Rotary and Rotaract District Conferences in Baguio

I attended both the Rotary and Rotaract District Conferences in Baguio City in the north of The Philippines. Baguio itself was a very nice city up in the mountains and cooler than Metro Mianila.

We were again well looked after by the Rotarians of District 3780 and again I would like to thank them for their hospitality.

 

We stayed in Forest Lodge within Camp John Hey by a nice golf course and Pine forest. We attended the opening ceremony of the Rotary conference in the conference centre within Camp John Hey which was an excellent event and included traditional dancing by the indigenous people of this area which was quite spectacular. There were also speeches from the District Governor 'Penny' and envoy from the World Rotary President who had come from Taiwan.

 

After this opening ceremony I travelled with the Rotaractors who were also present, to their conference at the Hotel Supreme in Baguio City. I was the guest speaker and made a presentation to them regarding my own experiences when I was in Rotaract and President of Horwich & Blackrod Rotaract Club in 1995-1996. The Rotaractors appreciated me coming to speak to them and they presented me with a very nice plaque in return.

Rotaract here is very active and the Rotaractors in this District 3780 are a real credit to the Rotary movement.

 

The next day on the Saturday afternoon, my team made our presentation to the District Conference about our experiences here. I spoke for around 3.5 minutes and it went very well. We also played our Gangdem Style music video which we have made and filmed whilst out here in various locations and it went down a hit with much applause.
 

Saturday evening was the District Governors Ball and I wore a black tie for this event. All of us had much fun dancing and celebrating. The Australian VTT team who were also out here left to go back to Australia directly after the Ball so we all said some sad goodbyes to each other. The Australians when we have met them at joint events have added some 'down under' laughter and culture to our trip - we have got on with them very well - they are really nice people and I enjoyed their company.

 

At around midnight I left the Governors Ball and went to see the Rotaractors again at their own Party still in my black tie. Again they gave me a warm welcome and I spent around an hour celebrating with them at Hotel Supreme.

 

I traveled back to Quezon City with some members of Rotaract and we stopped to have a nice swim in The Philippine Sea on route. The Sea here is nice and warm and clear and is just like getting into a hot bath.