Why would Cebu be interested in Vladivostok?

Some people do not understand the mind of Mayor Mike Rama. After receiving a Lifetime Achievers' Award from America, and after dreaming to make Cebu become somehow like Singapore, he flew to the easternmost Russian city of Vladivostok with his wife Malou, his son, MJ, his former favorite councilor and his inner circle of city officials. If Cebu City is famed as the Queen City of the South, Vladivostok is known as the King of the East.

This Russian citadel city facing America is bounded by Japan in the east, China in the west and North Korea in the south. If the Third World War were to erupt between the socialist east and the democratic west, Vladivostok would be the most likely launching point of Russian intercontinental missiles to target the western USA and Canada. Vladivostok is therefore a strategic city that Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China and Kim Jong Un of North Korea can jointly use to invade Japan, Taiwan as well as South Korea and even the Philippines. Mayor Mike therefore, to my mind, was in Vladivostok to take a good look at the terrains of a friend which is also potential enemy.

Our good friend, Wikipedia, tells us that Vladivostok is the largest city and the administrative center of the Russian easternmost province of Primorsky Prai. It is located around the Golden Horn Bay in the Sea of Japan, covering an area of 331.16 square kilometers (127.86 square miles), with a population of 600,871 residents as of 2021. On this point of comparison alone, Cebu City is bigger. Vladivostok is the second-largest city in Russia' Far Eastern Federal District, as well as the Russian Far East, after the city of Khabarovsk. It is located approximately 45 kilometers (28 mi) from the border between China and Russia.

The distance between Cebu City and Vladivostok is 5,729 kilometers and it takes 5 hours and 38 minutes to fly directly if the mayor has his own private jet. From Cebu City to Singapore, it is only 2,429 kilometers or a direct flight of only 3 hours and 45 minutes. From Cebu City to Los Angeles, California, USA, it is 11,589 kilometers or a direct flight that takes no less than 11 hours and 30 minutes. And so, why would Cebu City be interested in Vladivostok? Plenty of reasons: commerce, trade, culture, education, tourism, music, arts and history, technology, logistics, supply chain and other fields of business.

Mayor Mike is becoming more and more like his ally, BBM, who loves to travel and to scout for investments. A mayor with a progressive mind and a long-range vision, does not just stay in his ivory tower but goes around searching for opportunities for tie-ups, linkages and synergies. Mayor Mike is the most dynamic city mayor, always moving around. His mind has the velocity of a French TGV train and the mind-boggling speed of a NASA USAF X-15 fighter jet plane that can rush on air at 7,274. 24 kilometers per hour. My unsolicited advice as a peso a year consultant: Hinay, Hinay Lang Bai.