Jungle Jil: Miss Kimaya 2009 Contest In Jasaan

Tonight there was a beauty pageant in Kimaya. Kimaya is a little suburb/village (called a "Barangay" here in The Philippines) of Jasaan where my wife's family lives. Each Barangay is further divided in "Purok" which is basically a street or a neighborhood. Each Purok in Barangay Kimaya sent one contestant for a total of 9 girls competing for the grand and famous title of Miss Maya-maya Tourism 2009.

Well, much like kindergarten graduations, beauty pageants are roughly a monthly occurrence here in Jasaan. It draws out the whole village, everybody has a bunch of fun, the mayor and Barangay captain give some rousing speeches, and there is a festive atmosphere.

I was the victim of what we shall call progressive hospitality. First I wondered out loud if there was a place to sit down. Someone immediately (against my calls after them not to worry about it) ran off to find me a chair. The person in charge of the chairs was informed that the town's only foreigner wanted a seat and brought it out and motioned me to sit down in the "invited guests" section of the crowd. After a couple more "it's okay, I'm fine" gestures, I relented and went to sit. Then one of the event organizers saw me moving into the "invited guests" section and guided me over to sit in the front row with all of the dignitaries, and started introducing everybody to me... The Mayor, Redentor Jardin and his wife Grace, barangay captains, and directors of the local tourism association. Oops. That's one way to crash a party.

The Mayor is starting to get that, "This guy again?" look on his face every time we bump into each other... which is often. I'm kidding: Mayor Jardin is a nice guy, very cordial. (I remember sitting out on my front porch one Sunday night, and he walked by with some of the other folks in the local government... he was just walking around saying hello to people. That moment sticks in my mind as one of the instances that proves what a great and friendly little place Jasaan really is.)

Kid sister Inday.... I figure
she's a ringer for Miss Maya-
maya Tourism 2011. Forget it
guys... she's only 13 years
old. She and her sister Ednil
got together with their
cousins and did a nice dance
routine. There was also a
couple who did a tango, and
some little girls dancing too
who were very cute.Anyway, I borrowed Mike Bird's camera to take some snapshots of some of the contestants. Also, kid sister Inday and kid sister Ednil were dancing a halftime show with their cousins Lherma and David, and his boyfriend Luelmar. All in all, it was a pleasant... if kitschy and quaint... way to spend the evening out in the jungle.

And, on behalf of Jasaan and Kimaya Tourism: Everybody come and visit us here in Jasaan. Enjoy Agutayan Island, enjoy five water parks, enjoy Sagpulon Falls, and of course, if you are a foreigner, you can even stick around for a while and enjoy the best small town atmosphere to be found in the Province of Misamis Oriental, while living only a short 30 minutes away from the (relatively) big city of Cagayan De Oro.

(There are some nice rental properties out here, and quite a few Kano have built beach houses in the area.)

And, as you can see... Jasaan has more than its fair share of pretty ladies who will melt your heart with a single smile.