Tuesday, May 29, 2007

An Invitation . . .

image from: www.nwfolklife.org
Let us celebrate the 109th year of Philippine Independence!

Date : June 16, 2007 (Saturday)
Time : 4:00-7:30pm

Place : Melville Primary School Hall

101 Ohaupo Road,Hamilton


There will be a cultural dance competition (no age limits). Form a team of 1-4 people and prepare a 3-5 minute dance number. Only 1 entry per team is allowed. There will be a panel of judges who will award 1st, 2nd & 3rd PRIZES.
To enter the competition please email your name and contact details to waikato.pinoys@gmail.com

There will also be some surprise presentations. Come and join the fun!

RSVP by June 8, 2007 to
WFA as light refreshments and hot drinks will be provided. (BYO softdrinks, BYO meals/snacks)


image from: www.nwfolklife.org

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Join the WFA Egroup

Prefer your Filipino news/chismis in email form? Join the WFA eGroup and get your WFA balita straight to your mailbox. Join the egroup and become part of a lively community of WFA members and Pinoys living in NZ. Be in the know of the latest happenings if it has anything to do with the Filipino community, and share in the occasional nugget of wisdom dropped by our esteemed Association President and Coach Jun Valencia.

If you join, you'll also get the usual benefits of joining a Yahoo group. You'll be able to share files, view the calendar, read the archived messages, and get in touch with other Pinoys. So get your mouse a-clickin' and click here to join, or on the link at the start.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Freeview Digital TV and some thoughts on NZ TV (Part 1)

New Zealand has taken another step towards high tech. This month, Freeview Digital TV was launched and it looks to be the dawn of a new era in NZ TV. Right, let's not get overly dramatic. It's a step in the right direction at least. When I first arrived in 2002, all i could get on my dinky little digitor were TV2, TV3, and Prime. I couldn't get TVOne and the channel-that-is-now-known-as C4. Which was a shame because there was, and still is, a lot of good content on TV1. Reception was so bad at our first place that every time I had to change channel, I had to get up from the couch to adjust my tv-top aerial. It was a far cry from what I, and I'm sure most Metro Manila based Pinoys were used to, and that was the sheer number of tv channels available to Metro Manila residents. And thats not even counting cable.

At first, this situation would want to make any TV-obsessed Pinoy run screaming for the next flight home to the islands. Especially when you hear from the folks back home about the latest NBA games they'd watched live, or that latest episode of [insert hit US show] that they'd seen a week in ahead of you. Mildly depressing indeed. But the more NZ TV you watch, the more compelling it becomes. You'll realise it's not really the number of channels you can choose from that's important, it's the quality of the content. You'll start rediscovering old serieses, you might find yourself following the soaps, and you'll even learn to love watching the rugby. Why is this? Because NZ TV has got such a good mix of show types to keep things interesting. It's not like Philippine TV where the top channels always stick to the infuriatingly mind-numbing staples (noon time shows, telenovelas, afternoon showbiz chismis shows, and tabloid tv news).


I'm too lazy to continue, more on this topic on the next post.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

WFA Sports - Got Game?

Sports is a big part of NZ life and for us Pinoys as well. In the WFA, we take our sports seriously. Not only is it a great way to keep fit, it also brings people together. As a Hamilton newcomer more than 3 years ago, I met a lot of Pinoys through basketball.

So, if you're new to Hamilton, or want to meet other Pinoys, or a long-time resident who just wants to break a sweat or magpapawis ng konti, head over to the AgResearch gym at Ruakura Road every Friday from 530pm to 9 for the weekly basketball practice. AND if Bball's not your cup of tea, we've also got volleyball and badminton on Saturday afternoons (from 3pm to 8pm) same location, AgResearch gym.

Need directions? Email waikato.pinoys@gmail.com or leave a comment and we'll send you instructions on how to get there.

See you at the games.