(quickie post, awesome pun)
The 'ber months signal the start of bazaar season in Manila. On any given weekend, dozens of these things sprout in subdivisions, event tents, office building lobbies, parking lots, and any other available open space you can think of ("bazaar" is ancient Persian for "also available at a mall, but without the door prize").
Over the years, the Home Office has gotten in on that hot bazaar action. Every November, it stages an "International Bazaar" featuring various stalls run by foreign embassies. And every November, I manage to miss it due to travel, weekend duty or sheer forgetfulness.
This year, with a wedding approaching and in need of souvenirs, the LLDDL made sure we wouldn't miss the Home Office bazaar for anything (Spoiler Alert: ninangs, you're getting those tablecloths the LLDDL is holding). We blocked out the date, bought our entrance tickets well in advance, and arrived at the venue bright and early to beat the traffic and secure a parking space.
Slight problem though: we arrived bright and early alright -- at the wrong location. Seems I was too macho to bother looking at the tickets and simply presumed that the Home Office bazaar would be held at the nearest events center. It wasn't. It was being held at PICC, a kilometer away. Oops. Amazing Races are won or lost on brainfarts like those.*
But wait. The place where we're at is also holding a bazaar! A bigger one! And organized by actresses and showbiz people!
Hmmm, bit of a dilemma here. Do we leave, forfeit the parking fee, and head over to the Home Office bazaar run by dignified diplomats? Or do we stay here in this sea of silicone, this convention hall of hotties?
We head over to the Home Office bazaar.
I must really love my country.
And my job.
And the LLDDL.
*(speaking of AR -- well, another Filipino team of overconfident hardbodies loses to another pair of doughy, regular nice guys. I told y'all, it's a mistake to keep on sending socialite/model types as Philippine representatives to the race. Sure they looked good, but they're always too aware of the camera, were hard to identify with, and didn't effortlessly interact with the locals. We didn't need any more teams that spent their free time wall-climbing; we needed real-people teams that didn't have free time to wall-climb! More Quiapo, less Rockwell! But did anyone listen? Nooooo. I bet next season they'll still send a contrived team of "best friend" models/VJs/yoga-practitioners named C. J. and Bianca or something. I'm truly upset over this)
Over the years, the Home Office has gotten in on that hot bazaar action. Every November, it stages an "International Bazaar" featuring various stalls run by foreign embassies. And every November, I manage to miss it due to travel, weekend duty or sheer forgetfulness.
This year, with a wedding approaching and in need of souvenirs, the LLDDL made sure we wouldn't miss the Home Office bazaar for anything (Spoiler Alert: ninangs, you're getting those tablecloths the LLDDL is holding). We blocked out the date, bought our entrance tickets well in advance, and arrived at the venue bright and early to beat the traffic and secure a parking space.
Slight problem though: we arrived bright and early alright -- at the wrong location. Seems I was too macho to bother looking at the tickets and simply presumed that the Home Office bazaar would be held at the nearest events center. It wasn't. It was being held at PICC, a kilometer away. Oops. Amazing Races are won or lost on brainfarts like those.*
But wait. The place where we're at is also holding a bazaar! A bigger one! And organized by actresses and showbiz people!
Hmmm, bit of a dilemma here. Do we leave, forfeit the parking fee, and head over to the Home Office bazaar run by dignified diplomats? Or do we stay here in this sea of silicone, this convention hall of hotties?
We head over to the Home Office bazaar.
I must really love my country.
And my job.
And the LLDDL.
*(speaking of AR -- well, another Filipino team of overconfident hardbodies loses to another pair of doughy, regular nice guys. I told y'all, it's a mistake to keep on sending socialite/model types as Philippine representatives to the race. Sure they looked good, but they're always too aware of the camera, were hard to identify with, and didn't effortlessly interact with the locals. We didn't need any more teams that spent their free time wall-climbing; we needed real-people teams that didn't have free time to wall-climb! More Quiapo, less Rockwell! But did anyone listen? Nooooo. I bet next season they'll still send a contrived team of "best friend" models/VJs/yoga-practitioners named C. J. and Bianca or something. I'm truly upset over this)
Most countries just went with their strengths at their booths. You didn't even need flags or signs to figure things out. It really was quite easy. Thus: BELGIUM - Chocolates. . .
. . . HOLLAND - flowers . . .
. . . SRI LANKA - tea . . .
. . . IRAN - rugs . . .
. . .ITALY - Jolina Magdangal movies that underperform at the box office.
The South African booth featured some really cool blankets, textiles and world cup merchandise. I kid you not, they sold out everything - and I mean everything - before lunchtime.
I'd take that as a challenge, Nigeria.
I actually was scheduled to go to Peru this week, but got scratched off at the last minute. Shame, because, if their booth is any indication, they got some pretty cool stuff (and, let's face it, PICC is no Machu Picchu)
And finally, I know the bazaar is supposed to represent everything international, but are there really that many ways to spell pashmina? I counted 82.
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