[Australia] Business Trip

As I mentioned in my previous post, an international business trip in 2025 was NOT on my bingo card. While I had many of these in my younger years, my last international business trip was back in 2009, a whopping 16 years ago. In fact, I was initially hesitant to go on this trip, but as it turned out, it turned out to be something that will really help me.

Photo op with E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

I attended the 3-day Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo held in Gold Coast. Gartner is the world's leading research and advisory company for IT and they apparently host this event every year. While the main topics and agenda items are geared towards IT, this event actually isn't just for IT professionals and many of the attendees weren't IT.

My first time attending the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo

My goal was to learn as much as I could from the many different sessions over the event's three days and try to figure out how I can apply what I learned to enable our company to do things better. I ended up attending 25 sessions so it was definitely information overload for me haha but thankfully, I did have a whole lot of aha moments. Now that I'm back, I still need to review all my notes, check the available documentation, and rewatch the video recordings to come up with recommendations.

View of Gold Coast from the Symposium venue

A colleague went on this trip with me and she got a lot of tips and tricks from her manager who had been to these events before, including registering the day before the event. Apparently, the registration gets very crowded on the morning of the first day so attendees have an option of registering the day before. Thankfully we did because I was able to have my photo taken with this awesome McLaren at the entrance of the convention center before it was cordoned off the next day. (You could still have your photo taken with it of course, but not as close and with a rope barrier.)

McLaren car on display at the venue

While the great value of this event to me is that I feel I've become a bit more equipped to do my job better, one of the highlights of the event for me was the Xpo Galactica event on the second evening. It was an evening socials event with a sci-fi theme.

Kicking off the Gartner Xpo Galactica evening event

According to our agenda, it would run from 530pm to 730pm. I was initially unsure if I would attend, at least until I saw the description of this event: Get ready “to boldly go where no one has gone before”. Join us for an evening voyage to the final frontier, test your aim in laser tag, snap your photo with E.T. and capture the droids that you have been looking for. Embark on a quest of new intergalactic partnerships over a pitcher of spotchka at the Galactica Bar. Get ready to discover the unknown future rolling towards us while being guided by the force. This will be no ordinary night.

Awesome sci-fi design at the Xpo Galactica event

As soon as I saw that it included a photo op with E.T. the extra terrestrial, I just had to go! Naturally, when I got there, I tried to figure out where and how I could get my picture taken with E.T. I finally saw the photo booth that was recreating the most iconic scene in the film: Elliott in his red hoodie riding a bike with E.T. in the basket carrier. I was so excited that I actually forgot to put the hoodie on to cover my head (see the first photo in this post). I asked if I could fall in line again to have my photo taken, this time with the hoodie on, and they said that was perfectly okay. Here is the final photo (which is now on display at home in a picture frame haha):

This photo is the main reason why I wanted to attend the Xpo Galactica event

I also had many more cool photo ops. There were a lot of Star Wars fans there so I got a photo with Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, and a Storm Trooper.

Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, and a Stormtrooper

I also had my photo taken with R2D2 and BB8.

Star Wars droids R2D2 and BB8

There was also a recreation of Han Solo in carbonite at one of the bars.

Han Solo encased in Carbonite

It wasn't all Star Wars though. I got to see the Men in Black with an alien on a gurney and their neuralyzers...

Men in Black with an alien being autopsied

...and I also saw Terminator.

With the Terminator

Another highlight for me was that I got to listen to Ashleigh Barty, a retired Australian tennis player who was ranked #1 for 121 weeks and won 3 Grand Slam singles titles. As a tennis fan, it was great getting to hear Ashleigh talk about how she set her goals and how she achieved her success as well as how she decided to retire when we was still #1.

Former #1 tennis player Ash Barty was a keynote speaker

Then there was the swag. There are a lot of different booths on the Xpo floor and most (all?) of them give out stuff to people who spend some time talking to them. My favorite thing that I got was a really cute bee stuff toy! I would have probably tried to get more swag but I wasn't prepared for it and I didn't have enough luggage space haha.

My loot from the Gartner IT Xpo/Symposium

There was also overflowing food and drinks, including coffee. In the lounge area where I would normally have my meals, they had this beautiful painting on display. It is named "Durungul Budjerum" which means Calm Spirit and it was created by Aboriginal artist Lann Levigne.

Durungul Budjerum created by Aboriginal artist Lann Levigne

I also got a few free books, including "The Graduate's Guide to Future-Proofing Your Career" by Paul Redmond, who was another keynote speaker. I'm definitely not anywhere near close being a graduate haha but his talk about the multi-generational workforce was very insightful so I am sure his book will share even more great insights. He had a book signing on the third day and it was cool that attendees could get these books for free (as long as you fall in line early enough)!

Signed book from Paul Redmond

I believe that it costs a fortune to participate in this event so I am very thankful to my company for sending me there. Now, I just gotta make sure I can apply as many valuable learnings as I can.

Next: Dining in Gold Coast 

Visiting Australia for the First Time

For the first time in my life, I got to go to Australia.

Gold Coast, Australia

I went there on a business trip actually. To be honest, I never imagined ever going on an international business trip so this took me by surprise. In fact, I was only told a little more than a month before my trip that I had to go to Gold Coast to attend a conference there. While getting a visa to travel to Australia is not as difficult and doesn't take as long as getting one for many other countries, there were some internal company approvals we had to secure before I could travel.

Broadbeach in Gold Coast

The timing of my trip was also not that great. It conflicted with some plans I had, including a reunion that I really didn't want to miss. As such, I couldn't extend my stay by a couple of days to see more of the city, which meant that my trip was really purely business. I didn't really get to do much else.

View of Sydney from the plane

If I had more time, I would've wanted to visit the SkyPoint Observation Deck and maybe even do the SkyPoint Climb Experience. A friend of mine who  has been to Gold Coast also said it would be nice to visit Surfer's Paradise. Alas it was not to be. Thankfully, my hotel - Meriton Suites Broadbeach - was just a couple of blocks away from the beach so I got to see the ocean.

The ocean was just a couple of blocks from my hotel

I took a short stroll along Broadbeach where I saw the Robert Gatenby Boardwalk.

The Robert Gatenby Boardwalk

I was also introduced to Borobi, the blue koala who was the official mascot of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. I later discovered that Borobi means Koala in the Yugambeh language, which is an Australian Aboriginal language. After the 2018 commonwealth games, Borobi has become the official mascot of the Australian Commonwealth Games team and a champion of Australian indigenous languages with the Yugambeh Museum.

Borobi, official mascot of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

Right next to the beach was The Oasis, a shopping mall that had a Woolworths, a popular supermarket chain in Australia. I ended up going to that Woolworths on my first night and on my last night in Gold Coast. I bought a lot of Tim Tams, especially the flavors that you can't find in Manila, as well as a couple of bags of The Killer Coffee.

The Killer Coffee

There was also a souvenir shop at The Oasis and I decided to get a couple of fridge magnets. I also got a really cute Barney Gumnut and Friends tea set from Ashdene that I gave to my mom. 

Barney Gumnut and Friends tea set

Arguably the most popular Australian animals are kangaroos and koalas which is why most people get souvenirs that feature these creatures. However, my personal favorite is the wombat. When I saw this mug with its really cute wombat design, I just had to have it. Not surprisingly, it is now my favorite mug.

My Ashdene wombat mug

Since I didn't get to do much more while I was in Australia, I just tried to get as many photos as I could, including this one with a turtle statue right next to The Oasis mall.

I also saw several Australian white ibises in the city. In fact, the first one I saw shortly after I arrived.

Australian white ibis

Over the next several posts, I will write about the rest of my experience in Australia, including the conference I attended, the hotel where I stayed, some restaurants I visited, and other experiences I had.

Next: Business Trip

Aperitif Cafe at SM Megamall

A few years ago, whenever I would pass by the cinema area of SM Megamall, I would always see the Aperitif kiosk there. I noticed it because even before I saw it physically for the first time, I would get ads about Aperitif on social media. After passing by the Megamall kiosk a few times, I finally decided to try one of their cookies and I absolutely loved it! So when I discovered that Aperitif now had its own permanent location still on the 3rd floor of SM Megamall where patrons can have a seat and enjoy their food with coffee, I decided to visit. And after my first trip here, I ended up enjoying their sweet treats several more times.

Aperitif Cafe on the 3rd floor of SM Megamall

Before I talk about the food I've tried here, let me first talk about how much I absolutely love their design. The far end of the cafe feels like a very luxurious yet cozy and charming alcove. I am not an expert of different art styles so I don't know if what they have is renaissance, neo-classical, baroque, rococo, or something else. Whatever it is, I love it!

Even the ceiling in the main area is quite stunning.

And the Venus de Milo at the entrance, with the mosaic tiled section of the floor, really adds a wonderful touch.

Now let's get to the food! On my first visit, I had to try their Ooey Gooey Cookie again. It really is good, although its price has increased since I first tried it. (I also have to say, I love how they serve your order on an elegant tray that they leave with you. I always enjoy my order while everything is still neatly placed on the tray.)

Ooey Gooey Cookie

I love donuts and Aperitif as a really fancy selection. The first one I got to try was the Nuts for Nutella. This donut has Nutella filling, Milk Chocolate, Chocolate Chantilly Cream, and a Hazelnut Top. This was dangerously good!

Nuts for Nutella Donut

The Very Berry donut, with its Strawberry Cream, Pink White Chocolate Glaze, Chantilly Cream, and White Chocolate Shard is also very delicious.

Very Berry donut

They also have gelato and I tried one of their gelato flavors in one of my visits here. I can't recall which one I got though (it might have been tiramisu).

Gelato

There are a lot more items on their menu which I want to try. I also saw photos of their ther branches in Metro Manila and they all look really classy and stylish. (I want to visit their BCG branch!) If you want to enjoy delicious baked goods and sweet treats in a lovely setting, Aperitif is the place for me. I am certain that I will be visiting this place (or maybe its other branches) many more times in the future.

Aperitif
https://aperitif.com.ph/
Locations: https://aperitif.com.ph/pages/our-cafes

Jessica Sanchez Wins AGT!

 Jessica Sanchez is the Grand Champion of America's Got Talent! Woohoo!

 

 video uploaded in YouTube by America's Got Talent 

This was such an incredible result. Her incredible audition where she sang Beautiful Things made her a front runner and thankfully, the voting public managed to carry her all the way through. It was a couple of months between her audition, where she was about 6 months pregnant, to the quarterfinals, where she was 8 months pregnant already. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to sing on stage while you are 8-9 months pregnant but Jessica pulled through exceptionally well. Her finale performance - Die with a Smile by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga - was an incredible end to her AGT journey.

video uploaded in YouTube by America's Got Talent 

I've been a fan of Jessica Sanchez since she joined American Idol in 2012 and I really wanted her to win that season. She finished as the runner-up but she wasn't really able to break into music mainstream. Hopefully, winning AGT will allow her to achieve more success in the music industry but even if it doesn't, she did win US$ 1 million. The fact that she will soon give birth and that she had her baby with her each time she stepped on stage and performed will probably make this win even more meaningful.

Congratulations Jessica and I wish you all the best in the future!

Grail Sneaker Care

I've been a customer of Grail Sneaker Care for almost two years now.

I had seen ads of Grail Sneaker Care in the past so when I needed to have two pairs of shoes cleaned in late 2023, I went to their kiosk in Greenbelt 5. It turns out they have a 2-year membership promo. This includes 5 premium deep cleanings and a good discount on any other cleaning you want to have done. I decided to avail of their membership since I was already having two pairs of shoes deep-cleaned and the price of membership is actually lower than five separate deep cleaning services.

Grail Sneaker Care used to have this kiosk in Greenbelt

I availed of their services again after my family and I went to Kenya. My shoes ended up getting really dirty due to the massive amounts of dust during our game drives.

My two-year membership was about to expire and while I had already used up my five premium deep cleans, I decided I wanted to have more of my shoes cleaned using my discount. As it turns out, the Greenbelt 5 kiosk which I went to before was already closed. They have another branch in Podium so I went to their shop on the 4th floor there.

Grail Sneaker Care at Podium

I wanted to maximize my membership before it expired so I had four pairs of shoes cleaned. I also decided to have the soles of one pair of shoes repaired because it already started to get detached. 

If you, like me, don't particularly like washing and cleaning your own shoes yourself, Grail Sneaker Care is a good option. You can look them up on Instagram.

Grail Sneaker Care
https://www.instagram.com/grailsneakercare
+63 917 103 1495 

Alas Pilipinas Men's Volleyball Team Make History at the World Championships

Congratulations to the Alas Pilipinas Men's volleyball team for a fantastic showing at the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championships (WCH) that were held in Metro Manila.

SALAMAT SA LABAN, ALAS ❤️🇵🇭

The Alas Pilipinas men’s volleyball team bows out of the 2025 FIVB World Championship after a grueling five-set loss to Iran.

Follow #GMASports for more #FIVB updates. pic.twitter.com/CzJgZp6rba

— GMA Sports (@gmasportsph) September 18, 2025

To qualify for the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championships, you need to be (1) the defending champion, (2) a top three team in your continental championships, (3) one of the top 15 of the world rankings that have not yet qualified based on criteria 1 and 2, or (4) the event host. The Philippines was actually world # 88 in volleyball leading into this event so we were ranked very low compared to every other team that qualified but we made it to the pool because we were the hosts.

To be perfectly honest, I was worried that the Alas Men's team would lose comprehensively to all the other teams they would play against because everyone was ranked so much higher than we were. We were placed in Pool A with the Asian champions Iran, the African champions Egypt, and world #24 Tunisia. It was quite intimidating to think that we were ranked 64 places lower than the 2nd lowest ranked team in our pool.

And I guess the thought that we were up against volleyball powerhouses and that the Philippines was playing for the first time in the world championships made the team nervous. In our first match against Tunisia, we made way too many errors in the first set and calmed down a bit in the second before putting up a staunch fight in the third. The final score was 25-13, 25-17, 25-23 in favor of Tunisia. The first set was a bit of a blow-out but the tight third set showed that as long as we were not too nervous and that we played our game, we could actually compete (and maybe even beat) one of these top tier teams.

Our second game was against African champions Egypt. I got to watch this match on cable TV and it turned out to be very thrilling and exciting for the Philippines. When we edged out Egypt in an exceedingly tight 29-27 first set, the nation celebrated as it was the first ever set that the Philippines won at the World championships. Yahoo!!! Egypt took the second set but again, it was very close at 23-25. The way our team was playing, it felt like they really could compete against the world's best. And when we took the third set 25-21, we as a nation started to believe that maybe we could see it all the way through. When the Philippines finally took the fourth set at 25-21 and the game to stun Egypt in a surprise upset, the nation rejoiced. Egypt was ranked #20 in the world so we had just beaten a team ranked 68 places above us. Amazing!

HEAR THE CROWD ROAR 🗣️🇵🇭

The Mall of Asia Arena crowd erupted in cheers as Alas Pilipinas Men clinched their historic first-ever win at the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship, defeating Egypt in a four-set Pool A showdown. | via LJ Abadinas#OSOnTheSpot #AlasPilipinas #MWCH2025 pic.twitter.com/TNhbi9BeiJ

— One Sports (@OneSportsPHL) September 16, 2025

The interesting thing about Pool A was that everyone had 1 win and 1 loss after their first two games. The Philippines beat Egypt who beat Iran who beat Tunisia who beat the Philippines. As such, the winners of final two games (Philippines vs Iran, Egypt vs Tunisia) would advance to the quarterfinal round. The Philippines had a chance, but to make it, we had to overcome the biggest obstacle we had in Pool A: world #14 Iran.

This match was the tightest one in Pool A and arguably, the entire World Championships. The Philippines and Iran split the first two sets, with the Philippines taking sets 1 and 3 and Iran taking sets 2 and 4. It all came down to set 5 and a race to 15. You have to say that Iran was heavily favored in that 5th set, being the Asian champions and having significantly more experience in the world stage. And when Iran led 10-6 in that final set, I thought they would run away with it. But the Philippines showed so much grit and poise and we actually held our own against the much higher ranked team. The team leveled the score and challenged Iran all the way through, resulting in the score going past the 15-point mark (you need to win a set with a lead of two).

The most painful moment in this match for the team and the nation happened when the Philippines was leading 19-18, with our 6th match point. We seemingly scored a monumental block, giving us the point and the match and everyone started celebrating the win. But Iran challenged the point, saying that we touched the net. Sadly, we did. this meant that instead of winning 20-18, we were now tied at 19-all. The sudden rush of adrenaline of the team and the possible relaxation after thinking you had already won followed by the feeling of having all that taken away was not an ideal mental state to be in. And Iran, who may have thought they were already eliminated then suddenly still have an opportunity to win, would then have their spirits buoyed by this second chance. Unfortunately for the Philippines, Iran did take this match four points later, beating us 22-20 in the fifth. We were so close to a quarterfinals appearance at the World Championships, only to have it taken away at the last minute. So it goes without saying that our team and many of our kababayans were gutted by the painful loss.

That said, the Philippines made a very strong statement in this global tournament. We played against the very best in the world and we held our own. So much so that we actually ranked 19 out of 32 teams. In fact, we placed right behind volleyball powerhouses Brazil and France and better than Japan and Germany. Whoa!

Final na. Top 19 ang Team Philippines out of 32 elite teams sa 2025 FIVB World Championships! Second best ranked Asian team! 😭 Congratulations, Alas Pilipinas!!

Sana makalusot na sa Asian Championships next year.#Philippines2025 #FIVBWCH2025 #MWCH2025 pic.twitter.com/L2dTKLrwLw

— Kevin Ona (@kibinona) September 18, 2025

Many of our players made it to the top ten rankings of the individual skills: Bryan Bagunas was the #3 scorer, #7 best blocker (tied), and #9 best server (tied). Mark Espejo was the #4 best receiver, #7 best blocker  (tied), and #10 best server (tied). Owa Retamar was the #4 best setter and #9 best blocker (tied). Leo Ordiales was tied for #9 best server. Kim Malabunga was tied for #9 best blocker and #10 best server. And Josh Ybanez was the #5 best receiver and #7 best digger. These are sensational results for individuals and a team that was playing at the World Championships for the very first time. I also need to give major props and thanks to the team's coach, Angiolino Fragoni, and the rest of the coaching staff who did and continue to do an exceptional job making the team very competitive against some of the world's best and making exceptionally good decisions during our matches.

ALAS ON STATISTICS ♠️

Best Scorer / Attacker
#3 Bagunas

Best Blocker
#7 Bagunas & Espejo
#9 Retamar & Malabunga

Best Server
#9 Bagunas & Ordiales
#10 Espejo & Malabunga

Best Setter
#4 Retamar

Best Digger
#7 Ybañez

Best Receiver
#4 Espejo
#5 Ybañez#MWCH2025 #AlasPilipinas pic.twitter.com/Zf1ga4yO8K

— Alas Men's Volleyball (@PHNMVT) September 19, 2025

The Alas Pilipinas Men's Volleyball team may not have made it to the quarterfinals, with some players openly expressing how painful that loss was, but they leave this tournament with their heads held very high. I can't help but feel very proud of this incredible team and I wish them even more success in the future.

Made Nice in Rockwell

My friends and I got to try a restaurant for the first time: Made Nice. This place has been around in the Rockwell area for a while now but none of us had eaten here before. Maybe it's because it's not in the mall; it's actually at a corner of the Joya building right across Powerplant Mall, so it's not exactly top of mind when people head to this area. We wanted to try a place we hadn't been to before so we thought this was the perfect choice.

Made Nice in Rockwell

Made Nice seems has some kind of collaboration with Mamou because when you eat at Made Nice, you are given both a specific Made Nice menu as well as a Mamou menu. Since we had all eaten at Mamou before, we wanted to try dishes that were specific to Made Nice (otherwise, we could have just eaten at Mamou haha). We started out by ordering an appetizer: Pekeng Duck. The dish meant to mimic Peking Duck dish where you wrap thin slices of duck in a thin spring pancake. It is appropriately and very wittily called Pekeng Duck ("fake duck") because what you have in this appetizer is oyster mushrooms and not duck. This was delicious and I think it's name actually made it even more enjoyable to eat haha.

Pekeng Duck

We also had the Octopus appetizer. It was good and I loved the presentation.

Octopus

We also enjoyed a couple of main courses and a couple of pasta dishes. The Iberian chicken was really good,

Iberian Chicken

as was the Linguine Vongole.

Linguine Vongole

We wanted to order the Prime Rib from the Made Nice menu but unfortunately, it wasn't available on the day we were there. As such, we just went with the 200g USDA Prime Angus Ribeye from the Mamou menu instead. (You can't really go wrong with Mamou steaks anyway so it was a good substitute.)

Mamou 200g USDA Prime Angus Ribeye

We also ordered the Lorenzo's truffle cream pasta, also from the Mamou menu. This pasta dish is a perfect and standard companion to Mamou steaks.

Lorenzo's truffle cream pasta from the Mamou menu

It was a really good meal and we were all stuffed by the time lunch was done. We were in fact unable to eat everything so we took our leftovers home. I also have to mention the complimentary bread. To quote my friend Michelle, the bread was divine! There weren't a lot of people when we were there so we felt a bit more relaxed having our meal. But I think even if the place was fully occupied, it wouldn't have felt crowded because it felt like there was ample space between tables and the vibe is quite comfortable and chill. Service here is also great. All in all, we had a really good dining experience at Made Nice. It's on the expensive side but it's a good place to go if you want to splurge a bit.

Made Nice
https://www.facebook.com/MadeNicePH/
Address: G/F 122, Joya Lofts & Towers, Plaza Drive corner Amorsolo Drive, Rockwell Dr, Makati City, Metro Manila
Phone: 0917 183 6423
Opening Hours: 11am to 10pm Daily