Every year, Kanlayaneesithammarat's Mattayom3 EP students have a week long 'English Camp'. This year (2004) was no different when 48 students and a handful of teachers headed south.

  The trip began with everyone meeting up in the EP Building at around 2pm on a wet Thursday afternoon. Once everybody had been accounted for, it was time to board the bus for the long journey south. The idea this year was to head more or less all the way down to Singapore and 'work' our way back. Our double decked coach left the school gates just after 2pm and everyone settled into their seats. First stop was a road-side restaurant on the outskirts of Hatyai where everyone got the chance to eat their last 'Thai' meal for a week. There was an air of excitement amongst the students, many of whom had never been away from their families before. The meal was soon devoured and it was back aboard the coach for everyone. Less than an hour later we were at the border crossing between Malaysia and Thailand. We all disembarked the coach and proceeded with the customs formalities. Passports all stamped, smiles on the students' faces, we were on our way again.

  By this time, day had turned into a beautiful clear night. Our coach was heading south down the main North - South  trans-Malaysia Highway and for most it was now a great time to relax. We drove through the night stopping only a couple of times to allow passengers time to stretch their legs and maybe grab a snack. Early the following morning we were in the centre of Kuala Lumpur and the students were about to go on a tour of the very high 'KL Watchtower' as it is sometimes known. This tower is in the Top10 highest Towers in the world and has some of the fastest elevators too.

THE KL WATCH TOWER.

  After the 'Watch Tower' we had a quick visit to the highest flagpole in Asia which is over 100metres high! It's also home to one of the biggest Malaysian flags. We left KL as Kuala Lumpur is affectionately known and headed for Putraya Jaya New Town which is an ultra modern hi tech town. Many large companies have moved here along with lots of Foreign Embassies.  This town is also home to one of the biggest Mosques in the world which is capable of seating over 20,000 people.

PUTRAYA JAYA NEW TOWN.

  After a short while here we all boarded the coach again for the final leg of Day 1's journey to Johor Baru. 4 hours later, our coach pulled up outside the lobby of the Eden Garden Hotel, situated across the river from Singapore Island. It was a welcome sight and after such a long journey made many people very happy. We showered had dinner and then relaxed although many of us went straight to sleep as we were so tired.

DAY TWO

SINGAPORE & SENTOSA

  After a very welcome rest, we all woke early for the short journey to Singapore City. We had soon crossed the Northern Causeway, passed through Customs and were enjoying the spotless scenery to be found around the Northern parts of this busy island. We soon changed our Thai money for Singapore Dollars and were given the chance to go shopping on the busy Orchard Road. We all found Singapore to be extremely expensive and in a way were quite pleased to leave the shopping areas as we headed out towards the cable car station and onto Sentosa. For some of us, it was our first time on a cable car and although exciting it was quite scary too! We spent a lot of time exploring this 'fun island' and it was nearly 10pm before we actually left. Some of the things we did while exploring was to visit the 'Merlion' and watch the 'Dancing Fountain Show' in the evening, both of which we thought were excellent. After leaving Sentosa, we soon arrived at the 'Royal Hotel' on Newton Road. This is where we were staying so we checked in, showered and then went to sleep as we knew we had another busy day in the morning.

DAY THREE

  We woke up early and we were given a sightseeing tour of central Singapore. We went to see the 'other' Merlion, we went on the Singapore underground system and we were given the chance to do a little more shopping (if we wanted to). It was after our lunch that we started our shortish trip to Melacca on Malaysia's west coast. We had to go back through Customs in both Singapore and Malaysia and the drive to Melacca took only 3 hours or so. In Melacca we saw some of the historic buildings including an old galleon from centuries ago. It was quite interesting. We had our dinner and then checked in at the Century Hotel, Malacca for the evening. Once we had checked in we all had homework to do. Today's homework was to write about what we had done today and think about what we would do when we visit the Fairview International School tomorrow. It was a good day today ... not too busy and not too easy.

MALACCA

DAY FOUR

  Today we went back to Kuala Lumpur as we had an appointment with the 'Fairview International School'.

  It had just turned 10 in the morning when our coach pulled up outside the 'Fairview International School'. We were met by their Principal and one of their teachers. We were taken into a room and given a description of the school and what their aims were. Afterwards, Kanlayanee put on a small show for them including a 'Manora' (South Thai dance) and a Nangtalung (South Thai Tradition) performance. We were mixed in with pupils from this school and after the initial shyness had worn off we all had good fun and made some new friends.

FAIRVIEW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

  Fairview International School is a Kuala Lumpur school we visited during our trip. We were very warmly welcomed by not only the staff but also by their students. The idea of these school visits is to give our students an insight as to how other schools operate by meeting their teachers and students. Our visit started with both schools giving a brief introduction of themselves. After the introductions, the Kanlayaneesithammarat students were given 'new friends' from Fairview and then in groups, they took part in various educational activities. While the students were doing these activities, the teachers from both schools had an informal meeting which comprised of comparing the teaching methodologies used. Both groups gained useful insight  about the education system in both countries. Once the activities and the teachers' had finished their meeting the Kanlayaneesithammarat students put on a display of 'Manora' and a 'Shadow Puppet dance'.

  This was the first time we had visited Fairview, and the feedback from the participating teachers and our students has been nothing but highly commending with extremely positive reports. It is hoped in the future that ourselves and Fairview will be able to establish some kind of permanent bond by exchanging not only teaching ideas but also allowing students to go on various inter-school exchanges.

  After visiting Fairview, we went to the Petronas Twin Towers for some sight seeing and shopping. This was an ideal opportunity for the students to practice their English skills. The Petronas Twin Towers were until recently the highest self standing structures in the world. They are incredibly beautiful to see from close up and stand out as a unique landmark in Kuala Lumpur.

PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS

  After our time in the city centre we all went to the Citytel Hotel, Kuala Lumpur to relax and sleep for the night.

 DAY FIVE

GENTING HIGHLANDS

  After a good night's sleep, we had our breakfast and boarded our coach again for the short drive up to the Genting Highlands. This is a resort that has been built at the top of a mountain, some 2000metres high. There are 2 ways to get there... either drive up a very steep winding road or take the more leisurely cable car. We took the cable car which was really good fun and gave us some incredible views too. But ...it WAS cold!! We had good fun here as there was both a large outdoor and indoor theme park.

  Genting Highlands is a resort built high up in the hills of Central Malaysia. One thing that makes this place so popular with our students is the fact that it also includes a theme park guaranteed to keep everyone happy for many hours. Also within this resort are several hotels, shops, casinos for the adults and even an ice rink.

DAY SIX

  We woke up, had breakfast and started to make our way back down towards our coach. Unfortunately, the cable car was being serviced so we were delayed by over 2 hours. We eventually got down and we left for the journey back to Nakonsithammarat. It was a long journey indeed. We stopped a couple of times to eat and once at the Duty Free on the Thai/Malaysian border. We eventually arrived back at the Kanlayaneesithammarat School front gates at 11:30pm. Everybody, tired as they were, had enjoyed their trip very much but longed for a good night's sleep.