May 31, 2000

Kangaroos, Koalas and Kookaburras

By

First Lady Sea Princess

Coming home from Australia always makes me appreciate nature and this wonderful world we live in. Everything there is so pure and clean, just breathing fresh air is a treat. My kids stay so healthy that I forget they are constantly sneezing and sniffling when here at home in Manila.

In Currumbin, the Lorikeets and Kookaburras in the wild fly freely and are so plentiful that you can only see such a sight in the Hong Kong Aviary. Even the golf courses have their share of wild parakeets and black swans. The noise of the birds is the only thing you hear whilst putting. They are so noisy that you have to stop and look at them and check which ones are making mating calls.

Every year, we take the kids to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. They get to feed a lot of kangaroos from their tiny hands and pet these animals without worrying if they will get kicked or bitten. The only setback is that there is usually kangaroo poop all over.

But if I were an Aussie animal, I would definitely be a koala. They are so spoiled and don’t do anything the whole day. They practically sleep throughout the day so seeing them eating is rare. They look and smell so good even if they are animals that do not bathe daily. Plus they are the most photogenic and most photographed animals in the whole of Australia.

I spoke to Tita Virgie Ramos and she told me that the Manila Zoo is undergoing a major facelift, so maybe it will be worth visiting sometime soon. I haven’t been there since I was 8 or 9 years old. If the animals are still chained, I will not take my kids because I think it’s just too cruel.

DOV says that if he were an animal he would be a shark. Not because it’s Greg Norman’s symbol but because "it is fully evolved, occupies the highest rung of the food chain and has no morals." (Not like him to take the safe route and say he would be a loyal dog!) Specifically, he would be a hammerhead shark, because it is more phallic. Obviously, he’s taken too many of these pop psychology quizzes…

Here are some of the other Anns and their animal choices.

• Linda Rosal – A bird. I’m a free spirit. I like flight. I like to see things from different perspectives.

• Marides Puyat – A bird in the wild!

• Becky Co – Eagle, so I can spread my strong wings and fly as far as I can. Or an Arabian horse, because I find them sexy … they show strength and freedom.

• Grace Cochingyan – An eagle so I could soar.

• Kathleen Say – Flamingo so I’ll be pretty.

• Chatty Roxas – Kitten because I love to cuddle.

• Sandy Abad Santos – A koala bear. They look cuddly.

• Marisun Uichico – Tiger. They’re ferocious.

• Gina Lagos – Dog – I can be a cutie and fierce if not treated well.

• Carla Chuatico – Bird – so that I can see and explore the world.

• Melissa Romualdez – Lion, the Lord of the Jungle.

• Nelleke Otto – A Cat, because they don’t listen to anyone and just do what they want to.

• Ailene Litonjua – Butterfly … to fly freely.

• Leni Go – Eagle ’coz of his strength, size and keenness of vision.

Let me end by wishing Alvin a belated Happy Birthday. If he were an animal, I hope he could be like an octopus. They have the highest sperm count of any animal, just releasing their billions of sperm into the water during the mating season, with full confidence that one of those sperms is going to find a ready female octopus. Not the most pleasant way to reproduce but clearly effective anyway.