So far so good for Team Pilipinas, I've watched the live volleyball match between RP and Indonesia, it was fantastic! Very nice game, especially having the Nationals won.
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared the 23rd Southeast Asian Games open Sunday in a glittering ceremony at the Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park in central Manila.
Fireworks lit up the night sky as thousands of spectators packed the stadium to cheer the 5,000 plus athletes from 11 nations who will compete in the nine-day event.
Members of the region's royal houses were among the official delegates to watch the opening. Among them were Prince Norodom Ranariddh of Cambodia, Brunei's Prince Sufri Bolkiah and Thai Princess Sievannarvari Nariratana and Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn.
While the opening ceremony in Manila went off without a hitch, a preliminary football match between Thailand and Malaysia in the central city of Bacolod was plunged into darkness just 72 minutes into the match due to a power failure for unknown reasons.
Power was restored after a 15-minute break at the Panaad Stadium and the game continued.
In Manila, former Olympic and Southeast Asian Games medalists from the Philippines opened the ceremonies followed by delegates from each of the 11 participating countries.
Thousands of athletes and sports officials from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam are to compete for 441 gold medals in the nine-day showpiece to be held in different Philippine cities.
Indonesia had the biggest delegation with 609 athletes while East Timor had 33 athletes.
An estimated 5,336 athletes will compete in 41 events which will run from November 27 to December 5.
Security was tight with 17,000 police on alert to ensure the safety of the thousands of athletes and officials taking part, amid the threat of possible attacks by militants.
Arroyo appeared at the opening ceremony alongside leaders of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in a show of regional unity.
The MILF has been fighting to set up a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines for decades but has signed a ceasefire and is engaged in peace talks with Manila through the intercession of Malaysia.
The Games are held every two years, with the last event hosted by Vietnam. Thailand is scheduled to host them in 2007.
Host nation the Philippines aims to top the medal table at games but with football the main focus the glory could go to Thailand, sports officials have said.
Enjoy ako sa Numa Numa Dance! Ewan ko ba, ba't ngayon ko lang nalaman ang Internet meme na 'to? Haha basta ang saya, *nag-iisip kung gagawa rin siya ng sariling version* :lol:
Try ko nga i-lip synch 'to habang nakaharap sa salamin. (nyay) :wink:
Haaay, I'm a bit uninspired right now, I'll make an update next week. :roll:
How's the preparations for the upcoming 23rd SEA Games? I want to buy some souvenirs but it seems that I can't find one. Probably I'll gonna watch the opening ceremonies at Rizal Park. It's more than a week left but still lacks that festive atmosphere here in the Metro. How I wish the Games would be a success, fine weather on Sunday, despite the loss for basketball. :D
Here are some of my mobile wallpapers I've designed for the 23rd SEA Games: (for Nokia Series 40 mobile phones with 128x128 resolution)
OMG. One day nagloloko 'tong keyboard, ayaw ng letrang 'S' at 'A'. Tapos yung broadband connection naman. Nakakainis dalawang araw akong nag-dial up. Eto ngayon lang siya umayos. 'Di ko alam kung modem or mismong connection ang may sira. Haaay.
Tatlo na ang ginagamit kong file sharing software. Una ang LimeWire. Torrent client ko naman ay BitComet. Lastly ang e2dk, gamit ko eMule. Download ako ng software, mp3s, etc. :lol:
