tourism

It’s More Fun In The Philippines!

/ iamsupercarla / 2 Comments

The Department of Tourism released earlier this morning the new tourism campaign of the country.

And Twitter came alive.  Not long after the campaign, #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines trended worldwide.

I think I was at lunch when everyone was tweeting just why it’s more fun in the Philippines. These reasons just amused me waaaay too much because they are so true!

And in the middle of it all, this awesome tweet just made everything so much more cooler than it already is!

And for the negatrons out there, I’d like to give you Maria Ressa:

http://www.itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/

You know it.  I know it.  Don’t even try to stop it.  Support Philippine Tourism.  Come on, man.  This campaign has long been delayed already and finally, it speaks the truth.

#ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines

Welcome To McArthur Park

/ iamsupercarla / Leave a comment

So for a moment there, it sounded like a line right off the karaoke machine.  Hahaha.

Anyway, I was again on a trip for our department’s roadshow.  We headed for Tacloban a week ago, and AB and I were the first team to get there.  The first place we hit was McArthur’s Landing, or otherwise known as McArthur Park.  It’s basically the place where McArthur came back during the World War II.

The first thing I noticed was the sky.  Already I noticed it as we started to descend.

Can you honestly say that we have skies this blue in the city?  Little by little, it sinks in why people love to retire in the province.

So ladies and gentlemen, welcome to McArthur Park.  *insert possible theme song here*

See they really transformed it into a park.  Those benches at the far right had a pretty good view.  Just before I took this photo, a family was wrapping up their lunch picnic.

I envy places like these.  It’s a complete getaway from the hurried life of the city, of work!  Some say we can easily convert Luneta Park into something like this.  But I don’t know.  A lot of effort already went into cleaning that place up, but the people seem to find it so hard to just be aware of keeping the place clean and presentable to tourists and residents alike.  Oh well.

I would give anything to have this view everyday.

Next post:  The San Juanico Bridge! :)

So beautiful? Are you kidding me?

/ iamsupercarla / 2 Comments

The Aquino government (no, not that, the recent one) is yet again facing criticism for its newest tourism campaign.  The new administration appears to be itching to replace everything the Arroyo administration cooked up during its reign.  So from this:

To this:

Really?  Are you kidding me?  “Ang ganda”?  That’s the best your hand-picked crew can come up with?

According to PNoy’s crew, this will still be up for discussion and focus group testing before its public release in January.

I mean, I get that it’s aiming to highlight the goodness of Filipinos.  I get that the administration wants to make the Filipinos known for their good values.  I get all that shit.

But do they also get the similarity between “Pilipinas” and “Filipinas”, the latter usually mistaken for mail-order brides?  Don’t they fear that the country will be known for pretty ladies instead of pretty people?

It’s just so open and raw and so vulnerable to be easily lost in translation.  It’s almost not okay.

And I have this feeling that the current administration  just wants nothing to do with the previous one.  It seems to be desperate to erase every single trace that the Arroyo administration “was here.”  But whether they like it or not, that administration’s tourism slogan leaves no room for misinterpretation.

And it certainly did not and will not potentially upset the Polish government.

Let’s see how PNoy can turn this around.  He may be a flop when it comes to first impressions, but he tends to be quite graceful at recovery.

 

Rainbow after the rain

/ iamsupercarla / 2 Comments

Everyone has been talking so much crap about yesterday’s hostage-drama at the Quirino Grandstand.  I believe if I share my thoughts on this matter, it would have satiated the minds of the many of you who have read different versions of the story, rumors and fact, and my opinion will be merely just an opinion, not an affirmative action to improve whatever.

But because I have a big mouth, I do have one thought to share (and I have shared this with others already):  I hope someday our government can make this country safe enough for my children to never have to live elsewhere.  There.  I said my piece.

In light of all the drama, we receive good news.  After an 11-year drought, we finally placed again in the Miss Universe Pageant!  Yes I know it’s such a “shallow” thing to celebrate, but the last time we won was Miriam Quiambao in 1999, first runner up and that’s because she fell flat on her face and became so effortlessly graceful.  It’s a no-brainer.

Now that's Filipina beauty.

This year, Venus Raj swept the hearts of many.  In online polls, she would always be part of the favorites.  Hello?  Why the hell not?  This woman literally fought her way to represent the country for such a title.  She showed the world that what the Filipina wants, the Filipina gets (one way or the other — and by the other, I mean something still within the realm of being morally acceptable and just).

Anyway, I thank my good friend Pau Forbes for sharing this link.  These are a bunch of Venus Raj fans watching the pageant via live telecast.

And as someone great and important and had the right words said:  “Mourn the losses, because they are many; but celebrate the victories, because they are few.”

So you see, one person can change your mind about a country.  And it need not be the one with the gun.