Hoy, Hoy, Pilipino Boy!

Tony Robles looks so calm, doesn't he? He's just reading Lakas & The Manilatown Fish, making his fancy-pants hand motions, doing his Storyteller Day thing at R & V's school:


But I think it was all a ruse. Because, really, how could anyone remain calm in the face of this terrifying crowd?:


Can you imagine how loud it was when Tony coerced them all to chant, "Hoy, hoy, Pilipino boy!" at various moments during the story? Can you imagine me, running around the room using his giant orange fish puppet to plant loud, smacky kisses on the heads of the students? Can you imagine the momentary, "Wha?" when Lakas' father makes hot dogs and rice for breakfast? ("It's a Filipino thing," I wanted to shout.)

Anyways, I'm happy to report that Tony had an impressive tower of books to sign. Here he is with Vida, who looks quite like the proverbial cat who ate the canary:


And I'm also happy to be able to ease back into blog life with this cheery post. [insert super corny smiley face emoticon]