By: Chiqui Desphy
· The little girls -Mia Cunanan, Kristine Cunanan and Natasha Banguis in their patadyongs holding on to the flowered arches – so eye-catching that the photographers were immediately drawn to them
From then on, it was all a blur of memories, with a few memorable ones standing out:
- winding our way I the back streets of St Marys, gearing up as we prepared to turn into Queen Street
- laughing about how we all started to walk to the tempo of the Scottish bagpipers ahead of us!!
- Giselle and Clarisse always being conscious of standing far apart enough so people could read their banner
- Our lovely flower girls holding their arches daintily above their heads, never once faltering even when the flowers started coming loose.
- The young boys trying to keep their distance from the flower girls so that everyone could see how handsome they were
- Tita Letty, Te Be, Marie and I acting as ‘point guard’ for our little ones, making sure they were all safe and walking in line
- Impressed with Bhoy, James and Ronaldo Villaver, positioning themselves strategically to take pictures and videos as we walked
- Waving to MP David Bradbury and listening with pride as PLCAA’s approach was announced
- The children were all models of perfect behaviour – not a single complaint between them!
Once we got to the end of Queen Street, we broke off from the main Parade body and grouped under the shade of a tree. After some rounds of picture-taking and bottles of water to prevent dehydration, we started the short walk back to SMSCC.
Waiting inside was a sumptuous lunch of pancit bihon, pancit palabok, puto, menudo, roast chicken, rice and chocolate cake! Then sometime after lunch, Alexis received a phone call and eagerly shared the news – WE WON! The children were magnificent, and we look forward to an even better parade next year, with rumours of a float hanging in the air!
7 a.m. - I woke up, immediately peeked out the window and groaned inwardly…I could see grey clouds and raindrops. The St Marys Spring Festival was already postponed once before (Sept 6) – not again!
9 a.m. – The sky was still a bit dark but it looked like it was clearing over the Penrith way. Hmmm…this reminds me of the Fun Walk. Hope Alexis consulted her golfers on the weather.
10:30 a.m. – Sunshine! Looks like we’re on!
11:00 a.m. – Got to SMSCC and saw PLCAA members, students and friends in various stages of preparation. Alexis sourced Barong Tagalogs, Hats (Salakot, Ginit cowboy hats, rattan summer hats), Kimonas, Baro’t Saya and scarves. There were even colourful flower arches for the little girls. Thank goodness for that – I was able to borrow a costume for the parade!
Once the students were dressed, we herded them into the hall and ran through the parade arrangement. It was almost time to go. Almost, but we still had enough time to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Tita Letty, and grab a few bites of puto and pancit before we all jumped into the cars and headed off to the Jack Jewry Reserve.
12:20 p.m. The Registration Committee assigned us No 15, and advised us to look for our number. That’s simple - we quickly spotted ‘13’ and ‘16’, positioned ourselves right in the middle and waited for the cue.
12.30 p.m. Why are the Dog Obedience group walking away? They were supposed to be behind us. Maybe they know something we don’t know. A quick check with the Registration Desk confirmed that we were still Number 15. Ok then…
12.40 pm Uh-oh! We’re supposed to be somewhere else!!! There were TWO groups – the walkers and those with cars. And we were in the wrong place! With five minutes to go before the parade kicked off, everyone raced madly to our REAL designated spot. Luckily, because of the earlier dry-run, everyone knew their places.
· Giselle and Clarisse proudly led with the banner proclaiming us as part of the Penrith Community Filipino School
9 a.m. – The sky was still a bit dark but it looked like it was clearing over the Penrith way. Hmmm…this reminds me of the Fun Walk. Hope Alexis consulted her golfers on the weather.
10:30 a.m. – Sunshine! Looks like we’re on!
11:00 a.m. – Got to SMSCC and saw PLCAA members, students and friends in various stages of preparation. Alexis sourced Barong Tagalogs, Hats (Salakot, Ginit cowboy hats, rattan summer hats), Kimonas, Baro’t Saya and scarves. There were even colourful flower arches for the little girls. Thank goodness for that – I was able to borrow a costume for the parade!
Once the students were dressed, we herded them into the hall and ran through the parade arrangement. It was almost time to go. Almost, but we still had enough time to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Tita Letty, and grab a few bites of puto and pancit before we all jumped into the cars and headed off to the Jack Jewry Reserve.
12:20 p.m. The Registration Committee assigned us No 15, and advised us to look for our number. That’s simple - we quickly spotted ‘13’ and ‘16’, positioned ourselves right in the middle and waited for the cue.
12.30 p.m. Why are the Dog Obedience group walking away? They were supposed to be behind us. Maybe they know something we don’t know. A quick check with the Registration Desk confirmed that we were still Number 15. Ok then…
12.40 pm Uh-oh! We’re supposed to be somewhere else!!! There were TWO groups – the walkers and those with cars. And we were in the wrong place! With five minutes to go before the parade kicked off, everyone raced madly to our REAL designated spot. Luckily, because of the earlier dry-run, everyone knew their places.
· Giselle and Clarisse proudly led with the banner proclaiming us as part of the Penrith Community Filipino School
· The little girls -Mia Cunanan, Kristine Cunanan and Natasha Banguis in their patadyongs holding on to the flowered arches – so eye-catching that the photographers were immediately drawn to them
· The young boys (Michael, Mark and Franz) looking very spiffy in their Barong Tagalog
· Elsa Collado and Emma Braceros in matching red baro’t saya flanking Cora Barretto in her more formal silver mestiza dress (‘terno’)
· Elsa Collado and Emma Braceros in matching red baro’t saya flanking Cora Barretto in her more formal silver mestiza dress (‘terno’)
The PLCAA members and teachers – Tita Letty, Te Be, and Marie in their colourful Baro’t Saya and matching scarves; Alexis in her deep blue terno, Mitzi de Vries, Josie Bettini and Teri in sparkling kimonos
· Dodee, Sean, Alex and Monica bringing up the rear with the PLCAA banner.
· Dodee, Sean, Alex and Monica bringing up the rear with the PLCAA banner.
From then on, it was all a blur of memories, with a few memorable ones standing out:
- winding our way I the back streets of St Marys, gearing up as we prepared to turn into Queen Street
- laughing about how we all started to walk to the tempo of the Scottish bagpipers ahead of us!!
- Giselle and Clarisse always being conscious of standing far apart enough so people could read their banner
- Our lovely flower girls holding their arches daintily above their heads, never once faltering even when the flowers started coming loose.
- The young boys trying to keep their distance from the flower girls so that everyone could see how handsome they were
- Tita Letty, Te Be, Marie and I acting as ‘point guard’ for our little ones, making sure they were all safe and walking in line
- Impressed with Bhoy, James and Ronaldo Villaver, positioning themselves strategically to take pictures and videos as we walked
- Waving to MP David Bradbury and listening with pride as PLCAA’s approach was announced
- The children were all models of perfect behaviour – not a single complaint between them!
Once we got to the end of Queen Street, we broke off from the main Parade body and grouped under the shade of a tree. After some rounds of picture-taking and bottles of water to prevent dehydration, we started the short walk back to SMSCC.
Waiting inside was a sumptuous lunch of pancit bihon, pancit palabok, puto, menudo, roast chicken, rice and chocolate cake! Then sometime after lunch, Alexis received a phone call and eagerly shared the news – WE WON! The children were magnificent, and we look forward to an even better parade next year, with rumours of a float hanging in the air!
So…ano pa ang hinintay ninyo? Sali na!
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