coronation night feels like the time sacramento kings lost to l.a. lakers in the western conference finals
28 Nov 2009 4 Comments
in entertainment, special event, thoughts Tags: antonia singut, beauty pageant, engara gosselin, merewalesi nailatikau, miss aotearoa, miss cook islands, miss fiji, miss new zealand, miss niue, miss samoa, miss south pacific 2009, miss tonga, paea williams, paretaunu randal, sarah geronimo, tusisaleia pomele, vanessa marsh
…or like the time blake lewis lost to jordin sparks in a.i.
all photos lifted from fijitimes unless otherwise specified.
miss fiji, merewalesi nailatikau wins miss south pacific 2009
in summary: she deserves the crown for how she answered the last question. but i think other contestants deserve the special awards.
when they were reduced to five finalists, grand slam pageant style, scores were erased and judging for honors was based solely on answers to the last questions. yes, i mean to pluralize that. because unlike other international pageants, they still had to fish for a “surprise” topic from a pool instead of the typical one final question where as one contestant attempts to answer, the others are either in a soundproof isolation booth or wearing noise-reduction headphones with elevator music playing. a dip in many topics for your question i think is a little skewed. how can you compare the answer to, say, “if you win this title, how can you help the youth in their battle against drugs?” to “how can society promote corporate social responsibility?” one question will naturally be more difficult than others and the competition vastly increases the element of luck.
not that i think a one-final-question format would have dramatically altered the outcome. because despite my above ideas, miss fiji still makes a runaway winner; she, after all, delivers the paradoxical “prepared impromptu speech” leagues better than the others. but even with this glaring reality, i was still hoping that my favorite girl miss cook islands, who happens to be articulate herself, throws us a curveball and snags the crown. in other words, like the l.a. lakers some western conference finals ago, i expected miss fiji to win over miss cook islands’ sacramento kings, but up to the last minute, i was crossing my fingers for an upset.
my favorite miss cook islands, engara gosselin bags first runner-up.
what really pops my snare though is miss fiji also winning the special awards for best talent and best traditional costume (my complete thoughts in this entry). there might be other criteria we are unaware of that upend my shamelessly frank opinions or the judges just might have preferential views that are strange to me, but i still can’t quite put a finger on how a “talent” as puerile as declamation randomly coupled with an amateur dance routine beat an obviously classically trained, well-choreographed performance. or how a drag-and-drop costume design whose cut and workmanship is as common as a budget outlet wedding gown beat a conceptualized, well-planned production of a dress. it’s like charlene gonzalez winning best national costume during the philippines-hosted miss universe when, upon ambush interview, the other contestants didn’t even attempt to conceal their aversion of the results.
i hope miss aotearoa somehow reads this so she finds out how ado and i were extremely impressed by her talent! i hope miss samoa somehow reads this so she finds out how my father-in-law’s and my jaws dropped at the sight of her dress!
miss aotearoa (new zealand), paretaunu randal's dance was in a class of its own. miss samoa, tusisaleia pomele's traditional costume was a work of art.
other special awards and brief thoughts:
miss photogenic: miss american samoa (judged by professional photographers)
miss personality: miss american samoa (chosen by the other contestants like miss congeniality or miss friendship)
miss internet: miss papua new guinea (most internet votes. here’s a crazy notion: miss png was nowhere around the top of internet votes for more than half the duration of the voting period. when i posted this entry in my other blog, she suddenly shot straight to number one. it’s most probably coincidence, but i’d like to think that some of my 1000+ readers that day helped boost her stats. i can indulge myself, can’t i?)
miss aotearoa (new zealand) and miss papua new guinea in a fun pose at the arts tent.
miss (forgot the category name of “most text votes”): miss fiji (host country, duh)
miss interview: miss fiji (as the name suggests, best in interview portion)
best in sulu/sarong: miss cook islands (that dalo planting sure paid off. and who would object to her figure.)
miss elegance: miss tonga (selected by sponsors, wins a modeling contract, therefore imho the one truly relevant special award. very well-deserved.)
for winning miss elegance, miss tonga, paea williams gets a modeling contract. it couldn't have gone to a better candidate.
a full two minutes after announcement of winners, i have gotten over the loss of my favorite candidates. so i went on to browse online for photos. i wrote this entry a few days ago saying i couldn’t find any picture of miss aotearoa doing the maori pukuna. well i just found one:
miss cook islands, engara gosselin blows a kiss as miss aotearoa, paretaunu randal does the pukana.
miss south pacific 2008, niue's vanessa marsh with some of this years candidates. she has been a very worthy representative of the region. and i still think she's a dead ringer for sarah geronimo.
i'm posting sarah geronimo's photo here just to prove my point. i bet some of you thought this was vanessa marsh at first glance! this is sarah about to sing the pna before the pacquiao-morales fight.
as we called it a night, i suggested to ado that greenscape ltd. sponsor a special award in next year’s pageant. in keeping with the nature of the landscaping business, it should be the best in hair foliage award.
national costume, interview and talent portions: hits and misses
28 Nov 2009 3 Comments
in special event, entertainment Tags: miss south pacific, aruhoia biret, paea williams, miss cook islands, miss tonga, miss tahiti, miss french polynesia, paretaunu randal, engara gosselin, miss aotearoa, miss newzealand, miss fiji, merewalesi nailatikau, miss samoa, tusisaleia pomele
please excuse the lack of more recent photos. there is limited coverage online of last thursday’s and friday’s festivities. calling on miss south pacific official website… typically, official websites update promptly and comprehensively with almost real-time accuracy…
all photos lifted from fijitimes.
i’m in a bit of a testy mood today because i didn’t have enough sleep. so i’m going to be stricter than usual and say, in general, i wasn’t impressed. and i can’t believe how after a bad night’s coverage, i’m reading stuff like “a tough act to follow”. i don’t know what their standards are, but i wish they at least won’t settle for below average and call it “a tough act to follow”. it’s an international event, for crying out loud, other countries would think we are satisfied with mediocrity. all right, cutting some slack, this is the first time fiji hosted the miss south pacific. but aside from the highlights, points for improvement should also be emphasized.
day to day, night to night, live coverage is interrupted by one technical difficulty after another. from mics not working to videos taking too long to load to a complete power stoppage altogether. during the sarong/sulu competition, for instance: a power outage should not hinder the program at all. there should be plans b and c for things like that. don’t even make me start with the mic and how one emcee tucks it into his armpit as he unfurls the question scroll during interview portion. not that it dramatically changed my viewing pleasure. the overall quality of the lights, sounds and pictures weren’t doing it for us to begin with, so much so that ado can’t stand watching it and many times had to get up from his seat and walk away. having been educated in film, poor coverage is his pet peeve. on top of that, by a serious oversight, the committee failed to include the message from samoa’s prime minister into the handout program. and to think samoa is the home country of this pageant. these among other major setbacks.
but poor coverage is not my pet peeve, so i have to admit i still do enjoy watching the event. because a pageant is a pageant and that’s my guilty pleasure.
national costume
by a long shot, miss samoa’s costume wins this in my books. her outfit depicts a species of parrot fish known to possess habits that are beneficial to the environment. the mermaid-tail cut was perfect for her frame and the color complemented her skin tone (or i might just be biased towards teal. it is, after all, my favorite color). the “scales” were a mosaic of mother-of-pearl discs, clearly assembled with painstaking effort and excellent workmanship. the bustier top was actually the fish’s head and the eye is a jewel brooch. it demonstates the parrot fish about to consume the corals strung around her neck which i think is just a brilliant way to mix education with a work of art. the dress would make an absolutely fantastic museum piece. if she doesn’t win this portion, i’d probably say the contest is rigged. or i just have a dramatically different opinion.
miss samoa, tusisaleia pomele's marine-inspired costume (not shown here) blew the competition out of the water. i made a pun there.
stage interview
like many other pageants i’ve seen before, this one most likely let the ladies anticipate what possible questions and issues would be raised during the q&a, giving them the chance to formulate answers and practice how to deliver them (believe me, many pageants do this. my club used to train beauty contestants for interview portions). i may be wrong, but all answers seemed canned, several of them were gazing up as they were talking, a strong indication that they were trying to recall certain key words or phrases. all in all, it struck me more as if it were a prepared speech contest than an interview portion. not that i have anything against it. i’ve seen much worse in bigger pageants. remember bb. pilipinas 2008 and that question from vivian tan? i don’t mean to remind you, but i’m assuming it has occurred to you already.
ok, i wouldn’t even choose one i think stood out from the rest, because no one really did imho. but if some alien race suddenly pressured me into choosing one, i’d have to choose miss fiji. i do not doubt that she is intelligent and she practiced her lines well. while simply based on content, all of them said the right and relevant key points, only miss fiji was able to deliver her “piece” without faltering, pausing or repeating herself. on that, i’d say she did a far better job than anyone else. i believe she would do well to speak in front of international audiences if she wins and is sent to represent the south pacific in conferences. i’m sure she’s smart, she’s personable and she won’t embarrass the country by talking nonsense. but, frankly, i’m not really rooting for her. go figure.
miss fiji, merewalesi nailatikau, seen here during the sarong/sulu competition, is smart and articulate.
talent night
was it too much for me to hope? that someone comes up to a mic stand with a guitar to sing “harvest for the world”? or someone takes her place by a baby grand to sing “heal the world”? ok, now i think i’m too badly influenced by american idol, everything i see is david cook and david archuleta.
in between contestants, the show goes on commercial break. so why do they take so long cuing the contestants during their respective turns? the stage hands and assistants still grope in the dark setting up props and backdrop while the viewers look into pitch black nothing. what did they do during commercial break? take a break? i know how difficult it is to organize and to implement a talent night, but please more effort for an international event where people from different countries get the chance to scrutinize the show.
now that that‘s out of the way…
oh my, props for miss cook islands for dramatizing, singing and dancing! of all three, i think she should stick most to dancing. i mean she isn’t a terrible singer, she can carry a tune, but i don’t think she’ll make it to hollywood week with that performance… unless of course she makes like this season’s bikini girl and both simon cowell and randy jackson move her on to the next stage. again with the a.i. reference…
one opinion i just have to voice out: there ought to be an age limit for when declamation can still be considered a talent. i think the limit should be 12. unless of course you are ralph fiennes or someone around that calibre, then you can get away with monologue and soliloquy until you run out of shakespearean verses. some ladies declaimed. and they are not ralph fiennes.
i was very disappointed with miss tahiti, i had such high expectations of her. she belongs to a family of professional dancers and we’ve seen her do the tahitian tamure (the polynesian dance that involve rapidly thrusting your hips in all directions while your shoulders remain solid) with exceptional skill. this lady has tremendous talent for sure, but her number was ruined by overthinking. whoever suggested that she perform about five different dance styles and wear all five different costumes should be locked in a barrel. she spent more time with her back towards the audience trying to put one costume after the other. such a waste of opportunity.
i had the same expectations of miss tonga and she delivered. she’s an entertainer in hawaii. her performance was a dramatic end to a polynesian legend (narrated by one of the emcees before miss tonga took to the stage), where as a goddess about to perish, she danced her last dance before finally succumbing. someone should make a west end musical out of this story. any producers out there?
miss tonga, paea williams gave a performance filled to the brim with emotion.
but i placed my highest bet on miss aotearoa (new zealand). she’s a choreographer by profession and performs traditional maori dances. what really makes you want to see how she fares is the fact that she aspires to one day dance with janet jackson in concert… people, please keep passing this message until it reaches janet herself. miss aotearoa has some mad skills. hers was a modern interpretation of a maori number (a fusion dance of sorts, a genre famous in nz and oz for traditional dance troupes). she pirouetted, bent over backwards, did leg extensions and went down on all fours, done with flawless grace and very emotional choreography. she could represent as a solo performer in superstars of dance. i swear. if she doesn’t win best talent, i’d say art is hopeless.
miss aotearoa, paretaunu randal, seen here during the sarong/sulu competition, is limber, graceful and definitely showed the best talent.
tonight’s the coronation night! let’s see if any of my favorites win the title. if not, i think i would be very frustrated. this is personal…
first judging night: sulu/sarong competition
26 Nov 2009 1 Comment
in special event, thoughts Tags: miss south pacific, beauty pageant, engara gosselin, miss cook isalnds, sulu, sarong
i believe (and this is just me) in lieu of a swimsuit competition, miss south pacific has a sulu/sarong category which states among its conditions “worn in such a way that it can be used in the beach for swimming” or something to that effect. that’s almost like a pc term for swimsuit, right? i’m just comforting myself.
if i’m not mistaken other conditions state: it must be no longer than three (3) meters and should provide enough coverage to be deemed as modest.
now, modesty has always been such an extremely subjective value to me (please note that traditional dress in many pacific cultures involve topless women), but i must say fiji has evolved to become an ultra-conservative society. i just hope the male judges in the panel gave the highest marks to miss cook islands and miss tahiti (who both certainly have the goods to bare their legs and their midriffs). because men are men and if they choose to be prudish now, i enjoin all their male friends to pick on them until they own up to having zero hormones.
miss cook islands in her sarong
and they didn’t simply walk across the stage and back. part of the criteria for this category is how the ladies interpret the story behind their sarong. a voice-over narrates the significance of their attire to the island culture.
in terms of that, i also like miss cook island’s interpretation best. she depicted planting dalo using environment-friendly materials. towards the end, the voice-over tells us that planting dalo is no easy task especially for a beauty queen, on which cue she gamely wipes imaginary sweat from her face, “inadvertently” rubbing mud on her cheeks and forehead. the story culminates in a nice dip in the sea after a hard day’s work. cute, right?
i’m glad it’s not one more of those cloying “save the earth” orations. i know environment awareness is crucial, but stop ramming it into our ears, we get the point already. just tell us about how ordinary people like me can actually make a difference without being all al gore on us. let’s just talk about planting dalo and hitting the beach after work.
another entry, other pageant favorites
24 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in special event, entertainment Tags: miss south pacific, beauty pageant, paretaunu randal, miss aotearoa pacific, miss new zealand, miss papua new guinea, antonia singut, ian boden
i watched the opening ceremony of the miss south pacific pageant the other day and one of my favorites, miss tonga, didn’t make it soon enough for the inaugural festivities. but the last-minute entry did make it and i like her a lot for doing that maori pose of flicking hands and bulging eyes. people who are not familiar with that expression might find it alarming. as for me, i think it’s absolutely cute. too bad i can’t find a photo online of paretaunu randal doing it.
miss aotearoa pacific (new zealand), paretaunu randall
aotearoa pacific is new zealand. for miss south pacific, the new zealand contender has to be of maori descent in order to participate in the traditional showcase and presentations.
yesterday morning, they covered the activities in the arts village and the tent where contestants gave viewers a brief “tour” of their respective displays. they explained crafts, indigenous materials, native languages and their country’s culture in general. they performed traditional dances and even gave dance workshops to interested audience. last night, among the performances, hosts interviewed each candidate onstage.
after watching how the ladies presented their displays in the tent and how they handled themselves during the interview in front of a live audience, i found another favorite in miss papua new guinea, antonia singut.
miss papua new guinea, antonia singut. she looks like brandy or mary j. blige to me.
some were clearly nervous in front of the camera, can get a little disoriented against the lights, others sounded canned and contrived, as if parroting answers from a script (there is such a thing as overpreparation). miss png, on the other hand, was confident and spontaneous and obviously knew her craft very well. in her country’s art display, she confidently explained what her costume was made of, was even able to compare it with fiji’s similar materials. when asked about the design on her dress, without batting her long curly eyelash, she named the source of the dyes, how they were painted on and how the entire design actually tells a story. if she practiced this answer (which i think she did), she was able to deliver it without sounding as if she already knew the question beforehand. when eventually asked what other items viewers can find in her display, she nonchalantly strides around the booth, expertly describing each piece of work, looking at the camera (which the others didn’t or barely did at all), talking to the viewers, making you want to be friends with her or something. when by accident she dislodged one item off its hook, sending the piece to her feet, she didn’t even flinch nor slacken her momentum; she quipped a little apology and moved on. that’s poise for you.
in the night’s interview portion, she was the only one who enunciated her greeting beauty pageant style (“insert mother tongue here… my name is antonia singut, proudly representing papua new guinea!” higher decibel and stress on name of country), others sounded more like they were addressing a student body or a business convention. her voice had clarity and her delivery was effortless as she told the audience how her name means bird-of-paradise in her native language, that’s why her dress and her accessories depict that species. again, if she practiced this answer (which i think she did), she has clearly mastered the art of seeming spontaneous. she is, after all, a journalism student. on top of that, she is the granddaughter of the illustrious veteran journalist ian boden, to whom she dedicates her participation in the pageant.
to recap the day, my vote for most photogenic is still miss tonga. best in evening wear (if you can call it that. they don’t even have this category, but what the heck) is miss cook islands. and best in interview is miss png.
i am excited to watch tonight’s coverage and see who will shine this time.
a pageant, by any other name, smells just as…
22 Nov 2009 6 Comments
in special event, entertainment, thoughts Tags: fiji, special event, miss south pacific, vanessa marsh, aruhoia biret, paea williams, engara melanie gosselin, miss cook islands, miss tonga, miss tahiti, miss french polynesia, pageant, beauty pageant, miss earth
…well, superficial. which is exactly how i want my pageants.
pageant, n.: show; exhibition; an elaborate colorful exhibition or spectacle often with music that consists of a series of tableaux, of a loosely unified drama, or of a procession usually with floats.
of course, today we take the word to mean a beauty competition.
pageants (by its modern layman’s definition) is my biggest irony. while i do agree with what feminists the world over stand against regarding these spectacles (you know, the usual objectification of women, one form of harassment, etc., etc.), i still love watching them with an obsessive fervor, will keep on condoning such “elaborate colorful exhibition” and am very likely to enable other girls to join one if i had the sponsoring power.
coming from one of the world’s most pageant-y countries, i was quite thrilled fiji gets to host this year’s much vaunted miss south pacific. however, as the days wore on and i learned more about the festivities that go with it, i have to admit i was a little disappointed. there isn’t really much to associate between this and the pageants i have come to know and love.
is it just me, or does the reigning miss south pacific, niue’s vanessa marsh, look like sarah geronimo? anyhow…
there are the usual sashaying ladies across the stage, interview portion, press conference, the “miss photogenic” online/text voting, and the special congeniality awards. however, in terms of format, this has nothing remotely similar to other pageants; this one is more along the lines of town fiesta, only on a bigger and international scale.
assess for yourself: it involves a week-long celebration starting from the day the contestants parade in the park and culminates in the crowning of miss south pacific. it has a very dynamic itinerary that involves tremendous displays of culture, traditional entertainment, arts and crafts, exhibits, and sports. there are art workshops for flower-weaving and masi-making, sports like soccer, volleyball and rugby, a church youth program of action songs, puppet shows and drama, photo exhibitions and even physical games like tug-of-war and coconut relay, among many other activities. like all other pageants, this one has the “beauty with a purpose” (to borrow miss world’s vision) or more aptly “beauty with a cause” (borrow miss earth) thing going on. this year, it’s all about preserving the environment. which makes me wonder if, like miss earth, the girls would plant trees somewhere…
anyway, like a town fiesta, right? now expand your knowledge of fiestas to encompass a whole global region then consider national television.
ok, before anyone says i’m belittling this pageant for creating parallels with town fiestas, please take note that my experience of these festivals are nothing ordinary. our moalboal fiesta and beauty pageant have been graced by high-ranking officials, including no less than pres. gloria arroyo herself and her father before her, pres. diosdado macapagal. these things are serious like a heart attack, folks.
moving on.
of course, i have to say there is nothing at all disappointing about these festivities and this cultural exposure. don’t get me wrong, i have, so far, enjoyed the opening ceremony (except the long-winded speeches. i don’t like speeches in festivals, but that’s just me) and i would definitely try to join the workshops if i get the chance to go up the capital this week.
i guess i was simply let down by my own expectations. you see, i was counting on bouncy choreography as the presentation of national costumes unfold with great unnecessary pomp, as each lady approaches the mic stand and, flashing a megawatt smile, practically yells a greeting in her mother tongue along with a prolonged declaration of her country (e.g., “buenos noches, señores y señoras, my name is felicidad trias de los angeles from the wonderful country of puerrrrrrrto rrrrrriiiiiico!”). i was hoping for a montage of the girls frolicking in the beaches, playing volleyball and building sand castles with their sashes permanently attached to their shoulders, getting on the bula bus as they wave to ogling onlookers and passers-by; i wanted so badly to witness a swimsuit competition and even more badly an evening gown competition with little girls singing a fijian version of “you are my star” as they hand long-stemmed roses to their respective candidates. all the sparkling gems, the glitter, the massive curls that glisten in the lights, the pairs of legs that could go on forever. yes, chiffon and beads that extend to the edge of the universe, legs and belly-buttons strutting in six-inch heels.
i’m not complaining. in fact, i’m going to watch the formal programs on tv. or live if i score a ticket. i’m rooting for these contestants:
miss tahiti, aruhoia biret
miss cook islands, engara gosselin. who also represented her country for miss earth in, where else, boracay philippines!
miss tonga, paea williams
no doubt, miss south pacific is a fantastic event. it’s as fun and frivolous as it is educational and goal-oriented. but after this, i do wish i get to see an old-school glitz and glamour beauty pageant. i’m superficial like that.
an insanely good time to still be in the philippines
17 Nov 2009 2 Comments
in philippines, thoughts Tags: christmas, manny pacquiao, philippines, typhoon ondoy
homesickness is a different thing. i can’t even explain how i feel. i don’t regret making the move, i’m enjoying myself immensely, and the longing for a comfort zone is nothing i can’t handle. it’s this thought, this awareness that there were some very remarkable things i missed out on…
ondoy
mid-september, just about one or two weeks into fiji, many friends and relatives called or sent sms or emailed or did all that at virtually the same time to tell me how lucky we were to have narrowly escaped the havoc that was ondoy and his four rapid successors. as we watched cable news channel after cable news channel covering torrential floods tearing apart structures and sweeping away trees, cars and sheets of metal, i can’t help but imagine how we would have fared in our suburban mid-rise flat some meters away from the pasig river. and we thought of our close relatives in marikina who live not too far from the riverbanks, reportedly one of the most adversely affected areas in the metro. lucky is one way of putting it, one friend went to as far as calling it providential. i say thank you for thinking of me while i’m at an extremely safe distance from manila, and thank you for praying my friends and family are all safe. yes, thankfully i’m not in the philippines.
or am i?
i was in the maelstrom of milenyo when it laid waste to the metro in 2006, and my friends assured me that though ondoy sounds like a totoy name, he will certainly kick milenyo‘s ass in any sandbox. that’s how powerful and intimidating he was.
back in that 2006 typhoon, i was an interim freeloading tenant in a friend’s 36th floor luxury apartment. yes, we took the stairs during the power outage. yes, there were significant structural damages despite our high-end accommodations. so i could just imagine how the last catastrophe made its presence known. i can not, but i have a very strong idea how.
here is our conviction: that the philippines can, will and have bounced back from it. for all the bad press against our disaster coordination and against our emergency relief operations, for all the sordid footages and heart-wrenching photos peppered across the airwaves and the web, i never faltered in my conviction that the philippines can address these calamities and move on, with ondoy as but a hazy memory. one day, the filipinos will loudly reminisce about how they literally took a boat to cross the street and how they survived without electricity nor tap for days. they will tell these stories laughing a few years from now, and they will lift their san miguel beer pale pilsen bottles to toast the memory.
and this is what i missed: civilian heroism. for a nation scattered over 1,700 islands, where one region is a completely different culture from another, where people of different viewpoints would likely strangle each other in their respective dreams, the filipinos always find a way come together when it matters most. what cnn, bbc, ap, etc. may have failed to emphasize (or pick up altogether) as one disaster after another ruined houses and took lives was how many civilians under no obligation came to the aid and relief of those who suffered. how they pooled resources and donations, the plastic bags of instant noodles and canned goods, the second-hand clothes, the very time and effort of these men, women and even children who took it upon themselves to be responsible for their fellowmen. i see them on philippine news sites, in blogs and in facebook pages of friends who were there when it happened. more than feeling relieved to have not experienced the catastrophe, i am sorely disappointed to have missed this display of civilian heroism.
manny pacquiao
do i even have to explain this?
cotto is a formidable fighter. i was more afraid of him than of hatton by a long shot. while de la hoya was a big deal, he challenged pacman at a time when his then most current position made the stats rather skewed. if there was anything de la hoya proved to us, it was that pacquiao doesn’t slacken going up weight classes, just as his punch doesn’t weaken going down. to pacfans and to boxing followers in general, cotto proved that this filipino fighter can absorb a real welterweight punch, the one thing many of his detractors kept rubbing into our faces. any person out there who still thinks pac is not the best p4p fighter today is probably living an illusion.
i am a big boxing fan. anyone in the philippines will claim the same title. i am not an analyst fan, but i am not a casual fan either. i knew cotto before he came into the ring with pacman; i am aware of his previous conquests, i have a subjective knowledge of his particular strengths and weaknesses. as i was with hatton and de la hoya before him. in other words, i make boxing my business, but not that much. my lolo, who, with no exaggeration whatsoever, happens to be one of the most influential people in my extended family’s collective life, is the biggest boxing fan ever; it was through him that we, as primary schoolkids, recognize such names as sugar ray, holyfield and tyson, the same time our peers were abreast only of voltron, transformers and my little pony. if there’s a fight on tv, forget about switching to other stations. not even during the undercard bouts. heck, not even during commercials. so imagine the impact of pacquiao’s victory on our family.
imagine the impact on a whole nation that stops dead on its tracks whenever he gets on the ring. it’s bigger than a national holiday.
long christmas
philippines is famous/infamous for having the longest christmas on earth. it startles you with an abrupt attack of ray conniff singers on september 1 and trickles to a slow halt on the feast of the three kings, which is around the second/third week of january the following year.
and there is no christmas like pinoy christmas. when religious devotees meet the over-indulgent excessive. a time when the lazy bums suddenly get a surge of energy to build a parol, put up a christmas tree or asphyxiate the house with holiday trimmings.
and don’t get me started with the lights.
this time last year, ado and i were watching a newsmagazine tv feature about filipino houses who go berserck with lights.
me: you should see these houses…
ado: oh, i’ve seen these things before. you should see the ones in nz or oz.
me: no, i mean it. you should see this.
the scene shifts to a typical two-storey residence with nice but what seems to be nondescript set of series lights.
ado: (scoffs) that’s nothing… i’ve seen many better. (he turns to look away)
me: (i grab his shoulder) wait, just look!
ado: i said…
a switch must have been flicked inside the house, illuminating each and every inch of it with series lights of all shapes and sizes.
ado: …damn…
simbang gabi, bibingka on the streets, castañas in those whirling thingies, hamon, quezo de bola, noche buena…. and uh, fruitcake. fruitcake you can smith metal with.
and sale events. to-die-for, to-live-for, to-hurt-yourself-for sale events. there’s nothing like the filipino sale spirit. please, just trust me on this.
halalan 2010 campaign season
who am i to speak about elections? when i myself have not even voted my entire life? it really didn’t matter to me to whom my taxes went. so in some ways i must be an irresponsible taxpayer. at any rate, i never complained about the government, the infrastructures nor the education system. i was plain ambivalent. hate me now?
but i love love election season. from the aquino-marcos snap elections to gma’s bid for re-election, we were on the bandwagon.
while calamities can bring out the best in filipinos, elections can bring out the worst. what god put together by birth, elections will put asunder.
this is the time where big hands will be waved and small hands will be shook. presidentiables and senatoriables will get on pedicabs and eat tuyo with their bare hands to prove that they are just like you and me, to show that they understand our plight. they will stand before lecterns, stomp around platforms or yell from dais, all the while agitating a wild fist in the air. they will argue and make fools of each other (and themselves!) on national tv in front of over 80 million drama-obsessed countrymen. gigantic banners will flutter in the tropical winds, public walls will be upholstered with campaign bills, confetti will be scattered, just raise your eyes and swirling flyers will fall from the colored sky!
there is no better word to describe it than electric.
indeed, this is an insanely good time to still be in the philippines.
right now, pinoy, don’t you dare wish you were somewhere else.
30 years and going strong
05 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in random acts, special event Tags: anniversary, family, random acts, special event
october 29, ado and i got up at 5 in the morning to prepare a surprise 30th anniversary brekkie for his parents.
i set up this marbleized silver frame that says “30th anniversary – 30 years of love and happiness”, flanked by two champagne flutes printed with confetti stars, curlicue hearts and the words “happy 30th anniversary” in gaudy letters. i found a photo of the two of them before a scene of undeveloped land, the place where ado’s dad was to build a golf course in south africa.
ado and i wrote a note and wrapped it in an elaborate display of foil-printed sheer peach paper and gossamer ribbon.
the day before their anniversary, ado and i busied ourselves rummaging through a big plastic trunk of old photos, and realized how difficult it was to find pictures of his parents together (as normally it is either one or the other taking the photos). anyway, we did find a few, so we gathered them in this satin-lined box. we were being cheesy and sentimental, we wanted them to look through the stash and reminisce the past thirty years. awww….
i went around to the backyard to pick some flowers for the vase. i cut two long-stemmed tropical blooms with their leaves, filled a tall vase with crystal pebbles and water and neatly poked the flowers and leaves in.
at just a few minutes past 6am, ado’s dad got up and found us all busy in the kitchen from where we yelled, “happy anniversary!” and he said, “i was wondering what all the tinkering was about so early in the morning.”
ado prepared cheese omelet, tomato and mushroom with buttered toast. there was the usual milk tea, coffee and hot chocolate. simple fares, but it was pretty special under the circumstances.
by 6:30am, ado and his dad had barged into his mum’s sleep so she can see the surprise.
we didn’t approve of alcohol in the morning, so we replaced champagne with sprite for a fizzy drink toast.
on friday night, we were treated to sushi, tempura and teppanyaki dinner at daikoku.
they looked forward to the warm sake.
happy anniversary!
i found a big chunk of the philippines in suva. and it’s from nauru.
01 Nov 2009 3 Comments
in random acts Tags: basketball, dondon hontiveros, hontiveros, nauru, pba, philippines, san miguel beer
as we were eating our chow mein and beef in the food court, i spotted this fellow by the same chinese food counter just a few meters away from us. i nudged ado and asked if he happens to know that pinoy dude. he looked over and said, “he doesn’t look pinoy to me. maybe from an outer island.”
so after the meal and after a small argument regarding whether or not we should approach the fellow, who should start talking to him etc., we both made our way to his table and i gently interrupted him as he took his lunch. when he noticed at the corner of his eye that a stranger was standing over his food, he looked up and took off his earphones.
i asked him if he is from the philippines. he said he is from nauru.
from wikipedia:
Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km to the east. Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation, covering just 21 square kilometres (8.1 square miles).
Settled by Micronesian and Polynesian people, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific, and after the war ended, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru was declared independent in 1968.
i ask him where he got his jersey. he says he bought it in nauru.
“do you know that the name on your jersey is a famous person’s in the philippines? and that team is a big deal there?”
his smile broadens, “really?”
“really. may i take your picture?” ado starts nudging me impatiently.
“sure.” he makes the motion of getting up from his seat to oblige us.
“it’s ok, you don’t have to get up…” then i photograph him and his jersey from the front and back.
as i thank him and walk away, i can see that rather than get peeved by the interruption, he is quite amused by the whole thing.
say a little something