It may not have had the same panache as the “Thrilla in Manila” that Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali promised fight fans in 1975, but Filipino world-boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao, showed up at the Franchise Asia Expo to promote his new franchise, Manny Pacquiao Boxing & Fitness Gym. Actually, it turned out not to be Manny, but a very short look-alike. However, we didn’t discover this fact until after some of the trade mission participants had struck the legendary fist-raised, ready-to-spar pose for the camera. (Check out the photo below.)
“Send me that picture, OK?” Benjamin Simon of Radio Shack asked. When he discovered he had posed with a fake—and someone he could have easily KO’d had he not been intimidated by the man’s fight record—Benjamin amended his request. “Don’t send it,” he said.
Sean Ngo, “Manny,” Benjamin Simon and Mark Lee Seong Ming
We were attending the expo on the last day of the Franchise Times/International Franchise Association/U.S. Commercial Service Franchise Trade Mission to the Philippines. (Really, after six such events, you’d think we could have come up with a catchier title, or at least a shorter one.)
Manny Pacquiao’s booth wasn’t the only one that attracted our participation. Four of the guys thought it would be funny to have their picture taken in the Mr. Quickee booth. Surprisingly, the foursome didn’t ask for their picture to be taken in the Chic-Boy booth.
Some things never change across cultural lines. There was a line in the women’s restroom because three of the four stalls had signs on their doors saying: “Under preventive maintenance.” I wasn’t sure how to take it. If it was an expo for psychics, it would have made more sense.
Trade shows in the Philippines are different than in the U.S. There are more mascots with oversized heads and more food to sample. A replica of a gas station was one of the booths, as well as a massage franchise for sight-impaired people (you can read about that on our blog at www.franchisetimes.com).
Rather than a snack bar furnished by the event venue, nonfranchisors were invited to share an aisle where they could sell their food to attendees and get a taste of the interest in franchised brands, according to Samie Lim, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Franchise Association, as well as a consultant with FranCorp. Lim, who is known as the father of franchising in the Philippines, referred to the designated area as an “incubator,” where the restaurant concepts could observe the action and then talk to consultants if they liked what they saw of franchising.
This trip was not the culinary experience of past trade missions. The best food we had was at the ambassador’s reception, and we were all too busy talking to take full advantage of the spread.
Our Thai dinner plans were spoiled because the restaurant was closed as its electricity had gone out, thanks to the typhoon that touched land earlier. The experienced among us suggested we restrict our choices to the U.S. hotel chains with back-up generators, so we dined at the Ritz Carlton’s two-acre, all-you-can-eat buffet.
The free happy hour that came with our hotel rooms was rerouted to another room when the dining room was promised to an outside group making a sales pitch. It actually worked out better for us, because since we were such a large group, the servers who dashed back and forth with drinks for us, finally just left the bottles of wine on the table to save their legs.
The wine was not great, nor was it good, but as one of us observed, “You know it doesn’t taste as bad after the second glass.”
On the last night Donnie Everts of World of Beer told our team leader Kristin Houston about a theme-restaurant called Hobbit House, named after the famous movie. She sent out several email messages to mission attendees to meet in the lobby, but no one showed except me, her and Radio Shack’s Simon.
Once we got to the restaurant it was clear why Donnie didn’t show. After Benjamin gave the name of the restaurant to the cabdriver, he turned to face the driver and said, “Are you laughing?” The driver assured him he was not laughing at his dining choice.
We went through several seedy neighborhoods before we were dropped at the curb. Management had made an effort on the outside—a cardboard cutout of a hobbit from the movie, a circular “wheel-of-fortune” with some lights around it. But inside it was dark and looked like every other dingy bar, except—and here’s where the theme became evident—the servers were little people. Not little people dressed up in Hobbit-themed uniforms, just little people.
I owe Walt and his legacy an apology. I’ve always thought Disney was a little too uptight about making the “happiest place on earth” so happy. But I think Hobbit House could learn something from him.
We had one round of drinks, some fried appetizers and headed for the door. It took us several attempts back at the shopping center attached to our hotel to find a restaurant still open, but we finally settled on Indian food. Which was fitting because the last time the three of us shared a meal together was on the Indian trade mission.
The next day we all headed in our separate directions. Six down, two to go. Already my mind was focused on Mexico in October. I wouldn’t trade these missions for anything.
BY NANCY WEINGARTNER – Franchise Times
