by Barista Uno | Sep 12, 2010 | Manning and Training, Media, Communications and Language
The authorities have shut down the recruitment booths. Still, Manila’s Rizal Park, better known by its old name “Luneta Park,” endures as the place to solicit Filipino seafarers. You see them every day: young lads wading through the crowd of seafarers, holding up small pieces of cardboard or bond paper with hastily scribbled details of job openings. This system of hiring is crude, inefficient and so Third World. In the 21st century, there must be a better way. (more…)
by Barista Uno | Aug 16, 2010 | Manning and Training
Last week we were in a pool hall in Manila playing 9-ball with our favourite old salt. At a table next to ours were a Korean couple in their 20s. The sight of them suddenly reminded us of how affluent South Korea has become, so affluent that its young citizens can go on pleasure trips to the Philippines. You see them shopping at the local malls and boarding flights at the domestic airport for some R&R on the beaches of Boracay or Bohol. The hot-blooded males, of course, come for sex. (more…)
by Barista Uno | Jun 29, 2010 | Announcements and Events
The “Party in the Park” held on 26th June at Manila’s Rizal Park (a.k.a. Luneta) was a tremendous success, according to Roger Harris, executive director of the organising body, International Committee on Seafarers Welfare (ICSW). The event, in celebration of the Year of the Seafarer, drew hundreds of seafarers, their families and some bigwigs from the Filipino and international maritime community. Too bad we missed the merrymaking depicted in photos that were kindly provided by the ICSW. (more…)
