Wood carvers from Paete win int'l ice-carving contest in Canada

The legendary battle of Filipino warrior Lapu-Lapu and Spanish voyager Magellan never looked any cooler when two Filipinos carved the historic fight in ice and won gold in an international ice sculpting competition in Canada last week. The Tunggalian (Encounter) is a partly immortalized creation of Canada-based master chef, Armando Baisas and his nephew, Ross Baisas, both renowned ice carvers, who competed in the 21st International Ice-Carving competition from February 1-3. Their impressive ice sculpture placed first in the Pairs category and earned the People’s Choice award, besting 37 other participants in a grueling 30-hour challenge where they carved, chiseled and sawed blocks of ice into masterpieces completely frozen in time. Ross, who hails from the woodcarving town of Paete in Laguna, also brought home gold in the One Block Challenge, a two-hour competition where he transformed one block of ice into an icy sculpture to the theme of Arctic Art. In a press statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs, it said that the Philippine embassy in Ottawa helped the two Filipinos in their preparations for the competition during the celebration of the Winterlude festival. Ambassador Jose Brillantes, along with embassy officials and staff, as well as members of the Filipino community in Canada, were in full force at the Confederation Park on the day the organizers released the names of the winners. From wood to ice Armando, a culinary arts genius, is no stranger to the ice-carving competition, having consistently joined since four years ago. But years before sculpting ice, Armando has been carving on potatoes, watermelons, carrots and styrofoam, having been raised in a family of wood carvers back in the Philippines . In an interview with the Carleton University in Ottawa , it was revealed that Armando began his art in hotels around Manila before landing a job at the Hilton hotel chains in Africa in 1981. After carving a name in Ethiopia, Cairo, and Madagascar, Armando went to Cyprus, Athens, London, and the United States . When his working visa expired, he transferred to Canada and worked at a hotel in Montreal. Two years ago, he received the Pamana ng Pilipino Award from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in honor of his achievements, according to the DFA statement. Armando is currently the chef instructor and sculptor instructor of Le Cordon Bleu, Ottawa ’s premier culinary institute. In a 1998 interview for Asia Cuisine, Ross admitted having been deeply influenced by his family in Laguna. “I was exposed to the craft of wood carving at an early age. My great-grandfather down to my brother are all wood carvers, so naturally I learned the art from them. At the age of 18, I began to realize my talent in wood carving," he said. Ross then used his knowledge with sculpting into chocolate carvings that are as impressive as those in wood. “During the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) held in Manila in 1996, I created a chocolate piece showing the world leaders engaged in a meeting. I captured even the smallest detail such as the famous cigar-in-hand of former Philippines President Fidel Ramos," he recalled. Prior to the 21st International Ice-Carving competition the uncle-nephew tandem has joined other sculpting contests. In the 2003 Designs in Ice competition, they masterfully rendered, from ice, the life-size image of Frodo Baggins and White wizard Gandalf from the movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers where they won gold and $1,000 in cash. Now, isn't that cool? - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV