It’s really fun in Disney World Orlando

For our special presentation on our talk show on Straight from the Sky we bring you a topic dubbed “Building Better Communities through Transformation.” If there is anything that this country needs today it is transformation and whether we believe it or not, it starts right in your homes and ourselves by looking ourselves at the mirror and asking ourselves that poignant question, “Is our country today better because of me or not?”

As the old saying goes, “Listening is the beginning of understanding” and this includes listening to ourselves as the Holy Spirit maybe telling us something that we often miss because we are just surrounding by too much noise in our environment. If and when we effect change in our selves, then this country stands a better chance of success.

Our guest tonight is Mr. Joris Claeys who is into many things (financial adviser and even a Port adviser), but most important of all, he is in Cebu to help anyone who wants his help. He is aided by Mrs. Maria Escudero Puche of Innovate where they both teamed up to help make things better for us. So watch this very interesting show on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00PM with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. Replays can also be seen on MyTV’s channel 30 at 7:00AM and 9:00PM Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

*  *  *

ORLANDO, Florida - The last time we were in Florida was some 17-years ago and one would think that many things have changed since. First off, the Orlando International Airport looks like a resort airport that hopefully the Megawide-GMR consortium would put up at the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority  because when you deplane and walk into the airport tube, your feeling is that you have arrived in a resort town and that is exactly what Orlando is all about.

While I am on a vacation, I just cannot help but think of why America has become so successful. Everywhere you go you see nothing but efficiency, which I would like to believe, is their official motto. Looking back at the subway trains in New York City which have been running for over a hundred years, you will see that the underground system looks old and a bit decrepit, but you will not see long lines in their ticketing system because you purchase electronic tickets like a pre-paid card and there is a reading machine that tells you if you need to add more money into it. So you need not line up for your tickets for the subway or the trains.

In Metro Manila, notably the Metro Rail Transit  which was managed by Al Vitangcol until a few weeks ago when he was forced to quit, the long queues have reached nearly a kilometer into the streets. This could never happen in New York City. But it often happens in the Philippines because of political patronage that got worse under Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III who always believes in his own people even if they have bungled things just like the MRT.

The JFK International Airport is probably older than the Ninoy Aquino International Airport yet it never got the title of “Worse Airport in the World” because it is run very efficiently. But look who is managing our NAIA? He is a PNoy bata-bata who knows next to nothing how to run an airport. Now unless we wean ourselves and get rid of political patronage, do you expect the Philippines to move forward? Mind you, if Cebu is number 8th in the world for Business Process Outsourcing it is due to America’s quest for efficiency at a price that they are willing to pay.

When we got to Orlando, the next day, Mr. & Mrs. Bem and wife Michelle Rosello Diosa (yes, she is the daughter of Atty. Eddy “Uncle Eddy” and Tia Vicky Rosello) we all went to Disney World’s Epcot Center. As I pointed out, we were last here 17-years ago and one would think that this place have already grown old and decrepit. But somehow the Walt Disney Company that runs the place has kept it spanking clean as if it just opened a week ago. Since it is summer vacation here in the US, there are many American kids who have come to Orlando for the fun and thrill of Disney.

Epcot Center just did not keep its old attractions. They have new ones like Soarin’ where you sit on chairs that hang right in front of a wide screen and bring you to the air or so close to the ground as if you were on a hang glider. It was a real treat. One attraction that recently got a boost is Norway because of the Disney movie “Frozen”. Now kids are wearing Elsa or Anna costumes and we tried to get some of these for the grandkids, but they just ran out of them and the waiting period is six months!

We then took the monorail from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom, which is like Hong Kong’s Disneyland, but six times as big. We went to the usual “Pirates of the Caribbean” but this time its new star is Johnny Depp. Next thing we were headed off to Universal Studios for more fun in Orlando!

*  *  *

Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com vsbobita@gmail.com