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Thursday, July 17, 2003
I finally took time off to surf the net and I found a few interesting things. First of all, Ramon's list of links has gotten a little longer and is now called "voyeur therapy", and among the new links that I checked out, Katwo's proved to be most interesting. Her postcard entries are both simple and complex, depending on her mood; and they may not be the greatest of graphic creations, but so much of her personality comes out that you just find yourself going back every now and then to see if she posted anything new. Way cool. I also found out through Sansan's blog that our friends have a print and web design company called Spoonmarks Design. Go to their site and have a look-see. Talk N' Text also won the PBA Championship. Cool! Well not that I follow the PBA, but I liked reading this line in the email that I received: "What made the win sweeter aside from the fact that it came after 21 conferences was that it was an All-Filipino crown, perhaps the most coveted of all championships in the PBA." That has to be a good thing, right? The most important find, of course, was realizing that I haven't seen many of my friends since Chris' birthday, and I just did an eat-and-run stint, too. Not that being with my GamePlan friends has been a drag, oh no, not at all. But I do miss my other friends, and it's also sad to see that the ones who blog have hardly been blogging. They're all busy, just like me. Sigh. But at least I bumped into Chris and Ramon in Pearl last Monday, and Buko and I have been visiting balikbayan Meg in Kusineo. Naks, may tambayan potential ang resto na 'yan! Anyway, at least I'm not that far apart from my friends after all, and we're going to drink in Kusineo tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get to see more of them this time. If you're interested...no, no, change that. Please, please visit Meg's resto Kusineo! It's along Mother Ignacia in between Roces Ave and Timog Ave. The pasta, lambchops, pinoy breakfast and oooh, Gotham cheesecake are really yummy. And the beer's affordable! P35 for Pale, p40 for San Mig Light! Sorry, I just had to plug that in. :)
Saturday, July 05, 2003
Last June 23, I was given the opportunity to attend the Olympism Awards Ceremony of the Philippine Olympic Committee to celebrate Olympics Day and to launch a book written by POC President Celso Dayrit entitled The History of the Olympic Movement in the Philippines. This opportunity, however, was one that I was not prepared to take. GamePlan won an Olympism Award for Sports Broadcasting and Boss Joy was supposed to receive it, but she had asthma and I was the only one in the team who was on break that Monday. So I went, nervous in my ala-Frida suit, drank wine and smoked with the waiters. Many sports greats were there, including Akiko who couldn’t attend to me much because being their darling, she had to play the mingling game. She did introduce me to Mr. Dayrit, though, and as usual, I had no idea that he was the president. I was so out of it. Stupid, stupid. I called a few friends to ease my nervousness because I didn’t know if I was supposed to give a speech or not. I wrote one on a piece of scratch and prayed and prayed because nothing that I have learned from the Ateneo or Probe could’ve prepared me for something like this. While waiting for the ceremony to begin, I was seated beside a nice man named Art. He and his colleagues were having a wonderful debate on how sports in the Philippines should be managed. He turned to me and introduced himself and when he heard my name, he said that he knew a Vargas named Jorge. Jorge was my great grandfather, and upon hearing this, Art went on to tell me about how famous my Lolo Jorge was, that he was a sportsman and a leader who inspired many, even to this day. These were things I knew nothing about, so sitting there and listening to him was such a thrill. But an even bigger thrill was not finding out that I didn’t have to give a speech. An award was given to the late Mr. Jorge Vargas for Sports Leadership and no one from the Vargas clan was around to receive it. So Art raised his hand and said, “Here, here! The great grand daughter is here!” I shook my head and explained that I didn’t come for this, but everyone turned to look at me and I felt a huge shift in my responsibilities...or maybe it was just my stomach turning upside down. My shy walk to the little stage was nothing my mother would’ve been proud of, but I went up there and shook hands with a man whose name escapes me (God forgive me. I know he’s an important man.), Mr. Golez and Mr. Dayrit and accepted the award for my Lolo Jorge. It was quite heavy, a blue green Olympic flame sculpted by the famous Mr. Orlina, and I stood there with the other awardees, slightly out of place, but overwhelmed with quiet family pride. Dr. Canlas, awarded for Sports Medicine, whispered to me, “I thought you were here for GamePlan,” and I just smiled and told myself that this was so much better. Akiko received the award for GamePlan, and we both stood there thinking of how appropriate the twist of the night felt. My Coach Anthony Lozada was in the audience and his presence was such a pleasant bonus because he knew how much I loved sports and how wonderful it was for me to represent my great grandfather for such an event. Before leaving, I thanked Art and asked him what his surname was, and when he said, "Macapagal," my heart jumped. My God! I was sitting beside the president’s brother! I also met Lt. Col. Malonso, former POC president and a friend of Lolo Jorge's. He reminded me of Fr. Bulatao because he spoke fondly of Lolo Jorge with welled up eyes and memories of him rushing across his face. Call it destiny or fate. All I know is that God has an interesting way of making things work in my life. Growing up with the neighborhood boys made me competitive, and going to school as the nerdy jock got me a job in GamePlan; and GamePlan, well, that show has given me so much. Good friends, extreme experiences, and a renewed love for marine biology. But most of all, a role in Philippine sports, just as Lolo Jorge had. God has a plan, and it all started with putting me here as a Vargas. Yes, even if my parents intended to have only 2 children. :)  Here's a picture of the award. Sorry, this was the best I could do. *When the POC sends us the wooden mount for the award, it will be brought to the Vargas Museum in UP Diliman. *** My family also gives the best parties. Tonight is the joint birthday party of my sisters and the theme is Pambahay. Woohoo! Hell, I’m already dressed for it! All I need to do now is take a shower!
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