Proud owners, top animals and striking breed products Part 1

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1 Proud owners, top animals and striking breed products Part 1 A Fancy Pigeons trip to the Philippines Sightseeing and the Show Before the super typhoon By: Jan Lombard, South Africa A few months ago I received an invitation to judge pigeons in the Philippines. This turned into an amazing experience that I will always remember. The flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong took 13 hours. After a transfer time of almost an hour, we departed for Manila on another 1 hour 20 minute flight across the South China Sea. Left: Breeders Cup Below: Exposition hall. On arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday morning, we were collected by Jojo Santiago (head of the airport police) and quickly helped through customs and immigration. We checked into the Marriott Hotel Manila and took a quick shower, trying to adjust to the six hour time difference and to wash away the jet lag; after which we met Dick Hamer. (Dick and Ans were my guests in 2008, and I saw them again in Nurnberg is 2012 a small world thanks to my feathered friends!) Our host Aries Hababag then took us for a seafood lunch at Dampa in Macapagal. Here fresh seafood (some still living) was selected for us, from hundreds of seafood stalls, and prepared in the close-by restaurant. Left: More trophies for this Breeders Cup 2013 Championship.

2 Right: Then it was off to the Manila Ocean Park. The transparent glass tunnel through which we passed underneath the biggest tank was very impressive. We then had a relaxing few San Miguel beers on a balcony overlooking Manila Bay, after which we were taken to the Legends Chinese restaurant to meet our host and to have an impressive meal. The most interesting dish I had there was very tasty and spicy chicken feet. For the duration of our stay, we had a dedicated taxi and driver by the name of Chris. Wow, can this man drive in traffic that seems completely disorganized, but very functional always flowing. Left: Fresh Seafood Right: Dick Hamer, a pigeon judge from The Netherlands, was also invited on the show. On Friday morning we drove to the SM North Edsa shopping mall. I wanted to buy a San Muguel T- shirt as a souvenir. Aries decided it will be a good idea if we all wear such T-shirts on our loft visit the next day, and bought each of us one. It was difficult to buy gifts for the family, as he always wanted to pay for everything. As I wanted to buy Nita some fresh water pearls, I had to wait until he was out of sight, before I quickly took it to the till! We then drove to the EDC lofts of Sir Edward Dela Crux in Bulacan. Here we were treated to a feast!!! Filipinos do not eat food, they celebrate it! On our arrival at Sir Edward s lofts, it became clear that he had pulled out all the stops to surprise and entertain us! There was a traditional drum band with dancing puppets, as well as a brass band. This was really entertaining. A large number of members from the Bulacan Breeders Club were present. Although Edward does not live on this premise, he has a beautiful traditional house made from palm tree leaves and bamboo as well as a number of similar air conditioned huts and a beautiful tropical garden with his lofts. After we toured his lofts we were treated to a feast of food, and had far too many San Miguel beers! There were too many dishes to remember, with a roasted whole piglet as the highlight. The whole of Saturday was consumed by the show a topic for a different article. On Sunday we visited the beautiful Manila Cathedral and then toured Fort Santiago, populated by the Spanish, Japanese and Americans. The fort houses a museum in the honour of Jose Rizal, the Philippines national hero.

3 His writings inspired the nation to overthrow the Spanish reign. What a beautiful old place with a rich history, and a photographer s dream! We toured the walled city with a kalesa a horse drawn carriage. We then visited the Mall of Asia. According to our hosts this is the biggest shopping mall in the Asian world! Later that day we ate yet AGAIN in the Aristocrat restaurant. Here I had Kare-Kare a peanut based soup cooked from beef intestines!!! We also had crispy Pata (pork) and Tilapia (fish). I drank Buko (coconut) juice. Left: The Manila Cathedral. The Philippines is developing at a fast rate. We saw many sky scraping buildings taking shape on the Manila sky line. We also saw a lot of poverty. The people are however grabbing at every opportunity to make a living. Outside restaurants you will find people with umbrellas to protect you from the afternoon rains, to earn a living. You will see a guy transporting 2 or 3 others on 3-wheeled bicycles. Small motorcycles with side-carts become taxis or family transport. Jeepneys, based on extended WWII Willis Jeep left behind by the US army, are the local taxis. In closing we would like to thank Sir Edward Dela Crux for his invitation; the Hababag brothers Aries and Archie for their hospitality as hosts; Chris for his excellent driving skills and lastly my fellow judges Christo and Dick. You ve made this an experience to remember for a lifetime! A Fancy Pigeons trip to the Philippines the Show By: Jan Lombard, South Africa I received an invitation from Edward Dela Crux to judge pigeons in the Philippines on their Breeders Cup 2013 show. Since the invitation was for two people and my wife could not accompany me, I asked my host if I may bring along another judge from South Africa, to which he kindly agreed. Although some smaller regional shows took place in the past, this was their first National show of substantial size. The fancy is still in its infant shoes in this beautiful country. Most of the fancy pigeon clubs are only a few years old. Unlike the rest of the world, where fanciers are ageing, the Filipino fanciers are a young vibrant bunch, hungry for information and eager to learn. Fanciers come from all walks of life. My fellow judges were Christo Munnik (also from South Africa, and Mr. click-click Dick Hamer from Holland. An interesting fact is that this was the 27 th country in which Dick judged pigeon! Zuhair Hadji from Bahrain was also invited, but could not attend due to his son s sudden illness. Left: Christo Munnik, the other judge from South Africa, explained the placing after judging. On Friday we visited Sir Edward s lofts. His lofts house numeral breeds: GBH, African Owls, Polish Owls, Budapester Tumblers, English longface Tumblers; a variety of Pouters, and many others. I even saw a pair of Uzbekistan Tumblers. Edward very unselfishly did not enter any birds for the show. I guess this was to protect us judges from any

4 possible criticism from participants in case we picked any of his birds. I believe this was not necessary at all. I have not heard (nor seen body language to that effect) of any negativity or criticism from anybody at the show. Filipinos are the most positive and friendly people that I have ever met. Everybody was proud to take part and shared in the happiness and excitement of the winners. Another reason may be that I have told Sir Edward that we don t want to visit lofts before the show, for the very reason mentioned above. As he wanted to show us his lofts, and since our visit was limited to 4 days with a full program, he most probably decided not to enter pigeons for the show, to enable him to entertain us at his lofts on the day before the show. This speaks a lot about his character. Right: The winner of Best Pigeon in Show, with his winning Bokhara Trumpeter and the Trophy. The show was made possible through huge investments in the hobby by Sir Edward. (All foreigners, as well as people you respect, are called sir by the Filipinos). Not only did he fly in three international judges and accommodated us in the expensive Marriott Hotel Manila, but he also sponsored the complete show. This included food and beverages for all present - a very tasty dish I can remember was tender pork tongue. He also commissioned a very large number of beautiful trophies. The winners of the three most popular breeds: German Beauty Homers, Budapest Tumblers and Classic Old Frills each received a beautiful hand sculptured statue. The first three entries per breed each received a cup. From the winners the panel of three judges had to select the 3 best coloured birds, which also won cups. Then there was a breeders choice trophy, where the winner was selected by a number of breeders. Each of the 3 judges as well as club presidents and other people were honoured with beautiful engraved glass plates for their contribution to the pigeon sport. The show took place in the Le Park Metropolitan building. Your readers may know that the Philippines is a very hot and humid (almost tropical) country, where the air conditioned hall was a huge comfort, bearing in mind that the 3 of us had to judge close to 900 birds in total! Coaches were hired to transport fanciers from other parts to Manila. Left: The judges, Dick Hamer, Jan Lombard, Christo Munnik and our host Aries Hababag. 32 Breeds were represented on the show. The most popular breeds were German Beauty Homers, Budapest Tumblers and Classic Old Frill. In these breeds the quality varied from excellent in a few specimens to very poor in a lot. In some other breeds there were also good pigeons, but not a large number of excellent specimens. Show conditioning needs attention, and feather quality was bad on some birds. It became clear that these guys need to learn much about pigeon husbandry.

5 Lack of access to standards and other information is largely to blame, BUT they are all willing and eager to learn. The fancy is young, but alive and well. With a large number of enthusiastic members the sport can only grow. I would like to wish them the best of luck. Lastly I would like thank Edward Dela Crux for making this all possible, especially for inviting us, but also for giving the local fanciers an opportunity to show their pigeons at a big show. Right: Brass Band with traditional house. Left: Sir Edward Dela Crux (to the left) who invited us, and our hosts, the Hababag brothers Aries and Archie. Right: Our Kalesa (Horse taxi). Left: Oriental Frill, Satinet at the show. Copyright 2013 Aviculture-Europe. All rights reserved by VBC. This is a publication by the online magazine You are not allowed to copy, distribute, send or publish these texts or photos without our prior permission in writing.