There is a great article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer about my performance in Toronto for Kapisanan last May. Just came out this morning. Thanks a million, Harriet. Thanks a million, Kapisanan.
I can't complain. I have been here in Toronto for less than a month and already I was able to swing an interview on CBC 99.1 (Here and Now) to talk about my work and about Manila. It was a short, sweet, but primetime interview @ four pm (Thanks Tori Allen once again). I actually got a few people to come to the show just because they heard the broadcast.
And on the more localized front, a couple of nights ago, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Brian Gorrell of the Pure Advocacy blog. Now we didn't talk about anyone bitchily let it be known (or at least not loudly). We just had a great time chatting & hanging out at the closing of Mateo Guez's show at Stephen Bulger Gallery on Queen Street. Brian and I have a lot in common it seems. We have tons of common friends, we both are very hyperactive and we both have an unexplainable passion for the Philippines. Watch the trailer of Mateo's soon to be released movie, "Off World" here.
Me trying to do my cool cat look with Brian. If I look thinner, it's only because I just finished biking 25 kilometers around all of Toronto that day. Oh, and my show, "If These Walls Could Talk" was also on the listings of BlogTO.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE AGO-GO...
Did you know he was Canadian? I didn't. I just thought he was brilliant.
And then it came to pass that I visited a cafe in the neighborhood called the Hotbox Cafe to have a glass of apple juice. I could describe the place to you in detail but I think the name says it all. It was a very cool place to say the least. Full of friendly hippy types and with a very lax smoking rule.
Way Cool, man. Way cool...
And after a brief walk through Trinity Bellwoods park to watch the dogs play, I headed back to um.. where was I again?
Oh yeah. I'm hungry. La la la la la...
Caroline and I decided to take a walk to work yesterday. And aside from my aforementioned white elephant down the street, I realized that there was a hell of a lot of public art in Toronto to be seen. Some of it intentional, some of it not. I mean, my friend Daphne said that there was great art to see in TO, but I didn't realize how much.
And it seems that the elephant wasn't the only plaster animal on the block either.
And the art I saw wasn't only installed by institutions and government entities, I noticed that even private citizens were sharing their aesthetics with the world.
Outside a park near Yarmouth is a sculpture installed by a man who lived across the street from it. It's a "street lamp" I believe. Cute.
Some of the murals I saw on my way to The Kapisanan office.
A Philippine Princess Chair. I haven't seen one of these in years.
A cat on top of the world. There were lots of sculptures like this near the Chinatown area.
Wow.
I love any city that has a tram. I have yet to ride it and fulfill my streetcar desire though. The weather has just been too nice not to walk.
And finally, the Kapisanan Philippine Center at the end of Augusta Street in the Kensington Market area, a totally multi culti area of town filled with Latinos (my other peeps, whee), Koreans, Vietnamese, Thais, Portuguese, and what not. A perfect location for the cultural hybrid that is the Filipino. I even saw a Hungarian Thai restaurant called "Hungary Thai". Pad Thai and Schnitzel anyone? No seriously, I'm not kidding.
The lounge area, meeting table, and hall where I shall be working on props and doing rehearsals.
The Kapisanan board hard at work. I have to say that I am quite impressed by everyone that I have met here and am amazed by the Filipino-Canadian community spirit. The Kapisanan folk all seem to be competent, talented, and capable of multi-tasking and thinking out of the box. I mean, I am sure that there are some among them that could be an exception to the rule, but on the get go, they are all undeniably professional and have an exceptional work ethic. This is an org that is going to go far.
First of all, thanks a million to Caroline Mangosing/Romeo Candido and all the hardworking peeps of Kilusan Philippine Center for making this trip possible. And second of all, allow me to show you where I will be sleeping and working in for the next few weeks. Above: the view from my bedroom window on Yarmouth Street.
My desk and computer.
My bed. Sigh. I hate sleeping alone. It makes me nervous.
Dandelions in the front lawn. It seems spring has sprung in Toronto. It's not as cold as I expected. Although today is a pretty wet and gross day. Which is why I decided to stay in and blog.
A better view of the house. We stay upstairs.
The smoking section.
The street where I live.
And of course, the white elephant down the street. Wala lang.