The Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) is very active on attracting tourists from all over the world by launching its campaign slogan “It’s more fun in the Philippines” last January 5, 2012. Despite of some negative criticisms, the slogan generally becomes more appealing to the public and probably to many foreigners who either have been into the country or are still planning their travel and tour at this very moment. In an economic point of view, tourists definitely provide lots of income to the country – to the government and even to the local community. Supporting this claim is the statistics released by DOT on its website. It says that in 2011, there are about 3.52 million visitor arrivals in the country. That is 12.66% higher than the previous year. As to how much was the financial income on these visits, it was not stated. But that is probably millions of pesos.
On the Photos: Attraction at the 17th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta




The Hot Air Balloon Fiesta hel…

Chinatown, Manila, the Philippines - January 29, 2012

We missed the opportunity to see Chinese New Year celebration in Manila last Janaury 23, 2012 so I and my wife decided to go here in Chinatown 6 days after. Actually, we have no any plan of going here and go buy jewelries at the popular Ongpin Street where Chinatown is also popular about. It was just a what-you-see-is-what-you-get tour and my main intention is to actually capture different angles of the town as well as of the scattered items with Chinese traceability. Take a look on these first few photos that I took.

On the Photos: The China Town "Welcome" Street Structure



We walked straight from Quiapo Church going to Binondo Church via the famous Ongpin Street. This could really be the highlight of Chinatown primarily because on everywhere you look, there is something about Chinese that can be seen. Even the posts, the establishment names and the advertisement banners are in Chinese language. It was our first time to reac…