Asia Trip… Boracay and then 7 Cities in 11 Days (#16)

My Asia trip is winding down and I’m just wrapping a few things up in Philippines and then heading home… It’s been a GREAT GREAT GREAT trip. I’ve had tons of fun and was super productive. Since I arrived in Asia, business has been great. In USANA, we’ve also added 1 new Gold Director (Billy Dela Fuente) and also a new Silver Director (Jojo & Blessa Victorio). Things are very excited. Kelly came along and it was really cool for her to meet our Filipino team members. Originally we were supposed to go to Malaysia as well but the timing and H1N1 flu made things hard. We will go to Malaysia next time instead.

Here was our trip:

MANILA ARRIVAL
We got to Manila on Sept 8 and spent a few days there before we went to Boracay. Kelly and I had a great time there.

Simon and Kelly at Makati — Kelly and I stayed at the Rennaisance hotel in Makati (Greenbelt area). Hotel was very nice. The pool, gym and Club Lounge was awesome and made things convenient.

training — On the first day, after we washed up, I immediately met up with some key leaders while Kelly napped. Afterwards we had some great Filipino seafood (dampai) at Mall of Asia with our USANA leaders. Here, Silver Director, Mel Clarion is speaking to the group

BORACAY

drinking juice — Kelly and I having lunch and enjoying fruit juices. Kelly liked the boku (coconut) while my favorite is either green mango and calamansi juice (type of lime)

simon massage — We got massages almost every night. Massages are great and it makes me want to get at least 1 massage a week even after I get back to USA. After the massage we would lie on the hammocks and just chill. The sunset is in the background.

BEGINNING OF 11 DAY ROAD TRIP….
After Boracay, my vacation was over and it was time to get to work. Kelly went to Hong Kong to spend time with her family while I went on a CRAZY road trip… went to 7 different cities in 11 days. I was excited to travel and meet my team members. I would meet Kelly in Hong Kong at the end of the road trip for some fun and family time in Hong Kong. Here is the highlights of the road trip and Hong Kong.

DAY 1 – CAGAYAN DE ORO

cdo rafting — I went white water rafting with some team leaders for the first time in CDO (Cagayan De Oro). It was fun! Not only was it challenging and fun but it was great for team building and also just to enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings. From left to right is Jose Baclaan, Arnel Domasian (our leader in CGO and Iligan) and Lito Salvana.

rafting — I loved every minute of it. I am definitely going to do this over and over again! It was so much fun. The rapids were the best part!

DAY 2 – CAGAYAN DE ORO

cdo training — The next day, we did a training and business presentation at Cagayan De Oro.

DAY 3 – ILIGAN

iligan training — We drove 2 hours to Iligan to visit the office and meet team members. In the afternoon we did a business presentation followed by training.

DAY 4 – MANILA

manila training

DAY 5 – MANILA

DAY 6 – PAMPANGA

Pampanga leaders — Next day we left at 7am and drove to Pampanga to meet our super leader, Ed Ricalde. (in middle) Ed has been very successful in previous local MLM companies (but it was not long term residual income because the companies all failed and closed down). After much research on USANA and seeing how our team, TEAMXLR8 has grown, Ed finally decide to become involved… and he has become involved in a BIG BIG WAY! Just see the pics below… Ed is currently a Silver Director and he is with Gold Director, Billy Dela Fuente (left) and Janet

One of the highlights was that Ed Ricalde was able to set it up for me to appear on the radio station, 99.1 GVFM. I talked about USANA’s background, the products and how it has provided Filipinos a great opportunity to earn an second income.

eating sisig — After the radio show, I met up with Ed Ricalde’s core leaders. Pampanga is famous for the local food called “sisig” and they took me to eat at the most popular restaurant. Here are some of his core leaders.

After a great lunch, it was time to get to work… I went to our team office to do a product training. Over 60 people took time off from work/school to attend! Wow!

DAY 7 – PAMPANGA

Motorcade — Talk about making a HUGE impact and presence! We got up early the next day for a USANA motorcade. USANA Corporate was very supportive and helpful. Here, Duday Gaston (GM USANA Philippines) and Cherry Dionosio (Head of Network Development) stand beside their “USANA mobile”

USANA motorcade — We had over 30 cars decked out in USANA as we went on a 1 hour motorcade throughout Angeles City. As we drove through the streets, everyone stared at us. We gave out USANA flyers and promoted our next business meeting.

usana motorbikes — More “USANA mobiles”… not only did we have cars, we also had USANA motorbikes!

The motorcade ended in front of our team office where Duday Gaston and I participated in the ceremonial ribbon cutting.

Thanks to USANA Corporate for donating prizes for raffle and for helping us with the training. Duday is sharing the vision of USANA Philippines and some training tips.

DAY 8 – DAGUPAN

Dagupan

DAY 9 – BAGUIO
The next day, we went to Baguio to meet some prospects. It was cool in Baguio. Baguio is like San Francisco weather and I must say that it was a VERY NICE CHANGE in climate. For once, it was nice to feel “cool” and not sweaty all the time!

DAY 10 – DAGUPAN

Back to Dagupan for a business presentation and training. We hosted the event at this famous restaurant called “Silverios”

dagupan team — Team photo after our product training. The turnout was pretty good considering there was a typhoon going on!

DAY 11 – HONG KONG
Finally! The road trip was over… I couldn’t believe it was over. Though it was only 11 days, it felt like 11 weeks because I had gone to so many places, met so many people and got so much done… The road trip ended in Hong Kong where I met up with Kelly and spent a lot of time with her family. (her parents met us in Hong Kong and every day we spent time with her cousins, aunts, etc.) I also got to spend good time with one of my best friends, Simon Lam.

with Simon Lam — Here is one of my best friends, Simon Lam. We met on the 1st day at Columbia orientation back in 1991 and somehow 2 “Simons” became good friends. Simon took me to the “American Club” at Repulse Bay. That place was sweeeeeeet!

Leona and Markus — I stayed at Simon’s house at mid-levels and would then commute with Kelly to Kowloon to meet up with Kelly’s family. This is Simon’s wife Leona and their son, Markus (who LOVES ice cream) Markus is a pretty good looking boy. Funny thing was I saw this commercial on TV that featured a model boy and it looked exactly like Markus! (hint: future career?!)

HONG KONG

Kelly's grandmother — We went to Heng Fa Shun to visit my 90 year old grandmother! She is inspiring. She is old but never quits and keeps on fighting. It motivates me. Though she has bad knees and bad hip and can barely walk, she still does taichi in bed EVERYDAY! She does it in bed and says she refuses to quit and let old age stop her! Wow… She has more energy than some 20 year olds I know. What a great attitude and fighting spirit!

inf front of a waterfall — Kelly and I are in front of a waterfall with Simon’s son, Markus. Markus is very photogenic!

The ironic thing is… I spent most of my time in Hong Kong with Kelly’s family. I met her entire family and we ate almost every meal with family and had really good food everyday… BUT I HAVE NO PICTURES! All the pictures were taken on Kelly’s mom’s camera and I forgot to get the photos from her! So, the only pics I have is of Kelly and I hanging with Simon Lam.

So what a trip… been one of the best trips I’ve had but I am HOMESICK! Been almost 4 weeks since I left Los Angeles and if you count Convention and NYC, I’ve been home for only 3 days since August 22!!! (only 3 days in 6 weeks) I miss my LA lifestyle of biking, working out twice a day, playing with Obi, the beach, the cool weather and relaxing with Kelly. Well… I will be home in 48 hours! Can’t wait!

I also REALLY REALLY MISS OBI! Both Kelly and I miss him a lot and look at his pictures and videos all the time. This will be the first blog entry with no Obi pictures since I’ve had him. Obi is in good hands in NYC with my mom and he flys back via special “Pet Airways” on Wednesday… Can’t wait to see him!

See you back in the USA!

God Bless

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