Seoul's Summer, Stream and Sachoom!

           (Seoul's Cheonggye Stream)

It's been a sweltering summer here in Seoul these past weeks, and like everyone else, I avoided going outdoors, lest I wanted to melt. Ha-ha-ha!

Although the giant water ride drew everyone towards Sinchon last month for people to temporarily cool off, that was just a short respite. 

And as I made my way one night towards the Cine Core Theater in the Jongno District of Seoul to watch a special performance of Sa-choom!, I spied on some locals literally cooling their feet on the Cheonggye Stream. I would have wanted to join them if it were not for the the 8PM showtime.

Not surprising, there were more locals queuing for their tickets at the box office. If this were months ago, or shall I say during the pre-MERS days, the Chinese tourists lining up to watch this non-verbal performance would have outnumbered locals.

             (Queuing for their tickets)

Compared to other shows, you can actually take photographs during the performance, but sadly, I couldn't bring in an iced cafe mocha. You can only take with you bottled water. And after I took my seat next to Vicky, a visiting tourist from Frankfurt, Germany, I took around and noticed that all seats were taken! I assumed it's the summer vacation; so, everyone made sure they enjoyed a Korean performance or two.

I saw Sa-Choom in April, and I wasn't that impressed with what I saw. Perhaps, it was a different team that performed for the K-Performance Supporters that night. Tonight, however, the team of performers seemed to have raised their level. But I think the show's contents - the choreography, costumes, music, and storyline - were the problem. It would work for a visiting tourist who may find it a novelty, but not for me.

This team's lead actor, Bin, was just like the same as the other team: he has no presence on stage and couldn't even rap his songs properly. He was just tall and could do chest stand. Luckily, the lead actress could sing! The director should have exploited this talent more by giving her more 'screen time' to show off her good vocals. Yes, she was pretty, skinny, and could sing! I wonder if she actually tried out for a K-pop album. 

     (This guy doing the breakdance is the 
       best among the back-up dancers)

After the show, I asked Vicky which characters she liked; her favorites were Jong-yeok, the emcee (played by Jang Dong-ho) and that underdog character who danced in his pajamas and could dislocate his shoulder while bboy dancing! I agreed with her choices. These two were the redeeming characters of the show; they had showmanship and energy level above everyone else on stage. 

           (Dancing in one's pajamas!)

(Minister Kim Jongdeok of Culture, Sports and Tourism joins the performers on stage to encourage everyone to help in the efforts to promote Korean performances)

         (Sa-choom gift packs were given 
        away to lucky audience members)

And since it was a special performance that night, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports, Mr. Jongdeok Kim, gave a short speech encouraging everyone to help promote Korean tourism to reverse the MERS effects. He also gave out three Sachoom gift packs to three lucky audience members.

So, if you're still on your summer vacation, do catch some Korean performances in Seoul, and then you can perhaps also cool off your tired feet on the Cheonggye Stream!

Happy Independence Day, Korea!

August 15, 2015, which falls on a Saturday, is the 70th year anniversary of Korea's independence from Japanese colonization. And luckily for us here in Seoul, President Park Geun-Hye declared today, the eve of the anniversary, a holiday!

And with this three-day weekend, most Seoulites will be travelling to the provinces, while some of us left in the city will be relaxing around amidst the summer heat to catch up with friends and to check out some events today and tomorrow.

And if you're downtown, there will be a free concert at the Seoul Plaza on the eve of Liberation Day, and an even bigger celebration on the day itself.

         (Center stage being readied for a concert)

If you're heading there today, you'll see for yourself a decorated old City Hall building adorned with a yellow hanok-like cover with the red and blue yang-eum centerpiece.

And make sure you get there early for the 7:30PM concert. Hundreds (or maybe thousands!) may have the same idea.

Happy Independence Day, Korea!

And enjoy your long weekend, everyone!

Photo of the Day: Blame It On The Rain!

With some intermittent rainy afternoons in Korea these days, people sometimes get caught in the showers. 

And while I didn't exactly had an umbrella when an afternoon drizzle caught us somewhere along the labyrinth of the Suwon fortress, these three were luckier as they found a heavy foliage to protect them from the light showers.

As they had to momentarily halt their journey and wasted time gossiping under a tree, we could appropriate caption the photo using the title of the lipsync-ing Milli Vanilli song....Blame it on the rain!

A Rare Historic Victoriahanon 1940 Photograph: Don Felix Lozada Montinola And His Honored Guests

Whenever I fly home, I sometimes rummage through my mom's photo albums full of black-and-white photographs. And sometimes, I chance upon some pretty historical photographs. 

And this rare and historic photograph is definitely one.

It is a photograph taken at the house of Don Felix Lozada Montinola in Victorias, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. Then, it was a town; now, it's a chartered city. During his term, Don Felix had the municipal hall of Victorias constructed with the help of the national government(read blog here). 

Just like my 'Fotos y Recuerdos' blog in 2014, I stumbled upon this black-and-white photo and put in words the story this image was telling us:

Don Felix Montinola (seated in the middle) served as the 9th mayor of Victorias from 1934 to 1940. To his left is his wife, Doña Dorotea Magalona Montinola, whom everyone fondly called Lola Theang, and surrounded by, presumably, guests from the US government considering this was during the American-led Commonwealth Period (1935-1946), or Americans working at the Victorias Milling Company at that time. 

Doña Dorotea, or Lola Teang, was a cousin of Enrique B. Magalona, Sr., after whom Saravia was renamed. Enrique B. Magalona, Sr. was a former senator of the Philippines and was the father of the actor Pancho Magalona (Enrique Magalona, Jr.) and the grandfather of Francis Magalona, the late rapper. Lola Theang's regular visitor at the Montinola residence when she was still alive was Betty Magalona, the sister of Susan Magalona, who was known to be the most beautiful in Negros at that time. (See my blog about Silay City's Balay Negrense for the photo of Susan Magalona). Betty, Susan, and Pancho were Enrique B. Magalona, Sr.'s kids.

In 1951, the Montinola family of Victorias, with the help of Don Agustin 'Tuting' Jereza, put up a school that was named after Don Felix, whose great-great-grandfather was Geronimo Fuentevilla Montinola, born in May 1785 to Juan Montinola (who was said to have been a captain of the Spanish soldiers assigned to Iloilo at that time) and Maria Ysidra Fuentevilla, a lady from Spain. The school's name was Don Felix Montinola Memorial Institute and was one of the private high schools in Victorias. It is now closed.

This photo was taken on February 17, 1940, a Saturday, at 11:45AM. He was born on February 16, 1864, but since February 16 was a Friday, they moved the celebration to Saturday ensure the attendance of honored guests from the province.

I'm not sure what the lunch menu was, but I see a bowl of 'pancit molo' and a plate of oysters. Since it was a Saturday, I presume lunch started early and this photo was taken when everyone was having dessert, wine, and conversations about local politics presumably carried in English. I can only guess if they actually had brazo de mercedes for dessert, but if they did, I am almost sure their guests would have wanted more...like I would!

The gentleman on the right of Don Felix is Don Valeriano Gatuslao, who was the governor of Negros Occidental at that time; he was the provincial governor from 1937-1940, and from 1954 to 1965.

The gentleman with eyeglasses and mustache on the right is Don Jose Gaston, the father of Monsignor Gigi Gaston, and owner of the famed Gaston Mansion at Hacienda Rosalia (read blog here), where scenes of Peque Gallaga's masterpiece, Oro, Plata, Mata, were filmed. Don Jose Gaston's father, Don Victor Fernandez Gaston, built the Gaston Mansion in Silay City. That mansion is now known as Balay Negrense (read blog here), Silay's most popular tourist attraction.

The gentleman on the right foreground with a nice haircut and is seen stretching his left arm is a priest.

The men at the table at the back must be playing the card game blackjack as they seem to be very interested in what was going on on the table. We wouldn't know who won big at their game that day, but how I wish the lady (with hair in a bun) helping the guests on that table would have told us. She is Doña Quintina Montinola Fermin, or Lola Tinay to all her grandkids, and was the eldest daughter of Don Felix and Doña Dorothea. Lola Tinay's sons, Jesus, and Renato Fermin also became mayors of Victorias, and her younger brothers, Hector and Benito, were the 12th and 14th mayors (read blog here), respectively. Unfortunately, Lola Tinay's three children died on the early days of World War II when their ship sank near the waters of Corregidor when it struck a naval mine on December 16 or 17, 1941 (read blog here). 😭

Although I grew up in this small city, I still have a lot to learn about its history. I guess this 80-year old photograph, taken before World War II, is a start.

                                 *  *  *  *  *

(P.S. Fast forward to 2020, I stumbled upon a photograph taken before everyone sat for lunch that day (read blog here), and another photograph of Don Felix's daughter, Salud Montinola, taken in 1920. And it was even an older photograph also worthy of a story of her own. Read her story here).

For OFWs: How to Get the Airport Terminal Fee Refund @ NAIA3

As an OFW, I have always been exempted from paying the ridiculous airport terminal fee when I fly out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (read blog here). But since the airlines have started including the airport terminal fee in the ticket price, I had to get my refund.

Last month (July 2015), before my Cebu Pacific flight back to Seoul, South Korea, I was able to get my refund, and I'd like to share my experience. 

Kung kasali na sa ticket price mo ang airport terminal fee, ibig sabihin nabayaran mo na ang airport fee. Kaya dapat e-refund sa iyo ang airport fee kasi exempted ka bilang OFW. Other passengers who are exempted include athletes and Muslim pilgrims based on their list (see photo on #7). 

Eto ang mga hakbang para mag-refund sa NAIA3:

1. Before mag-check in, patatakan muna sa POEA desk ang Overseas Employee Certificate (OEC). 

At NAIA3, ang POEA desk ay nasa pinakadulo, sa LEFT SIDE, upon entering the first security x-ray check. 

Tip: Sa pagpasok sa NAIA3, dumaan sa last gate (pinakadulong gate) para mas malapit sa POEA desk.

2. Mag-check-in para sa flight.

3. Doon sa check-in counter, ang airline staff magsasabi sa iyo kung saang counter mo kukunin ang 'certificate'. For CebuPac flights, sinabi sa akin na hihintayin ko sa 'Counter 1' ang 'certificate'. 'Certificate' ang tawag nila sa print-out na naka-lagay ang breakdown ng nabayaran mo noong binili mo ang plane ticket.

Ang 'certificate' ay e-pi-print ng CebuPac na nagpapatunay na nabayaran mo na ang terminal fee noong binili mo yung ticket mo. Ito ay ibibigay mo sa REFUND CLERK inside the 'Terminal Fee REFUND' office (Step 6).

   (The piece of paper behind my boarding pass is the      'certificate' given by CebuPac staff at Counter 1)

4. After check-in at hawak-hawak mo na ang 'certificate', pumunta na sa Immigration. Ipapakita mo lang sa guwardiya ang OEC mo para hindi ka na sisingilin ng terminal fee.

5. After Immigration, dumaan sa final security x-ray check.

6. After final x-ray check, pumasok sa TERMINAL FEE REFUND office na nasa LEFT side mismo ng final x-ray check. (See photo below).

7. Inside the TERMINAL FEE REFUND office, present your OEC, 'certificate' given to you at the check-in counter, and your boarding pass to the clerk.

See list of requirements below (photo taken at the refund counter):  

8. Get your refund of Php 550. 

                         (My P550 refund)

9. Proceed to your boarding gate. 

The refund counter is open 24/7 according to the accommodating and friendly clerk. I forgot to get her name, but she was doing a great job of advising those who are missing a document. 

Have a safe flight! 

#ofw #naia3 #pinoy #balikbayan #immigration #poea

Juan Luna's Spoliarium: A Painting of a Revolution

All Filipino students know about this painting since grade school, and its details might have been part of a daily quiz or a final exam, and I couldn't remember if I spelled it right then. Ha-ha-ha!

Spoliarium (take note of the two i's) is the most famous work of art of Juan Luna. It was said that when he visited Rome, Italy, he was exposed to the Renaissance painters and got to visit the Colosseum, where he saw for himself the spoliarium, a dark place under the Colosseum where dead gladiators were dumped. And maybe that was where he got the inspiration to tell the story of the struggle of a people, liking it to the inhuman disregard of gladiators' corpses just because the Romans had no use for them anymore as dead gladiators could no longer entertain. Remember what Russell Crowe shouted to the crowd in his movie 'Gladiator'?  He shouted, "Are you not entertained?!"

  (He signed "LUNA ROMA MDCCCLXXXIV" 
 at the painting's lower right corner)

          (Characters in the painting seem 
             to be arguing who gets the 
           possessions left on the corpses)

The Spoliarium's dimensions are 4.22 meters by 7.675 meters. It's 13.8 feet tall and 25.18 feet wide; it's not your ordinary art exhibit painting. Juan Luna's main purpose was to make sure everyone got his message. I figured if he wanted to get his message across, the painting had to be massive. And his message? Somewhere out there was a race of people being used to entertain and satisfy those in authority, and being inhumanly trashed away after they became useless.

      (Dead gladiators being dragged away)

One doesn't have to be an art expert in order to understand the Spoliarium. Seeing it in person for the first time, I was intimidated by its size and its colors, and the scene is really thought-provoking with a lot of characters comprising the whole tableau. This painting is a significant part of Philippine history, and I only used to read about it in history books as a kid.

                (A useless gladiator being dragged)

Darkness and shadows dominate the painting; it's a cruel scene of carnage and inhumanity. During the Roman times, gladiators were merely slaves, whose lives they didn't actually own. They were in the arena to serve and entertain, and if they survived the bloody combat, they were rewarded with freedom, even if at the cost of a limb, an eye, or a pool of blood.

Yes, freedom was very costly for gladiators in the Roman times. Fast forward a few millennia, during the Spanish colonization, freedom in the Philippine archipelago was just as costly.  And when Juan Luna won the gold medal for this painting at the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain, in 1884, it was more than just a personal triumph. It just didn't prove Juan Luna's mastery of the art; according to Professor Ambeth Ocampo, it was a triumph for the colonized indios (the Spaniards' label for Filipinos) who were proven to be better than their colonizers, the Spaniards. (Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, another Filipino, won the silver medal in the same competition for his painting Las Virgines Cristianas expuestas al Populacho).

At that time, during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, it would have been easier to understand the painful colors of the painting and the enormity of the masterpiece. But this day, in a different time, one can only stand in front of the Spoliarium in awe and reverence for this priceless part of Philippine history, a painting of the revolution. 

      (A grieving woman, sitting on the bloody ground as a sign of hopelessness and absolute resignation. Who could this figure be?)

                            *  *  *  *  *

And while visiting the most treasured painting at the National Museum was a trip back to a period in Philippine history, writing this piece about the Spoliarium was even more fun. It's just too bad the painter is no longer around to explain to us all the characters, including those painted in the dark, and the colors of his masterpiece. 

Thanks to my friend Fay for the treat at the Museum, and even more thankful to Juan Luna, who gave us a work of art to talk and write about 140 years after he signed off on it.

          (Characters resembling vultures preying 
            on the dead. Who do they represent?)

   (Up close and immortal: He fought for his freedom and he's now immortalized)

If you have the chance, do visit the Spoliarium at the National Museum of the Philippines at Padre Burgos Drive in Manila.

          (Standing in awe and reverence 
             in front of the  Spoliarium)

#spoliarium #juanluna #history #philippinehistory #historian #nationalmuseum #art #artist #painter #spain

A Pinoy at the Movies: Woman In Gold

I saw its movie poster a month ago, and I thought, if this was a Helen Mirren movie, it should be good. Then I forgot all about it.

Luckily, there are art cinemas in Seoul that still carried it when I finally remembered to watch it. And on the night when Tom Cruise was in Seoul, I went to watch his ex, Katie Holmes, playing a supportive wife to Ryan Reynolds. And although Dame Helen Mirren has the lead role, she, too, plays second fiddle to...the Woman In Gold.

Woman in Gold is the description of the Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer painted by an Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt. And if you saw the painting, Klimt literally covered the lady in the portrait in gold.

Before the Nazis occupied Austria, the painting was known by its original name, Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer. But when it was hung at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna during the Nazi occupation, the gallery's director changed its name to Woman in Gold to conceal the fact the Adele Block-Bauer was a Jew.  

This priceless portrait, which was now part of the Austrian psyche, was the subject of a lawsuit filed by Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) who now lived in California, and wanted to be reunited with the painting of her aunt, Adele Block-Bauer, played by a stunningly beautiful Antje Traue, a German actress.

As always, Helen Mirren gives an outstanding portrayal of someone real, her lines sprinkled with Austrian-German accent. Ryan Reynolds, without his Green Lantern superhero powers, is Mirren's young lawyer married to Katie Holmes, his very supportive housewife, who was de-glamorized you wouldn't even remember she was once married to Tom Cruise.

This film reminds me of Monuments Men, a film about the recovery and retrieval of works of art looted by the Nazis all over Europe during World War II. 

As to whether Maria Altmann was eventually reunited with her aunt, you have to watch the movie. And if this film's no longer available at the theater near you, you can still catch it at Cinecube in Gwanghwamun and CGV Arthaus in Myeongdong.  

  (The CGV Arthaus has a cinema library                        open to moviegoers)