SUMMER: When Dreams Become Reality!
By: Lucino C. Soriano
Edited by Franklin Cabaluna+
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth of creative feature articles written by Mr. Soriano which was published at People’s INSIDER Magazine from 2001-2004. It was chosen for the website Smart PinoysAtbp.to teach campus journalists and aspiring writers on a different approach to interview writing.
SUMMER! It is during this time of the year that most dreams associated with travel become reality. For myriads of exam-weary students, cessation of school means a time for fun, yes, travel! For workers, it means a time to savor the invigorating climate of Baguio, or frolic on the white-sand beaches of Boracay, or explore the treacherous Underground River of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, (now, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.)
But for Juneevere Baloca or Summer, a charming and witty jock from the Queen City of the South, it simply means work and fun while touring the world in style – aboard a luxury British cruise ship - and getting paid in the process.
A few years ago, while Summer was a jock at Hot FM Cebu City, she received an offer to work as a DJ on an international cruise ship. She went to Manila for the audition, after impressing the British interviewer, she passed the interview with flying colors. After a couple of weeks, she boarded the MV Crown Odyssey.
Love Boat
IN an interview at a posh restaurant in Pasig City, Summer described in detail the MV Crown Odyssey, comparing it to a floating five-star-hotel with world-class amenities and state-of-the-art communication facilities. The Nassau-registered ship – which has a crew of 500, more than half of whom are Filipinos – can accommodate 1,500 tourists.
The exhilarating tour started in the South Pacific. During the 10-month cruise, tourists of diverse nationalities, including some US-based Pinoys, came from – and went to – every major port in key cities; cost per leg of the trip was at least US$8,500.00 per person.
“Of all the places in the world that I visited, I liked Italy very much, especially Venezia or Venice, a city built on 118 islets within a lagoon,” Summer narrated.
Numerous tourists – including caucasian lovers in public display of affection - are charmed by the ethereally beautiful, culturally vigorous and at times infuriatingly crowded city. Pink palazzo, the azure Adriatic Sea, ubiquitous gondolas plying the green canals, yellow signs pointing to Piazza San Marco, form this Renaissance-inspired city, she gushed.
Summer also visited the Sistene Chapel in Rome that has on its ceiling Michaelangelo’sfamous mural – The Creation, which was unveiled in 1512. Touring Southern Italy, she was dumbfounded at the sight of Pompeii, a flourishing port and wealthy resort near Naples before it was jolted by an earthquake in A.D. 63 and buried by the eruption of the 200,000-year-old Mt. Vesuvius (4,198 feet) in A.D. 79. Its ruins were discovered and initially excavated in 1784.
From Italy, the MV Crown Odyssey sailed to Istanbul, Turkey, where the tourists and crew were shocked by a deafening bomb explosion. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Summer described how she was awed by the ruins of Acropolis in Athens, Greece, which was built in the second half of the 5th Century B.C. as “a local home for the gods.” The surviving structures include Propylaea, Parthenon, and Erechtheum, three of the world’s marvelous architectural masterpieces.
One of the most memorable parts of the tour occurred when they witnessed some events at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Here, Summer saw in person Nicole Kidman, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Sylvester Stallone and other internationally-acclaimed stars. Despite the extraordinary experience, she averred she was not starstruck.
Our tourist-cum-OFW also visited Barcelona, Spain, and Malta, a 200-square kilometer island republic amid the Mediterranean Sea.
The diverse and picturesque scenery in North and South America did not escape the culturally-trained eyes of charming Summer.
Before these, MV Crown Odyssey visited some countries Down Under, called as such because they lie below the Equator. First was New Zealand, home to more than 46 million heads of cattle, 13 million sheep and only more than 4 million people. Then Australia, and other islands and states in the Pacific Ocean like Tahiti, French Polynesia, American Samoa, and Kiribati (pronounced Kiribash).
From the South Pacific, the vessel toured Costa Rica, a Central American Hispanic state; Mexico; Panama, wherein lies the world famous Panama Canal – the 77.1-km. canal that connects the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean, and which was opened on August 15, 1914; Columbia; Florida, Los Angeles (California), and Hawaii, USA, where Summer enjoyed swimming at the world-renowned Waikiki Beach.
Most-Loved Places
OF all the places she had visited, Summer would go for Italy as Number 1 – she swears she loves it very much – then Spain, and diamond-rich Cape Town, South Africa.
Why Cape Town – when it was not included in the floating hotel’s itinerary? Because Summer lived in this city when she was a child, in the late 70s.
However, Summer lived longer and studied in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia, wherein English is the official language), from prep to grade II. Summer was five years old when her father, Antonio Baloca, a (copper) mining engineer, brought her to this predominantly Christian country in South Central Africa. She did not really experience much homesickness during the early part of her stay, because of the presence of a small Filipino community. In fact, 10 of her classmates were Filipinos, the rest were British and children of other nationalities. She studied at an international school here, after which she transferred to the Sacred Heart School in Cebu City. In 1993, she finished her AB Masscom at St. Theresa’s College in the same city.
As a student, Summer had the chance of visiting Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and London, where she lived for more than a year. In 1985, she was one of the few privileged Filipinos to see in person Princess Diana at the Buckingham Palace.
Despite the years that had passed since she lived in Africa, London, and visited great cities in the world, Summer could still remember many interesting events and activities that became part of growing up.
She advises students especially those who are taking up HRM and other related courses, to develop their potentials to the maximum and try to master English and learn other major foreign languages – these are the ‘passports’ to touring the world for free!
Edited by Franklin Cabaluna+
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth of creative feature articles written by Mr. Soriano which was published at People’s INSIDER Magazine from 2001-2004. It was chosen for the website Smart PinoysAtbp.to teach campus journalists and aspiring writers on a different approach to interview writing.
SUMMER! It is during this time of the year that most dreams associated with travel become reality. For myriads of exam-weary students, cessation of school means a time for fun, yes, travel! For workers, it means a time to savor the invigorating climate of Baguio, or frolic on the white-sand beaches of Boracay, or explore the treacherous Underground River of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, (now, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.)
But for Juneevere Baloca or Summer, a charming and witty jock from the Queen City of the South, it simply means work and fun while touring the world in style – aboard a luxury British cruise ship - and getting paid in the process.
A few years ago, while Summer was a jock at Hot FM Cebu City, she received an offer to work as a DJ on an international cruise ship. She went to Manila for the audition, after impressing the British interviewer, she passed the interview with flying colors. After a couple of weeks, she boarded the MV Crown Odyssey.
Love Boat
IN an interview at a posh restaurant in Pasig City, Summer described in detail the MV Crown Odyssey, comparing it to a floating five-star-hotel with world-class amenities and state-of-the-art communication facilities. The Nassau-registered ship – which has a crew of 500, more than half of whom are Filipinos – can accommodate 1,500 tourists.
The exhilarating tour started in the South Pacific. During the 10-month cruise, tourists of diverse nationalities, including some US-based Pinoys, came from – and went to – every major port in key cities; cost per leg of the trip was at least US$8,500.00 per person.
“Of all the places in the world that I visited, I liked Italy very much, especially Venezia or Venice, a city built on 118 islets within a lagoon,” Summer narrated.
Numerous tourists – including caucasian lovers in public display of affection - are charmed by the ethereally beautiful, culturally vigorous and at times infuriatingly crowded city. Pink palazzo, the azure Adriatic Sea, ubiquitous gondolas plying the green canals, yellow signs pointing to Piazza San Marco, form this Renaissance-inspired city, she gushed.
Summer also visited the Sistene Chapel in Rome that has on its ceiling Michaelangelo’sfamous mural – The Creation, which was unveiled in 1512. Touring Southern Italy, she was dumbfounded at the sight of Pompeii, a flourishing port and wealthy resort near Naples before it was jolted by an earthquake in A.D. 63 and buried by the eruption of the 200,000-year-old Mt. Vesuvius (4,198 feet) in A.D. 79. Its ruins were discovered and initially excavated in 1784.
From Italy, the MV Crown Odyssey sailed to Istanbul, Turkey, where the tourists and crew were shocked by a deafening bomb explosion. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Summer described how she was awed by the ruins of Acropolis in Athens, Greece, which was built in the second half of the 5th Century B.C. as “a local home for the gods.” The surviving structures include Propylaea, Parthenon, and Erechtheum, three of the world’s marvelous architectural masterpieces.
One of the most memorable parts of the tour occurred when they witnessed some events at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Here, Summer saw in person Nicole Kidman, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Sylvester Stallone and other internationally-acclaimed stars. Despite the extraordinary experience, she averred she was not starstruck.
Our tourist-cum-OFW also visited Barcelona, Spain, and Malta, a 200-square kilometer island republic amid the Mediterranean Sea.
The diverse and picturesque scenery in North and South America did not escape the culturally-trained eyes of charming Summer.
Before these, MV Crown Odyssey visited some countries Down Under, called as such because they lie below the Equator. First was New Zealand, home to more than 46 million heads of cattle, 13 million sheep and only more than 4 million people. Then Australia, and other islands and states in the Pacific Ocean like Tahiti, French Polynesia, American Samoa, and Kiribati (pronounced Kiribash).
From the South Pacific, the vessel toured Costa Rica, a Central American Hispanic state; Mexico; Panama, wherein lies the world famous Panama Canal – the 77.1-km. canal that connects the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean, and which was opened on August 15, 1914; Columbia; Florida, Los Angeles (California), and Hawaii, USA, where Summer enjoyed swimming at the world-renowned Waikiki Beach.
Most-Loved Places
OF all the places she had visited, Summer would go for Italy as Number 1 – she swears she loves it very much – then Spain, and diamond-rich Cape Town, South Africa.
Why Cape Town – when it was not included in the floating hotel’s itinerary? Because Summer lived in this city when she was a child, in the late 70s.
However, Summer lived longer and studied in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia, wherein English is the official language), from prep to grade II. Summer was five years old when her father, Antonio Baloca, a (copper) mining engineer, brought her to this predominantly Christian country in South Central Africa. She did not really experience much homesickness during the early part of her stay, because of the presence of a small Filipino community. In fact, 10 of her classmates were Filipinos, the rest were British and children of other nationalities. She studied at an international school here, after which she transferred to the Sacred Heart School in Cebu City. In 1993, she finished her AB Masscom at St. Theresa’s College in the same city.
As a student, Summer had the chance of visiting Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and London, where she lived for more than a year. In 1985, she was one of the few privileged Filipinos to see in person Princess Diana at the Buckingham Palace.
Despite the years that had passed since she lived in Africa, London, and visited great cities in the world, Summer could still remember many interesting events and activities that became part of growing up.
She advises students especially those who are taking up HRM and other related courses, to develop their potentials to the maximum and try to master English and learn other major foreign languages – these are the ‘passports’ to touring the world for free!