Filipina Soul

I belated learned of typhoon Milenyo last night, and Maricar posted here how bad the storm hit Metro Manila and other provinces in Luzon. Center gusts of the storm were up to 150 kph (93 mph) but it was travelling slowly at 17 kph (10.5 mph).

We called (and texted) our parents in Laguna and a brother in Negros Occidental but couldn’t get hold of them until 11 p.m. last night (US; EST). They texted that there were fine, but we wonder what damage the storm caused our parents’ house.

What about your family? How did they fare? We hope that they’re safe now. We can always repair our damaged houses (Filipinos are very capable of rising from catastrophes like these) but still we pray that none of your families were hurt.

Continue reading After the storm

Typhoon Xangsane left behind scenes of destruction in a quick but very intense path that hit Metro Manila directly.

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

Typhoon “Milenyo” (international name: Xangsane) brought Metro Manila to a near-standstill with all flights and sea travel in and out of the region canceled. It also forced officials to suspend operations of two commuter train systems.

At least 18 persons were reported dead in the cities of Muntinlupa (2), Makati (1) and Legazpi (1), and the provinces of Albay (8), Quezon (3) and Antique (3) in the wake of the typhoon.

Eleven were confirmed dead in the five-province Calabarzon area south and east of Manila, including four children in Taytay town in Rizal province.

The ferocity of the storm is best illustrated by these photos:

Continue reading Typhoon Xangsane (Local Name: Milenyo)

Aside from the usual riddles/bugtong, I also found some cool trivia about the Philippines. This time, the theme is all about “cool places”

A. Which town in Bulacan is famous for its festival, which is characterized by streetdancing of childless couples asking for their own child?

1. Norzagaray
2. Malolos
3. Obando

B. Where is the thanksgiving fiesta held in Bulacan province which features oiled, perfumed carabaos (water buffalos) paying homage to the town’s patron saint?

1. Pulilan
2. Plaridel
3. Palawi

C. What island, which stands guard the entrance to historic Manila Bay, figured significantly during World War II by derailing the Japanese Imperial Forces’ timetable of Asia-Pacific conquest and is now known as “Island of Valor, Peace and International Understanding?

1. Cebu
2. Camiguin
3. Corregidor

Tags: Bugtong, Philippine culture, Philippine tourism, Trivia

Ooops I guess we didn’t tell you, dearest FS readers. We “enrolled” in the Pinoy Top Blogs last month! It’s a project owned by Abe Olandres that tracks blogs written by Filipinos, and ranks us based on the unique hits or visitors to our sites, plus the votes that our readers give us.

We only joined last month and yehey! we’re at #52 already, out of maybe a 1000 blogs. And that’s all because of you, oh readers of FS. We deeply thank you for putting us in the top 100.

What good does this do? Well, primarily that we get to be recognized by the Philippine blogging community, but more importantly it gets local Philippine advertisers and companies to notice us, and maybe, just maybe, include us in their ad campaign… which is a good thing, right?

So, here’s our humble request from me and my sister Maricar. Would you please spread the word around that there’s a cool blog called Filipina Soul? And then, if you (and them) feel we deserve your votes, please scroll down the yellow side bar, click on the button for Pinoy Top Blogs and vote “yes! we love them!”…

Thanks. We love you too… no, really we do. Your visits and comments make our writing worthwhile.

(Mushy, mushy link-love…) :-)

I love this… I went in search of new Filipino riddles , and came across this set of old ones. See if you can guess them, and we’ll announce the winners in our FS Bugtongan Hall of Fame (you’ll be the first too!) :-)

1. mahaba ang bituka at itoy lumilipad

Kapag hindi mahangin ito ay tinatamad

(the entrails are long and it’s able to fly; but if there’s no wind then it gets lazy)

2. May dila nga ngunit ayaw namang magsalita,

kambal silat laging kasama ang isat isa

Itali o igapos kahit higpitan mo pa

tiyak silang sa iyo ay sasama

(it has a tongue but doesn’t speak, it has a twin that goes with it; tie them tight and they will go with you everywhere)

3. Mayrong araw, mayrong buwan hindi naman langit

mayrong katapusan ngunit muling nagbabalik

Tumatanda ngunit isang taong gulang lagi,

wakas niya ay ipinagbubunyi

(it has days, it as a moon but there’s no heaven; it has an ending that you can’t go back to; it grows old but it’s only a year old; it’s death is celebrated)

BONUS:

Guess who composed these riddles.
——–
UPDATED: July 27, 2007:

For those asking for more bugtong (Filipino riddles) you’ll be glad to know we have a series going on, and you can find the compilation in this page: Mga Bugtong / Filipino riddles.
Have fun guessing ‘em!

Tags: Bugtong, Filipino riddles, Philippine culture

The Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company is on a coast to coast tour. The tour, managed by Columbia Artists Management (New York), started on September 15 and will continue through December 3, 2006. Their first set of shows will be in various venues in California. Then on October 3, they’ll go to Las Vegas, then on to other cities all over the U.S. and a couple of cities in Canada.

Reviews of the tour include:

The dancers were designed as much as choreographed, featuring constantly changing patterns and groupings and multiple entrances and exits… the pieces were short and fast-moving, performed with flawless deportment, and showcased costumes of embroidery, seashells, satin, straw, feathers and frilled lace…To judge a group like this on “authenticity” would be flat out wrong… Bayanihan is looking as pretty and gracious as ever. - The Washington Post

Tales of traditional Philippine; life, religion, war and love exhibited through creative dance skills and intense vocals…from tribal warrior attire to exquisite gowns the whole cast looked very authentic and beautiful in the stunning array of wardrobe. Perfection through the costumes and wisdom through learning a little about a different culture was something the Bayanihan Dancers left the audience with. - The Clarion; Glendora, California

Here’s the rest of their schedule:

Continue reading Bayanihan Dance Company on Tour

In case you’re in the mood to visit the blogs of some well-known Filipinos, here are some of the ones I visit:

* SharonCuneta.com - It’s the real deal, although the site is mostly written by her staff. Shawie does write the occasional post, in response to letters from her fans.

* KC Concepcion’s lemon chamomile chronicles her life as a fashion student in Paris and her various activities. The site has lots of photos of the lovely KC.

* Writing on Air by Jim Paredes of APO fame. He’s living in Sydney with his family now.

* Francis Magalona’s A Free Mind is just one segment of his website. The ageless Kiko is soon coming out with his own FrancisM Clothing Company (above photo).

Do you know of any other blogs written by Pinoys of note?

Tags: Filipino blogs, Sharon Cuneta, KC Concepcion, Jim Paredes, Francis Magalona, Pinoy blogs

How I wish I’m in Saipan this weekend… or even in Guam.

For our Saipan and Guam readers: the APO Hiking Society is knocking on your doorsteps, and greeting you, “hello, kamusta po kayo!”

They will serenade Guam tomorrow, September 22, and will be joined by the alluring Ms. Rachel Alejandro and mainstay Nanette Inventor, a.k.a. Dona Buding at University of Guam field house. On Sunday, they’re at the Hopwood Junior High School Northern Marianas Island, Saipan.

The “Kumustahan Asian Pacific 2006 Concert” brings back the trio of Danny, Boboy and Jim, who have been entertaining and inspiring us musically for some 36 years! Jim Paredes has recently moved residence to Sydney and this 2006 tour has been much awaited by all their fans.

From the APO Hiking Society official website:

This will be a memorable show since it has been some 10 years since they were last in Guam, and it will be their first in Saipan. After this, they fly back to Manila to do more shows before Jim leaves again for Sydney.

Saipan Tribune has more details for the concert in Guam and Saipan.

October 13, APO is back to Manila, at the Megamall Cinema 10 for “APO Experience! The Repeat Concert!”. Check them out…

I was browsing the full list of submissions of how-to posts at the Problogger group writing project. ACZafra submitted her take on How not to Ruin Your Day While Driving to Work (The Philippine Connection), described as:

dedicated to my fellow 8-5 employees who go through to the ordeal of getting to their work not only on time but safe and sound as well, 5 days a week. Specifically folks, who traverse the long strecth of EDSA (the Philippine capital city’s premier national road), on their way to their offices mostly located in the northern part of Metro Manila, Philippines. Here are 5 ways of not ruining your day due to erring bus drivers and other public transportation drivers.’

Ah, yes, the EDSA commute. The daily test of hardiness, patience and resourcefulness. Head over to ACZafra’s post to get five tips for surviving it.

Tags: EDSA, Manila driving, Filipino daily life

Admittedly and with much pride, it is difficult to shake off our “Filipino-ness” - in heart, looks, speech and manners. But after years of living as an expat in the US, it’s easy to lose touch with our culture. For a start, my disclaimer: I find nothing wrong with acculturating and embracing your adoptive country’s culture, because you have to, and you want to, in order to survive and fit into your new life. BUT, if we’ve lost touch, and want to recover the cultural heritage we left behind… how do we do it? Here’s my take:

1. Get a Filipino Channel. Be it cable or satellite, this is by far the best way to re-immerse yourself in what’s up, what’s down, what’s in and what’s out in the Philippines. Local networks ABS-CBN, GMA, ABC-5 etc. are there to provide entertainment and news for the hungry. I was out of it for a while and was quite shocked to see how much entertainment has evolved, with new faces being introduced almost every month. One plus - the telenovelas are getting much more sohisticated now… Gone is the ‘pity-me’ soaps ala-Anna Lisa.

2. Get involved with your fellowmen. Be it with a civic organization, student-led groups, the Filipino basketball leagues (yes, there’s plenty in the US!), or a church, you’ll find other Filipino-Americans eager to welcome you. I go to one great church that’s 90% Filipinos, and they helped me survive the transition and adjustments the first few years. I never had to speak American-accented English around them (because honestly, in the first few years, it was taxing to speak English all day long!). I get to join the fiestas, participate in a folk dance, sing Karaoke with gusto, wear barong tagalog or other folk costumes too. I get to eat all the great Filipino regional dishes like pinakbet, sisig, arroz valanciana, sweet spaghetti.

3. Find a Filipino store , or ask someone to point you to one. And if there’s none in your area, there’s bound to be an Asian store for your bagoog, Mama Sita mixes, soy sauce (toyo), fish sauce (patis), Mang Tomas lechon sauce, achuete… you get what I mean - “imported” products and spices for the Filipino taste. yummy!

4. Buy or rent Filipino movies and magazines, for the ultimate gossip on who’s hooked with who among your favorite actors. Comics too, for your fill of local humor and stories.

5. Go to the web! Networks and newspapers have their websites filled with the latest news and events from back home… And of course, there’s Filipina Soul, your Philippine culture blog. :-) (gotta plug that, of course).

6. Call home.

7. And when you really miss the Philippines , pay it a visit. You will find welcoming arms and lots of new relatives at the airport waiting for you. :-) And travel again to the most beautiful spots on earth.

Here’s to always being Filipino, wherever we are.

Tags: ABC 5, ABS-CBN, Filipino blogs, Philippine culture, Philippine tourism, GMA