Joyce Jimenez, the graduate

Last year, Funfare reported that Joyce Jimenez was graduating "with honors" in Australia. Well, she did graduate early this month but even "without honors," Joyce felt triumphant as she relates in the following letter she sent Funfare from Down Under:

Dear Ricky,

This will probably be the last time that I will write you from Down Under because I have officially graduated. Looking back now, it seems like it was just yesterday that I moved to Australia and started college education. I must admit that it was a difficult journey to get to where I am today but all the hardships were definitely worth the end result.

I graduated last Aug. 5 at the Gold Coast Convention Center with a B.S. Marketing Degree. What made the event more memorable was the presence of my father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, aunt, nephew and niece who all flew down from L.A. to share my "moment in time." Without them, the occasion wouldn’t have been complete.

Since I no longer had school, and my family was in town, I was finally able to travel around Australia and see all the sites. We first went around the Gold Coast. Our next stop was Melbourne where we visited the Melbourne Aquarium, the Crowne Entertainment Center and various churches.

Of course, a trip to Australia wouldn’t be complete without visiting the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I think we had the best time in Sydney because not only were we able to relax and shop, we climbed the Harbour Bridge. My parents went on the day climb; while my brother, sister-in-law and I went on the night climb. At first, I was scared but I soon got used to it and enjoyed the view.

Now that I am done with school, I’m excited to go home. Hopefully, I will be able to apply my college degree to my business and be more hands-on now. Of course, I also can’t wait to go back to work. I have been so concentrated on school that I had to take a break from showbiz. But now, I’m eager to take up where I had left off.

Regards to everybody there. See you soon!

Love,

– JOYCE

* * *

By this time, the hundreds of Boholanos who flew to Tagbiliran City last month, purposely to attend the TBTK (Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan) 2006, should be back in their second homes (the USA, Australia, Middle East, Europe, all over the world!) savoring happy memories of the two-week celebration highlighted by, among other events, the reenactment of Sandugo Oracles (directed by Lutgardo Labad) and the selection of the Miss Bohol International 2006, Loida Tiza Salve Lagonoy (representing University of Bohol, an 18-year-old nursing student) on July 28 where I sat among the judges (including Manila Mayor Lito Atienza as chairman, Bea Zobel Jr. and 2005 Bb. Pilipinas-World Karla Bautista).

Just like in any beauty contest anywhere in the world, the contestants (some of them representing Filipino communities around the world) deserved a round of applause for their grace under pressure, smiling throughout the nearly three-hour ceremonies at the aircon-less gym of Holy Name University. I should say that any of the beautiful and brainy Boholanas could bag even a national (or international) beauty title, just like last year’s Miss Sandugo and now 2006 Bb. Pilipinas-World Anna Maris Igpit (ready for "the world" next month), the first national beauty-title holder from Bohol.

Of course, the province boasts of not only magnificent tourist spots (the Chocolate Hills, Loboc River, old churches, splendid resorts like the Panglao Island Nature Resort, the Bohol Tropics Resort and the Ananyana, etc.) but also of showbiz "exports" like Cesar Montano (one of this year’s Outstanding Boholanos awardees), Yoyoy Villame, Giselle Sanchez, Luke Mejares, Rebecca Lusterio and Star in a Million winner Jerome Sala (who was among the performers at the pageant night, together with Alfred Vargas and Baron Geisler).

The greatest Boholano is President Carlos P. Garcia after whom the city’s man street was named (and where the Metro Center Hotel, which served as the official home of 2006 TBTK guests, is located, owned and operated by Raymond Ong’s family just like the Panglao Island Nature Resort).

Credit for the success of 2006 TBTK goes to several people, especially Bohol (First District) Rep. Edgar M. Chatto who has been pushing the province as a "must" tourist destination and 2006 TBTK chairman Ma. Elizabeth Veloso-Garcia, a nurse based in New Jersey, who started sending out invitations and reminders to Boholanos around the world as early as two years ago.

The TBTK is held every three years.

Briefly Noted:

• From Funfare’s "beauty experts" Felix Manuel, Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib: The 2006 Mr. and Miss University International pageant was held last Aug. 14 at the UP Theater (to be aired at 10 p.m. Sept. 1 on Studio 23), with 28 contestants from the same number of countries. Winners were Niraj Baral of Nepal and Su Woo Kim of Korea. The pageant showcases the culture of "one-world family" and appoints all the delegates as Campus Peace Ambassadors for One World Family.

• Now preparing for rhe Miss Asia Pacific contest is 2006 Mutya ng Pilipinas Kirby Ann Basken whose mother is a Filipina. Kirby represented the Filipino communities in Norway where she was a runner-up in that country’s Olympus Face of the Year contest.

• It’s the late Patricia "Trisha" Borromeo’s 35th birthday on Friday, Aug. 25. To mark the day, the Trisha P. Borromeo’s Legacy Association will sponsor Disney’s Aladdin, 7:30 p.m. at the Rep’s Globe Theater, Onstage Greenbelt 1. The play, based on the Walt Disney movie Aladdin, will benefit the UP-PGH Cancer Institute Pediatric Ward. The TPBLA has so far raised almost P800,000 to maintain the Trisha Borromeo Waiting Area at the UP-PGHCI. Ticket prices are P500, P400 and P300. For sponsorship or ticket reservations, call Mitzi Borromeo at 0917-5337242.

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