The Marco Polo Hotel Plaza in Cebu, together with several wonderful individuals, have put up an incredible winter/holiday display for the benefit of cancer-striken children in Cebu. Dozens and dozens of miniature houses, lighthouses, businesses, miscellaneous vignettes, etc. surrounds a large model railway or train set. It is impressive in scale, with terrific landscaping, lakes, valleys, mountains, etc. And their goal? To raise PHP1 million for the kids…
To raise money, sponsors are asked to donate money and they place their corporate logos/names on specific houses, train cars, etc. Once all the homes are “sold” or sponsored, they get to their goal of PHP1 million. It’s blatantly commercial of course, but I thought it was still done tastefully… the public is treated to a wonderful winter wonderland display, and the sponsors get the exposure to folks who come to look at the display. Of course I wanted to help… :)
I was in Cebu in early November when the display was being constructed, and I was impressed with the amount of planning and work needed to complete this display. The styrofoam base and mountains and lakes were meticulously carved out then painted and the homes placed amongst hundreds of evergreens.
I missed the early days of the sponsorship period (was away for Thanksgiving), so many of the most visible train cars, homes, businesses, etc. were already taken by the time I got a chance to see the final display today… But we still managed to pick out a very charming hillside house near the train tracks in a tucked away corner of the display for Zubuchon to sponsor.
Just across the train tracks from the Amara (Ayala Seaside Subdivision/Development) lighthouse, the Zubuchon house has a good view of the train that passes just below it. And the bonus for helping out a worthy charity? Just seconds after I planted the Zubuchon marker beside the house, two women came by to see that part of the display, and one of them strained a bit to look more closely at the happy little red pig logo and said “Ay, ZUBUCHON, yung masarap na lechon!” (Oh, it’s ZUBUCHON, that yummy roast pig!) Make my day… Heeheehee. :)
18 Responses
a very wonderful holiday display for a cause…the zubuchon will be a name for it’s self…ang masarap na lechon…sana lang makarating sa manila MM :)
the logo is now gaining lots of recognition!!
MM, I think it is wonderful that Clayton and Joji Tugonon agreed to set up their Christmas Village at the Marco Polo for everyone to delight in. That they are hoping to raise 1M for the Kythe Foundation for children with chronic diseases is plain admirable in my book. Glad to see the little red pig part of the endeavor…my daughter chose the pet shop to sponsor! If you could have seen the faces of the sick children light up at the launch, you would be doubly pleased to have made the donation!
I lol at the zubuchon flag! they should have made a miniature pit there!
MM, thank you so much for the nice blog about our xmas vill collection for 15 yrs. it is indeed a great feeling to be able to help these kids who have a very soft spot in our hearts. we are likewise very thankful for all those who who took time to visit and viewed and most especially heeded to our call to help these very sick kids. we will continue to be of help to them wether they have a better chance of survival or not. what is important to me and my husband is we are able to give them the chance to be with their families and love ones may it be a week, a month, a year. the longer the better. hope to see you all in the christmasses to come.
Maybe you should use that line if you ever decide to do TV ads, MM. “Zubuchon, ang masarap na lechon!” Hehehe :D
Beautiful display.
Very cool, brings back memories of my childhood! How can anyone not love model trains? :)
Hi,how long will the display go on for?We’ll be arriving on the 26th of December but we will be going home to Ormoc.We can only make it to Cebu on the 5th of January.I hope the display will still be there.
Peanut, it will be up until the 6th of January.
We saw this stunning Christmas Village and we’re going back just to see the happy little red pig there!
What a great idea to raise funds!
oh, wow…very nice!
A pig in a snowy mountain and who say’s that “pigs don’t fly” wish I could have lechon for christmas but it has to be turkey for now, maybe someday…..
cheers marketman a blessed christmas to you and to your family and all the best for 2010!!!
thanks for this Mr. MM. will definitely see this back home.
The color of Zubuchon pig definitely matches the charming little red house! Ü
Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Cooll,,,,,,,,,,,,,
To go to Cebu and eat Zubuchon is now my christmas wish…
kahit new year……please kahit valentines