One of things that I’d like to do is to walk on an aircraft carrier. Well, it should not be just any aircraft carrier. It must be historic. I’m glad that I was given the chance to go to the USS Carl Vinson. This nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is docked in Manila.

Navy Ship Flags

The USS Carl Vinson is part of the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 1. In addition, that’s the ship where Osama Bin Laded was transported to and then buried to the North Arabian Sea.

One of the aircrafts on the flight deck

They USS Carl Vinson Group arrived in Manila last May 15 and will be here until May 19. According to the US Embassy, they are here for a routine port call and goodwill visit.

Thus, I guess the MOA dinner cruise (from the Jetty Terminal) won’t be available on those dates since the terminal will be very busy accommodating transfers to and from the USS Carl Vinson. Check out my other photos of the USS Carl Vinson in Flickr.

Thanks to the US Embassy for the invitation.

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Bacolaodiat Festival is Bacolod City’s grand celebration of the Chinese New Year and they have been celebrating it for 6 years already. During our trip to Bacolod City, we were actually not aware of Bacolaodiat until Eric mentioned it to us.

Bacolaodiat is just a play of words between “Bacolod” and “Lao Diat”. “Lao Diat” means celebration.

There were colorful floats and parades. Too bad we weren’t able to see all of those who participated in the parade because we arrived in Bacolod at around 4pm. It’s also good that we’re able to catch the Dragon Dance which was held just in front of Chowking along Lacson Street.

By nighttime, it’s nice to take pictures of the Chinese Lanterns most especially along Lacson Street since there’s a lot of them there.

We were able to witness some of the groups perform in a street dance competition. They were only using one song. Thus, we had an LSS (last song syndrome) that lasted for days. Yes, the song was that catchy hehe.

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After the success of the first Philippine Pyromusical competition held in SM Mall of Asia, this year, me and Sha had the privilege to go to the 2nd Philippine Pyromusical Competition last Saturday where Portugal and United Kingom showcased their fireworks synchronized with music.

United Kingdom

During it’s first year, we had the chance of taking photos from the VIP area (around San Miguel by the Bay) which has the best view. This year, we were in the Media area, the same as the VIP/Patron area where dinner is also served. This is the reason why you’ll see some trees and posts in the above photos. Thanks to Melo for the invite.

I like the fireworks display of United Kingdom better than that of Portugal. Also, United Kingdom used the song “Firework” by Katy Perry while Portugal used some Bon Jovi songs. :p

This year’s competition kicked off last February 12. Listed below is the schedule and the participating countries:

Feb. 12
South Korea, 7pm
Spain, 8pm

Feb. 19
Portugal, 7pm
United Kingdom, 8pm

Feb. 26
China, 7pm
France, 8pm

Mar. 5
Japan, 7pm
Canada, 8pm

Mar. 12
Australia, 7pm
Philippines, 8pm

Ticket prices are as follows:
VIP (w/ dinner) P1,500
VIP P500
GOLD P200
SILVER P100

You may get your tickets via:

SM Tickets
Tel. No.: 470-2222

TicketNet
Tel. No.: 911-5555

TicketWorld
Tel. No.: 891-9999

TIP: Make sure that you arrive early and make sure that you get the VIP ticket and watch from the seaside (just in from of the Music Hall, in SM Mall of Asia). You should also bring your tripod with you if you intend to take photos of fireworks.

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The ultimate beads for custom jackets and varsity jackets for girls box collection is here. You can find a full range of vintage blazer including plus size discount dirt bike gear at our online shopping store of leather motorcycle clothing.

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The Department of Tourism launched the re-branding the tourism campaign for the Philippines last night. Basically the DOT want to depart from the “WOW Philippines” marketing plan and possibly make it to “Pilipinas Kay Ganda”. The whole marketing plan is still not final yet and still open to fine tuning. I’ve been hearing this from my social network and initially, me thinks it’s mehh. I went to the launch the other night to see it for myself.

The DOT feels that this is a radical change compared to other Asian countries who are already using ownership of English words i.e. Malaysia: Truly Asia, Incredible India, Amazing Thailand, Your Singapore, Charming Vietnam, etc… DOT Undersecretary Romano III says that “using our own native name and the local vernacular to express our national pride and tell our story in our way to make it rise above the competition”. Yes it’s true, we’re being radical here by using our own language in promoting the Philippines, no problem with that. I think that it’s actually a good idea but it seems that “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” does not give the “ummph” to the locals moreover to the international community.  A lot of people actually think that it sounds like a game show, something like “Pilipinas, Game Ka Na Ba?”.

Why not just build on the WOW Philippines brand? Well, according to DOT Secretary Lim’s speech, he says that “At a time when every nation, big or small, is either creating a new brand or repacking their current ones, would you rather rehash an 8 year old brand? Besides, a new brand always generates a buzz that translate to more media mileage for the same promotional budget”. Oh come on, “WOW Philippines” was a great tagline.

After the speeches, the guests were asked to move towards the bay side to watch the video and as expected, the background music was Ryan Cayabyab’s “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika” with altered lyrics. The verses were in English but the chorus remained in Filipino. There’s a translation of Filipino lyrics to English while the Tarsier turns every page. The video was 3d animation, we were even asked to wear our 3d glasses. No offense to my ex-boss (saw him during the event, his company was responsible for the 3d animation of that video) but it seems that the video didn’t translate “Pilipinas Kay Ganda”. Then after viewing the video, there was a short fireworks display and kaboom! The new brand was shown, hence, the photo above. The choir sang the chorus to the tune of “Kay Ganda ng ating Musika” with these lyrics “Kay ganda ng Pilipinas, kay ganda ng Pilipinas. Likas sa amin, ang handong namin.”

Vice President Jejomar Binay graced the occasion, didn’t realize that he was behind us when we were watching the choir sing. I wonder how he feels with this rebranding?

The new website to access is www.beautifulpilipinas.com, be careful not to type in beautifulFILIPINAS, it will lead you to a p*rn website. We might attract unwanted visitors to the Philippines. As of this moment, the new website is not accessible.

How about you, what do you think of “Pilipinas Kay Ganda”? What can you suggest as the tagline for Philippine Tourism?

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Planning your next vacation or adventure?

The Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) will once again hold the Philippine Travel Mart, now on its 21st year. The event will be held on September 3 – 5 at the Megatrade Hall in SM Megamall. Cheap domestic travel packages around the Philippines are up for grabs. Different tour operators from the different regions in the Philippines will participate in this event. Aside from personal holiday packages, they will also offer the Local Corporate Buyer’s Program for companies that wish to have team building activities, conferences and seminars outside their office vicinity.

There will also be a Tourism Quiz Bee, Cultural Dance Competition and Eco-Chorale during the event.

For more information, visit their website: www.philtravelmart.com or follow their Twitter: @philtravelmart.

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Mount Banahaw in Quezon

To be honest, I’ve never been to any festival or fiesta in my entire life. Yes, yes, what a loser of me but that’s the reality. I’ve always wanted to experience going to a fiesta because I know that in Philippine culture, this is one of the events that many Filipinos (and even foreigners) anticipate. So when the opportunity came from Samsung, I immediately agreed to be part of their group to test their cameras during the Pahiyas Festival.

San Isidro de Labrador (St. Isidore, the Laborer) of Lucban, Quezon

All I knew about Pahiyas Festival are the colorful houses but I didn’t really know what it’s all about. When I was there, I learned that the Pahiyas Festival is a tribute to San Isidro de Labrador (St. Isidore, the Laborer).  This is also the time that Lucbanons show their produce by decorating their houses with their own harvested produce. So basically, the whole Pahiyas celebration is a thanksgiving festival for the abundant harvest and hopefully they’ll be blessed for the next year’s harvest. By the way, the Pahiyas Festival happens every May 15.

Families watching the parade

Not all streets have houses decorated because it will be too expensive for a family to spend decorating their houses for the festival every year. So the local municipalityl decided that each street will have their chance every other year. As you know, they have a yearly competition for the most beautifully decorated house every year so it’s good that they have more time to prepare.

You will see that the most common thing that they decorate their houses with are kiping, vegetables and other produce that the family has. Kiping is a local delicacy which is made of ground rice flour shaped into cabal leaves which are dipped into color pigments. You can actually eat the Kiping either by grilling or frying it.

Carabaos were also part of the parade. I guess that this is because of the carabaos participation in the harvesting process.

The whole Pahiyas festival experience was very tiring (because we had to walk and no vehicles can go inside the festival proper). Even though it was a busy day for us, it was worthwhile. The view of the Mount Banahaw is breathtaking and the temperature there is not very humid. Surprisingly, it felt like I was in Tagaytay. The locals say that it’s the highest part of Quezon that’s why the temperature there is much cooler compared to other places in Quezon.

The experience of going to the Pahiyas Festival is an enjoyable experience. Finally, I can say that I have been to a fiesta!

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We were able to catch USA’s fireworks display last night during the first leg of the first Philippine Pyromusical Competition. The fireworks display last night (held at around 10-15 minutes before 9pm) was brought to us by Pyrofire Displays.

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The First Philippine Pyro Musical competition will kick off in February 14, 2010 (Valentine’s Day). It will run until March 14, 2010 (held every Sunday) at the seafront of SM Mall of Asia. This event is organized by Platinum Fireworks, Inc., the first Philippine Fireworks Company that won international recognition. They are also the ones who are displaying fireworks shows in SM Mall of Asia.

Firing Schedules

Feb. 14, 2010:
Philippines, 7pm
Australia, 8pm

Feb. 21, 2010:
United Kingdom, 7pm
China, 8pm

Feb. 28, 2010:
France, 7pm
Japan, 8pm

Mar. 7, 2010:
Singapore, 7pm
Malaysia, 8pm

Mar. 14, 2010:
USA, 7pm
Philippines, 8pm

Ticket Prices:
VIP/Patron with dinner: 1,500 pesos
VIP/Patron: 500 pesos
Gold: 300 pesos
Silver: 150 pesos
General Admission: 100 pesos

You can buy the tickets at TicketWorld and TicketNet. Visit their Facebook Fan Page for more information. You can get the chance to win free tickets in their Facebook Fan Page.

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During the show

The Symphony of Lights was launched last November 19, 2009 where the Ayala Triangle Gardens was formally launched to the public.

Before the show

What I like about the light show is the choreography of the lights with the music. What they could probably do in the future is not to project the snowflakes and just show Filipino Christmas lanterns (“parol” in Filipino) instead.

The show starts at 6pm while the next show starts at 6:30pm.

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For the first time, the World Pyro Olympics was held at The Fort Open Grounds, Bonifacio Global City. The first time I’ve been to World Pyro Olympics was the first one, which was held at the bay side near SM Mall of Asia (it was called the Esplanade then).

World Pyro Olympics debuted with Germany and China showing off their pyrotechnics display. The show went on even though the weather was not that good.

Since we weren’t able to buy tickets, we watched from Bonifacio High Street (the road between Mag:net BHS and The Spa. It’s recommended to purchase tickets since you won’t be able to see the fireworks that were displayed at a lower height because of the buildings and also because of the large tarpaulin blocking it.

The General Viewing Area can still be a good spot for you to watch and take pictures of the fireworks. If you would like to have a tented seating, you can either choose between the Special Viewing Area and the VIP area.

Watch out for the other fireworks displays in the following dates:

November 28 – Canada and Australia
December 5 – Japan and Italy
December 12 – South Korea and USA
December 19 – Fellowship of Fire and Philippines

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