Swimming with the Sharks and Stingrays

Through the Manila Ocean Park I was able to swim with the parks sharks and stingrays. It only coasted 800php which is about 16 us dollars. The sharks were 8ft long and heavier than I had imagined. The trainer that was swimming with us only introduced his favorite one to us, her name was Babe. Then I went on to swim with the stingrays. There were many different kinds. There was the giant black stingray, the leopard stingray, the cow tail stingray, and the Philippines stingray.

The giant black stingray was huge! It weighed 250kilogrames which is about 550 pounds. Her name was Blanche but the trainer said they all call her Big Mamma. I got the chance to hold her, but even in the water she was extremely heavy and I could only hold her for a few minutes before my arms started to shake and I had to let her go.

The leopard stingray was the prettiest in my opinion but I was only able to hold him for a minute or two before he tried to get away. The trainer said it was because the leopard stingray was a male and the male stingrays don’t really like to be held they like to do what they want to do when they want to do it. (So basically males are the same in all species)

The cow tail stingray was more calm then the leopard stingray. She gets her name from the shape of her tail. It looks like a cow’s tail. The trainer said her name was Bell.

My all time favorite stingray that I got to swim with and hold was Jenkins. She was a Filipino stingray. She was so sweet. And every time she would start to slip off of my arms she would swim to get back up on them. She even let me kiss her at least 3 times.

I did not just get into a tank and swim with sharks and stingrays. I went to 15 minute briefing on what to and what not to do (and paid attention) when swimming with these amazing creatures. They may be animals in captivity but they can still be dangerous if they want to be so they need to be treated with love and respect. I had a fun but I always listened to the trainer that was with me. I suggest to anyone that has the opportunity to go swimming with the sharks and stingrays to jump at the chance. It was a truly unforgettable experience!

Oceanarium

The oceanarium did not disappoint! It was included in the $10 fee that we paid and it had so many different kinds of fish and underwater sea life that I had never seen before! There was room after room filled with all kinds of fish. I saw every fish that inspired the makers of Finding Nemo! There was also an underwater tunnel that gave you 220 degree experience in the water.

After you come out of the Oceanarium you will pass what looks like a little ticket booth. If you give them 150php (about 3 US dollars) and your name they will give you 40 minutes in the fish spa.

What’s the fish spa you ask?

It’s a pool that is filled with thousands of fish a little smaller than the size of a dollar bill. The pool is filled with maybe 2 feet of water and for your 40 minutes you side one the side of the pool and put your feet in. The fish will all swarm to your feet and begin eating you... no seriously they will eat all of your dead skin off the top of your feet, the bottom of your feet, and even from in between your toes! It tickles like crazy, and I’m not a ticklish person. At first it even hurts a little. But once you get used to it, after about 20 minutes of putting your feet in for a few seconds and quickly pulling them out, it starts to feel nice. Just don’t think of it as letting live animals eat you and don’t watch them do it either or you will never start to enjoy it. The end result was surprisingly worth it. The skin on my feet, ankles, and lower legs was really smooth after wards and I had a blister on my ankle, from all of the walking, was completely gone after the 40 minutes!

Fish Spa

Water Fountain Show

Because we bought a package ticket we were able to go to the water fountain show for free. I thought it is cool at some points and boring at others. I wouldn’t have paid extra for it but I also didn’t feel like I wasted my time in going either. It was aimed towards children not towards adults so I found the kiddy parts boring but the actual water show parts were pretty cool. So if you have kids I would defiantly go and it was only 30 minutes long so its no real waste of time even if you do hate it.

Ocean Park

The Hotel I stayed at in the Philippines was called the H2O Hotel. It was located in the Manila Ocean Park. The restaurant has low priced and served delicious food. It had a pool, gym, lounge, and spa. On the first floor was part of the Ocean Park and in the surrounding buildings were the Ocean Park’s attractions. The pool and gym were free and the spa and room service/restaurant were well priced. Inside the hotel on the first floor were rides like bumper cars and 4D rollercoaster. The Manila Ocean Park is the biggest Ocean Park in all of Asia. You can buy tickets to individual shows or exhibits or you can buy a package ticket. There were 9 different shows and attractions to go to. We went with the 5 attraction ticket which included the sea lion show, the dancing jelly fish exhibit, the water fountain show, the marine life habitat, and the oceanarium. All 5 of these attractions came to a total of 550 php or about 10 us dollars.

The Dancing Jellyfish

Sea Lion Show

Manila Vacation

I was able to go away on my winter vacation. I went to the Philippines with my friend. I had fun there and I would suggest going there if you ever find yourself in the Asia area. But please keep in mind that it is a poverty stricken country. So traveling alone there would be dangerous. While I was there I went on a horse drawn carriage ride, saw a sea lion show, saw a water fountain light show, went to an aquarium, went to a few night clubs, enjoyed the Filipino food, and swam with sharks and dolphins.

Teacher Training

I had to go to a training seminar with my co-teacher. It was only about 3 hours but it took place on a Saturday and that stunk. My co-teacher was real sweet and took me out to lunch and we went shopping together before we went to the training center.

They had 3 native English speakers give mini lectures on their experiences teaching in South Korea. The first native teacher taught in Korean Elementary Schools for 2 years. The second had been teaching in Korean Elementary Schools for more than 5 years. They were both working for the training center now. The third was a native English speaker that had been working in a hagwan (after school school in South Korea) for a few years. There was 1 main lecturer at the end and he was born in South Korea but moved to America when he was ten. He moved back to South Korea ten years ago and became a teacher here. He gave me an interesting prospective on teaching to ESL students because he could remember being one in America. He also gave use classroom management ideas as well as different reward systems to use.

After the lectures we were treated to musical performances. They were using traditional Asian instruments. A singer came on stage and sang Ulsan Lady. Ulsan Lady is a famous song about Ulsan which is where I live here in South Korea. We also had a condensed version of a Korean Musical preformed for us by the local high school. Lastly a group of boys gave us the "drum experience" as they called it. It was actually really cool. It was two parts. The first part was each of them drumming on traditional drums. The second part was them using brooms and barrels and other non traditional items as drums.

High School Musical

Music

Drumming