Brief stint in Hawaii

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

I TOOK an abrupt and brief respite in Hawaii last April 28 and stayed there for ten days. I grabbed the opportunity given by the Hawaiian Airlines to travel with a huge 40% discount, a very rare treat in the airline industry.

And this is the reason why my column did not appear on this paper the past two weeks.

I visited my relatives and Filipino friends at Waipahu County and stayed at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Carlito Capanang, an old acquaintance from my cycling heydays.

Yes, we were hosted generously from day one to day ten, similar to what was accorded me by Mr. and Mrs. Blandino Caguioa and my relatives in Texas (father side) during my two-week stint there in November 2006.

These people really amazed me with their hospitality. Maybe because these amigos of mine are Pangasinenses, and Pangasinenses-like the Ilocanos– are known to be hospitable people. Without them maybe our trip would not have been at all.

A big thanks to Carlito and Meniang and his children, Ray, Larry, Dong and their families. They’re super mabait.     

Because of that trip, I missed the other sporting events during the Bangus Festival like the billiards challenge, where I was supposed to be the annotator, as well as the badminton and the golf tournaments.

I also missed the three-day Tour of Pangasinan bikathon that was staged on May 1-3 (won by Tarlac City-born-now-Binalonan-resident Merculio Ramos, Jr., a bonafide member of Pangasinan’s elite group called Pitaki Boyz).

And I missed the classic Manila-Baguio Run, a 265-kilometer one day bikefest won by Manileno and former RP team standout Irish Valenzuela. Bugallon son Renier Clauna, also a pioneer member of Pitaki Boyz, came in second.

This kind of bikefest is the toughest, most strenuous, taxing and lung-busting epic road battle in Asia. This year’s event was only the third time it was held in the history of Philippine cycling.

The first one was held in 1999, won by former Tour champ Warren Davadilla. The following year, ex-Tour king Santy Barnachea  from Umingan town captured the crown.

The classic was finally revived after eight years.

During my brief stay in Waipahu, a Filipino community area dominated by the Ilocanos, I tried to find the residence of former World Boxing Council (WBC) light  flyweight titlist Brian Viloria for a chance to interview him. Viloria, who was born in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur and migrated to U.S at the age of four, grew up and learned the fundamentals of boxing in Waipahu. Unfortunately, according to my source, he moved to Uncle Sam’s mainland to pursue his off-and-on professional boxing career. The report says his next fight will be a non-title bout (I forgot the name of his Chicano opponent) and is to be held in Mexico.

If given the opportunity to visit America again, I’d love to visit Hawaii again, especially Waipahu, where I met a lot of hospitable Filipino friends.

They made me feel at home.

(Readers may reach columnist at biking.jess@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/sports-eye/
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