This week has been pretty hell for me ~ sobrang toxic sa duty then depressed `cos di pa masyadong nakakapag-blog and I`m really bored out of my skull. There`s nothing good to watch on TV. I am broke. And still, loveless. Hahaha. So imagine my delight when I learned that the newest FIFA Football Rankings is now up! :)
As expected, Spain still leads the pack. Then Germany, Uruguay, Netherlands and Portugal complete the Top 5. Oh God, Europe is on the run! *inggit much*
It made me think - how did our Southeast Asian football teams fared on the 200+ nation ranking?Southeast Asians are great football lovers and I guess we did well. OR HAVE WE?
Vietnam is now the best national squad in the region at the 97th place. Wow! From being tied with the Philippines on the 165th place about 4 years ago to being Southeast Asia's best. Hats off to them!
Thailand at 141st place.
Indonesia at 151st.
Malaysia at 156th. Together with Yemen.
Singapore at 158th.
Cambodia at 173rd tied with Myanmar.
Laos at 175th.
Brunei at 202nd. Together with Mauritania.
And Timor Leste at 204th.
Yes, I know what’s on your mind right now - Where's the bloody hell is the Philippines? Don't worry, I saved the best for last. Whaaaat? Hahaha.
Ayun oh. *sabay turo*
BREAKING NEWS: The Philippines is the biggest ASEAN mover in the latest FIFA rankings.
Is it real or we are just being punk'd?
*slaps*
Yes, it is for real. FOR REAL.
The Philippines moved eight places up from 156th to 148th. I know bitters/haters/inggiteros out there would quick to point out "Lang? 148th lang? Sobrang proud ka na? Ambabaw mo naman". (Well, haters gonna hate. That's what they are born to do. Just hate.) Ok, just to piss them more - I.AM.SO.FREAKINNNG.PROUD. Why shouldn't I? Ever since the world was created billion years ago, this is our highest FIFA ranking evaaar. Fucken lovely, simply fucken lovely!
I am a sports' lover.(Well, don't be fooled by the statement. I don't do sports. I just love watching them on television. Lol.) And for sports' lovers like me, the second week of November crunch will be an action week 'cos it's - drum rolls - SEA Games season again! I can't hold my excitement. I've been waiting for this since the Laos' edition 'cos it only means one thing to Team Philippines - it's PAYBACK TIME!
Team Philippines had quite disastrous performances in the last two editions of the Games - placing 6th overall in 2007 (Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand) and 5th in 2009 (Vientiane, Laos). It is a bit frustrating knowing that we were once the "team to beat" in the region. Review your history books and you'll find out that we gave Southeast Asia its first ever Olympic medal - a bronze (1932 Los Angeles). And hear this, not just one but three. Fuckin' lovely! But unfortunately, our team has been sluggish the past decade. Well, blame it to our half-assessed, ever-loser sports program.
This will going to be a "bloody" battle, a war if I may. Everyone is bringing out their A-game even Timor Leste - I'm quite impressed. I'm pretty sure Thailand would be on the Top 3 sin duda. But watch out, Vietnam could be a "scene stealer" and will give everyone a run for their money. Indonesia, well, the mighty Indonesians could easily make it to the podium. But still, my heart beats for Team Philippines. Team Pilipinas # 1! I know that my team have the spirit of winners and the heart of champions. They are ready for battle and will never look back.
The cynic in me says that people wouldn't pay attention to this that much because they are more interested in watching sappy telenovelas. So just imagine my delight when I heard that a local channel (privately owned, mind you) will put them on national television. Woooohoooo! There is something glorious, liberating watching how medals are won and lost. The anxiety. The excitement. The pride. Borrowing a line from a UEFA ad: "The best part about winning is knowing how we get there".
The biggest and much awaited sporting event in the region has concluded yesterday. Though Team Philippines was out of the Top 3 again, there are still something to crow about.
I am loath to admit this, but the handling of the training programs of our athletes has been so half-assessed; add to that, the national team lack lacks funding from this fnckin' government. But, these not became a hindrance for Team Philippines to do well in this SEA Games edition.
Our athletes were able to pulled off a modest, yet, very surprising finish in the 25th Southeast Asian Games. Behind its 38 gold medal output, Team Philippines finished fifth over-all, only trails fourth running Team Malaysia by 2 golds and 5 behind third running Team Indonesia. Ten time champion Team Thailand led the pack by amassing a total of 86 gold medals, just a mere 3 gold medals from second placer, Team Vietnam.
The RP water polo team clinches our first medal, which is a SILVER, after scoring a 13-8 win over Team Indonesia. (FACT: This is our third consecutive water polo silver medal in SEA Games)
The hot hot hot trio of Camille Alarilla, Janice Lagman and Rani Ortega gave the Philippines its first GOLD by ruling the Woman's Poomsae event. (FACT: The trio were the winner of the recent Fourth World Championship held in Cairo. Very impressive!)
Our most prolific medal earner is no other than Miguel Molina which handed us 6 medals --- 2 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze medals.Applause applause!
Also worth mentioning are Filipino double gold winners golfer Chihiro Ikeda, cue artist Rubilen Amit and tennis player Cecil Mamiit.
I want to salute ALL the athletes - who delivered a medal or not - for putting up a good fight in Vientiane. We are very very proud of you!
***
Maraming maraming salamat Laos for staging an excellent Games. I've got to say that you exceeded all my expectations. Kudos!
Goodbye and see you at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia on 2011.
***
Tomorrow until Tuesday will be an overkill for me. (No) Thanks to my make-up duties which will completely savage me. For three straight days, my duty will start from 7am to 11pm. YES, a total of 16 hours per day. Oohh! This is so haggard-ing.
I eagerly waited for this day to come - December 09, 2009.Want to know why? Because today is the day that thousands of athletes from all over the region will gather in Vientiane for the most celebrated sporting event in Southeast Asia, the 25th Southeast Asian Games.
Yes, you read it right. For the first time in the 50 year history of SEA Games, Laos will host the biennial event. But even before it has started, controversies has stirred the 2009 Laos SEA Games. Laos has been criticized for reducing the number of events and launching few Olympic sports and as a result, many thinks that this SEA Games is just for the fame of Laos.
Even basketball, where the Philippines is a powerhouse, was scrapped in the Games. Fnck! And offers from different countries to help in hosting the event were turned down by Laos officials. Double fnck! But the worst is the issue about the collaboration between Vietnam and the host country. According to reports, Team Laos have been training in Vietnam and in order to pay back debts to Vietnam, Lao judges will decide that Team Vietnam will win almost all the events in subjective sports --- like wushu, taekwondo, karate-do, judo etc. It can be noted that in the past three SEA Games, Team Vietnam gained almost half of its gold medals from subjective sports. If reports are true: Triple fnck!
Anyway, let's give Laos the benefit of the doubt. We are not unless it happens, don't we? So far, the expected contenders for the TOP 3 spots in this SEA Games are
Team THAILAND- I'm expecting that this country will still be one of the top countries in this SEA Games. Team Thailand has been doing excellent in SEA Games which I supposed is luck running for this country in 2009 Laos Games. As a matter of fact, it is Southeast Asia's strongest powerhouse country placing 2nd in the 2001, 2003 and the 2005 Games and being the over-all champ in the 2007 Games. It seems that Thais are taking sports more seriously than us, huh.
Team INDONESIA- Traditionally, this country is the strongest powerhouse country in Southeast Asia but in recent years Team Thailand has out placed them in the top spot. But still, I'm expecting that Team Indonesia will be one of the top seeds.
Team MALAYSIA - Another country to watch out for. Team Malaysia is the 2001 SEA Games all over champ and placed 2nd in the last SEA Games.
Team VIETNAM - A TOP 3 finish is not impossible for this country. They've done it in the last two SEA Games and they are 2003 SEA Games all over champ. They are considered as Southeast Asia's newest sports powerhouse.
Team PHILIPPINES - I'm hoping that my beloved country will rebound from its lowest windup in the history of SEA Games when it placed sixth overall two years ago *keeping my fingers crossed* But hey, we got the second most number of medals after Team Thailand - 42 golds, 91 silvers and 96 bronzes. Isn't that fncken good?Team Philippines is considered a powerhouse team because all of the included athletes in the list are gold and silver medalists in the 2007 SEA Games and the others are 2008 Beijing Olympians. In fact, Team Philippines is considered as the 3rd strongest powerhouse country in Southeast Asia.
I was reading through some back entries of BISEAN blog one week ago and I was amused to find an article published last May 2007 regarding the tourism slogans in use around Southeast Asia. I had a lot of fun reading it that I decided to come up with a similar entry.
Those who are in charge of our tourism have don their thinking caps to create "tourist brands", slogans that aims to promote our lovely countries and to capture the attention of dollar-spending tourists. No doubt, three of Asia's most successful tourism slogans of all time are in - hold your breath -Southeast Asia, with "Malaysia, Truly Asia", "Amazing Thailand" and "Uniquely Singapore", proved by the annual flock of tourists arriving in each country.
I'm 100% sure you already heard Singapore's current slogan "Uniquely Singapore". It's been around for almost 5 years now. No offense, but what's unique about Singapore? Well, if uniqueness will be base upon safety and security, then the slogan is appropriate. I don't think I can disagree with that in any way. But heck, these tourism slogans aren't about such things right? Personally, I'll choose a destination for its cultural landscapes and cultural attractions and not for its excellent law and order. OOPS! I'm so dead to my readers from Singapore. I gotta stop. [read: pampalubag loob] Well, anyway, the slogan proved to be one heck of a success for them. HOORAY!
My dream destination came up with --- "Malaysia, Truly Asia". Does it mean that the Philippines or Laos is just 'partly Asia'? WTF or so I think. I guess they only want to imply that you can find almost the entire Asia --- in terms of the people, culture, places and things like that--- in Malaysia. If I got it right, Malaysia is the most-visited country in the region. Way to go Malaysia!
Also effective but a tad challenging is Vietnam's slogan. It seems that the Vietnamese government wants to get a piece of the pie that it conducted a nationwide contest in 2006 (or is it 2007?) to come up with a slogan and it turned out "Vietnam, The Hidden Charm" wowed the judges. I gotta tell you... when my friend first heard this, he blurted "if it's hidden, why find it?". LOL. But, I love it. Its like saying "Come here and you'll find something worthy".
Thailand's slogan is also a good model - "Amazing Thailand". Now, that's catchy. Simple yet intriguing. Who wouldn't want to travel to see that? The Thai slogan speaks for itself. It has sought to convey a simple message and to indicate to visitors that Thailand is just simply amazing.
"Cambodia, Kingdom of Wonder". It's beautiful. Who came up with this? He needs to be congratulated for a job well done. I must say people that Cambodia doesn't only have Angkor Wat. It has a rich cultural heritage, virgin beaches, sinfully tasty foods, nice and warm people (someone told me that Cambodians are really, really hospitable) and a lot more.
Myanmar made the right decision when it use "Mystical Myanmar" as its promotion slogan. When I think of Myanmar, I envision it as a very mysterious and reserve place. And, they've capitalized on it. Good!
Brunei Darussalam. This little gem of Southeast Asia has chosen "Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures" as its slogan. This country of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has sought to demonstrate that despite of its small size, there is a wonderful world to discover. By the way, do they still need money from tourists? What do you think? Brunei is so rich and you know why --- yeah, oil, oil and MORE oil.
Indonesia with almost 13,000 islands (yeah! almost twice as the number of Philippine islands) and hundreds of tribes chose a slogan that best represent their identity - "The Ultimate in Diversity". But sorry it doesn't work for me. I know Indonesia can come up with another better than that.
"Laos Jewel of the Mekong". I asked some of my friends if they know "what the hell a Mekong is?", answers include, "a Chinese boy's name", "a vegetable" and "an extinct bird". LMAO. See? I think it's a wrong move for Laotians because, obviously, not everyone knows what the Mekong is and not everyone has access to google. LOL. They should change it. NOW!
I'm not really ecstatic when my paradise came up with "WOW Philippines More Than The Usual" as its promotion slogan in 2001. But now, I'm starting to like it. We Filipinos says 'WOW' every time we see anything spectacular. The Philippines' Department of Tourism used WOW as an acronym for many phrases --- such as Warm over Winter, Wild Over Waters, Wander over Wrecks, Wacko Our Wildlife et. al.
BUT HEY! The "Pearl of the Orient Seas" title is miles way better. Long before our neighboring countries came up with their own slogans, the Philippines was already known by this title. But, Hong Kong... err how to say this?... robbed (oops!) it in the late '80s and we didn't say anything about it. Schucks!
[P.S. Mr. Ace, you can also opt to these slogans I read from The Philippine Star Inbox section --- Philippines, Islands of Tropical Paradise or Philippines, 7, 107 Reasons To Have Fun In The Sun.]
I observed that all our neighbors have already come up with their own promotion slogans... yes, even East Timor have stepped up in the game --- "Discover the World's Newest Nation". OK. I'll let it pass. They're just beginning. Giving little considerations won't do any harm... really.
But, at least, our slogans are better than some slogans use in some parts of the world: Colombia's "The Only Risk Is Wanting To Stay" (I dunno, I just find this creepy), El Salvador's "Impressive", "Korea, Sparkling" and the state of Washington's "Say WA" - indicating that ridiculous slogans sometimes happen, even today.
There you go, promotions slogans that are used to sell Southeast Asia to tourists. I hope you enjoy reading it. So, is there any tourism slogan you love - or love to hate? Let me know.
