One Brit. One Blog. One Airport. One “Hotel”. One Bad Coffee.
What’s wrong with Manila? Many things, obviously. What’s wrong with our NAIA Airport or Terminal One? Too many things, admittedly. But certainly not enough to trash Manila.
This blog by this Brit may have pointed out the sad state of our airport and the city such that it provoked serious discussion among Filipinos who:
1. Accepted the painful truth but took exception to the sweeping generalization.
2. Accepted the painful truth and added insult to injury by confirming how hopeless we are.
3. Are in denial of things wrong around us and attacked the blogger with abusive language.
You may want to read the blog written by this Brit who admits being a grumpy old man, but certainly a well-traveled one. Without going to his blogsite (and adding to his stats), you can view the pages here. Read on, and tell me what you think.
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And there’s more. In a discussion forum in same blogsite, the comments revealed how Brits can argue among themselves just as much as some Pinoys claim to be the smart ones who readily accepted how this Brit branded Filipinos as “smarmy”. (He later apologized for this, admitting it was harsh and said in irritation.) Very likely, those smart ones didn’t even know what the word meant, and simply focused on one grumpy old man’s rants vs the filth in Manila. Nothing worth photographing, in his own words. But there were also other non-Pinoys who found the blog nasty and offensive, even as they agreed about the poor state of NAIA Terminal 1.
At the end of the day, this whole exercise proved that controversy sells. The Brit blogger got it right about the airport and the dirt in many places. But should we accept that Manila is hopeless and where the Filipino character is concerned? Some Pinoys do, judging by the comments.
The grumpy blogger reactivated his twitter account and invoked his “readers” to add to his 8 followers. I suspect he would write more controversial blogs, egged on by the phenomenal hit record of this mediocre blog. He is even more active in the travel forum, behaving like a true troll. Best not to engage him. He gets all fired up when he finds someone to argue with. In other words, don’t feed this troll. If you’re curious, allow me to just post additional screenshots of his Royal Troll-ness. 🙂
lifeisacelebration 
Oh ‘Ta Lili, don’t let this curmudgeon ruin your special day. You said it, life is a celebration! Let’s celebrate beauty and love…and your birthday! 🙂
Happy birthday, Lili! Wishing you many more years and more miles to travel. And more lovely, informative, and inspiring posts (unlike a certain bully Brit blogger…hehe).
No worries. Didn’t even post the link on my wall and page. Just had to do that for my friends asking for the link to Geoff’s blog. Didn’t want them to add to his stats so…. this blog of screenshots shd satisfy them. And warn them too not to follow him or argue online with some comments!! I’m absolutely over it. 😉 c’est la vie!