Korean celebs Invade Boracay

MANILA, Philippines - A bevy of Korean TV and movie personali- ties had lots of fun time in Boracay last week, savoring the many delights the island offers, including scuba diving and learning how to surf. The surfing lessons were done in a wave pool called Tsunami that mechanically pro- duces waves and is now one of the most ex- citing features in Boracay, which was recently named by Travel and Leisure Magazine, no less, as the top resort island in the world.

The happening was courtesy of Crown Regency Resort and Convention Center, the latest high-end hotel in the island, where the Tsunami is only one of its many water-based attractions. The resort also provided luxury accommodations for the visitors. The surfing lessons were conducted by coaches from the Philippine Surfing Academy, the exclusive concessionaire for all surfing activities in the resort and the largest and only internationally certified and accredited surfing school in the country.

No doubt the best-known to Filipinos among the Koreans was Kim Seung Hoon, the strikingly charming star of some of the most popular Koreanovelas shown on Philip- pine TV, including three of the longest-run- ning: Full House, East of Eden and My Girl. The Take 2 segment of Full House ran for 36 weeks and made Hoon quite as popular among Filipino viewers as some local TV personali- ties. It also helped Koreanovelas lord it over in viewership ratings.

The younger celebrities included Ji Chang Wook, who has arguably played the widest range of characters among his gen- eration, including that of the Korean-Amer- ican speed skater in Smile, Dong Hae that had a fantastic 159-episode run, unheard of even in Korea; Yi So Jung, the beautiful star of Dreams and Tazza, both of which were among the highest-rated TV series in Korea, quickly propelling her as one of top Korean superstars; Jung Dong Jin of A Man Called God and Just Love fame, who is regarded as one of the handsomest Korean actors and has such a huge global following that he is known even in Poland where his dramas are popular; the 22-year-old and much- admired Kim Si Woo, who has starred in such teledramas as Love Rain and the Secret of Keu Keu Island.

Star-billing the group was one of Korea’s best-known and most controversial movie stars, Kim Si Hyang, whose nude photograph — which, according to her agency, was “inadvertently” released from her cell phone to a popular nudie website — became the most sought-after online item in the country. Its popularity may have prompted her to produce a book with dozens of her photos displaying her beauty in native glory. She has become the male Koreans’ icon of all that is desirable in a woman.

Choi Jong Jin is classed in Korea as a “movie maker” as he not only acts, but also directs and edits TV dramas. He also directed the music video of Fallen, which was featured in the drama Fair Love. The music video went viral, significantly increasing Fair Love’s view- ership.

On the other hand, Park Go Eun is a celebrated cellist who ventured into acting when she was asked to play a — what else? — cellist in a fictional documentary called Ensemble, which tells the story of a number of new classical artists in Korea and which stars many of them. Ensemble was one of the top features at the 2012 Busan International Film Festival.

Kim Sun Hyuk is now in his early 40s but still in demand in Korean TV and movies. His most recent film, Life is Peachy, as well as his recent Koreanovela Pretty Mom, Pretty Woman were box-office and TV hits, respectively.

The Philippine Surfing Academy’s owner, Paolo Soler, is the first Filipino to be certified internationally as a Level 1 surfing instructor and is himself a TV personality, having been a model, product endorser and former host of a number of TV shows such as Probe Pro- duction’s Gameplan and the music TV show Txtube, which aired on GMA. He now hosts iConnect on Channel 4, which keeps growing in popularity due to its social media content.

Soler is also the concessionaire of the wave pools of Club Manila East, a water park situated in Taytay, Rizal and brings students to natural surf sites all over the country. In the past three years alone, he has taught over 6,000 students, as young as four to as old as 63, to surf.

To Soler, the interest of the Korean celebrities to learn how to surf in Boracay foretells the growth of surfing education tourism in the country, something he has worked on for roughly seven years now. He predicts, “The Koreans are here; expect the Australians, Chinese, Japanese and the nationals of Southeast Asia, as well as European countries to come soon. It’s not only because we have the best surfing coaches in the region — and these are not only those who teach in my school but also those in many good surfing schools throughout the archipelago — but also because we have some impossibly beautiful, exciting and very challenging surf spots that are hard to resist. To paraphrase a slogan, surfing is really more fun in the Philippines.”

The way the Korean celebrities enjoyed it, it certainly is.