Haha happy time in Seoul
As each season has its own time and place, there are seasons and places worth remembering. Even revisiting. So my kumare Aida Coliangco and I decided to revisit Seoul one more time, together. We, of course, took our very own, Asia’s first, Philippine Air Lines. At the PAL lounge in the NAIA airport, I right away noticed some changes in the ambience, the surroundings, and the staff’s attitude. Once inside the plane, the cannot-be-ignored positive changes were also very visible. And felt! It seemed that a veil of cloud had been lifted and you discover a remarkable, beautifully done makeover. To satisfy my curiosity, I talked with the flight attendants, and enumerated the very noticeable, positive changes I saw and felt since the team-up of SMC and Lucio Tan’s group. They told me they have indeed received good reviews and positive feedback from many passengers regarding the changes — sending them all to Cloud Nine!
On my part, I want to give credit whenever and wherever it is rightfully due — to inspire and encourage people to excel in their endeavor, to help further boost our very-good-performing-and-now-taking-off economy. Doing so will provide more job opportunities and increase revenue for our government coffers.
Our trip to Seoul was literally a trip down memory lane. Aida recalled her Seoul travel with her late husband, Peter, whom she still misses to this day. Consoling her, I said he will be glad if she enjoys and moves on happily to her life’s new chapter. To discover and find herself again, and do the things that mothers oftentimes relegate to the background, as they give utmost priority and the best care to their families!
As for me, I was in Seoul in connection with a loan that my former office, Asian Development Bank, extended to South Korea for an infrastructure project. Amazed were we to see how Seoul had transformed and progressed by leaps and bounds over the years. I felt a heavy tinge of envy in my heart and mind at Seoul’s meteoric progress. I pray that our beloved country would surge forward and upward to keep in step with our neighboring countries under PNoy for our country’s sake and our kababayans’ emancipation from decades-long poverty. Yes! We can — if we all do our share!
Every morning, as I drew the curtain in our room at Shilla Hotel, nestled on top of a hill with its breathtaking view, I welcomed the day happily with a prayer that it be a safe, pleasant, memorable day. As I did my daily routine of some Laughter Yoga exercises morning and evening, Aida commented that if she did not know me well, she would think I was nuts, as I laughed for no reason at all! There are many things to make us smile and laugh, no matter our life’s circumstances. Laughing is not just nature’s tranquilizer, it is also a beauty moisturizer! It helps considerably in turning the minutes of our life’s journey into moments worth remembering and storing in our memories.
We visited the Nami Island, site of the famous Korean TV series Princess Hours which made me feel nostalgic and romantic even — it was the first Korean TV series I watched that made me feel young again, and I found out a multitude of our kababayans watched it eagerly and felt the same. Hahaha! It really was a wholesome, non-violent, relaxing TV series, very much worth the time and effort in rushing home to watch it nightly. We ate authentic Korean dishes such as bibimbap, which almost burned my tongue, the spicy kimchi, and their healthy one-whole-chicken soup garnished with ginseng roots, and dried persimmon for dessert.
Our Korean tourist guide spoke English fluently, and is very well-trained to entice tourists to buy Korean products like their world-famous ginseng, which helped pull their economy up from devastation after World War II. Confidently, he talked about their beauty and wellness tourism, encouraging us to come back for beauty treatments, which he claimed many women from Asian countries go for in Seoul. We bought Korean beauty products because of his convincing promotion, which brought my thoughts back home: our tourist guides, and all of us must pitch in to push our tourism industry to the hilt.
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My first Laughter Yoga session after the removal of my right foot cast is on Feb. 27 at Makati Medical Center, for Dr. Art Libao’s 270 youth volunteers, who take care of our special and disabled children. Meanwhile, let’s laugh to a healthy, happy positive us! For more info, visit www.laughteryogaphils.com. To laugh, visit lycphohohahaha.
