Vancouver

basketball

Is basketball only for tall people?
Think again…. 😉

Tacloban-After Typhoon Haiyan (a.k.a. Yolanda) courtesy of: http://l3.yimg.com

intramuros-basketball — Intramuros, Manila (photo courtesy of: Wikimedia.org)

Filipinos love for basketball can be likened to Canadians innate love for hockey. Every street corner in the Philippines is an impromptu basketball court… and people play the game whether they are wearing flip flops (a.k.a. tsinelas), sneakers, leather shoes, or even barefoot!

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) (courtesy of: http://www.slamonlineph.com)	Canada Hockey (photo courtesy of: Google 🙂 )
street basketball (photo courtesy of: http://www.bubblews.com/)	street hockey (photo courtesy of: http://www.womenshockeylife.com)

You betcha! I remember when I was 15 – 19 years old, I used to be a basketball announcer whenever there was a tournament in our community; that was one of my tasks as part of the youth council.

One basketball player was always assigned to sit beside me to help me interpret the referee’s call and the names of the violations committed during the game. In other words, he needs to make sure that I don’t screw up! 🙂 All I had to do was announce what’s going on in the court, joke a little bit to liven up the game, and speak with conviction regarding the violations.

The tournament was something similar to the photos below:

kids-basketball — photo courtesy of: http://mati.gov.ph/

It’s fun and at the same time scary… especially if the intensity of the match was too high! Whew! Even though the games were a frenzy, they never broke into riots.. there were no cars being set on fire like during the Vancouver Stanley Cup riot. :p We know how to keep it under control. 😉

Riot – Vancouver (photo courtesy of: http://www.ctvnews.ca)

Riot-aftermath-Vancouver — Riot Aftermath – Vancouver (photo courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/)

By any means, the Filipino fascination (or should I say obsession?) with basketball prompted American author Rafe Bartholomew to go to the Philippines, conduct a study, and write a book about it. (Click here to read the snapshot of his book, Pacific Rims).

Rafe Bartholomew (photo courtesy of: http://rafebartholomew.com/sites/)

pacificrims_cover — Pacific Rims (photo courtesy of: http://rafebartholomew.com/)

Who wants to play ball? Let’s go, let’s go! 😀

The Chancellor

Click here to read the related blog entry for a preview -> “Boy & Cel”
While visiting the Olympic Village in Whistler, British Columbia… I had a chance to ride the Peak 2 Peak Gondola with my cousin Chancee (a.k.a. Chancellor) and Kuya Freddie. The long cable-car ride gave us some time to enjoy the view and chat about life… somehow the topic of my blog (thecuriousme.com) came up and how I use it to chronicle my trips, funny moments and embarrassing experiences.

Chancee was enjoying the scenery when he turned solemn; lost in thought. The abrupt stop of the peak 2 peak for almost half an hour heightened his reverie. Most probably out of boredom, he started a monologue, his tone was like a politician delivering a melodramatic speech. :p It’s also his way of giving me “materials” because he wants me to write a blog entry about his adventure in Canada.

The gist of his monologue as I remember it was some crazy plan on how to get out from the peak 2 peak, just in case we will be stranded… Here you go:

Three options!
1. Walk through the railings and climb down using one of the posts.
2. Jump down to the forest straight from the peak 2 peak.
3. Wait for someone to rescue us.

Lucky for us though, the cable-car started running again and we got back down safe and sound. Thank God!

Moving on, see below for the snapshots of Chancee’s adventure in British Columbia, Canada:

Whistler (Peak 2 Peak / Olympic Village)	snowmobile (Whistler -Olympic Village)
glacier (Whistler / Olympic Village)	Queen Elizabeth Park
Shannon Falls	Capilano Suspension Bridge
	Canada-US border

See you again soon Chancee! 🙂

submarine

I’m back… (…again)! 🙂

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Before I get carried away blabbering about why I disappeared, I would like to thank Jellybean and Sothi for the enlightenment about the transformation of thecuriousme’s logo. Most of all, my heartfelt gratitude to Chihhang for helping J and @TheSoulfulVixen tweak the new look of the logo (click here to read the blog entry,”renovation”). Maraming salamat (Thank you very much)! 😀
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Sooo… I had gone on hiatus for a couple of months (right… almost a year!!!)… Kinda like a submarine… You know… submarines float and then dive under the water… then resurface… then disappear again… -_-

Let’s just say, I was trying to live my life to the fullest and not waste time hiding in my cave. Yeah… I used to lock up in my nerd cave, living in a virtual world. I’ve realized that there’s more to life outside the four corners of my rock shelter! Life is indeed colorful and too short.

Expect to see fascinating new blog entries soon! 😉 FYI. Posts will be in no particular order.

To give you a birds eye view on some of the upcoming posts, here are some photos:

driving	skating
snowboarding	camping
Olympic Village	Ottawa
Montreal	Virginia
Washington DC	New York

Are you ready? *blink* *blink* 😉

Boy & Cel

Within the short span of time since I’ve migrated in this side of the world, I’ve observed that some immigrants who stayed here for more than 15 years tend to hold themselves with high regard and most often than not, belittle the newbies like me.

The most painful realization is, the people who do this are not strangers but they are somewhat connected to you either by blood relation or via friends. It’s a harsh… sad… reality. No pun intended.

Sigh. I know, I’m blabbering. Shoot me.

On a happier note, my trip to Vancouver, British Columbia was very rewarding because I’ve received one of the greatest birthday gift ever! That is, meeting Kuya Boy and Ate Cel for the first time. Ate Cel’s mother and my father are first cousins. It was my cousin Jaime (a.k.a. Chancee) who introduced me to them. And what do you know… I had a chance to meet Kuya Freddie and AJ too! Awesome!

If I cried myself to sleep during my last year’s birthday (yeah, I cried my heart out), I had a silly grin on my face this year. Thank God!
(Note: “Kuya” is a Filipino word that denotes older brother or it’s also usually used as a sign of respect for older males.
“Ate” is the equivalent term of “Kuya” for females.)

I must say, I was ecstatic when I got to know Kuya Boy and Ate Cel because they are one of the few humblest Filipino-Canadian couple I’ve ever met in this side of the world. I was over the moon because it gave me hope. And most of all, it made me realized that migrating here is not an “awful” decision after all. I guess, I was a bit traumatized on what I’ve been through. Trusting people became an extreme ordeal for me.

Kuya Boy	Ate Cel

My late mom reiterated when I was growing up to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground whatever happens. That’s why, I get so annoyed when I see people fly inside a bubble like there’s no tomorrow and lambast people who are “below” them. It really gets into me and at the same time, it makes me sad.

It’s good to know though, that there are still few people like Kuya Boy and Ate Cel who did not place success into their head. Indeed, finding the chosen few made my heart burst with happiness.

bc2012- 809 — Ate Cel & Kuya Boy’s garden

Kuya Boy and Ate Cel, my heartfelt thanks for your warm hospitality, words of wisdom, and most of all, for wholeheartedly accepting me even though you have just met me . I’m super overwhelmed! See you again soon.

Click here to read related article -> “b.c. link”

British Columbia

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Click below to read related articles:
Ontario

Alberta

Banff & LakeLouise	Calgary Zoo	Pacific Place
Crosslink	road trip finale

Saskatchewan

snow	summer party	winter party	“warm” weather
the berry barn	airshow 2011	folkfest	single ladies
mineral spa	danceland	flea market	big fat ass
luau?	beach(?)	tent	camping
MoSo	barcamp

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British Columbia (B.C.), Canada is definitely my next target after enjoying the tourist spots of Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. I was planning to travel last June 2012 but for some reason, it got pushed back from my bucket list.

Later on, my cousin, Jaime (a.k.a. Chancee), informed me that he’s flying to Winnipeg for a study tour and asked me if it’s possible for us to meet up. We both agreed to see each other in Vancouver and stay in one of our relatives place whom I haven’t met.

I was so pumped! I’ll be hitting four birds with one stone! Err… it would also be cute to say, with one airfare. Well, it’s surely worth it. I’ll be able to:
*** Chat with my cousin
*** Meet & bond with my new-found relatives
*** Take a well-deserved holiday
*** “Get to know” British Columbia

Indeed, God is good. Through His “magical hands”, the wonderful trip took place and it certainly paved the way to connect some of the missing links of my life.

So, what happened during the trip? Hmmm… I’ll let you know in a bit. :p