Diwali 2012 at MOA and Dinner with the Indian Ambassador on Indian Coast Guard Ship Samrat

- November 11, 2012, Sunday.

- My main agenda for tonight was to have a dinner with the ambassador of India to the Philippines, His Excellency Hon. Amit Dasgupta. He wanted to see me, and other soon-to-be Philippine delegates to India, during the farewell dinner of the Indian Coast Guard Ship Samrat. (I received the invitation just last Thursday.)

- Today, it was a sudden decision to visit MOA before dinner to attend the Diwali (Festival of Lights) celebrations. It was fortunate that the Indian community and other relevant organizations were able to organize something this grand. In this big event, Indians will be able to celebrate Diwali (aka Deepavali, a pan-Indian celebration almost equivalent to the Catholic Christmas,) and non-Indians will be able to have an excuse to be exposed to the colorful Indian culture.

-  Most performances I saw were Punjabi bhangra performances, and videos of Bollywood songs. A few shops and food stalls were also present. At around 6pm, Sam Gogna and his sister came out to officially welcome the guests. After their introduction, the ambassador had a very short opening remark. The ambassador left after his short opening remarks, and so I decided to head for the coast guard ship too.

- I was able to meet my classmates last semester, Wayne, and Dona. I was glad to see them since I won't be having classes with them this semester.

Indian coast guard people

His Excellency, Hon. Amit Dasgupta

- The Roxas Boulevard traffic added 15 minutes to my supposed travel time. I arrived at Samrat after my mom and sis dropped me off, and I was able to locate my co-delegates thanks to the very accommodating coast guard welcoming committee.

- I was able to try some appetizers, one including a platter of spiced shrimp, with the shrimp being caught all the way from the Arabian Sea (the servers had to stress that, so might as well stress it here too. Haha.) I was also able to have a photo taken with the ambassador moments later. (YAY!!)

- The guests were given a tour around the coast guard ship before having an Indian buffet dinner. I must say, these coast guard people can really cook!!

- We soon said our farewells as the guests started to get off the ship one by one. The coast guard ship will also bid farewell tomorrow as she goes on her 6-day trip to Yokohama, Japan.

- I shall forever remember this (very Indian-loaded) day, as it is one of the most important and honorable days of my young life.

What's left of the prized Arabian-sea prawns

Rare moment to have a photo taken with an ambassador. Heehee.

Covered gun.