Filipino prisoners honor Jackson with 'Thriller' show

CEBU, Philippines (CNN) -- Amid the tropical heat of a Philippine prison, convicted murderers, rapists and drug dealers on Saturday paid tribute to Michael Jackson with a reprise of their YouTube dance hit, "Thriller."

A rendition of Jackson's 1980s smash hit by prisoners at the Cebu Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the central Philippines garnered more than 24 million views since 2007, when prison supervisor Byron Garcia first uploaded it to the video-sharing Web site.


The prison has since posted other dance videos, including performances to Van Halen's "Jump," Queen's "Radio Ga Ga," and Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder's "Together in Electric Dreams."

Jackson, known as the "King of Pop," died Thursday in Los Angeles, less than two weeks shy of the first in a series of comeback concerts in London, England.

When he heard the news, Garcia, himself a fan of the 50-year-old pop icon, organized a free tribute performDancing was introduced at the prison in 2007, as a means of rehabilitating prisoners at a facility once notorious for its gang problem.

Every able-bodied prisoner must dance. If they refuse, they lose privileges, mostly conjugal visits. According to Garcia, the dancing occupies up to five hours a day. However he rejected claims he's abusing the prisoners' rights by forcing them to dance so many hours a day.

He said it gives them a renewed sense of worth and confidence, breaking them of their violent ways. He is convinced his prison is a model for prison authorities everywhere, an example of how to crack the plague of violent prison gangs.

"It brought back their self esteem. We have happy inmates now -- we don't want to go back to the old jail where we had mad, sad inmates," he said.

In searing temperatures, 1,400 men in bright orange tracksuits performed the 15-minute "Thriller" routine perfectly. They rehearsed for 10 hours the previous day, finally stopping at 3 a.m. to rest ahead of the show.

The superbly-choreographed moves, energy and obvious enthusiasm of the prisoners had the audience -- swelled by journalists from around the world -- captivated the audience. Several inmates even invited people from the crowd to dance with them.

"I never thought I would ever find myself dancing with a prisoner," one excited local said.

A local journalist even described the performance as Asia's best way of paying tribute to Jackson.

Garcia, who says the prison has witnessed no violence in three years, paid tribute to the performers. "I'm so proud of them," he said. "They got the dance exactly right."

Although it was "probably wishful thinking," he added that he had actually wanted Michael Jackson to come to Cebu to dance and play the role himself. "Now it's not going to happen," he said mournfully.

Convicted robber Mavin Cabido, 23, said: "I feel so sad as we idolize him really. The moonwalk is my favorite -- I like that."

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I Miss Good Ole Jollibee!

Cheers to my ever-jolly orange bumble bee! Amid the global slump, Jollibee as an enterprise has definitely proven that it can whether the economic storm. I guess when a business has more importantly become part of a culture, there is no way that it cannot stand even the most adverse of situations. Filipinos will never have second thoughts of shelling out their hard-earned money for a hearty, quality time with the family at their favorite fast food chain.



Jollibee Captures Top Spot in Philippines
How Fast-Food Chain Fought Back Against McDonald's and Plans to Expand Further Overseas; Strength During Global Downturn

In the Philippines, consumer-related companies rule the roost in good times and bad. This year, Jollibee Foods Corp. again wins the top spot in the Philippines' portion of the Asia 200 vote, thanks to the fast-food outfit's skill at extracting pesos from Filipinos' pockets.

Jollibee's consistently strong showing over the years, at or near the top of the most-admired list in the Philippines in the Asia 200 survey of subscribers of The Wall Street Journal Asia and other businesspeople, presents complications for the contest: There is a challenge to finding fresh ways to detail the company's success. Last year's story, for instance, focused on the company's innovations -- from dollops of pink salad dressing in the top-selling Yum! Burgers to around-the-clock hours to feed Filipinos working all night in the country's call-center industry.

An earlier story detailed the expansion of the chain, including the 500th Jollibee store, opened by founder and Chief Executive Tony Tan Caktiong on the island of Basilan, formerly the lair of the feared Abu Sayyaf group. Some U.S. military officers cite the restaurant as proof of success of their anti-terrorism mission there to help the Philippine army root out Islamist militants in the country's troubled south.

Jollibee's strong showing in this year's survey can be tied to the world's economic slump, which hasn't hit the Philippines as badly as some of its neighbors but still has a big effect. Filipinos are continuing to spend -- even if they are finding cheaper things to buy.

"Jollibee is a barometer for the Philippine economy," says Luz Lorenzo, an economist with ATR-Kim Eng Securities Inc. in Manila.

In taking first place for most admired, Jollibee moved up from No. 2 in the prior contest. The prior overall winner was Ayala Land Inc., a publicly traded real-estate-development unit of wide-ranging conglomerate Ayala Corp. Ayala Land dropped to No. 3 overall this year as its parent moved up to second place.

The Philippines' strongly consumer-oriented economy is proving much more resilient to the global slump than, say, Malaysia and Thailand, where exports make up about 70% of the economy. In the Philippines, exports contribute 30% of gross domestic product. That means the bulk of the Philippine economy is driven by consumer spending -- and a lot of its takes place in Jollibee's stores.

As a result, economists generally agree that, as Jollibee's sales expand -- they were up 18% in the fourth quarter compared with the year earlier -- the Philippine economy also will continue to grow this year while Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore face sharp contractions.

That said, people are reducing their spending. Of Philippines-based respondents to the Asia 200 survey, 17% said they will significantly reduce their spending this year, and 45% said they will spend somewhat less. About 30% said they won't change their spending patterns, while 7% said they will spend more.

That isn't necessarily bad news for Jollibee and some other consumer-focused business in the Philippines. Hans Sy, president of SM Prime Holdings Inc., the Philippines' largest shopping-mall operator, says Jollibee is benefiting as people trade down from more expensive restaurants to dine at Jollibee's chains of burger, pizza and Chinese eateries. Mr. Sy would know; Jollibee is one of SM Prime's biggest tenants.

Ordinary consumers say the same thing. "I used to go to Starbucks for coffee and maybe a pastry for breakfast," says Raymond Gomez, a clerical worker in Manila's financial district. "But now most days, I pop into Jollibee where I can eat breakfast for half the price or less."

Ms. Lorenzo, the economist at ATR-Kim Eng, goes as far as to say that last year's spike in inflation was a bigger problem for Jollibee's bottom line than the global slowdown, because the restaurant chain is less able to pass on higher raw-materials costs. Its fourth-quarter net profit of 661 million pesos ($14 million), on sales of 16.56 billion pesos, easily surpassed its income of 480 million pesos in the first quarter of 2008, when both Jollibee and the Philippines in general were struggling with significantly higher food prices than they are now.

The seeds of Jollibee's success in tapping the spending patterns of some 90 million Filipinos were laid in 1975, when Mr. Tan, then a chemical engineering student, opened an ice cream parlor in Manila. He happily scooped vanilla and chocolate ice-cream, but noticed that he got more customers when he began offering sandwiches, burgers and fried chicken to the lunch crowd. Jollibee -- a bumble bee dressed up in a chef's outfit, and a symbol of what Mr. Tan says is his ideal state of happy industriousness -- was born.

In the early 1980s, Mr. Tan ran into a big threat. McDonald's Corp. entered the Philippine market and threatened to sweep all before it. The U.S. company's stores were bigger and its marketing more sophisticated. Mr. Tan fought back with his own expansion plan, and started hiring local film and television stars for his marketing efforts. Also working in Jollibee's favor: the burgers themselves, prepared with a dash of soy sauce and pinches of salt and sugar, which satisfy many Filipino palates.

In addition to its signature, cheery yellow-and-red burger joints, Jollibee's other brands including Greenwich Pizza and Chow King, bringing the company's total number of restaurants in the Philippines as of February to 1,515, with another 289 overseas.
The company's draw is so powerful that Filipino politicians routinely buy Jollibee food to serve free at campaign events to attract prospective voters, typically adding a few percentage points onto the company's sales during election years (the next is 2010).

Recently, Jollibee has ventured overseas, launching stores in places such as Vietnam while buying up local food chains in China and applying Jollibee's logistical and marketing expertise to them. Ultimately, Mr. Tan wants to generate half the company's revenues outside the Philippines. Another potential growth area: Filipino-rich parts of the U.S.

Prospects there look good. Jollibee already operates several stores in California and Nevada. A Jollibee store that opened in Queens, New York, earlier this year "practically inspired riots of joy" among local Filipinos and Filipino-Americans when it first opened its doors, New York's Village Voice newspaper reported.

excerpt from a WSJ article

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A Taste of Egypt in Seoul

I went out today with newly-found friends whom I met from my most recent UNESCO stint, and the Seoul Friendship Fair that I went to a few weeks back. Fatima, the Egyptian lady whom Ate YY and I met at the city hall fair, invited us over at the National Museum of Korea for an exhibit on Egyptian Civilization.

It was an “all-girls” day-out, as I dragged another Filipino friend to join us, since we both had an affair to go to in the afternoon as well. So the group consisted of two Filipinos (Kat and I), a Chinese (Olivia), an Egyptian (Fatima), and three Koreans (Ate YY, Ms. Sophie, and a classmate of Fatima in the English academy— I forgot her name, so sorry!)


We all met at Exit 2 of the Ichon subway station (Line 4, Light Blue Line) at ten in the morning. Kat and I were a bit late (uh-oh), but as we completed the “ensemble”, we all went to the museum, anyway.

It was indeed a nice morning, as the weather had the right mix of sunshine and air to occasionally brush my hair. It was quite a walk from the station to the museum, and I sure had enough time to notice the children who were walking with us. It’s cute to see a number of them eagerly strutting their way to go inside the long and wide building that houses the museum.

We paid man won (10,000 won) for the entrance ticket, and armed with our cameras (which were actually prohibited inside the museum), we strolled along all that there is to see inside-- all that speak of Egypt’s rich history and culture.

No history class passes by any grade school student without that student at least hearing about Egypt and the pyramids. He would instantly have that sepia picture of a man-faced lion beside a 3-dimensional triangle. That’s how they usually show it in textbooks. And even though the student does not fully understand at that time why people are amazed at such structure that would’ve looked really dull, had it not been placed beside a half-man and half-lion— the student goes on remembering such edifice anyway. Egypt and the pyramids are plain classics in the “historical attractions” category.

As the student grows older, his knowledge of the lion and the triangle expands to knowing that there actually were buried people inside what he now calls a “pyramid” (not a triangle anymore). He was once made to picture these dead people as covered with mile-long tissue papers until he grows up more to afford a US$10-worth of museum tour and see an actual wrapped-dead creature himself. He finally thinks of the idiot who made up the whole tissue-wrapped image of a mummy, when he realizes that there has been so much sophistication poured in burying the dead in ancient Egypt.

History and culture-rich places like Egypt therefore makes you dream of traveling the world, really. You suddenly dream of marveling at the past— a colorful past that has contributed so much to what civilizations are like at present. Pasts that make museums US$10 worthy.

If I were to travel to Egypt though, I need to take extra care when crossing the streets there. I was told that there are no traffic lights in the country. I should then need to get back to my running routines as well, just so I could outsmart the fast drivers in that once, camel-driven nation. I mean, I won’t be surprised if having no traffic lights has long given birth to reckless drivers in the country. If these hunchbacks instead ruled the streets in Egypt, it would have then been a perfect trip to old, yet funky Nile-town ;-)

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My Typical Rollercoaster Emotional Ride

Sundays have primarily been a church appointment and a Korean language class for me— occasionally alternating on the time that I actually hear the mass (9am- Myeongdong Cathedral / 1.30pm- Hyehwa church / 7.30 pm- Sogang University’s chapel) and sometimes escaping my afternoon Hangeul language sessions when laziness simply strikes at me.

Some unusual air of enthusiasm seem to have breathed in me today though, to feel extra good about doing these same, old stuff. You know how it is when you’ve been doing things out of some habit or routine? Yeah, exactly just that. You kind of don’t take note of how significant they can actually turn out to be, especially if you have been doing them (1) out of sheer childhood practice and (2) just so you can chill out and meet people.


First, I never really realized how brilliant my Korean language teacher is, and how she could just be so patient and diligent in making us the best Korean speakers in town. She’ll have a real, hard time with me, though :-( I nevertheless told myself how today’s class has so far been the most enjoyable class that I attended, getting my daily doze of laughs, yet learning and remembering a lot.

Second, I was back to seeing my favorite priest at the church that I go to for my evening mass, and I realized how he has become such a personal inspiration. I look at him and I see meekness. I hear his words thru the homily, and I hear rock-solid voice of truth and wisdom. He even looks a bit of a Jesus Christ to me. I mean, he looks like the typical Jesus Christ the movies would make Christ look like. And with that, I am in awe.

It’s not like I haven’t seen my teacher and the priest do their jobs as I participate in it, it just makes me feel thankful now to have these kinds of people around. People who make a difference in you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now as if fate has never gotten tired of making those sudden turn of events to put my emotions on a rollercoaster again— I went home from church and got an unexpected, yet subconsciously prayed for thing to happen. It was as simple as wanting to get the longed-for confirmation from someone, that he has fully known and understood such feelings thrown, JUST SO HE’D KNOW. Nothing more wanted, but to get feel good about myself having poured it all. The hell I care if he actually decides to just shrug it off, and go on with his life. Because by that time, I would be able to join him in doing the same.

But of course, since I have that subconscious self, which housed the long, suppressed feelings recently expressed in a little shit of a letter, it was hard to teach it to keep away from what the subconscious self naturally looks for— anything that makes oneself better and happy. When one tells about his suppressed feelings to someone, it is because that someone has never really felt the same about you, and you want him to feel the same way, too.

And so I cry for not getting what the subconscious self hopes for, but just the same, the expecting-for-worse side of me falls those tears for some kind of redemption from such high and dangerous clinging. That I could finally lose the grip, because there really is nothing to hold on to. It has been made visible with the words that I got back, which seemed as if the person has been so much affronted by his numbness and my bluntness, and so he just went on to say what anyone would be expected to say when he has hurt someone. And so he asked that I bear with him. Which is actually, near to saying sorry. But not, really.

This should end it. I got what I wanted. And I have to let it go.

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Weekend Playtime With Kids

I love kids. I mean, I really enjoy being with children. I don’t exactly know what it is called, but there’s just this special fondness that I have of them, and it makes me go high. It’s like I can be my most comfortable self to unconsciously pick my nose in front of them, and I won’t even be any kind of embarrassed in doing it. It must be the rawness of their minds, the innocence that people mistake as being less intelligent, when most of us know that they can even be way smarter than us sometimes— that draws me to them. Here I am stuck at getting older, technically acquiring more knowledge and experience, yet making things more complicated. I then talk to any kid licking on his ice cream, and I am again reminded of how life can just be anyone’s coned vanilla. Plain and smart-ass simple.


This special fondness of children made me volunteer for UNESCO’s Cross-Cultural Awareness Program. I found out about it online and attended an orientation that officially included me in the roster of foreigners in South Korea who said “yes” to the organization’s invite to a mutual exchange of culture with Korean students. Two weeks after the orientation, I finally got my first call for a Saturday class, and my, I couldn’t just be any more excited.

The UNESCO office informed me about my first stint a week before the date set by the head teacher of the school I was to hold the class at. One thing that astounded me with the class details was the big number of children that I had to handle. Come on, they’re fifty. That’s an educational system issue already, even in Philippine standards, to have a 1:50 teacher-student ratio. Anyway, with the help of my KIV (Korean Interpreter Volunteer), whom every CEV (Cultural Exchange Volunteer) like me should be paired up with, I was able to get further advice on how to go about with my class, particularly when the head teacher said that he would like it more if I’d brew some games or teach a dance or song to the kids.

So that’s how the subjects on Philippine traditional dances and games came about. There sure are a lot more interesting topics to come up with and share about my country, but I considered the head teacher’s request, and the fact that we’re talking of a big number of students whom I just cannot afford to bore with dates and names in Philippine history and those other serious craps.

And so Ate YY (my very nice and pretty KIV) and I have been exchanging e-mails and Skype messages since the day I got her mobile number thru the official UNESCO website where the invites are received and confirmed. I gave her my class outline, while she, in turn, gave pointers and even shared her experiences with her previous classes with other foreign volunteers. Our agreed meeting place at Line no. 1, exit 4 of the Cheongnyangni station then sealed our first travel adventure as one-day teachers.

The Saturday morning drizzle that I had to embrace along with the big, brown bag that I carried on my right shoulder was something that I sure was fine to deal with, as I excitedly rode the train to conform with our 7:20 am meeting time today. The big, brown bag had all my “class stuff” in it, anyway. Ate YY practically led the way in the whole travel, being the Korean that she is and the foreigner that I am in South Korea *teehee*. She even had our tickets prepared prior to today, which was cool because she just showed her mobile phone, and we were off to our seats in the train that had the 7:50 am departure schedule. Apparently, she had bought our train tickets online, and had her receipt sent through her mobile phone. Oh the convenience of life, here is.

The head teacher had been waiting for us for a little more than five minutes after 9am, when we arrived in Cheongpyeong, after which he let us go inside his car so he could then drive for another 20 minutes. The school that we were going to is Miwon Elementary School, located in the province of Gyeonggi-do. It is a pretty big school to just house elementary students. The facilities were all new, that no one would actually think it is a public school. But nah-uh, it is. I then told YY how it can be hard to distinguish a public from a private school in South Korea, then. In the Philippines, public schools would usually have vandalized desks, overly-scratched green blackboards, broken jalousies, and very old arm chairs.

I hopped out of the car, still with my big, brown bag, as we finally arrived. Since it was drizzling, it didn’t really surprise me to see that there were no students even in the corridors of the school building. It was very quiet. Mr. Han, the head teacher, then prompted Ate YY and me to the principal’s office where the principal formally welcomed and gave us a little plaque of appreciation, which is technically called a “call of attorney”. After some small talk and picture taking, Mr. Han then led us to the indoor gym where the class will be held.

It was yet fifteen minutes before our ten o’ clock class, but all the kids were already seated in the steel chairs that were arranged at the center of the gym. Then there was that big brown table with a laptop and projector on, which practically told my a-bit nervous self that I should be anywhere near it. Ate YY had forwarded my class outline to Mr. Han, so he already knew what I would need for the class. I prepared a PowerPoint presentation and a very simple video, so those gadgets were what I exactly needed.

I was given ample time to prepare, since I had to make use of what my big, brown bag had to offer. It basically had all other paraphernalia, which I thought would help in making the class more meaningful. It’s where I took out my maps, my giveaways, and some other “props” for the class. I also drew out my outline and prepared spiels from it, just to guide me as I speak in front of these children. I never really know when I’d just suddenly go blank. Tsk. Tsk.

One thing I noticed with the class is how the seating arrangement was grouped according to gender, with the boys filling up the first two front rows. The girls were all at the back.

All the students were very active. I really enjoyed every minute of the whole cultural lecture, pacing around as I walk to a student for an answer to my question, then back again to the big, brown table in front. Since it was a pretty big gym, I used a microphone so that even the kids at the back would hear me. The students confidently responded to my little queries, not minding if they were already saying Jebu (Cebu) for an answer. They must’ve liked the idea of winning a prize for a correct answer, that I really saw a lot of hands raised in every question.

The most fun part of the class was when I tried to teach them the basic steps to a traditional dance called the Pandanggo sa Ilaw, where I gave each kid three paper cups as “props”, to replace the candled glasses that are normally used— two cups to hold with each hand, and one to balance on the head. The students sure spent a great deal of their time balancing the cup that they put on their heads, and it was funny how this led to them being a bit uncontrollable. I showed them a video of the dance prior to the actual teaching, so they knew how to use the three paper cups, as they have seen in the video. I then had to just instruct everyone to leave out that one cup to be put on the head, and to use just two cups for both hands, instead. I taught the basic swaying steps, and called on a girl whom I thought did it well to dance with me in front, as her classmates followed her. I gave her a prize for that :-).

Then the part I was most proud of. Along with the Philippine traditional dances, I have decided to also show to them some novelty dances in the Philippines, so I showed everyone the music video for the famous “Otso Otso” dance. I asked everyone to dance the famous moves for it, afterwards. They were sport enough to try it out with me, though I sure saw some kids who went a little uncomfortable with the idea, since it is a pretty hard dance to do. When it was time for me to choose the best dancer, I called on this fairly-browned girl at the back who was oh-so pro in dancing the “Otso-Otso”. As I have already thought, she’s half-Filipina and half-Korean. She was even way better than me.

And so as to make it even more memorable for my first class ever, how about a question from this handsome kid in front who have since been so active in making comments as I went along with my presentation? I remember him raising his hand just to tell me that he has drunk buko juice straight from its shell, which he said his family had bought from a supermarket here, and that it didn’t taste sweet for him. So to officially cap off my class for the day, he went on to ask, “Ate Ella, who is the president of the Philippines?” With it I said, “Her name is Gloria Macapagal Arroyo”. I made him say the name, to which he preferred to just smile and keep quiet ;-)

The warm cuddles from the students, especially the girls, as they approached me after class was the sweetest of all. Some asked me questions, some asked for my mobile number, some had their pictures with me taken from their mobile phone, while some plainly came up to me to give me a hug (which is the most memorable, really). I spent some minutes chatting with the Filipino kid in class and her classmates, and told her how I was so proud of her because she did well in dancing the “Otso-Otso”. Haha, way to go!




After the class, Ate YY and I ate lunch with Mr. Han, who had been busy taking the video of the whole lecture as we did our jobs earlier at the gym. It was very flattering to hear from the head teacher how he was very satisfied with what I did, to think that I was really having my first-time jitters, even seconds before I actually opened my mouth to talk in class. I gave Ate YY and Mr. Han my own small token of appreciation while on the table, and that pretty much loosened everything up in me. The early day has ended, and this by far, is one of the very few times when I felt like I did something so valuable and fulfilling. :-)

I'm now so excited about the succeeding invites to come!

(And here are some more pictures!!!)

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Whatthebook

It must be the laxity that I am getting from work these past weeks (thankfully) that suddenly pushed my whore-ish tendencies over books, and it made me itch for new paperbacks to read. It actually started with this Facebook (FB) application that I found out from somebody else’s profile. It’s called WeRead. I liked it, so I added it to my FB profile, listing there all the books that I remember having read already. I know I have not listed all, though. I then said that it would be nice if I could add more to my list, and so the search for new books to buy started. I am missing the books that I left back home in the Philippines.


There is a pretty neat online service from a foreign bookstore here in Korea that gave me my first ordered books online, ever. The bookstore is called Whatthebook, owned by an American guy named Chris, who is married to a Korean. I haven’t been to the actual store in Itaewon, though I would love to go there some time. Since the itch came while I was busy googling at work, I decided to get my new book-reads by having it delivered to our apartment. The website is very easy to navigate, with categorizations that make one's book selection very easy. I went ahead and checked out the “Used Books” section, and made my choices there. The site offers several payment options, and since I do not own a credit card, I went ahead and wired my payment from my bank account to the bookstore’s. It’s amazing because a few hours later, I got an e-mail already confirming such online order and payment.

I made the order and wired my payment on a Thursday afternoon, and the books arrived today, Friday. Which really makes a first-time customer like me extremely happy as it basically exceeds customer expectations :-). The site said that the delivery for my chosen books will be after two business days, and well, it came just the day after! Delivery days for books generally vary in the bookstore, depending on the availability of the chosen books.

Anyway, here's an attempt to balance my life in general with my newest book purchases:



I just thought I'd go back to reading the latest fiction reads, while still struggling to read on something related to my field of work. Haha, goodluck to me!

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Seoul International Friendship Day

I had the chance of checking out the Seoul International Friendship Day at the City Hall today, thanks to a needed, first-time meeting with my Korean Interpreter Volunteer (KIV) for a UNESCO-led cultural class that we both have to prepare for. Aside from this, I have been texted several times by a Chinese girl whom I met when I had my Cultural Exchange Volunteer orientation for the same organization, that I finally agreed to meet up with her on the same day that I have to meet with my KIV.


Just a brief backgrounder, I recently volunteered for the Cross-Cultural Awareness Program that UNESCO has for participants who want to share their country’s cultural backgrounds. It mainly wants to enhance the intercultural understanding of the Korean youth, therefore creating a constructive partnership between Koreans and global citizens as they interact and learn each other’s cultures.

It was an early day spent in the said area, since I agreed to meet up with Ms. YoonYoung (KIV) at eleven in the morning. What started as a day with just the two of us ended up to be a day with lots of first-time meet-ups and instant photo friendships! There were expectedly a lot of people of all colors and sizes at the place, with food and novelties to try and buy. Ate YY and I of course checked out the Philippine booth to see if there’d be anything that we can grab as materials for our class. The booth basically showcased the country’s most commonly exported tropical fruits-- bananas and pineapples, with sago at gulaman on the sides for sale. There was even a free taste of our sweet pineapples! Aside from the fruits and drinks, native stuff like bracelets, purses, and bags were also showcased for sale. I ended up buying some native pencil cases and wooden balls as prizes for the kids. I also grabbed some brochures and booklets about the Philippines for free.


Then, the long walk followed, with YY and I checking out each booth from the country that we felt like going to!

1.) A fun, fun, fun performance from Mexico. Way to go, Korean fellah!


2.) A band performance from Austria's finest men! Haha.


3.) A barbecue experience with Ms. Republic of Cote D'Ivoire. The barbecue smelled just oh-so good! The lady didn't like the star treatment that I gave her, obviously. Way too shy. Ha-ha!


4.) A taste of Malaysian food. I forgot the name already, tastes like curry though.


5.) Window shopping at India's mini flea market


6.) Name-lettering at Turkey's booth. That guy was all-sweaty.


7.) Food fest at the Egyptian booth. It's gold finger (very sweet and syrup-y) and koushari (rice with beans and other stuff in it, hehe).


Then the non-stop pictures went on! A parade of beauties from all nations, wahahahaha.


What's nice about events like these is it really makes you strutt more confidently as a foreigner in a country, all-pretty to make friends with other people. A highlight of this day in regard to this whole idea of "friendships" is the very amiable Fatima, the Egyptian lady whom YY and I met at the Greek booth. YY and I wanted to check out the sweet pastries in that said booth and fell in line, when Fatima suddenly approached us to ask what we were falling in line for. She then explained that she is a Greek History major who was plain curious about what the Greek booth had to offer. After that short talk and getting our sweets, that was when we went inside the Egyptian booth to eat our Greek sweets, while Fatima added her very proudly own "gold finger" and "koushari" for us to taste as well. All yummy! :-)



Fatima, YY, and I

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A Night of Orchestral Music

Classical music has almost always come along with an orchestra, or vise versa. Now some people may find an orchestra tedious, given the complexities of such instruments played, and classical music as boring. I’ve never really been a classical music freak myself, though I am able to once in a while find special cravings for such sound, usually when I simply want to subconsciously put caressing pillows under such mind of mine that would clutter itself with all the strains of the real world. I honestly have such great respect for such genre and the people who can excellently play musical instruments typically used to play such relaxing and soothing music. Combine these people and their melody toys, and a certain musical sophistication arises.



I got a free invite to Brigham Young University’s (BYU) Wind Symphony and the US 8th Army Band’s performances held at the KBS Hall today, thanks to a late afternoon call from my good friend, Lemons, who had access to the event. She’s actually a student from the said university. The concert venue was just a few meter stroll from my workplace, which was probably why my friend thought of hitching me in.

Songs such as Bugler’s Holiday (Leroy Anderson), Molly on the Shore (Percy Grainger), and Dance of the Jesters (Peter I. Tchaikovsky) were played (not that I personally know the songs— I just copied them from the concert programme:-D), and I just cannot help but be drawn to how the incredibly many and varied instruments on stage were able to create such music that came together and homogenously blended themselves beautifully. I know that an orchestra technically follows a generally accepted hierarchy, with each instrumental group (woodwind, brass, percussion, and strings) having a “principal” that gets to occasionally do solos in a song or piece. Nevertheless, support from the subordinate instruments makes it richer and vibrant in sound, therefore removing such technical concept of a “hierarchy”. Each instrument is just as magnificent as everybody else.



What makes an orchestra performance even more appealing is the presence of a conductor, whom I equally give such respect to (even with his face turned against me). It was just so riveting to see him on stage do a soft sway of his head and hands at one count, then do a stomp on his feet and stiffen his whole body the next, to command everyone in the orchestra to stop. Such power of a stick. I wonder if they have a technical term for that musical wand? You look at the conductor’s movements, and he seems to be doing such an easy and seemingly unimportant job, until he again do that quick, heavy stomp of both hands this time, and the whole ensemble suddenly silences. Amazing. That’s the part in ever song performance that I actually like- whenever the conductor do that halting hand command.

Here’s a sneak peek of the concert, with the symphony’s rendition of the Korean traditional song called Arirang. It's a bonus track actually, done after all the songs in the programme were played.

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Plain Vanilla Vent (Cough-Free)

My length of stay here in South Korea is long enough to mold and bring forth a child into this world, had I actually been a pregnant mother who arrived here last August. Recalling the nine months that I have wrestled for my independence in this country, I can now understand why and how I am able to have this time to do some thinking... or reflections, if I should get any deeper.


I just got back from a one-week vacation, thanks to the three days of sick leave that I took on the working days that came in between the May 1 and May 5 holidays of this year (following the South Korean working calendar). Well, I must say that I have always been a smart ass in requesting for leaves in the office on “sandwich-ed working days” so I can have the luxury of calling these short leaves as ample vacation time.

The seven days of vacation that I got (3 sick leaves + 2 weekends + 2 holidays) would have been a grand time for me to spend outdoors. I mean, I have actually gone theme-parking and late night bar drinking on normal weekends. But God sure knows how to create the irony of my having more time to keeping it idle at home. For one, God gave me a prolonged cough, which is actually the main reason why I called for the sick leaves. My body has finally succumbed to the pressure and stress of work that I yearned for my pillows and bed sheets, instead of the sun that has started to shine amid the transition from winter to spring.

In the days that I have slacked it off at home, I couldn’t be more grateful to have such a kind housemate to accompany me to the clinic so I can get my prescription, as well as get my shots for the freakin’ cough that has rattled everyone in the office with the noise that it has been making. And part of the idle time, I have mustered enough nostalgia to create my first picture collage abroad, admitting how I am seriously missing my folks back in the Philippines.

A lot has really happened in the past nine months—- have felt bad and cried over my first office presentation ever, not to mention my tripping by the subway stairs for not getting enough sleep the night before; have used my allotted vacation leaves to move to a new apartment, which everyone in the office knew even before I would’ve formally told them; have gone from jolly to almost stoic in the office, bearing the occasional solo-flight lunches; have gone past six different teams that required monthly PowerPoint presentations that sure plodded me to work on some Saturdays, yet mostly to no avail; have attended weekly Hangeul classes, more so to meet friends and have a diversion than to seriously learn the language; have written a long letter to someone to end such foolish, unidentifiable kind of “keeping in touch” with each other; and basically struggled to live each day not understanding what I am doing things for and why I am doing them in the first place.

I can attribute such unbearable stress to the main problem of not knowing and fully understanding my role and worth in the workplace. I got irrationally carried away by the rollercoaster run of its environment, struggling to grip on the rails, yet keeping my eyes shut. There was of course that great, pleasant welcome to the prestige of such tenure, but it was so easy to forego, given the bloated expectations born out of my “special” case. I am a foreigner, a young breed at that, stereotyped to be full of potential. They think that I have a second tongue to express myself more, and so they believe that everything is comprehensible.

Sometimes though, what you think your mind understands is not sincerely read by the heart that is trapped by the ambiguity of the ground where you should really step on. You then think if the biggest decision that you had to make in your life was actually worth the stake.

I am not complaining about where I am now. It would be of extreme arrogance to act and even think that way. There are people who would so much want to be in the same field of work that I am currently in, and they can anytime despise me and make themselves more worthy to take my place, if they hear me not realizing how I am plain lucky to even have this job. I guess what I just need is that concrete tag above my head that tells of what I should be really doing to contribute to the workplace that I am in. A ROLE. No matter how minute and miniscule it is, is worth my much-clamored identity in this foreign land.

Ending my first day at work after this long vacation, relaxed as ever with no for-work-sake task so far (I hope it won’t be too long though), I hope to firm myself with my role as I learn the changes in my workplace today. I am technically part of a team, and it is faintly drawing the borders to my “identity” tag.

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Mainstream Love

In a country where you'd most probably think people would have more apprehensions in such public displays of affection given such purist history and conservative values, you’d then smile and give credit to how Koreans can be their creative selves in mainstreaming this so called couple love. Oooh yeah, baby!



The Couple Shirts.

Korean couples really know how to be K-POPish with these matching tops that sometimes not only match the colors, but the prints themselves. Just when everybody else in the world strives to be as unique and original as possible in their wardrobe, Koreans tell us that there is great fashion dug in looking alike. The concept will initially strike you as cute, since they are primarily put on couples, whom you would realize are simply trying to profess their love to their partners. It even looks more fun, especially when you’re in an allowable place like a theme park, which is always a good venue for couples to have dates or such.

I actually spent a Sunday with friends in Everland, a popular theme park in South Korea, and boy, I’d like to think that there were more couples than kids in that place. Couples in couple shirts, at that. Five more seconds of looking at them though, enough to notice how the purses and shoes even match-- I suddenly had to ask, “What are they really trying to get at?”. Nah, I'd like to think that was plainly brought by the fact that there is no way I could sport such look anytime soon. Haha.


I asked my housemate what she thinks of Korean couples sporting matching outfits, and she said that it really is a common thing, especially among younger couples in colleges and universities. She's sported matching colors with her husband before, but has never really gone beyond matching shoes nor socks. For her, they plainly give the impression that they are the fashionable breed of couple. And quoting my housemate on this, “It’s like, they just want to show that they are one as a couple.”

Well one thing sure, Koreans, in general, strike me as dangerously bold and appealing when it comes to fashion, really. And that Koreans are the most “mainstream-ed” people as of the moment. Mix mainstream and fashion with love, and you’ll definitely get that mainstream kind of couple love. ;-)

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