Feet on the Street

More Fun in the Philippines: An Honest to Goodness Fact

hazelantonio — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:31:10 +0000

NOTE: My boss, who has a reputation for being blunt, made an announcement that he resigned from his post last January 5. Come January 6, DOT’s campaign was launched and #MoreFunInThePhilippines hash tag became a trending topic in Twitter. Later that day, it spread over the internet that MoreFun tagline was already used by Switzerland many years back. The question as to which of the two countries involved is more fun turned into a contagious enigma. On my boss’ farewell speech delivered in front of us his Filipino subordinates along with some Hindu colleagues, his last line was “it’s more fun in the Philippines”. He is a Swiss by the way, an exceptionally honest Swiss.

The success of Department of Tourism’s campaign is too early to tell. However, we can already celebrate the way it has heightened many Filipinos’ love for this country by showing their individual accounts of its places, traditions and culture in creatively conceptualized slogans. Like all of them, I also have my own chronicle. Here is my #1forfun photo collection taken while exploring the wondrous beauty of our wonderland:

Pandi Bulacan 2011

Mayon Volcano Legazpi, Albay 2011

Our Lady of Penafrancia, Naga City 2011

Albay Bicol 2011

UP Diliman 2011

Thunderbird Resort La Union 2011

San Juan La Union 2011

Midway Grill San Fernando La Union 2011

Thunderbird Resort, La Union 2011

Aparri 2011

Aparri 2011Aparri 2011

Tarlac City 2011

Legazpi, Albay Bicol 2011

Timberland San Mateo Rizal 2011

Dune Buggy Ride San Rafael Bulacan 2011

Strawberry Farm Baguio City 2011

Giant Lanterns Antipas North Cotabato 2010

Tagum City 2010

Coconut Husk Christmas Tree Samal Island, 2010

Banana Plantation Tagum City Davao del Norte 2010

Davao City 2010

Ted's Original La Paz Batchoy Iloilo City 2010

Iloilo City 2010

Tarlac City 2010

Real Port, Quezon Province 2010

Bolinao 2010

Iguig, Cagayan 2010

Baguio 2010

Hundred Islands 2010

Alaminos, Pangasinan 2010

Hundred Islands, Pangasinan, 2010

Giant Umbrella Rock Agno, Pangasinan 2010

Patapat Bridge 2009

Paoay Church Ilocos Norte 2010

Laoag City 2009

Vigan 2009

Alaminos, Pangasinan 2009

Abatan, Benguet 2009

Vigan City Ilocos Sur 2009

Bantay, Ilocos Sur Church 2009

Bantay Church Bell Tower, 2009

Atok, Benguet 2009

Burgos, Ilocos Norte 2009

Bangui Windmills, Ilocos Norte 2009

Pagudpud 2009

Marcos Museum Batac, Ilocos Norte, 2009

Cagayan-Ilocos Norte Boundary 2009

Bataan 2009

The buzz which the campaign has initially created may no longer be as loud as it was 15 days ago, but it’s never too late to share the world an honest to goodness fact how fun it is, indeed, here in the Philippines.

En Route

hazelantonio — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:37:36 +0000

I can still remember so well how I used to hate traveling when I was a child. Going to malls, amusement parks and other new places brought wonders during my childhood days but the physical distress that I get in exchange was difficult not to mention embarrassing. Almost always, I would orally emit that hot sticky liquid (usually with some solids in it T_T ) some time during the trip and everything, including the excitement I was trying to conceal since the night before along with the colorful expectations my wild imagination had created, would be ruined. My vomiting habit was fatal and could happen as early as 10 minutes after riding the pathetic vehicle of sorts that I ill-treated. Busses, cars, jeepneys, vessels, you name them, they’re my victims; special credit to their dizzy-inducing smells, their respective drivers who possibly cleaned my sh*t, the friendly plastic bags who saved me on some rare cases and the kontra-biyahilo tablets who didn’t seem to have an effect on me. Positively, when I bid goodbye to my childhood, I also learned to outgrow that sickly pattern. I became fond of traveling, of visiting places, of wandering.

Traveling is personally beneficial in so many ways. It introduces us to different types of people, new places, exotic food and wide opportunities of acquiring life-changing lessons.

While on road, one is expected to encounter people with different personalities. Most of the time there are people who accompany us throughout the course of our voyage. We know them so well but we get to know them even more as we hit the road. Their constant presence in our quest irritates us every now and then but eventually we become conscious that the experience is a lot less fulfilling if not because of their company. We also meet someone who guides us along the way. He/she is the one who leads us into the right path to make sure that we safely reach our destination. On the other hand, there are some we come across with who look so nice on the outside, super friendly to direct the correct path only for us to realize that the directions they provided are confusing enough for us to lose track. Several gladly hitch with us on the way. They disclose part of them that we get so engaged with what they’re sharing but suddenly leave us all alone just as when we begin to appreciate their company. Their purpose has been served and they need to take a different path so as to reach their destination which happened to be different from ours. A few we may meet on the early course of our journey, lose afterwards, and then meet them again later on for the reason that though they have chosen to take a dissimilar path, we cannot change the reality that our destination is similar with theirs.

The paths that we take are of different kinds as well. Some are full of humps that tend to slow us down with the intent of reducing harm. At times, roads can be slippery making us prone to skids and collision with other travelers. On our way up some trails are crisscrossed. They make our climb so guarded for we are afraid to fall down the cliff which is a sure way to waste what we have started. Our most favorite road is the one which is clear. It is well asphalted, has the necessary road signs and street lights that make our ride a lot easier.

We also get to enjoy diversified food choices en route. These rations are sure way to energize our exhausted bodies so we carefully choose what to munch. Most of them we haven’t really tried yet. The dishes’ names are enough to make us think that they taste a lot different from what we usually have. Due to curiosity and maybe too much hunger, we have decided to eat everything. Some of them are undeniably delectable but most, no matter how appetizing they seem to be, just don’t match our taste so we swear never to eat them again.

The most interesting part of our journey is the panorama. We are not able to avoid the white, big mansion that brings us goose bumps; the old church that revives our faith; the greenery that makes us one with earth; or the view deck that allows us to see more than what we have expected

And finally, as we continue heading toward our destination, we come to realize that maybe this trip is not about the end goal after all. If we focus on where we want to be perhaps we will never get to enjoy the whole process. Instead, the long way will only make us feel dizzy and eventually throw-up midway.

Through the new people that we meet, the different types of roads that we cross, the wide arrays of food choices that we eat and the breath-taking sceneries around, we recognize the fact that what’s far more essential is the journey itself and the lessons that it brings; not really our destination.