Discon, Friday Night
Friday morning:
An early start to a weekend of District Conference, the culmination of our 2 1/2 weeks in Manila and area. Out of the house by 7:45 with our luggage going one way (to the hotel) and us the other way - to the Discon. Both Hans and I were wearing our barongs (see photos from the night a before at Lichtenstein's).
The Frienship Room had coffee and pastries ready, and lots of serving staff. You couldn't pour your own coffee! Pretty bar-height tables draped in white and tied with royal blue bows dotted the room so you had a place to stand and put down your cup. And small plates of delectables appeared like magic in front of us.
Lots of photos were taken when Monty and Liz arrived, and as we were members of his club, we got included in many of them as we were now considered district guests instead of just visiting Rotarians.
The theme for this year's Discon is "Mission: North Star" and as it was announced, the theme from 2001 (Thus Spake Zarathustra) blared from the speakers and clouds of dry ice misted over the florr as D G Ato took to the stage. Two large screens flanked the stage on either side so all 1000 delegates could get a clear view.
The past District Governors and spouses are paraded in, and there were quite a few! This was followed by RI Pres. Rep. Monty and Liz and the current Governor Ato and Vicki,to a standing ovation.
Each of the district's presidents, wearing the same green blazers as the governor, were introduced in turn to raucus cheers and confetti blasts. There is no shortage of fun at a Filipino Discon!
Our Father was sung by a tenor with such a sweet voice it wrung a tear from many eyes.
Then we sang O Canada and the Philippne anthem as the Air Force Cadets up front tipped each flag forward in turn.
Coffee and iced tea were served by waiters floating unobtrusively throuh the room. Candies and mints were delivered by the handful.
As the R I President's Rep, Monty spoke movingly, as he always does, about his life as a volunteer in Rotary. Not every eye was dry and I overheard many people speak of him in glowing, respectful terms.
For lunch, 18 of us which included the 8 Canadians plus various members from our sister club, went into the adjoining Mall of Asia to a Chinese restaurant overlooking the ocean. The Mall is reputed to be the largest one in Asia and a brief walk through a small portion of it confirms this. It's vast, and includes high end as well as the more popular low end shops, intermingled.
We took a few moments to go downstairs at the Discon venue to visit with Thad, our
GSE guest from 3 years ago. We caught him just as he was getting ready to put on a cooking demo, complete with overhead tilted mirror so the audience could see. Finally, we got to give him our district cookbook created last year during Raju's term, and a DVD of photos from around Canada. Thad tells us that he's hoping to immigrate to Canada and his paperwork is in progress. He hopes to get positive news within a year or so and then plans to settle in the Vancouver area.
Friday Evening:
Remember years ago when the cool thing to do was squeeze as many kids as possible into a VW? Flash forward 40 years.
We squeezed ten adults into a van, and we were all dressed up! Margo had Marion on her lap and the rest of us just sat where we could.
We were all dressed appropriately for Filipiniana Night in traditional embroidered barongs for the men, and more elaborate wear for the ladies. A few days earlier Anna, a shopper of unequalled excellence, took our measurements after we swore her to secrecy on penalty of dismemberment. Then, armed with a packed lunch and drinks, she took her driver and left for a full day's shopping and came back loaded with 4 pieced outfits for Marion, Linda and me. And they all fit! She had already found a stunning floor length Filipiniana dress for Margo, with matching slipover top and shawl.
Now the rest of us eagerly transformed ourselves into honorary Filipinas as we dressed in our floor length skirts, cami, sheer embroideed top and shawl. All outfits were in ivory with slightly darker embroidery on them and we felt like newly minted brides.
Liz wore a stunning yellow gown with Imelda sleeves, heavily beaded on the front and lightly embroidered on the back, and it fit her perfectly.
And the men looked pretty good too!
At the Discon, we arrived to a room full of nearly 1,000 people! Would that our Discons should be so popular. And everyone was dressed in their national costume. The Canadian Delegation, as we were known, were led to a table up front by the stage which had been reserved for us so although we couldn't sit with our new Filipino friends, we had a great view. Monty and Liz were close by with the district's beloved Governor Ato and Vicki as well as past R I Director Paing Henchanova and Mely.
The evening was chock full of traditional performances of dance and music with all performers in colourful costumes. The Interact and Rotaract Clubs performed a clever hip hop dance to Filipino rap!
This evening was about entertainment and fellowship, and we got both.
Here's a photo of the presidents and spouses. The ladies wore silver capes in keeping with the theme of outer space, and the couples performed a beautifully choreographed waltz.
"why aren't you with the other presidents?" I asked Tito. "I wanted to spend my time with you and so I wasn't able to attend the rehearsals." Thanks, Tito. We certainly enjoyed your company and Grace's, but we're sorry you had to make a choice. We're glad you chose us, though!
An early start to a weekend of District Conference, the culmination of our 2 1/2 weeks in Manila and area. Out of the house by 7:45 with our luggage going one way (to the hotel) and us the other way - to the Discon. Both Hans and I were wearing our barongs (see photos from the night a before at Lichtenstein's).
The Frienship Room had coffee and pastries ready, and lots of serving staff. You couldn't pour your own coffee! Pretty bar-height tables draped in white and tied with royal blue bows dotted the room so you had a place to stand and put down your cup. And small plates of delectables appeared like magic in front of us.
Lots of photos were taken when Monty and Liz arrived, and as we were members of his club, we got included in many of them as we were now considered district guests instead of just visiting Rotarians.
The theme for this year's Discon is "Mission: North Star" and as it was announced, the theme from 2001 (Thus Spake Zarathustra) blared from the speakers and clouds of dry ice misted over the florr as D G Ato took to the stage. Two large screens flanked the stage on either side so all 1000 delegates could get a clear view.
The past District Governors and spouses are paraded in, and there were quite a few! This was followed by RI Pres. Rep. Monty and Liz and the current Governor Ato and Vicki,to a standing ovation.
Each of the district's presidents, wearing the same green blazers as the governor, were introduced in turn to raucus cheers and confetti blasts. There is no shortage of fun at a Filipino Discon!
Our Father was sung by a tenor with such a sweet voice it wrung a tear from many eyes.
Then we sang O Canada and the Philippne anthem as the Air Force Cadets up front tipped each flag forward in turn.
Coffee and iced tea were served by waiters floating unobtrusively throuh the room. Candies and mints were delivered by the handful.
As the R I President's Rep, Monty spoke movingly, as he always does, about his life as a volunteer in Rotary. Not every eye was dry and I overheard many people speak of him in glowing, respectful terms.
For lunch, 18 of us which included the 8 Canadians plus various members from our sister club, went into the adjoining Mall of Asia to a Chinese restaurant overlooking the ocean. The Mall is reputed to be the largest one in Asia and a brief walk through a small portion of it confirms this. It's vast, and includes high end as well as the more popular low end shops, intermingled.
We took a few moments to go downstairs at the Discon venue to visit with Thad, our
GSE guest from 3 years ago. We caught him just as he was getting ready to put on a cooking demo, complete with overhead tilted mirror so the audience could see. Finally, we got to give him our district cookbook created last year during Raju's term, and a DVD of photos from around Canada. Thad tells us that he's hoping to immigrate to Canada and his paperwork is in progress. He hopes to get positive news within a year or so and then plans to settle in the Vancouver area.
Friday Evening:
Remember years ago when the cool thing to do was squeeze as many kids as possible into a VW? Flash forward 40 years.
We squeezed ten adults into a van, and we were all dressed up! Margo had Marion on her lap and the rest of us just sat where we could.
We were all dressed appropriately for Filipiniana Night in traditional embroidered barongs for the men, and more elaborate wear for the ladies. A few days earlier Anna, a shopper of unequalled excellence, took our measurements after we swore her to secrecy on penalty of dismemberment. Then, armed with a packed lunch and drinks, she took her driver and left for a full day's shopping and came back loaded with 4 pieced outfits for Marion, Linda and me. And they all fit! She had already found a stunning floor length Filipiniana dress for Margo, with matching slipover top and shawl.
Now the rest of us eagerly transformed ourselves into honorary Filipinas as we dressed in our floor length skirts, cami, sheer embroideed top and shawl. All outfits were in ivory with slightly darker embroidery on them and we felt like newly minted brides.
Liz wore a stunning yellow gown with Imelda sleeves, heavily beaded on the front and lightly embroidered on the back, and it fit her perfectly.
And the men looked pretty good too!
At the Discon, we arrived to a room full of nearly 1,000 people! Would that our Discons should be so popular. And everyone was dressed in their national costume. The Canadian Delegation, as we were known, were led to a table up front by the stage which had been reserved for us so although we couldn't sit with our new Filipino friends, we had a great view. Monty and Liz were close by with the district's beloved Governor Ato and Vicki as well as past R I Director Paing Henchanova and Mely.
The evening was chock full of traditional performances of dance and music with all performers in colourful costumes. The Interact and Rotaract Clubs performed a clever hip hop dance to Filipino rap!
This evening was about entertainment and fellowship, and we got both.
Here's a photo of the presidents and spouses. The ladies wore silver capes in keeping with the theme of outer space, and the couples performed a beautifully choreographed waltz.
"why aren't you with the other presidents?" I asked Tito. "I wanted to spend my time with you and so I wasn't able to attend the rehearsals." Thanks, Tito. We certainly enjoyed your company and Grace's, but we're sorry you had to make a choice. We're glad you chose us, though!
Comments
It's redundant, but have fun. We start golfing in Kelowna next week.
Vern