A Show of Traditional Philippine Dances

Yesterday at Nova Southeastern University, we were treated to a festival of color, action and sounds as we watched a dance exhibition by the Palawan State University (PSU) Sining Palawan Dance Company. They are presently on tour here in the US and their show is primarily about traditional Philippine dances that originated from the different regions and provinces in the Philippines.

It was pure delight and although the venue could have been better, the organizers are already planning to do it in an auditorium by next year. It was 'standing room only' in the second floor venue of NOVA's University Center. Even the third floor which has like a balcony overlooking the performance was used by the audience. Anyway, the place didn't really give justice to the splendid performance by the PSU students but it gave us more than a glimpse of Philippine traditional dances. The costumes were superb and the dancers were very skilled in their craft. It was good that we decided to go there early since I was really planning to take pictures and I was fortunate to do that by getting a good spot. The first three rows were reserved but I was able to position myself next to a post and thus I was never guilty of blocking somebody else's view.

It was an enjoyable night, a full two hours less 20 minutes for intermission for the entire show. It was a pleasant surprise that it started almost on time at 7 pm, if you know what I mean. Their program indicated the performance is for 18 different dances. One of which is actually a beautiful rendition of a Kundiman that was composed by Dr. Jose Rizal and is titled "Dulces Las Horas". But upon checking the photos I made after the show, they probably omitted one but I'm not sure. The theme of the show is "A Legacy of Philippine Heritage" and the groupings of the different dances fell into the following:

In the Palace of the Terraces
Dances of Yesteryears
Mindanao Exotica
Countryside Dances

I made a simple slideshow of some of the photos I made. There is no music since I don't have any soundtrack of any of their dances and I will just make it bad if I put any music that is not compatible to the dances they did. I just inserted the name of the dance they were doing and a brief description of it (based on the program) if anybody is interested.

Also, here are some individual photos. I just realized blogger has such a small frame size for its video/slideshow.

Backyard Rainbow

Right after dinner, David saw a rainbow from the rear glass door and motioned everyone to take a look. Without missing a beat, I grabbed my camera before proceeding outside. I don't recall seeing a rainbow this late in the day, actually it was already evening at around 7pm.

David asked if there really is gold at the end of the rainbow. I told him that that's only a myth but there's only a mango tree at the end, our mango tree that is perhaps around 6 years old in this photo.


I haven't really made a photo of a rainbow that is worthy of a picture frame. I had this one before when we were in Costco and from a p&s camera. These are just snapshots but if I find myself in a great location at the right time with a camera and a tripod, I surely will try to capture one in the best way possible.

Look...Five Parakeets!

The light was better today compared to the past two days when the rain was almost non-stop and there was a heavy overcast. I thought I can manage to squeeze some photos of the birds especially when I saw them sitting on a single perch.

Here are their images.


Snow White, Coco, Amoyoco, Dindi and Luke Skywalker














"Hear me out", Luke S. seems to be saying.

Amoyoco, Dindi and Luke S.















Coco and Dindi















Dindi alone, our favorite. She's very gentle.























Dindi on my hand.















Amoyoco

Our New Housemates

Not what you may be thinking but new pets for the family.

We've been planning to get a new pet since the kids had been yearning to have one that is more exciting than a fish in an aquarium for quite some time now. The kids wanted a dog but we feel we're not really ready to invest the time and energy to care for one, so we settled with getting some feathered friends. At first I was thinking of cockatiels and was quite settled to get probably a pair but after visiting some pet shops, the kids were more inclined to get some parakeets.

After receiving the cage on Friday which I got brand new through Ebay for a very good price, stand included, we decided to go to Petland Saturday morning, Sept. 22. Missy suggested that this date will also be the parakeets' "birthday". David and Missy went with me so they can choose the birds they like. Their parakeets don't stay in cages but big open compartments. The wings are clipped so they can't really fly away and most of them are quite young. Just the right age to tame them. We got five and we think we either got 2 boys and 3 girls or 3 boys and 2 girls. One is quite not that obvious. To know the sex of the parakeets, one has to look at the cere which is the bump above the beak. The cere is essentially the nose and if it's color is either pink or brown, it's most likely a female. If it's blue, then it's a male.

Before even getting to the pet shop, the kids were already thinking of names to give to the birds. Back home, we settled for Amoyoco and Luke Skywalker for the males, Dindi, Coco and Snow White for the females. Amoyoco is Ophine's fictitious name of a blue bird in one of her original bedtime stories for the kids. We also got one albino with red eyes, thus the name Snow White. Dindi (pronounced Gingi; Portuguese name and spelling from a favorite song of mine a long time ago) was the name of my beloved Great Dane when I was still in the Philippines. Dindi is my favorite and I like her colors, pastel blue and pastel yellow. Coco came from Ophine for a green-yellow colored parakeet and Luke S. was David's idea.

Their first day at home, one can tell that they really need to adjust first to their new environment and they were very skittish but later that evening, I was able to get one on my finger. The kids tried it and were also successful. Now we know we can really tame this one. It was Dindi. Sunday, we were able to do it with Amoyoco. David was also successful handfeeding Luke Skywalker so that's a very good sign. No luck yet with Coco and Snow White. Snow White bit me Saturday night but it was probably my fault for trying too hard on her. Their time will come. I allowed Dindi and Amoyoco crawl out of the bird cage since I really want these birds to "feel at home" with us. I believe once they've adjusted, they'll be very good pets for the family.

Photos to follow.

Pinoy Transformers or Transportmers

My sister who sent me the images I used for a previous post mentioned that this series of artwork was done by Kons Koh, an architecture graduate from UP and a member of their arkiforum yahoogroups. Now I'm sure of who the artist is. She thinks Mr. Koh works as a consultant for Hasbro but she's not sure. I'm still amazed.

Missy as Hannah Montana

Our Missy is a huge fan of Miley Cyrus, otherwise known as Hannah Montana on TV. She had been asking for a Hannah Montana wig from Club Libby Lu for quite sometime now so when I saw one in their store in Dolphin Mall in Miami, I bought one immediately. Today I was able to photograph her so here's the result. Next time when I have the chance, I'll try to do something with her eyebrows.

Paulo and Pauline Plus One are Back

Yesterday afternoon, we all went to Kendall in Miami to visit our old friends Paulo and Pauline Jimenez and their 3 month old baby Gabriel who have just arrived from Connecticut. They've been there for 4 years and now they're back in South Florida. Pauline is a close friend of Ophine since the mid-90s when they were still nurses in Westchester Gen. Hospital. Pauline is also David's godmother. Common friends Jun and Lotlot Dominguez also came with us to see them. Pauline and Paulo's moms Gloria and Tamara who had just arrived from Chile were also there.


It was just so great seeing each other again and seeing them with their cute baby multiplies the gladness. With the parents and the two doting grandmas nearby, baby Gabriel would surely never lack attention. Anyway, we all had a swell time reconnecting with one another even though Ophine and Pauline talk to each other regularly. We're looking forward to more time with our friends and baby Gabriel in the future.



Pauline and baby Gabriel.


Paulo 'd artist' with his painting of Pauline in the background.


Gabriel in a pensive mood.


Ophine feeling like a new mommy again.


David with his Ninang.


The girls having their girls' talk.


Mom Tamara showing the family photos to Ophine.



Missy showing her photo of me after taking it with Ophine's cellphone.


This is how Pauline's hair was in the painting...


Playing with a video game and just relaxing.



Group photo before we left. Oh, Paulo had to leave early.