Two tales of service

Thursday night, Jerswin and Anne Poloyapoy boarded a Thai Airways flight for Bangkok, from where they would proceed to Frankfurt, on their way to the International Dancesport Federation (IDSF) World Standard Championship in Krefeld. After that, they would go on to the IDSF World Ten-Dance Championship in Vienna, Austria on November 19. And to think that, two weeks before that, they didn’t know if they were going or not. Despite teaching while training, Jerswin and Anne had difficulty raising the large amounts to cover their travel to Europe, they had found ways to cut down on their food and accommodations, but the airfare was proving to be a major obstacle.

"We really didn’t know how to raise the money for the trip," Anne told The STAR. "We had been trying to raise funds for the plane fare and everything, but it was really hard."

Since 1998, the husband and wife tandem have been reaping honors in dancesport locally and internationally. They have been part of the blockbuster Team Cebu City Dancesport, which has been dominating the national ranking competitions of the DanceSport Council of the Philippines (DSCP) since December of last year. They have placed or made the finals in competitions in the toughest arenas: Australia, England, HongKong, Taiwan, Singapore and many other countries. They were reserves on the Philippine team to the coming Southeast Asian Games, but were taken off the team when they questioned a yearlong contract of service being imposed upon them by the DSCP.

"This was all going to be part of our preparation for the SEA Games. There will only be one first time," Anne explained.

Nevertheless, they were invited to the World Championships.

But it wouldn’t have happened hadn’t Thai Airways stepped in to help.

Through their genial general manager Khun Dol Bhasavanich and hardworking marketing officer Malu Dueñas, they arranged for the couple to be able to leave on time, and in comfort, giving us an even better chance to improve on our past finishes.

"If not for Thai Airways, we didn’t really know how we were going to make it," Anne says. "That would have been sad, because not everyone has a chance to compete in the World Championships."

The two competitions will pit them against the best couples in the world, especially the top-ranked pairs from Europe and Australia. And it will not be easy. In Krefeled, they will have to be in peak form for every round of the Standard competition, a grueling series of five dances. In Austria, they will need to show complete mastery of all ten dances. In between, they will also be trained by the trainors of world champion pairs, so they will not come back empty-handed.

And it wouldn’t have been possible without spirit of service shown by new friends at Thai Airways.

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Have you ever had one of those days?

I guess you know what I’m saying, this is when things don’t work out the way you plan, and you’re not really up to it. This writer had a typical experience over the long holidays. It was the first of what will be many annual treks to Baguio for the death anniversary of my father-in-law, Dr. Jun Samson, who coincidentally passed away on November 1 of last year.

At any rate, with the rush of work to be finished before the nine-day break, this writer sought the help of Honda Cars to make the trip safer and more comfortable. I had driven in the Honda Media Challenge for the first time a few years ago, and wanted to avail of the generosity that they normally show sports media.

Tintin Reyes of Honda’s marketing group was invaluable in allowing me the use of a gorgeous CRV for the holidays. It was a comfortable, relaxing and surprisingly quick trip up the mountains.

Monday, October 31. As I parked the vehicle behind Burnham Hotel after a day of obligatory visits to friends and family, I locked the car using the key, and walked up the driveway and in front of the adjacent bank. As I crossed the street, I involuntary swept my pockets, to make sure my wallet, cell phone and keys were there. I only found two out of the three.

The key had fallen through a hole in my comfortable old pants. I quickly retraced my steps. I hadn’t passed anyone, and was quickly back where I started. I couldn’t find the keys, and it was getting dark. After a few more minutes of frantic searching, I borrowed a flashlight and kept looking.

After about an hour, i realized it was futile.

Sheepishly, I called Tintin to tell her what had happened. It was, to say the least, embarrassing, and incredibly inconvenient, considering everyone was on vacation. She rapidly coordinated with the appropriate personnel, and told me that they would be sending up the spare key on Thursday, when work resumed. It was a relief, but I was still kicking myself for what happened.

The following day, to my great surprise, she informed me that one of their drivers would not only be bringing up the spare key, but a replacement unit, as well. And not only would they be sending up a spare unit, but it would be there Wednesday. Apparently, their driver, Sonny Wong, would go to their plant in Laguna, retrieve the spare key, and deliver the new unit to me within the next day, even though there was no work.

After filing a police report (which they needed for their files), I was able to go about my activities knowing everything would be taken care of. Wong explained to me that, since the keychain had the vehicle’s license plate number on it, anyone who may have found it could possibly try to snatch the car with me and my family in it. For my own safety, he would drive the original unit down to their plant and have the entire security system replaced. For this, too, I was grateful.

If that isn’t service, I don’t know what is.

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Catch The Basketball Show, tonight at 7 p.m. over IBC-13.