Philippines

Cathy broke a toe, so when we went to Historic Filipinotown (HiFi) with her daughter Leah last week, we drove from place to place instead of walking. We started at Sisig, where I had the BBQ chicken and Java rice. The chicken was sweet, the rice garlicky, and the garnish spicy. It was perfect! Then we went to My Mom’s BakeShop for hot pandesal. those slightly sweet and so soft dinner rolls. Next door is Dollar Hits, where people pick up a variety of meat and fish skewers to grill in front of the store. We were fascinated! We finished this progressive meal at Boba Guys, where I had the wonderful Korean banana milk, then we walked the short distance to the huge mural honoring Filipino Americans in Unidad Park and saw HiFi’s welcome archway framing downtown Los Angeles.

This wasn’t my first experience with Filipino food while staying at home in California.

· My colleague Marion brings pancit to the office every year on her birthday. It’s so good!

· My nephew’s mother-in-law Blessie made us lumpia for a lovely lunch the day after Thanksgiving one year and packed a gallon size freezer bag for us to take home, so we also had lumpia on Christmas Eve. It was wonderful, and safe for Allan with no onions.

· Karina and I went looking for the famous chicken adobo at Manila Sunset in Rancho Cucamonga awhile back. It’s very vinegary, but I believe that is the point.

· I went with Vonny recently to pick up sticky rice at Orient Valley in San Diego. It’s her usual after-workout snack.

· Gladys and I tried all the desserts at BAKED in Rancho Cucamonga, including the cupcakes with Filipino inspired flavors champarado, turon, ube, buko pandan, and yema. My favorites are turon and ube.

· Carmyn met me at Bulacan Bakery in Vallejo when I was picking up the roll cake for Dad's birthday. I also like their ube bread, a lot like Hawaiian sweet bread, but dark purple. I was impressed that Carmyn, who spent ten years in Saipan, was able to speak with the owner in Tagalog.

· I also found this website with hundreds of Filipino recipes including at least twelve different kinds of pancit and an amazing pandesal series: https://www.kawalingpinoy.com/

It’s not just Filipino food that is wonderful. I’ve recommended When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe more often than any other book, not because of the graphic scenes of the Japanese occupation nor the fearsome battles surrounding the American invasion, but because I could suddenly see people, where before I had only seen historical facts. It’s a great book and one that sticks with me still after reading it almost twenty years ago.

When I checked in on the many Filipino TV shows and movies on Netflix, I chose Bride for Rent to keep it light and fun. I learned more about Filipino literature through this article which has both a summary and links to short fiction and poetry: https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2019-11/november-2019-rewriting-the-philippines-kristian-cordero-kristine-ong-musli/

When Kristen was in elementary school, one of her classmates performed at the school talent show with tinikling sticks. This video has one of the most impressive displays I have seen, and Mom, if you don’t watch anything else, watch this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WLfqDMwA_o

My soundtrack while working from home with COVID in June (allergy symptoms only – I was lucky) was Filipino music. Here are two examples:

· A playlist of top music from February 2022. I listened to these melodious songs along with other similar playlists repeatedly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84VMPf4rV64

· A Tiny Desk Concert by Ruby Ibarra & The Balikbayans. She has great charisma and, unexpectedly, a new style of rap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCd3iSfnWSw

Places I still want to go in SoCal to represent the Philippines are:

· Philippine Expressions Bookshop in San Pedro. They are only open from 3:00 to 6:00 pm on Thursdays and Fridays, so it will be a challenge to get there.

· Filipino Sun Festival in Mira Mesa in April

· Pistahan Parade and Festival in San Francisco. It’s coming up on August 13 and 14, 2022.

· Something in HiFi or other locations around California near Larry Itliong’s birthday in October. Larry Itliong was a Filipino American labor leader and a contemporary of Cesar Chavez.

· Parol Lightings in both HiFi and San Francisco in early December to guide the three wise men

Yes, there are beautiful places to visit in the Philippines. Here are some examples: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/top-25-things-to-do-in-the-philippines/

There are also great things to do. Carmyn’s favorite memories from the Philippines are from when she went to Derly’s wedding – taking an overnight boat from Batangas, needing two bike carts to transport the family, living on a local farm, watching the oxen in the fields, greeting the fishermen at 5 am while still dark, and grilling tuna straight from the ocean. And although I have not yet been to the Philippines, I have learned from my Filipino friends and family to relax, enjoy the journey, and show my love. I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in the Philippines and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Nikki Navio https://www.flickr.com/photos/nikki_nice/24341653804/