Yeosu Expo 2012: It's More Fun In The Philippine Pavilion!

One of the reasons why I wanted to travel down to Yeosu was to visit the Philippine Pavilion at the 2012 Yeosu Expo! 

I have been to this coastal city before. At that time, I took the five-hour train ride and on my way back, I flew. This time, I braced myself for the torturous six-hour bus ride! And that's just one-way!

But who cared? If I was able to stay seated (and without peeing!) on my nine-hour flight from Incheon to Dubai, I could certainly survive the five hours on the bus with one rest stop. Ha-ha-ha!

And that day, when we finally arrived at expo site, my friend Sharisse and I dropped by the Philippine Pavilion at the Level 2 of the International Pavilion complex.

                     (The Philippine Pavilion entrance)
Though the space allotted to the Philippines was not that huge compared to those of the other countries, the place was creatively designed and with 'hands-on' experience!

       (The colored plates form the map of the Philippines)

Since the theme of the Yeosu Expo was about the ocean, the Philippine pavilion featured actual sands from the most popular beaches all over the Philippines! Yes, I was able to scoop a handful of the very powdery Boracay Island sand without flying to Kalibo, Aklan! 

                 (The gray area is actually the sand from 
                                  Sto. Domingo, Albay)

                        (I have been to Guimaras Island, and this sand 
              reminds of that summer weekend I spent there!)

The Pavilion also showcased some popular Philippine products inside the 'fisherman's basket' corner. From dried mangoes, to araro cookies and polvoron (which I bought and got disappointed with), to tsokolate mix!  They also sold some native bags and pearl jewelry!

 (I got that cup of tsokolate mix. I liked it but it was too sweet!)

                           (I also loved this box of Rejano araro cookies!)

 (I was disappointed with this pili polvoron. There was just two very small chunks of pili in the polvoron, though the photo on the box showed a big chunk!)

                                               (Perlas ng silanganan!)

                                                            (Shoppers!)

                          (Other Philippine products at the display)

                                             (Dried mangoes, of course!)

         (Paying at the counter with these goodies I bought.)

                     (Shopping at the fisherman's basket!)

But what most people (including me) would remember about the Philippine pavilion was the live performance of DJ Elmer Dado and the Gruppo Tribale at the entrance of the pavilion.

Their 30-minute set drew everyone to the pavilion! The crowd danced and moved to the beat of the music!

I was sure I had a video of the crowd dancing. Although some opted to stay back and just watch, I had a feeling they were just shy. 

And for those who just let loose and decided to just groove to this rare live performance of artists who flew in from the Philippines, packs of dried fruits from the Philippines!  Yes, the Pavilion staff gave away packs of dried mangoes and other fruits to everyone who made the performance even livelier!

Here's a clip of the performance of DJ ELMER and the Gruppo Tribale.

I would have wanted to dance, too, but I got a bag of some goodies (which I just bought) with me which I could not just put some the pavement somewhere. Ha-ha-ha!

After their set, I had to congratulate the three (DJ Elmer and two guys of Gruppo Tribale) for their infectious music! I told them the local and international visitors were really into their beat!

So, if you're heading to the 2012 Yeosu Expo, do drop by the Philippine pavilion and feel for yourself the sands from different Philippine beaches. Also make sure you get some goodies like I did.

                    (The amazing artists taking a bow!)

But most of all, get yourself grooving to the live performance at the entrance like these visitors who could not stop from dancing to the addictive beat!

And even at its corner at the 2012 Yeosu Expo, it is indeed more fun in the Philippines!