Key to the City

Outside Mayors Office

After visiting the children we headed over to the Mayors office. On the outside of the building, there was a giant tiger head representing it as the Tiger City.
The Mayor and his staff welcomed us with open arms and talk to us about the importance of equal human rights. He told us how the government is trying to stop the handout of condoms and birth control.

He shared some personal stories with us that really showed us how amazing of a mayor he is. He really cares about the community and the loved ones in his life.
After the tears were gone, we were presented with the key to the city, a necklace made from recycled rubble and a very delicious lunch.

It was a very emotional day for all of us.

OutReach Program

The Outreach program was one of the best days for me. We all brought stuff such as books, school supplies, and stickers. When we first arrived, the class put on a performance for us which got a lot of us tearing up.


There was 4 children sitting on the stairs beside me so I pulled my camera out and took a few shots of them. There was one little girl who would do the cutest pose every time the camera was on her, melted my heart.

We were split up into two groups. My group went up stairs where we were to give two rooms complete make overs. This included flooring, book shelves, window curtains, lightbulbs, fans, and tables.
The other half stayed below and gave their items and a lunch to the children. We joined them after we were finished and continued handing stuff out and hanging out with the children. I brought some canadian stickers with me which really got the kids attention. I had 30 hands reached out in front of me waiting for a sticker. I was hard when it came down to the last sticker :(
That whole experience was such an eye opener. It was emotional when we first got there but after hanging out with the children and volunteers and getting to chat with a few of them it turned everything around. Just seeing how positive they are being in the conditions they live in really made me take a step back and realize that we take so much for granted. They really make light out of every situation.

Club Bed

Me auctioning off my hockey stick

The following night we all wore out GBGB outfits and each brought an item from our country to auction off. I auctioned off a hockey stick. The club was nice, 2 levels, a fair size dance floor and delicious food. We had our own little private party up in the VIP room which looked out over the dance floor. We modelled the clothing and then the audience voted on who wore it best. Mr. Australia won the vote and was presented a sash and trophy by the president of GBGB.

After that it was time to party

Left: Bulgaria, Australia, Canada, Brazil

Villa Escudero

Plane inside the Villa

The Blue Team 

On the second day we went to Villa Escudero where we were going to do a swimwear shoot. It couldn't have been a better day. When we arrived, we were greeted and giving a very yummy drink. It had a some kind of jelly thing in it, but never the less, very yummy. After getting everything organized we transferred over through the gates and got into a wagon that was chauffeured by a cow named Molly :) Thats what we named her. We were also accompanied by 3 musicians.

Molly

Day 1 in Manila

Francois and I wake up at 4:30 and do a morning work out, later finding out that we got up and hour too early. After breakfast I met up with Dean and the photographer that I would be working with and we headed out to the studio. We later brought the shoot back to the hotel and went up to the penthouse where Dean was staying.

We all met on the 2nd floor and and were assigned our new rooms and roomies. My room mates were Madis Rasters (Estonia) and Juan Manuel (Mexico).

There was suppose to be 4 but Thailand couldn't make it. When that was all organized and we were settled into our new rooms we went for lunch at Giligans and continued on with the press conference soon after. 

There was a couple of people from Canada just visiting Manila who had happened to stumble upon the whole event. It was nice to see some support from back home.

Arriving in Manila

11:30 pm and I'm landing in Manila. I make my way through customs and to luggage claim with a gentlemen I sat with on the plane. He had been before so he was filling me in on good spots to check out. I end up at pick up where I'm accompanied by Michael Holtz (USA) and Percy Lorenzo (PERU) and our guide CeeJay. It took about 20-30 minutes for us to get back to the hotel where I met Francois Nel (SOUTH AFRICA). We ended up rooming together for the first night. Getting up at 4:30 in the morning was my fault. Due to the time change my phone didn't reset itself completely and I ended up setting the alarm on it way earlier then I had planned. Good times :)

Flying with Korean Air

Being involved with Mr. Gay Canada has giving me the opportunity to travel overseas with Korean Air.

This was my first time travelling over seas and Korean Air made it a very comfortable flight. As always, I took the window seat :( little did I realize that I would have to be crawling over people when ever I needed to go to the bathroom. Note to self, always take aisle seat when flying over seas.
One of the perks of flying with Korea Air I found out was I was able to catch up on all my movies.