Win Free Plane Tickets To Korea Through The K-Performance App!

Do you want to win free plane tickets to Korea?

Just participate in the Korea Performance Digital Book App launching event. Here's how:

1. On your iPad, iPhone or Galaxy Note, download the Korea Performance app. You can just google "Korea performance app download" and it will lead you to an itunes.apple.com link.

2. Click install on that page and wait for the download.

3. After downloading, watch the interesting Korea Performance Digital Book, which features Korean performance which are available to be enjoyed when you're in Seoul.

4. Fill up the 'review' page (your name, answers to the questions, email address, etc) of the app and you're included in the draw!

I have already downloaded the Korea Performance app in my iPad-mini, and I'm crossing my fingers, too!

Good luck!
For more details, do click this link:

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/HD/event/enu_20130712/eng.html

Giving Blood. Gangnam Style.

I had to look for a new blood donation center when the only English-speaking staff at the Red Cross blood donation center at Seoul Station left. Min-Jun became a friend after my several visits to this center as he always helped me with the English translation during the screening procedures.

With no English-speaking staff to help me at the Seoul Station center, I sent a message to the Korean Red Cross through its Facebook page asking them for help. They suggested the center near Gangnam Station. So, I called that center and finally visited it last week!

                            (Exit 2 of Gangnam Station)

The blood donation center is just a few meters from the Exit 2 of Gangnam Station. Right after the Meritz Tower, you will see Dunkin' Donuts. Get inside the Dunkin' Donuts building and take the elevator to the 9th floor, where the blood donation center is. It's so easy to find, actually.

        (Dunkin' Donuts is at the ground floor of the building)

                                    (Head to the 9th floor)

The screening procedures are basically the same: register your visit through the Red Cross portal using your Alien Registration Card, read the questionnaires for any conditions that would disqualify you to be a donor, a test on your blood coagulation thingy, blood pressure test, and the filling up and signing the blood donation form signifying the veracity of your representation. 

I was glad most of the nurses could speak basic English, and Miss Park, who helped me through all the screening procedures, was very accommodating. I told her I used to go to the Seoul Station center and why I had to switch centers. I also told her the view from the center was quite interesting as one was looking down on the very busy Gangnam area, where priciest real estate in the whole of South Korea could be found.

                                               (The center's lounge)

The actual extraction of about 400 milliliters of my precious Type-O blood took only about five minutes, after which I was told to rest for ten minutes at the lounge and observe any change in my condition. I was also told to drink three times my normal water intake. They had iced cold water, juice and choco pie by the television where other donors were either waiting for their turn or taking the required ten-minute rest. I thought this experience in the Gangnam Station was more fun than at the Seoul Station location. Why? At Seoul Station, there were always some drunk ajussis milling around the area, usually holding a soju bottle and talking to themselves. And although I would always ignore them, walking past through that area wasn't always pleasant. If you've been there, you'd know what I mean.

And here, well, what can i say? It's Gangnam! 

                                           (It only took about 5 minutes!)

                    (A token from the Korean Red Cross)

By the way, every donor always receives a gift from Red Cross, ranging from coffee coupons to movie tickets, to BB creams. I would have wanted a movie ticket, but there isn't any Megabox cinema in Yongsan-gu. I opted for that nail cutter set, which I can always give away.

The Gangnam Station center is open from Mondays to Fridays from 10AM to 7PM. But you need to call them before coming over to make sure about their schedule: 02-564-1525.

I plan to donate again after two months, the proper interval between full-blood donations. And when I do, it will giving blood again, Gangnam style. :-)

                              (The view from the center)

August 15: Liberation Day and The Midday Korean Dance

I would have wanted to sleep longer this morning. It's Liberation Day in Korea and everyone could sleep longer because it's a holiday. But since I signed up to watch the Midday Korean Dance perfomances scheduled for 11AM at the National Theater of Korea located at the other side of Nam-san, I had to drag myself out of the bed to hit the gym first before breakfast, and before I head to the venue, which is just about 5 minutes by bus from Hannam-dong.

                            (The National Theater of Korea)

The show we saw today was a compilation of excerpts from full-length shows of traditional drum dances performances using small drums, Jin-do drums, double-headed drums and dances. But as usual, the audience was not allowed to take pictures during the show. If you're caught taking photos, the ushers would tell you to stop, although the Korean woman in front of me was taking photos all throughout the show. She was stopped a couple of times, but she continued anyway.

                           (The KB Haneul Youth Theater)

As I said, there were lots of drums, which meant that the show was loud and noisy with all the drum banging, but I wondered why the ushers told the parents and their kids to stop talking during the show. Kids will be kids. They will talk because of their curiosity. This wasn't a play or a musicale or a movie, where keeping quiet would be the etiquette. I realized this venue was NOT CHILD-FRIENDLY, and to think that about 40-50% of the audience were kids. 

     (Essentials for the day: a free ticket, a brochure and a fan)

To be fair to the performers, their execution and showmanship were very good, interpretation interesting, costumes glittery and well, since this is the land of BB cream, everyone was very well made-up. Too bad, I wasn't allowed to take pictures. I would have written more to describe each section of the show but I have no photos to go with the description. Two months ago, I saw the Drumcat performance at another venue. I wasn't impressed with that show. This Midday Korean Dance show, however, was way better.

                                              (Before the performance)

The show lasted for about an hour, after which Outback Steakhouse gave away bread and butter outside of the KB Haneul Youth Theater. Thanks, Outback Steakhouse! I still could not forget that packed lunch you guys delivered a couple of years ago for everyone at the Nami Island sponsored by BBB, a Korean organization (read blog here). At Nami Island, the highlight of the Winter Sonata fans' trip was seeing the bronze statue of Bae Yong-Joon. But for me, the highlight of my trip was the Outback Steakhouse packed lunch. 😂

                    (Happy Liberation Day, everyone!)

So, far I spent my holiday at the gym and at the dance theater. Now, time to spend more of it in bed. Time to take a nap. It's still scorching outside. Enjoy your Liberation Day holiday!

Zzzzzzzzz.......😴       

My Last Manila Bay Sunset...

My vacation in the Philippines is almost over.  By noon tomorrow, I will be at the NAIA’s Terminal 3 dragging my suitcase to the check-in counter and hoping that the its weight does not exceed my baggage allowance.  Although most of the time, I don’t care if it does. If I have to pay extra for the excess weight, I would, as long as I have my Manapla puto, my dulce gatas, my hopia and all my other baons to Seoul in that huge maleta!

And on my last afternoon, I met with my former assistants Amy and Jenelyn at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City. I really don’t like huge malls; just too much people. There’s just one place I like in this mall: that alley by the south wing where they sell bibingkas and other local delicacies. 

After shopping and enjoying our bibingkas, we headed to the mall’s Seaside Boulevard for one reason: to catch the Manila Bay sunset. When I was still working in Manila, I’d usually catch the sunset from an office window or while I was passing through Roxas Boulevard. It was just one glance and that was it. I guess I took it for granted. One of the most spectacular sunsets in the world, that is.

And today, my last afternoon in Manila, I just needed to take a glimpse once more of that spectacular sight of the sun setting on the bay.

And so, along with a few hundred people strolling, sitting and relaxing by the bayside, where there were a few rides for kids and a few statues that pay homage to the Filipino professionals, Amy, Jenelyn and I waited for sundown. I wasn’t sure if I was the only one in that area who was excited about the time passing. I shouldn’t be actually rushing time as I would have to leave home again, and be away from friends and family once more. But I think all these years, I am used to that arrangement already.

A tourist boat roaming the Manila Bay, a few birds flying above and clouds by the horizon completed the picture.  No wonder people flock to Manila Bay at this time of the afternoon. From Manila’s Baywalk area to the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, and down to our spot, hundreds must also be sitting along the boulevard facing the horizon, not just eagerly awaiting for the same moment, but also enjoying a picture of serenity the bay offers at this time of the day.

Finally, the sun was finally nearing the horizon, which was now turning red, and the sun getting bigger but sinking. A huge, circular orange-red ball of light slowly dipping down past the straight line of the horizon with its colors reflecting on the waters below it and the darkening skies above it. This was the experience I took for granted before. This was the experience I missed.

At this moment, all eyes must have been fixed towards the horizon just like mine; but not everyone was trying to remember this sight and experience like it was their last. Unlike me, they can always come here tomorrow or any day they want; I could not.  They can always walk towards the bay and watch one of the most spectacular sunsets in the world any afternoon they want.

But for me, at least for now, this had to do and had to be…my last Manila Bay sunset. 

"I Believe I Can Fly..."

Yes, I believe I can fly. But unlike R. Kelly, I don’t believe I can touch the sky. Ha-ha-ha! 

                                                (Mount Silay from afar)

Thanks to the Wright Brothers and to the thousands of aircraft manufacturers, everyone can indeed fly! And when I ride these flying machines, I make sure I get a window seat especially if the scenery down below is a must-see. 

One of my most memorable flyovers was the one over Mount Fuji on my way back to Seoul from Tokyo. I had only seen Mt. Fuji on textbooks and postcards when I was little. On that flight, I could not believe that I was actually flying over the iconic mountain. I hope someday, I can get close and personal with Fuji-yama on foot, and not from Seat 3A. Ha-ha-ha!

                        (The uninteresting Victorias Coliseum. Ha-ha-ha!)

Today, I wasn't flying over a mountain. I was flying over haciendas, villages, rivers and a city I am so familiar with. Mine. 

                                                     (Victorias City. Do you
                           recognize some obvious structures?)

From the Bacolod-Silay Airport, the airport in the Philippines that has the most picturesque view, my domestic flight to Manila took off and from my window seat, I enjoyed the passing scenery of haciendas or plantations of sugarcane in patches of different shapes, rivers and Mount Silay from afar. 

(Why the murky beaches today?)

 A few minutes out, and I could see my hometown (or homecity?), Victorias, which actually looked like a small settlement of reddish brown-colored rooftops and trees. The most recognizable structures were the Catholic and Mormon churches, the city's main commercial arcade, that supermarket after Taytay Baho (which literally means, 'Smelly Bridge' that crosses over a smelly river of waste water coming from Victorias Milling Company millsite), and most eerie, the public cemetery, which looks like a huge collection of white blocks northeast of the city. 

Far from the city proper, I could recognize the Victorias Coliseum, which I have never set foot on. Why? Because it's freakin' very far from the city proper. I'm not interested in visiting it anyway.

And while the plane was flying out of the Negros Island, only then that I realized the waters by the coastal areas were that murky. Was it because of too much silt? It looked brownish and cloudy. Hmm. And to think I used to enjoy swimming on those beaches when I was a kid.

And while we were cruising over the Visayan Sea and Jintotolo Channel, I spotted paradise! Gosh, I wished that Victorias was just a short boat-ride from this islet with white sand beaches! I wonder who lives there! Or more important, who owns it? But it looks like it's closer to the Panay Island then Negros though.

I think it's fun naming the topography from your window seat if you know your geography very well. During my junior days working in Makati City, Philippines, I was sent to the field alone. I was to fly from Manila to land at San Jose. I was so confident of my knowledge of Philippine geography that I was so confused when the plane started its descent after only about 20 minutes. I could not believe that the flight from Manila to San Jose, Antique, was that short. I didn't know that I wasn't bound for San Jose, Antique; I was bound for San Jose, Mindoro. Ha-ha-ha! Luckily, I made it to my final destination, the Semirara Island, after making one more flight on a very small plane (from the San Jose, Mindoro domestic airport) which I think could only hold four people, including the pilot.

                                   (My in-flight snacks!)

And today, I wasn't flying on that single-engine plane with a very bumpy ride and a limited number of seats. With more than a hundred passengers on this flight and with my own Manapla puto as in-flight snacks, I continued to enjoy the view from my window seat.

             (Who owns this islet? Notice the white sand beaches!)

So, the next time I book a plane ticket, I guess I'd be choosing a window seat and be singing R. Kelly's song again.

"I believe I can fly....I believe I can touch the sky....I think about it every night and day...spread my wings and fly away..."