PhotoWorld Asia 2018, the super blue blood moon & PAF Museum updates
… ……… …Above images from http://www.photoworldmanila.com
Some birdseye views of the Show’s equipment exhibits in progress. ▼
Again as always, after the Opening formalities, we headed to DADS restaurant for their bountiful buffet. I filled my plate with predominately meat, leaving a little extra room for desserts, including the purplish Puto Bumbong delicacy……masarap!! The bottom two images depict my favourite Pampangan specialty, sisig eaten on other subsequent days. Mall-served set with drink at 70 Pesos (S$1.85), and a quickie late night snack from the convenience store at 29 Pesos or S$0.75. ▼
In an unprecedented departure from its entrenched date of the last Thursday of January for the annual PhotoWorld Official Opening, 2018’s was held on the first Thursday of February. The change was made to accommodate the exhibitors’ concern that, because of the blue moon, for the first time the one-week Show will end before the month-end payday of potential customers. Business rules, so instead of the original January 25th to 30th, it became February 1st to 6th.
Now, I always book my airtickets way in advance to take advantage of low prices from the low cost carriers. In this case, mine was purchased in May for $120/- on JetStar which was a very good price in my usual range from SGD90 to 140. I was informed of the new dates in August and since it would have cost a lot more than what I had paid for to change the dates, I decided to forgo them, cut my loss, and look out for new offers.
As a side note to LCC customers like me, that’s the downside to booking far out in advance for the cheap deals. However, all through my dozen plus years of almost 200 advance-booked flights on budget airlines, I had to miss only probably about 3 to 4% of them due to schedule changes on my side. So, that’s no big squeeze in the whole scheme of things. Just take it as an additional 3 to 4% in the cost of the fares. We stand to lose some but gain a hell of a lot of savings in the total picture.
Anyway, luck was on my side as within 2 weeks, I managed to chance upon a superdeal of $168/-…….on SIA. Such an amazing price only happened once in many blue moons (haha, that two words again, and more to come later). That was lower than all the LCC’s (Tiger/Scoot, JetStar & CebuPacific) offers at the time which ranged from a tad below $200 upwards.
So I flew on a full-service legacy carrier, and a top world class one at that, with all its embellished bells and whistles at a lower price point from the bare bones LCCs. That’s because it’s a promotion in celebration of our home carrier’s 70th anniversary. On reflection, that was my first non-LCC flight to The Philippines in 13 years.
I, together with another person were supposed to finally take up a Filipino friend’s longstanding invitation of 14 years to spend a couple of days at his private island, Hermana Mayor or “Miss Universe Island” off the coast of Zambales province in Central Luzon. The plan was to meet him on the eve of the Show to discuss the arrangements for the island visit and for an early Friday morning departure from Manila, right after the Show’s Opening.
Ah, as the saying, goes; Man proposes, Heaven disposes. My supposed travel companion fell sick and could not take the flight to Manila, so as the invitation was for the two of us together, I messaged our friend that his island has to continue its long wait for us.
I arrived in Manila in the late afternoon of January 31st, the evening of which will witness the rare appearance of the super blue blood moon. Quite a mouthful as it describes the confluence of three uncommon lunar occurrences, a celestial trifecta. For those who are not too clear what the adjectives mean, here’s a short explanation: super moon is when the moon is closest to earth making it appear larger than usual, blue moon generally refers to when a calendar month happens to host two full moons, and blood moon is when the moon bleeds profusely.
No, that last statement is purely in jest. Its really a phenomenon whereby a total lunar eclipse is illuminated by sunlight filtered and refracted by earth’s atmosphere. Actually there’s more to those three terms which are not accurately reflective as the words suggest but a full exhaustive discourse is not within the ambit of this little article, so I’ll not get into them.
I headed for one of the organized observation venues; Luneta, a popular sprawling urban recreational park before the onset of dusk. A large group of spotters with their heavy arsenal of telescopes, and long-lensed cameras had already gathered though it would be a few more hours to the culmination of the highly anticipated astronomical event.
Filipinos love to make a fiesta of any social or leisure occasion so it was a party-like atmosphere, with picnics and a makeshift stage with knowledgeable volunteer speakers interacting with, and arming participants and onlookers with the technicalities of the night’s heavenly show.
Luneta at dusk, with the setting sun over Manila Bay in the background and a closer look at the Rizal Monument with The Philippines’ tallest flagpole at the side. ▼ 
Fountain light show at the Rizal Park as Luneta is also known by. ▼
The backdrop to the event-to-come, and one of the speakers of the evening. ▼ 
Enthusiasts gathering together for a group shot, and some of the big guns at the ready out in force. ▼
Without a long lens which I did not bring along as my backpack was already overflowing, I could not get a closeup of the super blue blood moon, so bear with the small images of the star of the evening. Top pic at 7pm with the yellowish moon behind the clouds, hence the diffused look. Bottom pics taken more than one and a half hours later at the peak period of the phenomenon. ▼
SIA now flies from the newer Terminal 3, and as I was super early, completing my check-in by 3.30pm for the homeward bound 7pm flight, I strolled over to the nearby PAF Museum for a follow-up look-see. As mentioned in my last year’s post, I wanted to drop in there again as the indoor section was closed for renovations then. As expected, its now reopened. Entrance fee is a measly 20 Pesos (S$0.52) whilst the open display area is free. I was able to get close-up looks at the exhibits which I had only glimpsed through the blue tinted glass walls last year. Here goes:
First, a corrigendum. What I previously thought was a Wright Brothers Flyer replica is actually that of the Shriver Skylark. See the details in the photo of the plaque below. A fullsize mockup of the Apollo Command Module is on display as is a large model of the PAF’s latest weapon, the Korean FA-50 which is the light combat version of the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic advanced jet trainer. 12 units were ordered, with delivery completed last year. There are plans for the consideration of a follow-on acquisition of another dozen. ▼
To wrap up this post, here’s Sarao Motors’ – the famed homegrown jeepney manufacturer – remodel of a 1943 American Dodge WC-57 military command car into a ceremonial Presidential vehicle. Near this vintage four-wheeler are some piston engines that used to power propeller-driven aircraft. ▼
Footnote: In Remembrance. John K. Chua, The Philippines’ top commercial photographer and a devoted social activist passed away on January 7th 2018 after a period of illness. He was barely 70 and was still very active in his work and advocacies even with his failing health, up till the final days of his life. He had been a staple presence at Photoworld Asia through the long years, always lending a guiding hand with the associated events. I first got to know him and his family almost 20 years ago and had stayed over in a guest room at his home & studio on a couple of occasions. Many will miss his physical presence though he will always live on in their hearts and minds. Here’s a couple of pics from the net: John with his “pet” elephant Maali, and with G–Nie Arambulo, his protégé, long-time collaborator and successor.
the end of this single parter… … … and coming up soon: Bangkok quickie
▼
