To see what other prominent Pinoys ponder and wish for the Holiday Season, our writer, reporter and photographer, Ms. Florenda Corpuz talked with several personages who grace Pinoy gatherings and events, and who are familiar to many of us, since they are the ones we run to when we have some vital businesses to attend to. Here are six of the most familiar persons whom you think you know, but do you?
Valentino L. Cabansag, Tourism Attache
Department of Tourism, Tokyo
Mr. Cabansag, lately arrived at his post as the chief of Tourism Tokyo, will strike you as soft-spoken and serene, a man who knows what he is talking about. Dedicated to his craft, Mr. Cabansag, wishes not for himself, but for the Philippines to have and to hold more attractions for tourists, making way for more arrivals from other countries, especially Japan. If countries surrounding the Philippines can do it to attract more visitors, the Philippines can do it, too!
For this year, he has one dear wish he holds near his heart, his 2008 goal: he is determined to further improve his language proficiency in Nihongo by immersing himself in more Japanese journals and books. Gambatte, Sir Val!
Danilo M. Lim, Country Manager
Philippine Airlines, Tokyo
He may be the highest ranking and only Filipino official of Philippine Airlines here in Japan, but that does not give him airs; he has his feet planted firmly on the ground. When you meet him for the very first time, you will be beguiled by his simple grin and firm handshake. But just like the ordinary Filipino, it never leaves his mind that he is a foreigner in this strange land and is here because his job is here and he has to work for the sake of his family. Perhaps, he has not stayed here long enough to feel at home or get used to the foreign ways and means so unlike at home.
His wish for the coming year would be for the Philippines to have new leaders who can really guide and bring us to where we should really be. He also hopes that sooner or later, the country finds its true and real place in Asia. Up there among the best! Mabuhay ka, Ka Danny, that is a dream worthy of all Filipinos; a dream every Filipino worth his salt dreams of!
Col. Danilo T. EstropiaDefense and Armed Forces Attache
Embassy of the Philippines, Tokyo
Bronze, stalwart and the image of a Filipino officer and a gentleman, Col. Estropia wishes nothing but peace and order all over the Philippines and to Filipino communities here in Japan. If peace prevails in the country, it is easy to imagine of peace on earth to men of goodwill. Col. Estropia might be trained as a disciplined warrior, but at heart he is truly a Filipino hoping for a progressive, peaceful and united Philippines, and a Filipino standing tall in the family of nations.
John O. Lugtu
Deputy Managing Director
Philippine National Bank, Tokyo
A poet at heart and a teacher's training for seeking the best in his fellowman, Sir John would have been a priest if a young boy's vocation had been fulfilled. But life has brought him to his present job, a banker, not the cold and calculating kind made famous in movies, but someone who tries to help the Filipinos he meets, forever wanting to give of himself and his work, in ways so gentle and kind.
Best described as a family-oriented man, Mr. Lugtu wishes to welcome the coming year surrounded by his family, clan and friends in his beloved Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. As for his new year's resolution, he intends to hear Mass every Sunday with his family, "a family that prays together, stays together." God is good to him because his desires were granted as he left for the Philippines last December, after his two-year stint at the Philippine National Bank in Tokyo.
Maria Anna Lilia L. de Vera
Third Secretary & Vice-Consul Cultural/Foreign Information Section
Embassy of the Philippines, Tokyo
Looking so young and so fragile, this reserved lady wishes prosperity for the Philippines, the Embassy, the Filipino communities in Japan and the Japanese institutions. Being the workaholic that she is, she couldn't find the time to think of any other resolution for the coming year but to just continue working and be more patient.
Our New Year's wish for her is that she shows more of the intelligent, capable woman that she really is, a demure diplomat perhaps, but with more spunk to reach out to the humble Pinoys who are too shy to talk to diplomats and government officials. Lady Anna, joys for 2008!
Lyra R. Cedeno
Marketing Manager
ABS-CBN Global, Japan
You cannot find a more lovely and simple woman than Ly. You cannot guess that she is an efficient executive of the Philippines biggest TV/Movie conglomerate just by looking at her, though pretty and sexy that she is. She keeps a low profile, content to work behind the scenes, doing her best in the background.
Ever loyal to her company's commitment to serve the Filipinos worldwide, Lyra wishes not for herself but for the Philippines to have a better year, and for the Filipinos to love their own country, more than any other place in the world. But, of course, Ly, a Filipino is forever a Filipino how far he may roam, wherever he may be, his dream Utopia is the Philippines forever!
*published in the January '08 issue of "Ang Pinoy", Philippine Digest*
*photos by Florenda Corpuz*
If you're looking for a place in Tokyo that still offers the sounds, sights and smells of Asia, without getting on a plane, Ameyoko Market in Ueno is the place to go to, with its vibrant and bustling ambience, boisterous litter of stalls, friendly and lively vendors, and brimming crowd of international shoppers.
Another attraction of Ameyoko is chocolate vendors selling packs of chocolates that come with tons of "omake" or bonuses, for only 1,000 yen.
During weekends, it seems that the entire Asian and foreign population of Tokyo, chattering in a multitude of tongues, which includes Filipinos, Chinese, Indians, Malaysians, Thais, Indonesians, Koreans, Russians, South American Latinos, and even the locals, to name a few, concentrate here for a buy of Asian favorites that is difficult to find in local supermarkets. You name it, Ameyoko has it. Plus the ear-filling sounds of stallkeepers and shoppers arguing and vying with each other for the best come hither sales persuasions this side of the East. 
How to Get There:
