by: hans

Fun-tastic! Hilarious! Wonderfully entertaining and to the point. Now this is my kind of travel writing:
- No explanations
- No introduction and -spection
- No reasoning
- No male English
Just action, dialogue, full focus on the people met, and a surprise ending after the punchline. Very refreshing. Gimme more.
I believe these newest (totalling three) submissions of Philippines episodes could be even more striking if you trim a few remaining phrases, remove the two weakest episodes and pack the rest into one file.
Another question is: How comprehensible is this collection of travel encounters to the reader? To appreciate the stories, does the author require readers who have already traveled in the Philippines, in Southeast Asia or at least somewhere in a hot country? Or would these anecdotes fully entertain the pure armchair traveler, those who never left the comfort of a 'western' country?
I have traveled Philippines hinterlands like the author, have endured the rigours of Philippines food, bus travel, domestic air travel, marriage-obsessed locals and the national texting mania. So Akulka’s stories do strike a chord with me and all the 'little horrors' between Luzon and Mindanao spring back to mind here – in a charming, most amusing way.
But i wonder if people who never traveled the Land of 7000 Isles could enjoy these stories as much as i? And on a wider scope, should one write his travel stories so that Philippines afficionadoes get the most of it, or should the stories be tweaked to give a more general audience an optimal understanding? The latter would require some kind of explanations, sure weakining the overall slim-trim impression. Also Thailand-related stories would gain a lot of fat if you explained the facets to people who never visited the kingdom.
On a side note, at first glance this season of "Faces of the Philippines" sounds, besides funny, also rather negative. But in spite of this first impression i sense the author's actual love for the Phils shining through in every single episode.
Am i right?
As for me, i shudder when i read Akulka's stories and remember my own, comparable, mishaps between Manila and Malatapay. And guess what – i hope to be back in the Phils rather sooner than later.

Comments / Feedback: Faces of the Philippines – Meet Randy Ramona, Shy Britney, Preaching Peter, and Curious Kamal

by: hans