Kalayaan 2008

Kalayaan 2008 - PE Abuja Independence Celebration.

Photo Credits: Anjofel Abrillo

Edited in Adobe Photoshop CS2. Original Photo from Filipino Community of Guam.

We barely have three more weeks to prepare for this year's Independence Celebration, but, we are currently facing one major obstable - we don't have funds! We have practiced for over a month now, and if the Department of Foreign Affairs can't forward the allotted budget for this event, we will have to accept that there won't be any cultural show to present.

After preparing for some major Philippine Cultural dances, why can't we push through even if we don't have funds?

Anyhow, this year we will be showcasing three cultural dances from north to south of the archipelago. We will start off with "SAYAW SA BANGA" - a dance of maidens balancing clay pots with water from the Igorot Tribe of the North. It will followed by a rural dance of the Visayas coined "GAWAY-GAWAY" - a dance patterned at harvesting root crops with an influence of Filipino tradition of courtship. Lastly, we dare not set aside the high brow land of Mindanao where the Muslim heritage is maintained intact. "SINGKIL" will be shown without a datu for there are fewer male performers than female.

After the cultural presentation showcase, we will have a break for sing and dance. Instead of remaining idle, we will showcase Philippine traditional dresses in a segment called "TERNO: PHILIPPINE TRADITIONAL DRESSES". All the Filipinos in Abuja will be wearing their most elegant traditional dress and walk gracefully on the aisle for all to see. (My hope is that, everybody participates in this segment, showcasing traditional dresses from the land of Cordillera region, to the farm lands of the Nayons, to Morolandia, and lastly the regale Terno of ladies.

Contemporary dances will be presented after the fashion show, starting with our rendition of "DAKILANG LAHI" by Ciarra Sotto to be sung by PE Abuja Staff and interpreted by selected young blood of the community. Our farewell dance is coined "PINOY RETRO" showcasing the Philippines during the 1960s-80s.

All photos will be posted in my multiply after the event. I just hope it pushes through. God help us on this endeavor.

Inland Containers Nig. Ltd.

INLAND CONTAINERS NIG. LTD. (ICNL), a subsidiary of Chrome Group, operates as inland terminals for cargoes shipped in Lagos and are bound North, especially in Kano and Kaduna. At the moment, ICNL is undergoing restructuring to compete with existing ports and warehouses. One of its major project is to convert its terminals into bonded warehouses so as to accommodate more customers, leading to higher profitability in the long run.

Sample: SIFAX Bonded Terminal & Warehouse, Lagos

Photo Credit: Anjofel Abrillo

Taken: 24 April 2008

KALMAR - top in its field of versatile container loader. Correspondent was told that this brand is the most expensive among others, but, was assured that with proper maintenance this can last forever.

Loader moving some containers in the vicinity. Sifax warehouse can accommodate at most 600 containers (approximately).

Kalmar roaming around the terminal.

Containers arranged accordingly.

Although it's still mid-day, one worker was caught deep in slumber under a trailer. [this can be given to the show - HOY GISING!]

Tomorrow, i'll be going to the inland depots of ICNL in Kano and Kaduna. I can't wait to see how the place looks like.

ICNL-Lagos Trip!

24 April 2008. I went to Lagos with Mr. Wale (Manager, Corporate Strategy and Planning Unit-Chrome Group) to have the initial endeavor to restructure Inland Containers Nig. Ltd. (ICNL). After nine months of being in Nigeria, I finally had the chance to see for myself what other Filipinos are speculating about Lagos. Lagos is this.. is that.. and all the life is here! (well, yeah it is!) Permit me to talk about my experience, for it is truly enriching and informative.

I have thought that all my blogs, henceforth, shall be having grade stars of how i felt about each observation/experience/conversation. My criteria is (*)-YAWN (**)-COULD BE BETTER (***)-S'OKAY (****)-ME LIKEY! (*****)-LUVIN' IT!

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Blue Line Airlines. Our flight to Lagos was scheduled at 8AM via Virgin Nigeria. Instead of having a VN charter plane, we had a different one. I think Virgin Nigeria is in connection with this airline to serve more customers, another fold of seeing it is that probably BLA has fewer flight connections. Anyhow, I was expecting this flight to be in standards with Lufthansa, BA, or Emirates, but no! I’m giving two stars for total customer satisfaction. Why? Let me point out some negative airline conduct from the point of view of passengers. (1) The flight attendants are counting endlessly for passengers on board. I don’t know why do they have to count those in their seats, is it not faster to count seats without passengers and just do some subtraction? It took them 20 minutes to have the final head count. (2) While they were counting and they time prior take off, the air conditioning system was turned low. I asked “Ms. is your AC not working?” The attendant answered, “No Sir, it will be cooler when we take off.” How can any charter-planes have no air conditioning system functioning even if it has not taken off yet? (3) Lastly, meals were not that recommendable. Luckily, I took my breakfast early that morning.

Review Grade:

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Murtalla Mohammed International Airport – 1. It looked a lot like Ninoy Aquino International Airport, but, I think they have to make it more apt to international passengers, with all the amenities one may look for. Besides, it’s the 21st century already, so what deters them from deploying state of the art technologies?

Review Grade:

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Murtalla Mohammed Airport – 2. This is far better than the international airport. The architecture looks fascinating. There are a lot of fast food chains inside the airport you can be in while waiting for your flight. If you live in Lagos and on a one-day trip to Abuja using domestic flights, you can park and ride for this airport offers parking space for passengers.

Review Grade:

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Tantalizers. For our lunch on the day I arrived in Lagos, we went to a fast-food chain – Tantalizers. That was also my first time to enter into that restaurant. Tantalizers is a local fast food chain offering local delicacies (in a canteen-manner of ordering) and fast food orders (like fried chicken, burgers, java rice, etc). Personally, I don’t like the service and how they present their food. The fast food section seems like offering cooked-yesterday chicken and the sanitation is very poor. The local delicacies section, food-wise, seems fine for all were cooked that day. I just hope, the management restructures their sanitation and food variety to stay abreast of competition.

Review Grade:

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That is just few of what I saw in Lagos. Right after we landed, I immediately felt nostalgic for Lagos has a lot of resemblances of Metro Manila, Philippines - rowdy, traffic jams, busy!

This port is part of the project ICNL has to develop into a bonded terminal competing with existing ports and warehouses in Lagos.

(Behind the man walking on the bridge) Rush hour! People wants to go home as fast as they can to avoid traffic, alas jams can never be avoided. I think what causes these traffic jams are poorly planned road networks and the high density of the population.

(This photo was taken around 5:45PM) Comparing the weather condition of Lagos and Abuja, I'd prefer Lagos' since it is lesser humid. Even if the sun is at its zenith, the breeze cools your skin and protects it from too much UV rays.

Since, I've only been there for two days, I still haven't had the chance to stroll around and see Filipinos on their community. Probably the next time our unit has business in Lagos, I would ask my supervisor to allow me stroll the roads of Lagos.