Filipina Soul

I found another great Pinoy food blog! One of our readers here on FS pointed the way to Market Manila. And I’ve been devouring the online offerings of this blog ever since.

Market Manila gives homage to Filipino cuisine, yet it is also worldwide in its scope. The Marketman isn’t afraid to go where Filipino food has never gone before. Food items like dates and brioche unabashedly jostle for (virtual) table space beside lechon and sinigang na bangus at bayabas.

Continue reading Pinoy Blog of the Week: Market Manila

Abra, the first province of the Philippines in an alphabetical list, is easily overlooked as a tourist destination. We don’t hear about it much, but it holds some interesting sites and experiences for the adventurous.

About Abra

Billed as the Philippines’ Natural Dye Capital, the province is home to a number of plants from which natural dyes are extracted. These dyes are used in cosmetics, furniture, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and fabrics. The use of the dyes in native textiles also encourage loom weaving and embroidery industries to flourish. Other industries include crafts from bamboo and rattan.

Continue reading Visit Abra, the Natural Dye Capital of the Philippines

Finally, Charice’s debut album is now here!

The playlist includes:
1. And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going)
2. It Can Only Get Better
3. I Will Always Love You
4. Born To Love You Forever
5. I Have Nothing
6. Mama

And in her first ever music video, Charice sings “It Can Only Get Better“.

She really does a good job at performing. This young diva will come a long way. She’s already appeared in Ellen, Oprah, Paul O’Grady (UK) and performed with David Foster.

You can purchase Charice’s debut album “Charice” at the Starry Starry Store. Also check out her official website HERE. 

Have you been reading Filipina Soul for a long time? Have you found a topic that interested you, yet you have not joined the discussion by leaving a comment? It may be time for you make your presence felt! Join the FS community through one or all of the following ways. Who knows, you might win a prize at the same time!

* Filipina Soul give-away: Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini - this giveaway is open until May 30, 2008 only so better get your comment in if you haven’t yet!

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* Giveaway: P100 Pre-Paid Cell Phone Load - now, this is something useful, for residents of the text message capital of the world!

Continue reading Join the Filipina Soul Community

Like Oprah, Madonna, and Cher, she is now known by her first name: Charice.

“Tonight, a star is born!” David Foster exclaimed when Charice Pempengo wowed a 10,000-strong audience in Las Vegas where she performed at Foster’s tribute concert. She was the only performer to get a standing ovation, in fact - two!, that night with the songs she’s famous for singing - “I have Nothing / Will Always Love You” and “And I’m Telling You”.

Oprah called Foster to get Charice on his show. The 16-year old from Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines appeared on the Oprah Show, and she was clearly impressed. Well, a good thing Foster accommodated Oprah, too!  Other stars who performed that night were Alicia Keyes, Josh Groban, Brian McKnight and Katherine McPhee among others.

Watch these two videos of the concert… obviously taken with a hidden camera ;-)

Continue reading Charice at the David Foster concert in Las Vegas

A couple of months ago, the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc. (PAWA) launched the book “Field of Mirrors: An Anthology of Philippine American Writers”,  which features 71 Philippine American writers from all over the US.

On June 7, 2008, Filipino and Filipino-American writers whose works appear in the anthology will be at the Evanston Public Library for a reading and signing of the book. The event is part of the celebrations of the 110th anniversary of Philippine independence from Spain.

The authors who will be present are Rey E. de la Cruz, Rey Escobar, Almira A. Gilles, Susan T. Layug, Jennifer M. Macagba, J. Mark Munoz, Lewanda Lim and Edwin A. Lozada. They will be at the main branch of the Evanston Public Library at 1703 Orrington Ave., Evanston, Illinois, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Live entertainment will be provided by the band Bagwis and musician David Wycoco.  Light refreshments will be served.

For more information about this event, you can contact pawa@pawainc.com or the Evanston Public Library at (847) 448-8600.

* WordCamp Philippines 2008 has a venue, College of Saint Benilde along Taft Ave. in Manila (via WordCamp Philippines blog)

* Communities Philippines builds homes for OFWs (via Philippine Real Estate Broker)

* Philippine mosques are featured in a series of photographs at Photojourneys

This is the most fun I have watching a dancing video! All six minutes of it and I was just impressed!

Maybe it’s the fact that these are, after all, prisoners - men who’ve committed crimes and are in rehab… Maybe it’s seeing them become a community, useful even when they’re inside prison… Maybe it’s the fun they have and how good the choreography is… Maybe it’s the song their dancing to, and the intro that is so apt for Memorial Day… maybe it’s the surprise at the end of it that brings wide applause from those who watched them…

And I’m not the only one that’s carried away by their performance too. The Cebu, Philippines’ dancing inmates are now internationally recognized. Tourists, both local and international, actually go to Cebu, Philippines to watch them dance! You can hear the crowd go crazy! They even get to have pictures taken with the guys, can you believe that?

Ladies and gentlemen, the Philippines’ Dancing Inmates perform “I Need a Hero”

Hey Youtubers from Houston, Texas!!!

Christine of HappySlip is inviting you all to meet her and KevJumba plus other fans of YouTube. She needs a headcount so RSVP at her site… but first watch her serenade you.. she is something else…

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, along with Thailand’s government, is pushing for the adoption of a common visa among ASEAN countries.

Thai Premier Samak Sundaravej is on an official visit to the Philippines. In the agenda are discussions to promote tourism among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Thailand will head the group starting this July. That is when the common visa will be put on the table for discussion with the other countries, according to reports.

Once adopted, a common visa for the 10 member countries will allow freer movement for tourists. An “country-hopping” tour can be offered as part of a package. It will save tourists money and time, by not having to apply for several visas to visit more than one country in the region. Tourism will surely be boosted among those countries, the Philippines included, which have made concerted efforts to promote tourism.

I’m not sure what the implications of this common visa will be to non-tourists. Will it mean that Filipinos who want to visit one of the member countries will no longer have to obtain a visa? Likewise, for other ASEAN nationals who want to go to the Philippines? Will it prove to be easier or harder for immigration offices to keep track of who goes through each country’s border?

Will you travel more among the ASEAN nations if you have a common visa for all of them?

via China View