Blogging Miles Around the Metro

Greeted by a makeshift North Gate of the Tiananmen Square, we walked through the red tunnel entrance, and into a display of lights, Chinese acrobats, laserlight shows, inflatable palaces and a walk-in freezer of minus 18 degrees. The World Light Expo Philippines 2007 has brought to Manila exhibitions that children would marvel at, while the grownups they pull around would spend time either scrutinizing or enjoying (depending on how easy you are to please).

I was impressed with the resourcefulness of the teams that created the displays, from the ceramic dragon (made from 100,000 pieces of Chinaware), to the peacock display (made out of vials filled with colored water), to the smaller dragon display (made of discarded CDs), though there were some displays that were rather bare (I recall the lonely “grass” mask display in one dark corner). The Water Screen Laser Show was entertaining, and we gawked in awe at the Chinese Circus Performances. With an admission price of two hundred pesos per head (PhP 200, roughly four US dollars), the Expo would be a good place to bring your kids, or nieces and nephews. Lovers would probably enjoy strolling under the twinkling arc displays too.

Skeptical at the attendant’s announcement that the temperature within the Harbin Ice and Light Festival was minus eighteen degrees Centigrade, we walked into the ice box and immediately felt how Jing described “chopped meat feels like.” For an added one hundred pesos (PhP 100, about 2 US dollars), we tropical islanders got to wobble around like penguins on the icy floor, and appreciate ice sculptures of penguins, horses, and a rather odd-looking Virgin Mary. Should you want to literally chill, you could always hang out in the colorful igloo, or line up behind the kids zipping down on the ice slide. For those who want to test their limits, you could also challenge an adversary to whomever could stay in the freezer the longest, more macho points to whomever wouldn’t take the parka jacket they offer at the entrance. Winner gets his nose slopped off due to gangrene.

The Expo was enjoyable, and would make a good family visit. Many thanks to Petita and Eric for bringing us there (they had some of their pre-nuptial shots taken there, by photographer extraordinaires Bernice and Jing).

The World Light Expo Philippines is located along the Roxas Boulevard and Coastal Road Junction in Parañaque City, and will be there until April 22, 2007.

Photos by Bernice de Leon and Marielle Nadal.

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