The top 5 Cathay Pacific destinations of country manager Rob Bradshaw

MANILA, Philippines - 1. Japan — A place I absolutely love. One time when I was there I went skiing in Hakuba, experienced sakura in Kyoto and had the best food and shopping in Tokyo — just a fantastic week-and-a-half. It was absolutely sensational.

2. Hong Kong — I actually love Hong Kong because I have lived there three times. Every time I go there it feels like going home.  I have so many friends there. I love the hustle and bustle, the food. And it is our home — Cathay Pacific’s home.

3. The Philippines — I still find it a privilege to be working here. I always try to promote the Philippines.  I love flying out to Cebu and then heading out to some of the areas in the Visayas because there are some stunning places to visit. I have been to Malapascua Island in Cebu and have gone diving with the Malapascua sharks — that was really fantastic.  I am looking forward to going down south to the canyon area and the big waterfalls in Cebu.

In Bohol I spent a wonderful five days in Balicasag Island diving with turtles.

These are just a few of the places I have already visited in the Philippines. I am looking forward to many more.

4. Tel Aviv — Because one can fly from Manila to Hong Kong, spend an hour and a half in Hong Kong airport (which is wonderful) and get on the flight to Tel Aviv at 1 a.m. and then reach Tel Aviv by 7:40 a.m., you can sleep on the plane and as soon as you get off, you can start your tour.

Since I studied New Testament theology and philosophy in university, I know about the many places we have been going to from an academic perspective. So it is really interesting to be come and see these places. They are places I have read about — and to see these places all kind of fits together nicely from what I have read about. This trip for me is very intellectually satisfying; emotionally it is very interesting.

I think it’s a fascinating part of the world and a challenging part of the world, too, because it has got its own problems.

There is an emotional content in traveling to the Holy Land, which resonates with the Filipino. It makes for a satisfying holiday.

5.  Barcelona — This is one place I haven’t been to yet, but I am really looking forward to exploring Barcelona. It is one of the favorite cities of my wife. She loves dancing. We love the food, tapas and the whole culture of eating late and being out on the streets late into the evening. I am really looking forward to that being one of my new favorite destinations. Cathay Pacific will begin flying to Barcelona starting in July.