Month: May 2011

Dapat makuha natin ang leksyun bakit lamang ang Thailand sa atin

Ellen Leave a comment

Enjoying Thailand's floating market

BANGKOK -Nakakabilib talaga ang Thailand pagdating sa turismo. May paraan sila gumawa ng isang ordinariong bagay na kawiling-wili.

Palagi kami nagtatanungan ng aming mga kaibigan na kasama ngayon sa biyahe, kayang-kaya natin ito a. Bakit hindi natin naiisip ito?

Pagdating sa natural na biyaya katulad ng beaches, rivers, hindi nahuhuli ang Pilipinas sa ganda. Para sa akin nga, walang tatalo sa Boracay sa natural na ganda.

Pagdating naman sa pagka-artistic, hindi rin tayo nahuhuli. Bakit hindi natin napapalago ang ating turismo na maaring makapagbigay ng maraming Pilipino.

Ang isang rason ay liderato. Ang ating pamahalaan ay hindi tumitingin ng pangmatagalan. Nandiyan din ang kurakutan. Inu-una ang sariling bulsa. Kese hoda ang sambayanang Pilipino.

Katulad na lang airport. Nakaka-iyak ang NAIA kung ikumpara mo sa airport ng ating mga kapitbahay sa Asia. Huwag na natin isipin sa ibang mundo.

Ang mga Thai, hindi nila hinintay magsikipan ang turista sa kanilang airport para gumawa ng bago. May projection sila kung gaano karami ang bibisita sa Thailand kaya nagpatayo kaagad sila ng modernong airport. Malaki, maliwanag, maaliwalas at hindi mahirap pumunta sa iba’t-ibang parte ng airport.

Sa atin naman, tingnan na lang natin ang sitwasyun sa NAIA1 at maiiyak ka talaga. Ang NAIA3 na sana ay ating pambatong airport ay hindi nagagamit ng husto dahil sa kaso ng grabeng kurakutan.

Nang bumalik ako mula sa Antique noong isang linggo, na atraso ang aming Cebu Pacific flight ng tatlong oras. Kawawa ang mga may connecting flight papuntang labas ng bansa dahil mula sa NAIA 3, pupunta pa sila NAIA1. Sa orihinal na design ng NAIA 3 merong tunnel na nagku-kunekta sa ibang terminal, NAIA 1 at 2 (Centennial Airport na exclusive ngayon sa PAL).

Sa sobrang kurakot, nawala na ang budget para sa tunnel.

Ngayon, merong shuttle bus na nagdadala sa mga pasahero sa tatlong terminal. Ngunit bus yun kaya maghihintay yun ng ibang pasahero. Kung ayaw mo maghintay ng shuttle bus,lalabas ka pa sa NAIA3 , kukuha ng taxi papuntang NAIA 1. Kapag natrapik ka, maiiwanan ka talaga ng iyong eroplano.

Noong mga 1980, halos pareho lang ang dami ng populasyun ng Thailand at Pilipinas. Ngayon tayo ay sobra nang 90 milyon. Ang Thailand naman ay 60 milyon.

Ang dahilan ay seryosong pinapatupad ng pamahalaan ang kanilang population management program. Namimigay sila ng condom sa lahat. Dapat tingnan nito ng mga kumukontra sa Reproductive Health bill.

Sa sobra 60 milyon na populasyun ng Thailand, ang halos kalahati ay nasa Bangkok. Kaya may problema rin sila sa sikip at sa trapik. May joke noon na hindi ma-invade ng Vietnam ang Thailand katulad ng ginawa nila sa Cambodia dahil mata-trapik sila.

Ngunit ginawan ng mga Thai ng pangmatagalan na solusyun ang kanilang problema. Ang kanilang tren, merong underground, merong above ground. Ang kanilang walkway ay parang panibagong highway sa taas.

Malaki rin ang industriya ng Thailand ng mga bulaklak at prutas. Binibigyan nila kasi ng importansya ang agricultural research and development kaya matamis ang kanilang suha, lanzones, sampalok.

Kagagaling lang ni Pangulong Aquino sa Thailand. Pareho tayong Asian kaya may mga problema tayong magkakapareho. Sana nakakuha siya ng leksyun doon kung paano natutugunan ng mga Thai ang kanilang problema na hindi natin nagagawa.

Dapat mainggit tayo sa Thailand. Dapat ang inggit na yan ay gamitin natin para gumawa ng tama at makatulong sa ating pag-unlad.

Emirates (EK) flight, Singapore to Brisbane… and back!

ajay Leave a comment


Emirates

This is a rather belated post on my experience flying Emirates (EK) from Singapore to Brisbane (and vice versa) early this month. Am writing about this because I have never flown this airline before. And being the anxious traveller, I’ve never really travelled long-haul since going to Germany in 2002. It goes without saying that am not the type who sleeps throughout, so long flights are like purgatory to me :D

It didn’t help any that this Emirates flight was turbulent for 80% of the time that it took us to travel to Brisbane (or more than seven hours of flying) The pilot even had to apologize during his voice-over. It was quite scary that I had no choice but to get over my fear of flying or just faint. LOL. Good thing I had faith in Emirates because of its excellent safety record (no crash ever). It got me to thinking that when conditions in the sky do not favor it, it doesn’t matter what airline you’re riding or how big it is. Of course, it’s more shaky in a smaller plane but being in a Boeing 777-300ER for this flight didn’t help either.

Emirates meal

The flight crew distributed menu cards before serving. Emirates is quite generous in its meal portions and our companion Adrian said he really enjoyed the dessert. I have no opinion since I hardly touched my food. I do remember asking for several glasses of red wine just so I can sleep the turbulence away!! :D

Emirates

Serving time. The stewardess on the left is a Filipina. As with other Middle Eastern airlines, the crew members come from different countries.

Emirates

Emirates’ entertainment offerings are rather extensive, especially the movies (which I didn’t get to watch at all). Aside from the flight path, the screen shows the view from the plane’s external cameras, such as before takeoff. You can even send an email or SMS from your seat but I’ve never tried this service.

I found the whole Emirates experience for this flight “average.” It’s worth noting that on the way to Brisbane, the plane was only 40 % full. I had the whole row to myself, and the stewardess even encouraged me to lie down on the seats. It wasn’t the same situation going back to Singapore. The flight was full because some of the passengers were going straight to Dubai.

I did promise to myself that the next time I’ll fly to Australia, am trying Singapore Airlines and their jumbo A380 jet ;)

AirPhil Express 100Peso Seat Sale!

Enrico Dee Leave a comment

The Philippines fastest growing airline AirPhil Express will be offering another seat sale you shouldn’t miss! This is another reason for ever Filipinos to travel and explore the country!

With the upcoming promo fares, AirPhil Express is offering 100++ cheap plane tickets!

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Read the rest of AirPhil Express 100Peso Seat Sale!

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