AICHI EXPO 2005 ENDS TODAY

***** The 2005 AICHI WORLD EXPOSITION ends its 6-months run today. This EXPO has recorded increasing numbers of visitors as the EXPO nears its end. Most visitors wait outside the main entrance the night before!!! Kaya yung dumarating ng alas 4 ng madaling araw, nasa dulo na sila. Grabe talaga! Tapos, pagbukas ng entrance, takbuhan papunta sa gusto nilang Pavilion! Kung pagong ka, wala, iiwanan ka ng lahat. Bukod sa mainit ang panahon, sobrang dami ng tao! Kapag may BAGYO lang yata kakaunti ang tao! The number of visitors was reported to have reached more than 25 % of its initial target. Most are REPEATERS, meaning they have already visited in the past, yet they keep on coming back for more. One old man who was interviewed revealed that today was his 111th time to go. Great! ***** THE SITE can be accessed easily: > By air, the CHUBU International Airport which was made atop the Bay, quite similar to that of KANSAI [OSAKA]. This airport was opened early this year in time for the Expo. Access to NAGOYA used to be the refurbished Domestic Airport. Now, that the new CENTRAIR [ short for CENTRal AIRport, another name for CHUBU] is operating, this means that more carriers can service Nagoya than the limited ones in the old terminal. >BY SHINKANSEN, from Tokyo or Osaka, or from anywhere in Japan. **** MOST FOREIGN TOURS include visits to Factories, Plants or Shrines. Foreigners are given a glimpse of Temples, and other places of interests here. Locals also use the TOUR GROUP system since it allows them the ease and comfort of being led to sites, rather than go through the rigors of choosing the Pavilions. **** PAVILIONS ARE A-PLENTY. The most popular turned out to be that of HITACHI's, and TOYOTA comes next. ROBOTS dominate the scene. **** LONG LINES are everywhere and it takes some five or so hours before one can finally get inside one Pavilion. Mas matagal pa ang 'waiting time' kesa sa DisneyLand. WHILE THE SITES inside are worth the wait, obviously, ONE DAY isn't enough. No wonder there are "REPEATERS' who have to come back to see all the others. **** THE PHILIPPINE Pavilion used COCONUT as its motif. Kahit hindi kasing high-tech ng ibang bansa,maganda rin nmn ang labas ng ating lugar. Libre masahe pa! **** I WISH I DID COME BACK but time and chance is of the essence. Sayang yung 'SALE' ng mga souvenir items. Mas mura daw ngayon...last day kasi. **** THE CLOSING CEREMONY was attended by PM Junischiro Koizumi and graced by the Crown Prince Naruhito sans Princess Masako. IT WAS RATED SUCCESSFUL in its entire 6-months run by visitors and enterpreneurs alike. But of course! Money moved. It benefited a lot of people in the process, both the host[s] and the Participating Countries as well. *****