Still Pampered by Asia's First Airline

Advantages: Food, service; clean, neat planes; up-to-date in-flight movies; excellent seats/legroom; smooth landings; Mabuhay lounge.
Disadvantages: Sometimes late (due to small fleet?); minuscule presence in Europe, none in US east coast.

...Why PAL? Since embarking on my annual visit to the crazy, exciting, troubled, colourful and much-missed motherland last year, I chose to take the Philippines' national carrier, Philippine Airlines (PAL), once more for this year's trip. This, because of a most pleasant hop I had between Hong Kong and Manila. (The 17-hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was sheer agony in United Airlines' extremely tight seats and mediocre food in Economy class.) And its relatively cheaper fare (about $2430 for Business Class; ~ 2,000 EUR or 1,380 GBP) for a direct Los Angeles - Manila flight (with a brief stopover in Guam outbound for refuelling.) Yes, I chose to fly PAL again, despite last year's four-hour delay by PAL that ruined my entire return trip to the US, forcing me to languish for nearly eight hours in Hong Kong International Airport...

zerbine28 03.03.2006 · Read review
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Review of Philippine Airlines

Christmas Greetings from Macau China!

Advantages: Merry Christmas
Disadvantages: Merry Christmas

...Dear beloved Ciao members, Season Greetings ^ ! ^ Christmas Decorative Lights are gorgeous in this small town! Many hotels are decorated with christmas lights. Inside the main government building, it even has a couple of large singing and dancing santa claus on display. With Portuguese style buildings and Chinese speaking community, quite an interesting mix. Wishing every Ciao members a wonderful holiday season! And a fruitful $$ and prosperous new year to come! United Kingdom: Nadolig Llawen! Ireland: Nollaig Shona dhuit! English: Merry Christmas! Portuguese: Boas Festas! Brazil: Feliz Natal! Iraq: Idah Saidan Wasanah Jadidah Japan: Merii Kurisumasu! India: Subha nath thalak Vewa! Korea: Sungtan chukha! Thai: Ewadee Pe-e Mai! Philippine: Maligayang Pasko! Guatemala: Feliz Navidad! Indonesia: Salamet Hari Natal...

heeheehaahaa 16.12.2004 (21.12.2004) · Read review
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Review of Everything that starts with C ...

Grab a Bargain

Advantages: cheap andquick to make
Disadvantages: none so far

...I have recently began to get a taste for eating Noodles, I work as a care assistant on a various shift rota system and my work colleagues are mainly Philippine or Thai ladies and next to rice their other staple foods are vegetables and Noodles. I never really ate noodles before working with my friends, but have now acquired a taste for them, so you can imagine my surprise to find Tesco Value Noodles for only 8p. Every the bargain hunter I decided that I could risk loosing 8p if I didn't like the product. Tesco's value products are usually packaged in blue,red and white, this makes it easy to spot on the supermarket shelves. Not only do most of their value products save you cash but they are usually of good quality and taste. Noodles are really easy and quick to make, boil water, add noodles, boil for around 2-3 minutes...

Sunnysmiles 26.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Tesco Value Chicken Noodles

Manila Ocean Park - my wonderful oceanarium experience

Advantages: eye candy
Disadvantages: you can't bring a camera with flash inside the oceanarium - it will scare the fishes away!

...Oceanarium in Singapore in terms of floor space. But Sentosa's underwater acrylic tunnel which is 83 metres (270 feet) is far longer than MOP's 25 metres (82 feet). Sections of the Oceanarium: 1. Agos (Flow) - this is a rainforest theme with an artificial waterfall that flows into different tanks displaying Philippine flora and fauna. 2. Bahura (Reef) - 46 tanks that feature the very colorful Philippine underwater rainforest. It features the life forms found in our coral reefs. 3. Laot (Fishing Ground) - Four big distinct aquariums that displays an assortment of fish in all sizes and colors. 4. Buhay na Karagatan (Living Ocean) - the heart of the oceanarium! This is a breathtaking 25 meter walk along an underwater tunnel. It provides an awesome experience of the living ocean. 5. Ang Kalaliman (The Deep) - The barracudas are here...

hyaeth 29.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Manila Ocean Park, Manila

"I Shall Return"

Advantages: Well written and not as long as other MacArthur biographies.
Disadvantages: Lack of details surrounding Korea.

...If you are only to read one book on American generals, make sure it's this one. Although Perret has written great books on Ulysses S. Grant and Eisenhower, by far the most interesting figure for me, has to be MacArthur. Perret gives a thorough account into undoubtedly America's most controversial and charismatic figures. MacArthur graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1903 with the highest honours then became an aide to President Roosevelt, WWI saw him become the youngest divisional commander in France and again the youngest general and chief of staff in the army, he retired from the army in 1937 to train a Philippine Army but was recalled to active duty when the US declared war on Japan after Pearl Harbour; later in WWII he became one of the first to hold the new rank of five star general. Perret no doubt admires the man...

marylou2u 04.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Old Soldiers Never Die: The Life of Douglas MacArthur - Geoffrey Perret

Eye Opening program in the world of Martial Arts

Advantages: Educational, practical and awe inspiring.
Disadvantages: No extra's on the DVD

...of esoteric energy which involves the movement of chi (the body's internal force and energy flow). Many westerners especially cannot understand this concept, but he lived in China for many years and demonstrates that his knowledge is certainly formidable and convincing. However, this is not just a showcase for Chris Crudelli. The main crux of the program follows Chris to China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines, amongst other countries, to discover their martial arts practices and cultures. He meets genuinely astonishing masters of the martial arts world who share, some for the first time on television, some secrets of their particular martial art. Some of the styles that are covered throughout the series are: Wing Chun and Wing Tsun, Philippine stick fighting, Knife fighting, Taipei Special Forces combat (these guys are unbelievably dedicated...

Kenshiro 22.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Mind, Body And Kick Ass Moves - Series 1 - Complete (DVD)

Tiger, tiger, burning bright...

Advantages: Good story, good message
Disadvantages: A bit disturbing for some; poorly marketed

..., and the temple settings as the home of the tiger family is a wonderful device. The Angor Wat Temples, now very popular tourist destinations, had to be closed to such traffic during the filming. The music is dramatic and playful as appropriate, but very much in the background; rarely did I notice the music for the visuals. A wonderful film in many ways, it is a statement for humane treatment of animals. Unfortunately, this sometimes involves disturbing scenes of mistreatment, which again makes this a film not for young children. Parental discretion and previewing is advised. --------------------- Cast --------------------- Guy Pearce .... Hunter Aidan McRory Moussa Maaskri .... Circus-master Saladin Vincent Scarito .... Circus-master Zerbino Jean-Claude Dreyfus .... Administrator Normandin Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu .... Mrs...

frkurt 12.12.2004 · Read review
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Review of Two Brothers (DVD)

The Kobe Eathquake

Advantages: It ensured protection for the future
Disadvantages: It was a worldwide disaster

...such as Mitsubishi motors and industries. **Why did it happen? ** The Kobe earthquake (also refereed/known as The Great Hanshin Earthquake), happened at 5:46am on Tuesday, January 17th 1995. It had a magnitude of 7.2 which is nearly twice as powerful as the earthquake in Dover 2 years ago. Below is a diagram showing the tectonic plates under/near Kobe. Kobe is right on the edge of the Eurasian plate which clashes with the Philippine plate and the Pacific Plate which makes it in the danger zone. The focus of the earthquake was less than 20 km below Awaji-shima, an island in the Japan Inland Sea. The earthquake was particularly devastating because it had a shallow focus. The earthquake had a "strike-slip mechanism." The resulting surface rupture had an average horizontal displacement of about 1.5 meters on the Nojima fault. This fault...

mad.man.560 14.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Kobe

The Mystical Palawan Island

Advantages: A perfect showcase of undiluted nature
Disadvantages: Security risk due to the rebel forces

...and continuous monitoring by the military intelligence group. It is a must to hire a local guide, not for the accuracy of directions but for safety purposes. It has been said that the locals are too friendly and that the bandits won't really spoil the thriving tourism industry. Getting confused? And so am I. Perhaps Mr. Dick Gordon, the amiable Philippine secretary of tourism can do some explaining....

Xelavie 29.05.2001 · Read review
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Review of General: Palawan (The Philippines)

Back To The Doll House

Advantages: Entertaining 70's cult movie
Disadvantages: Not something to watch twice

...It's amazing what the difference a year can make, a year after The Big Doll House director Jack Hill and two of its stars Pam Grier and Sid Haig reunite for a follow up prison tale (but not a sequel). 1972's The Big Bird Cage is a tale of political revolutionaries trying to cause an uprising in the Philippines by planning a sort of French revolution style storming of the Bastille on a women's prison. The year earlier fresh faced Pam Grier could hardly act, here as Blossom it's as though a decade has past, Grier is far more confident, far more alert, and certainly more comfortable with herself because her opening scene involves her singing in a seedy Philippine Casino. No delayed reactions here, Pam Grier steals the show, which is actually surprising because although she is first billed cast member I would not go as far as to say she...

sghawken 13.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Big Bird Cage (DVD)