Manuel Baldemor's European Journey of Discovery Exhibit

I attended the artist's reception of Manuel Baldemor's European Journey of Discovery exhibit and it was amazing!

A few months ago, I wrote about my journey towards acquiring art created by Manuel Baldemor. Because I had purchased a couple of his paintings from the gallery that was organizing this exhibit, I was invited by my gallery consultant contact. He said that Mr. Baldemor would be there and it would be a great opportunity to meet and have a photo taken with him. Naturally, I made sure I could attend.

I loved this exhibit for so many reasons. First, I love Europe. I've been to several cities in Europe, some of which were the subjects of the pieces on display such as Vienna, Amsterdam, Bruges, London, and Moscow. Seeing beautiful paintings of cities I had visited made me feel even more connected to them.

I also really do love Mr. Baldemor's style and his use of color. His paintings just feel like they are full life and light and looking at them makes me happy. 

Some of my favorite pieces in this exhibit included Budapest,

Vienna,

and Prague.

What I didn't expect was that I would really love and be drawn to the Romania piece. I don't think it's the most photogenic painting in the exhibit because when I saw the photo of it, I thought it was just okay. But when I saw it in real life, it was spectacular.

I would have wanted to get one of the pieces but they were understandably on the expensive side, being good-sized paintings from an illustrious master artist. Also, the paintings on display from the 1990s and were made using watercolor and ink. Mr. Baldemor doesn't create art with this style or using these media anymore. I thought really hard about whether I would like to get a painting but I learned that they were sold out weeks before the exhibit.

The next best thing for me was to get the book which included photos of all the art from this exhibit. I was very fortunate that I was able to get Mr. Baldemor sign it...

...and have my photo taken with him.

I don't know if Mr. Baldemor still has paintings like this. I will try to start saving money now so if he does come out with more paintings similar to what was on display in the exhibit, maybe I can acquire one in the future. 

Of Grit and Steel

Of Grit and Steel is an exhibit of selected bronze sculptures from the BPI Art Collection to celebrate the bank's 174th anniversary. I chanced upon this display as I was walking along the bridgeway from Greenbelt 4 and 5. Entrance is free and since I'm in my art phase right now, I decided to head in to appreciate the many bronze sculptures on display here.

Of Grit and Steel free exhibit at the Ayala Museum

There's a write-up at the entrance that explains the significance of this exhibit: "At its heart is a dynamic interplay of themes: the role of women, the value of family, the importance of history, and the enduring power of culture--all of which continue to shape and define our identity as Filipinos."

Bronze sculptures by Solomon Saprid

Works of three artists were featured. At the entrance, there are two bronze busts of women created by Julie Lluch.

Bronze sculptures created by Julie Lluch

Napoleon Abueva is a National Artist for Sculpture and is known as the Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture. His collection, called Panorama of Philippine Society, is showcased on another wall.

Panorama of Philippine Society bronze collection by Napoleon Abueva

Several pieces from Solomon Saprid were also on display.

More sculptures by Solomon Saprid

I was really happy that I randomly stumbled upon this free exhibit. It also made me realize that I still haven't been into the Ayala Museum to appreciate the art here so I need to make time for this soon.

 

Rest in Peace, Uncle Albert

A sad moment for my family: Uncle Albert, my grandfather's brother, passed away.

We call him Uncle even if he is my grandfather's brother because that's how we always called him, even as kids. He just celebrated his 88th birthday earlier this year and despite battling illness, his mind was as sharp as a tack. Their immediate family lost two people last year so one wish he had back then was that no one else in the family would go this year so it's heartbreaking that he didn't quite get his wish. That said, he did live a very full life and he was surrounded by love and by the people he loved before he passed on.

I took time off from work to attend the funeral. Uncle Albert was laid to rest next to his wife, Auntie Isabel, who passed on just a year ago. Among the many things he was known for was his predilection for wearing hats. Anytime there was a family gathering, he would always show up wearing one of his many hats. In his memory and in celebration of his life, his family brought his hat collection to the funeral and they asked all the men to wear one of his hats.

During the interment, Tito Chet, who is Uncle Albert's son-in-law, asked me to sing. He said that if Uncle Albert was still alive, he would have asked me to sing (as he did when Auntie Isabel was interred last year). I sang "Lead me Lord" and "Lift up your hands", both songs by Basil Valdez. I selected these songs because they were both hopeful, with themes of trusting in the Lord to help us get through difficult times. After singing both songs, the interment process was still not done so Tita Eileen said I should sing "Hindi Kita Malilimutan." This song is a lot more emotional than the other two I sang which is why I didn't originally plan to sing it. In fact, while I was singing, I heard Uncle Albert's best friend say that it was a very sad song. It did move quite a few people but I guess that's because it hits home: we really won't ever forget Uncle Albert.

It really is very sad that Uncle Albert is no longer with us. He was very vibrant and colorful and had such a life force, and you always felt his presence when he was around. Family gatherings will never be the same without him. We love you and we will miss you, Uncle Albert!

In-flight Entertainment

My long-haul flights to Australia and back allowed me to watch some movies on in-flight entertainment.

Twisters

I originally thought that Twisters was a reboot of the original 1996 film Twister which I love and which stars Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. I have since read that it is apparently a standalone sequel. I couldn't really tell that it was a sequel though since there is no mention of anyone or anything from the original film, apart from the use of Dorothy to gather tornado data. While there are many similarities with the 1996 flick, there are a lot of different elements that give this movie a bit of a different feel from the first. I really enjoyed its twists - there were things I completely did not expect to happen - and I really liked the characters, especially the main protagonists. (I have to say that Daisy Edgar-Jones who plays the lead character Kate is absolutely gorgeous.) I also discovered that Bill Paxton's son James plays a small role in the film, which I thought was a wonderful touch given that Bill was one of the leads in Twister and he has since passed away.

Juror #2

I wasn't familiar with this movie until I saw it on the plane but the short description of it got me interested enough to watch it. And I'm glad I did because it was outstanding. (I later discovered it was directed by Clint Eastwood and I really do appreciate and think very highly of him as a director.) Juror #2 is kinda like a courtroom drama and a bit of a whodunit movie rolled into one. A huge revelation, which is shared in the very early part of the film, is such a huge and gut-wrenching twist that it kept me glued and wondering what would happen next. But what truly made it significantly more compelling to me was the moral dilemma upon which the movie is hinged and which drove the story forward. If you have a chance to see it, you should.

Captain America: Brave New World

I didn't watch this movie when it came out in the theaters because I thought you had to have watched a lot of the shows on Disney+, including The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series, but I was told later on by my friends that you didn't need to. So when I saw that Captain America: Brave New World was available in the PAL in-flight entertainment, I decided to watch it. It was actually not bad. The thing about these big blockbuster superhero movies is that they are action-packed and just a fun and easy watch. It was interesting to see the Red Hulk and even if his "secret" identity is already pretty known, it was still an interesting plot twist, adding excitement to the film's climax.

Delivery

I think I watched this Korean movie because it has a run time of only 101 minutes so it would be a relatively quick watch. I was also having trouble sleeping on the plane and I felt that watching a movie that required my to read subtitles would tire me out and make me fall asleep (it didn't haha). The premise of Delivery is that an infertile obstetrician fakes the pregnancy of his wife so they can get an inheritance, and they do this by paying a poor couple for their child. This movie kinda has similar vibes to the Oscar-winning Korean movie Parasite. It's not a feel-good movie, what with its social commentary and it's not-so-happy ending, but it does have pretty powerful themes.

Welcome to my Side

I'm surprised I ended up watching a second film that required me to read subtitles but (1) it had a 101-minute run-time, making it relatively short, and (2) it has an interesting premise. The short description of Welcome to my Side says: "After a painful breakup, Chen Xiaozhou is haunted by quacking rubber ducks. But when Feng Jianan enters his life, the ducks disappear, sparking a whimsical romance." To be honest, I am not quite sure I understood the revelation. Either I didn't read the subtitles very well or maybe things just flew over my head because I was so tired (this was the last movie I watched before we landed in Manila.) SPOILER ALERT: stop reading now if you don't want to know what I think happens. It seemed to me that the two leads were together before breaking up, then the male protagonist had an accident that caused partial memory loss, and he somehow forgot her and his relationship with her. I feel like I need to watch it again to fully understand it but it did have a happy ending, which was a good way for me to end a long haul flight from Australia to the Philippines.

Final Thoughts on my First Trip to Australia

Here's a summary of my Australia business trip:

Visiting Australia for the First Time
[Australia] Business Trip
[Australia] Dining in Gold Coast
[Australia] Meriton Suites Broadbeach
[Australia] A Crazy, Amazing Race-like Experience Heading Home
Final Thoughts on my First Trip to Australia

Borobi, official mascot of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at Paula Stafford Park

I had written about this trip being so hectic and scheduled at such a bad time that I couldn't extend my stay or do any sightseeing, which was a bit of a shame. Aside from getting to visit places in Gold Coast like Surfer's Paradise and the SkyPoint Observation Deck (or even whale watching), I would have loved to take an extra few days off of work and stop over at Sydney.

I was very fortunate to get to attend the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo

It was also a bit of a shame because spring had just started. This meant that the weather was quite lovely. It did get cold at night but not something you would need a big thick winter jacket for. That would have made it perfect for sightseeing and other touristy stuff.

View of Broadbeach in Gold Coast from the balcony of my hotel room

I also previously wrote about buying lots of Tim Tams in the Woolworth's at the Oasis mall near our hotel. I will say though that Tim Tams in Australia cost just about as much as in the Philippines. In Australia, they cost about 6 Australian Dollars or roughly 230 Philippine pesos. You can get Tim Tams here in the Philippines at Landers for about the same price. Crazy! I always thought they were significantly cheaper in Australia! That said, many Tim Tams flavors had a 50% discount when I was there so I went crazy and got loads of them. I also did get several flavors that aren't available in the Philippines, even if they were full price.

Broadbeach in Gold Coast

And I guess because of all the Tim Tams I bought and a few other factors, I ended up almost not having enough space in my luggage. This was because I made a few key mistakes in preparing for this trip. I had a hard-shell suitcase that was somewhere between the traditional medium and large sizes. But because my trip was only for a few days, my suitcase was not full. I got worried that if it wasn't full and other bags get piled on top of mine in the plane, it might damage the case. As such, I ended up packing a lot of extra jackets (which I didn't get to use). Even after that, I still had space so I packed a couple of towels just to fill my luggage. That was kind of okay for my departure from Manila.

Another view of Broadbeach from my hotel room balcony

However, I didn't count on buying way too many Tim Tams and even coffee bags of coffee. Worse, I didn't realize I would end up with lots of loot from the Gartner event. If I did, I might have packed an extra duffel bag or even my usual backpack, especially since the weight limit for my check-in luggage was more than enough. In the end, I spent hours trying to fit everything into my suitcase and my hand carry. But I somehow did. Barely. It was one of those things where I felt that the moment I unzipped my luggage, everything would just start pouring out haha.

Durungul Budjerum (which means Calm Spirit) by Lann Levigne

This caused me to worry a lot when my luggage got lost. I was concerned that if customs opened my bag, the contents might just pour out and the inspectors wouldn't be able to fit them in again. Thankfully, they didn't. Whew!

I picked up my luggage at NAIA Terminal 1 after it got left behind in Australia

It was a good thing I didn't buy that large cute wombat stuff toy I saw at the souvenir shop because there is no way I could have fit that in my luggage. That said, I probably could have brought it with me on the plane as a carry-on item. But well, maybe if I have another trip to Australia, I can buy one.

Dusk in Broadbeach

While I did run into some major problems on the flight back home, I lucked out in the flight from Manila to Sydney by not having anyone sit next to me. That made my trip very comfortable.

No one sat next to me on my flight from Manila to Sydney

Even better, on my flight from Gold Coast to Sydney, there were actually no other people in my entire row! (Such a shame that just after that flight, everything started to go awry haha.)

I was the only person sitting in my row on my flight from Gold Coast to Sydney

I did really learn a lot from this trip and it has proven to be a very good one professionally, even if I was very reluctant to take it due to the conflicts it brought about in my personal schedule. I don't know if I will get another opportunity like this in the future but I'm glad that at least one in my life, I got to go.

Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo

And while I can say that I have now finally been to Australia, I barely got to see it. So I really do need to revisit the Land Down Under again in the future.

Broadbeach at night

[Australia] A Crazy, Amazing Race-like Experience Heading Home

My flight back home from Australia back to Manila was one of the most stressful flight experiences I've had in my life so far.

The selfie I took after a stress-filled rush to make it to our Sydney-Manila flight

An important piece of context: my colleague and I flew PAL but because PAL doesn't have any flights to Gold Coast, our Sydney-Gold Coast leg was on Virgin Airways. This also meant that we had to check out our bags in Sydney. We then had to move from the Sydney international terminal to the local terminal where we checked our bags into our Virgin Airways flight from Sydney to Gold Coast.

For our return to Manila, our Virgin Airways flight from Gold Coast to Sydney was at 6AM and we would arrive in Sydney at 720AM. Our PAL flight from Sydney to Manila was at 10AM. This meant that we had 2 hours and 40 minutes to catch our connecting flight. That should have been more than enough time, even if it we had to collect our luggage in Sydney and check them in again.

On the day of our flight back home, we arrived in the Gold Coast airport before 4AM but as it turned out, the check in counters open only at 4AM. It was past 4AM already but the check-in counters didn't seem to be open. That is, until we saw some people use the manual check-in kiosks. We decided to use those as well and we managed to check ourselves in. We got our boarding passes for both the Gold Coast-Sydney leg as well as the Sydney-Manila leg. Our boarding pass even indicated what our departure gate would be in Sydney and what the boarding time would be (9:20AM). We then decided to have some breakfast before heading over to our gate shortly before boarding time.

This is when things started to unravel. First, our flight was delayed due to bad weather. I started to worry that we might not make our connecting flight but maybe after a 15 to 30 minute wait, we were told we could board our plane again. Whew!

So it seemed things were gonna turn out okay right? Not quite. While we had boarded the plane, we were told that the weather conditions in Sydney were still not good and we ended up waiting for almost 2 hours on the tarmac. Our plane eventually left Gold Coast at close to 8AM. Considering that the flight was 1 hour and 20 minutes, I was already mentally preparing myself that we would miss our connecting flight.

We arrived in Sydney shortly after 9AM and we were at the luggage carousel at around 9:10AM. We waited for our luggage to come out but after everyone else had left the carousel, our bags were still not there. I started to think that maybe our bags would be checked all the way to Manila. Because we used the self-service kiosks, we didn't have an actual person to ask the situation of our bags. My colleague and I went over to the customer service desk and asked them if our bags were checked in all the way to Manila and she said they were. Our problem now was it was already past 9:20AM, which was our boarding time, and we were in the local terminal and still had to head to the international terminal.

Thankfully, the shuttle bus was already there when we got out so we didn't need to wait. On the way to the international terminal, we could hear practically every other person on the bus saying that they were in serious danger of missing their connecting flights. Someone else on the bus was explaining that the bad weather - strong winds - seemed to only be affecting the arrivals in Sydney but not the departures so all departures were still on schedule.

We arrived at the international terminal at around 9:35AM. Immigration in Sydney makes use of automatic passport-reading terminals so thankfully, it took under 10 minutes to get through both security and immigration. (The woman in front of me took a while to get the machine to read her passport and on her third attempt, I decided to help her because I couldn't really afford a much longer delay).

Once we had gone past immigration, it was now a race to our boarding gate. My colleague told me to run and leave her behind so that if I made it to our gate in time, I could tell them that she was just right behind me and wait for her. When I finally got to our boarding gate, it was around 9:52AM, 8 minutes before our flight. Out of breath, I told them that our flight from Gold Coast was two hours delayed and asked if we could still board. Thankfully, we could! My colleague arrived shortly after I did and we managed to still board the plane. Whew! I really didn't think that we would make it!

As I stepped on the plane, I asked one of the flight attendants to check if my bag made it on the plane. He headed over to my seat several minutes later to say that it did. I then breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, upon arrival in Manila, we didn't find our bags so we went over to the baggage assistance area. The woman there confirmed that my colleague's bag was still in Sydney but she said my bag was supposed to be in Manila. What? I started to think that maybe someone else took it (or that the airline lost it). And because I didn't have any Smart tags in it, I had no way to confirm exactly where it was. We filled our all the necessary forms and baggage assistance told us that because PAL flights from Sydney to Manila aren't daily, we would most likely get them two days later. They said they would let us know if/when our bags arrived.

Two days later, I still hadn't received any text or email. The PAL flight should have arrived at around 5pm so I was expecting to get some notification by the evening but I didn't. I started to panic, especially since there were a lot of important stuff in that bag, including my photo with ET and my signed book. After midnight, I still couldn't sleep so I decided to email baggage assistance to ask the status of my bag. In less than 5 minutes, I got a reply saying that my bag had indeed arrived. Whew! I will say though that I wasn't all that happy that they only informed me after I emailed them, especially since they told me two days before they would notify me once my bag was there. Nevertheless, I finally breathed a sigh of relief and managed to fall asleep.

I woke up early the next morning to finally pick up my bag from the airport. They can actually deliver it to you but I knew I was going to be out on the day my bag was expected to arrive as well as the day after so that might cause some delivery issues. Thankfully, it was pretty easy to retrieve my bag once I arrived.

Picking up my luggage from NAIA terminal 1

So that was my crazy stress-filled experience flying back home from Australia to the Philippines. Hopefully, I don't experience something like this ever again.

Next: Final Thoughts on my First Trip to Australia

[Australia] Meriton Suites Broadbeach

Meriton Suites Broadbeach served as my home away from home while I was in Gold Coast. This hotel was ideally located because it was just a short walk away from the beach, Surf Parade where you can find many restaurants, and Oasis Mall. It was also very near the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre where the event we were attending would be held.

Meriton Suites Broadbeach

My colleague and I got a 2-bedroom luxe suite because this room would be more inexpensive that getting two separate rooms at the same hotel or another similar hotel.

One of the rooms in the 2 bedroom luxe suite

There is a large living room area with ample and comfortable seating. It is also liked a serviced apartment, which meant that there was a kitchen with a refrigerator and a microwave. It also had a complete set of silverware, dinnerware, and drinkware.

Living room and dining area of the 2 bedroom luxe suite

The good thing about their 2-bedroom suite is that there are two bathrooms: one in the common area and another in the master bedroom. This meant that we didn't need to take turns using the bathroom.

One of the two bathrooms in the 2 bedroom luxe suite

It has a really nice balcony with a good view of Broadbeach although we never really got to use it. (The more expensive 2 bedroom ocean luxe suite has a view of the ocean.)

View of Broadbeach from our balcony

The room has a Nespresso machine which I got to enjoy quite a bit while I was there, especially since they had decaf capsules. There is also a 7-Eleven right next to the lobby entrance making it quite convenient for us to buy any items we needed, such as water and snacks.

The 7-Eleven is right behind me, beside the hotel entrance

The main lobby goes out into the Gold Coast Highway and this is where we stepped out every morning. However, there was also an entrance and exit at the back of the hotel that guests with access cards could use. Guests could use this gate to head out directly into Surf Parade and towards the beach. There was also a really cool sculpture right in the middle of the garden in this area.

Garden area of Meriton Suites Broadbeach

Since I didn't get to go around Broadbeach too much, I decided to take several photos at our hotel.

Meriton Suites Broadbeach is a great choice if you are visiting Broadbeach. It works perfectly for both business travel and for leisure. Their two-bedroom suite is perfect for small families traveling because of the two bedrooms (obviously) and two bathrooms, the large living room area, the balcony, the kitchen area where guests can cook if they want to, and the convenience of its location.

Meriton Suites Broadbeach
https://www.meritonsuites.com.au/our-hotels/qld/gold-coast/broadbeach/

Next: A Crazy, Amazing Race-like Experience Heading Home