we're number... 3!

yes, we won bronze at the taiwanese festival (it was on the labour day long weekend). what a great accomplishment for our ridiculously good looking team. and just last weekend, we won first at the kelowna festival... in the platinum b final! amazing how our team had the magic chemistry this year to take us to and past our expectations. this is just a little catch up blog to holler at my successful team. thanks for all the work and dedication. now it's time for a few short months rest before we get at it again!!

belgium at last!!

so after a long long flight out to london, then a shorter one to brussels, we finally got to belgium. i had about an hour and a half total of sleep on the planes... because of that girl who would NOT stop talking to me who was sitting beside me!! her tv didn't work so i offered for her to lean over a bit to watch mine as i tried to sleep (i wasn't gonna change seats... i had the aisle!)... but she was a laugher. and she was watching sit coms. i tried to drug her (i offered her a gravol so she could sleep better and she accepted!) but it didn't work. she wouldn't just let the drug take her over. man. so needless to say i was sleepy. but once we got to and settled in edegem, it all got better...

my first host family had a farm. the first night i was there, we ate some croque-monsieurs (grilled cheese and ham sandwiches), drank some carbonated water and went to the farm. it was SO fun. i just ran around with my little host sister. the following days were filled with performing. i don't have many pics (cuz i'd be dancing) but instead i'll blog the highlights of the tour. besides, cristina did an awesome job blogging it all ;o)

you can also just check out edegem's official folklorefestival site. click on foto's, then the pic of the lady in the purple dress, then click on the philippine flag. enjoy!

"nee nee" pointing to pumpkins at their farm.

and it begins...

hahaha!!! if you're filipino, you don't need an explanation. (for those not familiar with tagalog, "bastos" means "vulgar, indescent, uncouth"). too funny.

meet you at the pita house!

this is where we ate for a good portion of edegem. it was so yummy... but i think this was the last day of sun in edegem. it started to get cold promptly after we finished, and then the rain came. and i think if i'm correct, it was just the 3rd day there.

gong envy?...

the indonesians' gong stand. that thing was huge. it's pretty, but our makeshift bamboo one is so much more "real"... ;op

double trouble!

the beginning of la noche

us just beginning to have fun in europe... you'll see as the blogs progress, celina and i end up having a great time in europe. we should do it again, huh?... ;o)

this is at the party we had to perpetuate "culture and friendship" among the main groups of the festival... panama, russia, sicily, and pilipinas!!

i'm sure we showed our wild and friendly side more than we needed to. hehehe... and yet we're so professional!

these great paper finger was mostly used for queueing the waiters for some krieg or carbonated iced tea. but we tried to find other uses for it throughout the night.

having a good time at la noche!

here's our table at the la noche dinner/dance. everyone's laughing at randy... ta ma na!! i'm happy i don't have his and my "interpretive dance" duet in picture form... however, i KNOW the video is somewhere. and probably some stills... *sigh* i took that night for the team!!! next time randy wants to represent filipinos that way, someone else can bite the bullet! as i said when i posted from belgium: i had bruises!!

rural in the park

itik-itik girls... and cristina. we look like gang members or something... there's the rondalla boys on the side, alexa represents the sayaw gang (celina's holding my hat, so technically i'm repppin too!), and the pandango gang is layin low with baby in the background... *LOL*

waiting for our turn... while the rain stops for a bit.

on our way back from dancing in the rain. how perfect was it that we were performing the "rural" repetoire. even though it was a close distance, the trek in zapatillas or kung fu shoes really sucked when we encountered mud! despite the bad weather, we did it up money! we're just awesome.

the picnic in the rain... psych! it was in a gym!

a better pic of "nee nee" and i... ;o)

my first homestay mom and little sister (i called her "nee nee" cuz she always said "no"... even to photos!). but this family was very very sweet to me. i had a great time eating with them and spending time with them (oh i miss them!). i felt very much like a part of their family. this was the last time i'd get to be with them because they were leaving for vacation so i was sent to another homestay for the remainder of the tour.

typical after performance snack

we ate belgian waffles in any way we could! as you can see, melissa and vincent are showing off their delicious belgian icecream sundays!.. ooh how i crave european dairy products!

group day trip to antwerpen

i just loved belgium's ads. you'll see later on how many signs i actually took pictures of as the blogs progress. celina had to pose beside this poster cuz she has that exact same dress... for itik-itik!! *LOL*

so the story of antwerpen is that a guy fought a giant and cut off his hand (ant- "hand"; -werpen "throwing"). it was thrown in the scheldt river... but for some reason, the hand is found on meir street, a huge shopping street in antwerpen. i thought it was pretty neat. this is a rare shot of it with no birds or children on it.

an ad for the superman movie on a pole. i thought it was fun.

homestay number 2

this fine couple was my second homestay (grand)parents. they were SO sweet. they spoke french with me and they even took me on a lakad to antwerpen! we took the bus and tram right into the central station, then walked around the seedy diamond district on our way to a brasserie to have a drink! then they took me to the other side of the big scheldt river to see antwerpen from the other side! they're so nice. and don't you just love their kitchen? it's like half the size of my living room! everything is SO narrow there... and yet it all works out! maybe vancouver can learn a few things about living in confined spaces from begium!!