More information than you need, Day 2
After the morning training session the team checked into the tournament hotel, the Magellan at Sutera Harbour. Before they proceeded to their rooms we took a group photo.
The Philippine men’s sevens rugby team at the Borneo 7s. From left: Patrice Olivier, Noel Flowers, Andrew Farrar, Mark Chatting, Jon Morales, Harry Morris, Justin Coveney, Chris Everingham, Andrew Everingham, Ned Stephenson, David Carman, Andrew Wolff. Photo by Jessica Zafra. Nice smiles, no? I made them say, “Brush.”
I now pronounce you Harry and Wolfie.
The view from their rooms is fairly spectacular.
David Carman’s video was not supposed to have a naked guy in the background. Still, thank you, Ned Stephenson.
The afternoon training session was off, so the guys were at leisure until the tournament welcome dinner. “You have nothing to do until dinner?” I asked.
“How can you not find anything to do in a place like this?” Justin said, indicating the sea, the rolling hills, etc. “I don’t like nature,” I said.
So Andrew Farrar, Jon Morales, Noel Flowers, Mark Chatting and I decided to go to the mall. We’d been waiting for the hotel shuttle bus for ten minutes when we realized we had to sign up for the service, and anyway there were no seats left. Noel said there was a mall 200 meters away, so we started walking.
We approve of Mark Chatting’s hair.
Our individual concepts of “200 meters” varied, and it began to rain. We were about to walk across the highway when some girls in a passing car called out to us and waved. The guys waved back. The girls said, “Jessicaaaa!”
“And I was just thinking, Wow, pretty girls and they recognized us,” Jon said.
Jon says UP has a men’s touch rugby team but there are no other men’s touch rugby teams so they play against the girls’ team. “Do they win?” I asked. “Sometimes,” he said.
Jon is Fil-American and grew up in the US. His parents moved around a lot; by his count he’s lived in at least eight cities. “I can’t eat lamb,” he said as he perused the menu. We had ended up in a local cafeteria—there was a whole row of them, so we picked the one that had the most customers. (Our waiter was Filipino, from Zamboanga. He’s been in KK for a year.)
“I lived in New York for a year,” Jon explained, “and I usually ate at a kosher restaurant because it was cheap. I ate lamb every day and now I can’t look at it.” Recently Jon wound up a two-year contract teaching English in Beijing. Now he’s living and working in Manila and taking his masters in development studies at UP. He plays for the Nomads rugby club, and his usual position is sweeper. For this tournament he’s a forward.
“I’m on this team through sheer luck,” Jon said. “The four guys who were called up before me weren’t available, and then Coach Cullen couldn’t reach me because I changed my number.”
Andrew Farrar wants to be a miner. He wants to work underground where we can’t see him. That’s not right.
Andrew Farrar is Fil-Australian and went to school in Bacolod. He knows Tagalog but doesn’t speak it much because he mixes up his Tagalog and Ilonggo. He works in construction in Queensland, but what he really wants to do is work in a mine.
“A mine?!” Recalling the recent Chilean disaster.
“But in Australia it’s different, they use open-pit mining,” Andrew explained. “The miners get paid a thousand dollars a day, and that’s after taxes.”
They talked about friends from former national teams. “He used to be really ripped, like those Samoan kids, and now he looks like the warthog in Lion King,” Andrew said of one ex-player. Noel explained the strategy for the games this weekend—I fully understood one sentence every other paragraph, but I think I got the gist. The impact players on the team are Harry, Justin and Wolfie. “They’re the cornerstones,” Jon said.
Noel ate raw chillis. He says they contain more vitamin C than oranges. “My whole face is on fire,” he announced.
Noel Flowers eats raw chillis.
I’m sleepy. To be continued.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 29th, 2010 at 19:15
Two words: Harry’s hands.
October 29th, 2010 at 19:16
ay ano ba!
Breakfast in bed. nom nom nom.
October 29th, 2010 at 19:26
#2 rph_kat — Hahaha! Good morning sa’yo :)
This is by far the best group photo I’ve seen in years. Thanks Jessica :)
October 29th, 2010 at 19:30
Pwede na ang Everingham Brothers.
October 29th, 2010 at 19:33
May tama ka scrippsy….
HARRY! Whats with the hands??? Is that the standard rugby formal pose? WHAT!
October 29th, 2010 at 19:44
Good morning Brewhuh!
definitely I’ll be having breakfast in bed.
Coffee and Beefcake!
October 29th, 2010 at 19:47
my gaz, ba’t wala si gaz? did i miss something in the older posts? madidismaya ang mga Super Gazettes.
October 29th, 2010 at 20:01
#6 rph_kat I know right?!
Sarap naman niyan hehe :)
October 29th, 2010 at 20:29
The hands indeed! Was Harry trying to protect /us/ from nuttage due to short shorts? His concern for our well-being is truly admirable.
Mark Chatting’s appearance pleases my aesthetic sensibilities, except for his hair. However, it was mentioned that he is a diving instructor, so perhaps it is a variation on the “surfer dude hair” theme, twice removed.
I ought to go to sleep now after entertaining the idea of an Everingham sandwich.
October 29th, 2010 at 20:47
i don’t know how to explain it but I think this photo shows another “Harry look”.
October 29th, 2010 at 20:59
atomic_bum at 8:47 pm: Try.
October 29th, 2010 at 21:01
Dear Andrew (Everingham),
Hi! Im Kat.
I’m nominating you for the next JWB.
thanks,
Kat
October 29th, 2010 at 21:23
aaay naku, kung hindi lang talaga bente anyos tong si patrice…
October 29th, 2010 at 22:51
haay. i think part of the reason i couldn’t think of any explanation is because i was called to the office by my boss. haay.
October 29th, 2010 at 22:56
@#9 oberstein – Protect us from nuttage? But…what if we don’t mind?
I seriously heart Harry.
I‘ve been gushing about the Philippine Volcanoes to my friends. They call them the rugby boys to tease me. Naman. Parang duma-drugs.
October 29th, 2010 at 23:08
@#10 atomic_bum: I agree. This is a Harry photo. The others, attractive as they are, serve only as fillers.
In this picture, Harry is placed at the center but that is not the reason why my attention was immediately drawn to him(even though I’m a rabid fan of his). It’s his confidence, his relaxed and calm demeanor that stands out. Even if there are larger men, he exudes an air of being the one in control. Of being at ease with himself and with the whole team. Or talagang trying hard lang ako. Hahaha!
October 29th, 2010 at 23:25
and the site’s back online! for a while there i thought the database had been literally fried from the frequent page loads and refresh that everyone’s been doing.
October 29th, 2010 at 23:32
before i read the caption, i thought ned stephenson was harry.
harry seems like he’s shrunk when sitting beside everingham. i’m not insulting him nor trying to offend the harry fans. =) it must be the varying distances of each person from the camera and the way his shirt wrinkled in the shoulder area.
more ned stephenson, please? =)
October 29th, 2010 at 23:38
sunflowii at 11:32 pm: You have to watch David Carman’s video for Ned’s cameo.
October 29th, 2010 at 23:40
working late, ms JZ? =) saw the new pics and video after I saved that previous entry above.
i’d call the vid a teaser trailer.
and yes, i will be ‘confessing’ to my husband later. hahaha
walang magawa sa opisina ngayon kaya buti na lang maraming mabasa dito. binasa ko na rin yung archives mo (not this slow time but months ago) and i’ve already worked my way to march 2008. =)
October 30th, 2010 at 00:06
Heheh, natawa naman ako kay naked Ned sa video ni David. Also, cute ng second pic (kung pwede sana nasa gitna ako nila…).
October 30th, 2010 at 00:13
# 19 jessicazafra Harry is a regular riot and I think nagpapapansin sha sayo hehe :)
Wow, Andrew Farrar!
October 30th, 2010 at 06:07
Mahal ko na rin si Andrew Farrar!
Minero, pwedeng pwede!
October 30th, 2010 at 06:10
“Ay ha-pogi naman un ombre! Pretch! Pag ako nanalo ha-boxing, ha-bibili ko sha cellpon!” — R. Hadede
(He meant to say “fresh,” but he’s got this thing with his tongue.)
October 30th, 2010 at 06:34
Ha-momelia at 6:10 am: Ha-lin? Ha-dami chila.
October 30th, 2010 at 08:35
Si Andrew W. madame un pretch. Ahaha!
October 30th, 2010 at 10:29
I am sooo in love with Mark Chatting.
My short-term goal in life starting today is to run my hands through his lovely, tousled hair.
October 30th, 2010 at 11:20
I want more Ned Stephenson. He’s charming from afar pa lang.
October 30th, 2010 at 15:19
Amen to these men! Dayum, dayum, dayum! Ang hirap mamili, for once nahirapan ang imaginary jurors ko…