HOW BAZAAR NAMAN YOU ARE

Some people don't like it when the Home Office holds a Pinoy-themed bazaar in the building lobby, but I personally enjoy them. They add a buzz to a usually staid setting, and often feature exotic items and crafts that I normally wouldn't find elsewhere or even know existed. At the last bazaar, for instance, the haul included...

.

...some funky Filipiniana fashion...

...fine Philippine foodstuffs...

 

...finger, um, fuffets...

...and, ah, fang-ligo 

Falakpakan!!

PICS OR IT DIDN'T CONFIRM

As any lame law student can tell you, appointments to certain government positions also require congressional confirmation. So when our batch got the call to be confirmed after our last promotion, we duly readied ourselves as best we could -- but also acknowledged we never went through anything like this in our careers before and didn't quite know what to expect. Some lessons learned:

1) Not everyone gets to go right away -- The confirmation documentary requirements are substantial, and the rules and timelines are tight. While all of us in the batch worked hard to comply, a few got held up in technicalities and unfortunately weren't included in the initial list of confirmees. This led one batchmate to poignantly post in real-time something along the lines of "I'm watching your confirmation on TV while I'm back here at the office working, I'm happy for you" 

#confirmationhugot

2) Yet there will still be a LOT of people at the hearing -- People up for confirmation can span the entire government system, and while the hearings are done en masse, everyone in attendance will still get their names called and be individually asked to stand up. If your hearing happens to include the military branch, prepare to wait behind hundreds of newly-promoted officers from the backbenches.

as in, waaaay back

3) It's hard to get a decent picture out of it -- Let's start with the fact that as newbies to the confirmation ceremony, my batch didn't realize that we would regularly get caught on-camera/in-frame gazing at the more senior officers called ahead of us, leading to some inadvertent dopey facial expression photobombs on our part...like "mmm, I wonder where sir got his barong?"...

or, "I'm hungry, what's for lunch?"...

or "zzzzzz."

I wasn't asleep of course, the photo just goofily caught me mid-blink. But even when it was my turn to be called up, I was so overwhelmed by the significance of the moment I couldn't come up with a better look.

Yes, there was still a chance for a group photo-op at the end, but those military-types move quick and don't let anything stand in their way.

So you just have to be patient, and soon enough there'll be a nice, clear, unobstructed shot of you.

or not

PASYAL PA MORE...PA MORE!

So it's been a year already since we got back home, but our bagong salta tour continues! So much fun for me the LLDD-Baby! We especially like places that are not only enjoyable but also teach valuable early life lessons to the young 'un, such as...

Mind Museum   

lesson learned: when you got to go, you got to go

Avilon

lesson learned: daddy's a wuss

Jump Yard

lesson learned: daddy's a wuss who's afraid he might hurt himself at a place like this yet resentful that there wasn't a place like this when he was young

Kidzania

lesson learned: while it is within a country's right to establish a points-based system of immigration as a means, among others, of managing local jobs and employment, the implementation thereof can be challenged in the courts insofar as it may unduly restrict movement of labor across borders particularly in the highly-skilled and creative sectors.

OUR AMBASSADOR TO NEW ZEALAND JUST HAD HIS PRESENTATION OF CREDENTIALS, AND IT LOOKED COOL AS HECK

I always thought the haka freakin' ruled so hard, and that doing it before a rugby match was the coolest thing not just in sports, but in everything.  

Turns out, diplomats representin' in New Zealand get to bask in similar awesomeness.

That up there is our Ambassador at his pres cred, and what they're giving him is the pōwhiri or traditional Māori welcome. It involves a lead warrior dropping a spearhead in front of the Ambassador, who must then pick it up and return it to the warrior without breaking eye contact to signify he comes in peace. The ceremony ends with the traditional Maori greeting hongi where the visitors and hosts press their noses and foreheads together.

So cool.

Hey, remember the pres cred we had in the UK? That was also something.