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  â€”  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  â€”  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.

 

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