Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 22 | Page 29

November 16 - 30, 2018
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
SPECTATOR
By Al Mendoza
SYDNEY—Hi, mate!
This city, booming and bursting to
the seams but still sparse of population
that makes it still very lovably livable,
continues to charm me even as this was
already my sixth visit here since 1985.
A highlight of those six trips, of
course, was my coverage of the Sydney
Olympics in 2000 when I was still the
sports editor of the Inquirer.
Shops here still usually open at
10 a.m. but many close mostly at 4:30
p.m. Monday to Friday.
They extend business hours up to
6-6:30 p.m. usually Saturdays and Sun-
days, but night-hogs would soak it up
on weekends to as late as 1 a.m., par-
tying/drinking on extra-wide pavements
beside pubs and bars.
This capital of New South Wales
is so vibrant—its economic growth
surpassing projections robustly almost
yearly—that it has fast transformed into
a convergence of many migrants, most-
ly Chinese.
“In 2000, there were only about
50,000 Chinese arrivals against some
100,000 Filipinos here already,” said a
Filipino who moved here in 1970.
Records now show that Chinese
population here has ballooned to nearly
500,000—487,976 to be exact, surpass-
ing migrants from Ireland (416,642) and
Scotland (307,460).
This city has only a total of nearly
5 million—the most populous of Austra-
lia’s 7 states.
Do you know that Australia has
only a total population of about 25 mil-
lion? Peanuts, when compared to the
Philippines’ nearly 107 million.
And what brought me here
again?
I was bodyguard/escort of my be-
loved, the eminent (ahem!) writer Sol F.
Juvida, when she attended their high
school homecoming lasting 9 days—
the longest reunion on record world-
wide, I guess.
She reconnected with her 23 high
school classmates from the PCC Labo-
ratory High School in Lepanto, Manila,
where only about 120 passed the en-
trance exams out of some 1,248 tak-
ers, according to alumnus Auroa “Urra”
Garcia.
Urra, from the famous power-
ful Albano clan of Ilocandia, produced
with her Agrix Films the blockbuster
‘80s flicks “Hubad na Gubat,” starring
Tetchie Agbayani, and “Tubig at Lan-
gis” by the famed Danny Zialcita (rest
in peace).
During the batch’s dinner-dance
party on Nov. 3 at nearby Burwood City,
Grace Umhang (married to Swiss-Ger-
man Armin) had this touching line in her
invocation: “Father, we entrust to your
loving care and protection the loved
ones whom these families had left be-
hind. Send your angels to watch over
them.”
The delegation, with Maripet
Ripoll-Alvez doing a yeoman’s job as
SPORTS
29
Reminiscing on 2000 Sydney
Olympics—and more
mother hen,
went to visit
the Australian Parliament House and it
was at that marble-laced palace that I
learned about Australia being a federal
government. A great eye-opener!
“Indeed, travels really broaden
our horizons,” said Ramon Acebes, the
loving hubby of Becky de Leon.
Becky is dear Sol’s best friend
along with Jopen Lotho, she with the
comely smile and who has a striking
resemblance with Sharon Cuneta, if not
Ara Mina.
In her well-applauded opening re-
marks during the Nov. 3 reunion proper,
Editha Johnson (married to Australian
Bill) said: “For sure, we will be swap-
ping lots of memories and stories not
only tonight but in the following days as
well. Who knows, some of the stories
might even be true so let’s just go with
the flow.”
And then came Edith’s punchline
that brought the house down: “Anyway,
we are seniors now and we can get away
with almost anything!”
Anytime, you can say that again,
mate!
Dreaming of the missing keys
IT’S nice to be back. The Sydney
swing sort of reenergized me.
A bit tiring, of course, but I can’t
complain.
So that even as the trip had one
stain, I won’t allow the glitch to spoil the
party.
I lost the two keys of our room in
Sydney that I thought I had dropped at
the box in obedience to hotel rules when
checking out.
Turns out I didn’t.
Our Sydney-based friend, who had
booked us at the Waldorf Apartments,
called us up about the missing keys just
as we got home in Quezon City.
“Dear Al could not have possibly
dropped the keys at the box as per re-
cords of the CCTV,” said Offie O’Sullivan,
my wife’s high school classmate married
to Eugene, the Irish gentleman.
“In that case, please tell Offie I will
just pay for the missing keys,” I told my
wife. “CCTVs never lie.”
Events had happened so furiously
fast that dawn of our departure for home
sweet home.
I was about to drop the keys in
the box placed at the lobby left of the lift
when, in a flash, I made a chase of our
Rimowa bag scooting so swiftly outside
on the downhill pavement.
But I wasn’t that fast. Not any-
more.
Or my knees weren’t up to the
challenge?
God, it was raining.
Instinctively, I had to slow down
midway into the dash as the pavement
was slippery.
Some years back, I broke my right
elbow following a slip on my way to the
locker room of a golf course. For al-
most a year, I couldn’t play golf; all that
time, I used only my left hand in tapping
the keys of my laptop every time I wrote
a column, or a news story.
So in short, I missed Rimowa.
Completely.
Fortunately, it was about 2:30 in
the morning. Not a single vehicle tra-
versing Liverpool St. to flatten the run-
away red Rimowa, which traveled about
maybe a hundred or so feet away.
“Good thing it didn’t burst open,”
said the missus, giving me dagger looks.
“All the chocolates for pasalubong would
have vanished like thin air.”
And then this knockout of a query
from the missus when we finally got set-
tled down at our PAL seats: “Honey, did
you drop our room keys at the box?”
“Yes,” I said.
Then I fell asleep.
Plain idiocy in the NCAA
THIS made me laugh—and
cringe.
It’s right down the alley of “Rip-
ley’s Believe It or Not?”
So, class, listen up.
CJ Perez was barred from play-
ing Game 1 on Tuesday (Nov. 6) of the
NCAA best-of-three Finals between Ly-
ceum and San Beda.
Isn’t he Lyceum’s top gunner?
Perez also happens to be the
NCAA’s No. 1 shooter averaging 18.7
points a game. Both his 3.3 steals and
8.4 rebounds an outing are league tops,
too.
With him virtually nailed helplessly
to the bench in the Finals’ opener, Per-
ez, in sheer agony, watched San Beda
bamboozle Lyceum 73-60.
With his 18.7 points per game
output, who knows Perez might have
transformed that 13-point loss into a
five-point win for Lyceum the challeng-
er.
And why again was Perez
canned?
The NCAA ManCom (Manage-
ment Committee) found him breaking a

rule when he didn’t inform officials, he’d
join the next PBA Draft.
Was that miscue severe enough
as to cause the league’s fold-up?
For the ManCom to ban Perez
from seeing action right in the very first
game of the Finals was beyond logic.
That verdict essentially allowed
the ManCom to hand Game 1 to San
Beda on a silver platter.
If the punishment did not make
San Beda a winner, it could have even
meant goodbye to Boyet Fernandez’s
coaching career.
Too brutally unfair it was that it
also defied all forms of justice.
It is worse than seeing Lyceum
suffer a 50-percent decline in enrolment
in the next schoolyear.
But if you think Perez’s champi-
onship-threatening penalty was idiotic
enough, what about this?
Lyceum coach Topex Robinson is
in hot water, too.
That’s because he criticized Per-
ez’s suspension, which naturally trig-
gered his Pirates’ defeat that even a
kindergarten cannot deny. A natural
reaction by a human being hurt by pure
nonsense.
I don’t know if I’d cry or laugh be-
cause his punishment will come only af-
ter the championship.
Meaning, Topex can coach Lyce-
um in Game 2 Monday (Nov. 12) and, if
necessary, in Game 3, too.
Why was Perez denied the same
concession—postpone his suspension?
Is Robinson special to the Frank
Gusi-headed ManCom but not Perez?
Talk about idiocy in its supreme
irony.
(San Beda went on to defeat Lyce-
um in Game 2 and the Red Lions went
on to complete a “three-peat” while also
clinching their 11th NCAA crown in 13
years.)

By: Julian Ray Fortaleza
Answers from last week’s issue:
1. The current cruiserweight champion is Alex Usyk
2. The oldest pitcher to win in the MLB was Jamie Moyer
3. There have been 38 seasons of the Ultimate Fighter
New Questions:
1. Who was the last man to unify all the belts in a division?
2. Who will Manny Pacquiao fight next?
3. How many seasons of the The Contender have there been?
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