Become a better Person : Travel More

According to experts, frequent flyers also make better friends. Studies show the more you immerse yourself into foreign cultures, the more likely you are to accept differences in others. This trait will go a long way towards helping you tolerate and and even enjoy differing opinions among friends. Traveling also encourages patience. Just think of those long waits at tourist spots and its easy to understand why! Travel also a great way brush up your communication skills, particularly when you are dealing with language barrier. In countries where you dont speak the local language, you will force to listen and try to understand another person without making assumptions. good communication certainly paves the way for better bond with friends. Taken from AirAsia 360 magazine

Visit to clark

A visit to Clark, Philippines with a group of friends last week is an eye opener for me. Not because that I never been to overseas before but I can see how Philippines people make their end meets. We were staying in EurAsia Hotel, located in the Angeles City and in front of our hotel is SM Shopping Mall. The largest in Clark. Below are my conclusions based on my short trip. (1) I manage to have chats with a few of the hotel workers where we were staying and they told me that they had to work 12 hours per day. 7am to 7pm and they only given one day off with the wages of 250 pesos per day (approximately 23 Ringgit Malaysia). Without any allowances and no food provided. They had to bring food from home (If they have) or just go to the kitchen and look for any food leftover. Even with all of the difficulties, they still can smile and entertain the guests in the hotel. And in return, the guests usually will give tips. I noticed the smiles in their faces whenever guest gives them tips. (2) Angeles city, the area that we were staying a very safe. Every shops they have their own security guards. These security guards are hired by the respective shops. They also have police and traffic police to take care of the traffic. Every entrance of the shopping mall guarded by these security officers. This is to make sure you don’t bring guns to the mall. (3) Tricycle motorbike was allowed but only in the city area. I have tried using it and I ended up having backache because the roads are uneven and the tricycle doesn’t have any comforter for the passenger. You have the lean your back at the metal. Malaysian government do not allow this kind of vehicles being use in Malaysia due to safety reason. I have tried it and I can say that it is not safe. Lastly, I managed to buy a few book from National Bookstore in SM Mall Clark. One of them is Folktales of Southern Philippines. Let me share one of the stories taken from the book. The title of the story is The Sun, the moon and the stars. “Once upon a time, the Sun and the Moon used to be a couple. They had two children and they lived happily. One day, as women should do, the moon had to fetch water and gather some gabi (taro) from garden. Before leaving for her chores, she put the babies to sleep in a corner of the house. When the babies were asleep, she told the Sun to watch over them but to never go near them because the heat from this body will cause them harm. When the Moon was away, the Sun become curious about the babies because he had never touched them since their birth. Moved by fatherly love, he approached them and looked at them adoringly. He bent forward to kiss them but the extreme heat from his face melted them like wax. He was shocked with what happened and regretted it. He wept and withdrew to the nearby forest for fear of his wife. The Moon was back to the house in time. She put down her heavy load and went to where she placed the babies. She saw what happened to them and railed the sun for what he did. He heard her lamentation but stilled himself. He understood her anger and grief, so he returned to the house after a while. The Moon cried louder and angrier than ever when she saw the Sun. He tried to soften her but failed, so he got angry at her and called her his chattel. But no sooner had she calm down for fear of him that she cried out loud and raged at him again. As if it were not enough, she picked the burnt bodies of the babies and threw them out of the window to the ground. The charred bodies broke into so many pieces and scattered to different directions. What she did made him angry again. In his anger, he picked up some gabi leaves, threw them on her face and left her. But he lamentation touched him, so after a while he returned to the house but she had already left. The Sun ran after the Moon but he could never catch up with her because she was too far ahead of him. The unending chase is the cycle of night and day. Sometimes he sends a shooting star to tell her to reconcile with him, but none reaches her. She continues to run away from him with the gabi marks on her face. The stars about her are the broken pieces of the burnt bodies of their babies”