It's a testament to the Fil-Com in Australia that there are not one but seven monuments of Rizal in the country, including the largest statue of the hero outside of the Philippines. And so it was a great honor to visit on a very windy Rizal Day a big beautiful park in suburban Campbelltown, and play an essential role for the Consulate...
...by joining other officials in holding on for dear life to the tent and keep it from being blown away.
But seriously, our task was nothing compared to the meaning of the moment and the majesty of the monument.
More of last quarter of the year in review, because I left my old file photos back in Manila, and FerGer's facebook game is too strong for me to just copy.
Staged Presence
If a good picture of me speaking in public exists somewhere in social media, I have yet to find it.
#allhands #theconstipatedlook
Backyard of Death There have always been lots of nervously funny articles aboutAustralia's wildlife, but I always thought the creatures described therein could only be found in the outback, far from the comfort of suburbia.
Ha.
Within a month of moving in, I found my next door neighbor proudly sipping a beer on his front porch, feet raised, and nodding towards the cage where he just trapped a possum that had torn out the tiles of his house's roof. That same night, while taking out the rubbish bins, I walked straight into a massive spider web clearly intended to capture someone of my size.
But wait, there's more.
gah!
It's More Fun with the Fil-com
It's become part of my stump speech now: the Fil-com gatherings I've been to in Sydney so far feel more joyous, raucous and frequent than in London. And they seem soo immediately supportive and accepting of me here: at my first ever public address before the Fil-com (during a tribute to FerGer tribute, naturally), I killed like I was Adam Hills. At my second public event (a religious ceremony, of all things), I was mobbed at the post-mass salo-salo like a rock star. People were tugging at my coat non-stop, asking for a selfie with me. I may have actually trended.
I personally blame the weather. The sunshine is just so strong and certain in Sydney, everyone naturally cheers up, yet always ready to get DOWN
Punny Business The business names in Sydney are no worse than anything in London, but no better than Petal Attraction and Baywash of Quezon City. What's more striking to me here is how brutally honest many businesses are with their brands -- and what it says about you for patronizing them.
what have I done with my life
Jumpshotaroo
It's always the right time and place in Sydney
Oh Dada, you're supposed to jump on new year's day, not dab. That's soooooooo 2016.
The holiday season in Sydney is a bit off-beat: it's summer hot in December, some Santas are in shorts, the days are long and the sunlight diffuses the Christmas lights, and prawn prices spike as they anchor the Aussie Christmas dinner. No part of that last sentence is familiar to me.
But that's not to say the city can't still glam up and get festive. The stores actually stay open late, and the cathedral is lit.
And if there's family around, all is well
With or without prawns for noche buena -- Merry christmas, mates!
Absent Office Christmas Party (the movie) debauchery, there's normally a limit to the enjoyment I get out of such gatherings, what with my lack of performance talent, bad luck at games, and gripping fear that my kris-kringle gift will be publicly exposed as the lamest.
But this year, I was goddam clutch.
* I was not the first to be eliminated during the blindfolded musical chairs
* I not only held my own during caroling, I actually blended
It's the annual running of the Photoshop! The happiest time of the year! Now I like to think I didn't get that many cards in my e-mail inbox this year because I switched offices and addresses (and not because I've been tagged as a troll), so hooray for FerGer for without him knowing it giving me access to his file folder of FSP greetings!
This year, Posts went less with photoshopping personnel onto impractical locations...
although shout out Honolulu for keeping the tradition alive
...and more with close collaboration and choreography of everything "C" in the world, from colors...
