We saw it coming – Boracay becoming a cesspool. Napariwarang paraiso. Its popularity became the noose around its neck. Overcrowded with the unmanaged number of tourists, visitors, workers, and carpet baggers pouring in and out. Walwalan bottles dotting the sand. Establishments encroaching on the beach. The noise pollution. The serious sewage problems.

BORACAY IN MY SKIN 2

When you have whisked past the age of 60, some retirees say there is no better way to relish your remaining days but to look back. Are they serious? I jump to the music of Lady Gaga and chuckle while navigating with my iPad, so certainly I am not ready to gaze languidly at the sunset as yet.

The Days of Kites and Komiks

MeAnn, former commercial model and mother of three, has been a KDrama follower since 2004. She has gone to Korea six times to marvel at the shooting locations. She has caught herself mimicking scenes from the movies while there.

HALLYU THERE

Four

BORACAY IN MY SKIN

Lately, I’ve been experiencing ecstasy in driving. It is a good thing our driver of more than 15 years had to resign, and the occasional drivers we hire on a daily basis are not always available. This forces me to take the wheel. Believe it or not, it makes me giddy and young again. It affords me freedom to dictate the pace, to choose the lane, to plan a route not dictated upon by Waze or Google Map, to fend off the bullies on the road without being obvious, and to enjoy the sights from a commanding seat.

DRIVING THRILLS

The multi-talented and multi-awarded painter Hugo Yonzon, Jr. would have been 99 years old this May 24. Except that he left the world still brimming with potentials at a relatively young age of 70 due to emphysema - probably because of his heavy smoking or having inhaled too much turpentine or linseed oil, or both.

A TRIBUTE TO A HUMBLE MAN

There is no stopping the urbanization of Boracay. Work is still being done on what is supposed to be the island’s two-way “circumferential” road. The government is putting in drainage and ample pedestrian sidewalks with textured pavers. It is now faster to reach Puka Beach in the north by an e-trike; whereas before it was only by boat.

BORACAY IN MY SKIN, Three

The Korean Hallyu or Korean Wave is upon us. Making our women weeping or swooning and our kids dancing. I cannot find anywhere what hallyu really means. A short essay by Clara Haugland from the Korean consulate in Norway said that a Korean radio DJ in the early 1990s started labeling Korean pop culture products, meaning televisions shows, films, and later, music as that.

HALLYU THERE, One

Taylor Swift is one of the biggest hitmakers in the world, having sold over 200 million records in the planet. She started at age 14 as a country singer and jumped into other genres, thereby expanding her fanbase. She composed most of her songs but found out later, in the complicated sphere of intellectual property, that she couldn’t use her recordings for her own use such as, say, product endorsements. What does she do?

SINGERS WHO OWN THEIR SONGS

It is peak season for travel in Bali, where Europeans come in swarms. The wife and I have been coming here intermittently for the past 26 years, at different months of the year. The locals may complain about traffic, but certainly the tourists and travelers are much welcome in boosting their livelihood, and the economy not just of the island but of Indonesia.

BREAK IN BALI

The Third Zone column by OpinYon columnist, Boboy Yonzon.

Third Zone

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