Friday, August 25, 2006

TP Teaser 2006!

TP on youtube.com!

So, after hours of work, the teaser is FINALLY UP. Thank God, haha. Anyway, check it out! It's only 2 minutes of your time and the video is accompanied by audio from the wonderful Nikka Costa, 'Everybody Got Their Something.'

Take a look at it and see just how YOU could be involved in Troy Phi!

Also, forgive me for forgetting the talented Jasmine Trias at Barrio Fiesta picture, but I figured that it was already on the flyers for the meeting... that, and everyone's seen enough of her. *wink*

Enjoy!

The video is embedded below:

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Philippines Air Force Ones

The Philippines Air Force Ones were made by Nike as a tribute to Joze Rizal. The Philippines Air Force Ones are out now, but in extremely limited quantities - 500 pairs! Available at Kix-Files

For more information on Jose Rizal check out:

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Survey says...

Here are the survey results from this past spring's TP Family Feud. The questionnaire was put up on troyphi.com less than two weeks before the meeting. You may find the results interesting.

Filipino Celebrity%

Others40

Lea Salonga24

Rob Schneider10

Tia Carrere8

Manny Pacquiao8

Jasmine Trias8

Including:(3) Regine Velasquez

(2) Sharon Kuneta, Dante Basco, Piolo Pascual, Kris Aquino

(1) Aga Muhlach, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Bea Alonzo, Chinggay Andrada, Lilly Thai, Vanessa Minnillo, RJ David, Vhong Navarro, Joy Bisco

Filipino Dessert%

Halo-Halo29

Bibingka25

Leche flan19

Puto15

Others8

Pastillas4

Turon4

Including:(1) Cassava Cake, Kutsinta, Tracy, Ube

Trad. Fil. Dance%

Tinikling69

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw12

Singkil8

Others7

Paso Doble4

Including:(1) Maglalatik, Janggay, Jota, Michelle

Filipino Occupation%

Nurse75

Accountant12

Others7

Navy6

Including:(1) Engineer, Office Administrator, Lawyer, VP of TP

Something found in the pantry of a Filipino household%

Others41

Spam22

Patis14

Rice9

Vienna Sausages8

Jufran6

Including:(4) Giant fork and spoon

(3) Egg rolls, adobo

(2) Bagoong, soy sauce, Knorr seasoning, corned beef, sardines/daing, condensed milk

(1) Skyflakes, shrimp chips, pancit

Something you would put in a balikbayan box%

Old clothes35Old clothes/ nike crap/ underwear

Bathroom items18(4) toilet paper; (3) towels; shampoo, toothpaste

Spam17

Candy/chocolate12

Others12

Vienna Sausage6

Including:(3) Corned beef

(1) Dried fish, adobo, tv, food

Something among your pasalubong (what you'd bring back from the Philippines)%

Polvoron/candy29polvoron, chocolate nuts, pastilla, tamarind candy

Others23

Cheap clothes22soen panties, lacoste shirts, bahag, wifebeaters

Dried mangoes12

Knockoffs8pirated cds, cell phone covers, fake purses/ luggage

Barrel men6

Including:(1) A wife, fans, food, tv, bagoong, giant spoon and fork, milo, iya from wowowee, corn nuts, ube, dried fish

Something found in a filipino household%

Santo NiƱo33

Others23

Last Supper Portrait16

Tabo12

Plastic floor runners10

Filipinos6

Including:(3) Crucifix

(2) Rice cooker, food, giant fork and spoon, walis ting ting

(1) Magic Mic, barrel man, shoes by the door, Tony, tv

Favortie TP event of current year (05-06)*%* TP Family Feud was in February

Others35

Ski Trip27

Eboard Auction17

Halloween Party7

Singled Out7

Alumni Tailgate7

Including:(5) Knott's Scary Farm, Friendship Games, 1st Meeting

(1) SIPA Halloween, Traddies, Hooters, Barrio Fiesta, Diddy Riese, Alumni Day, Rex

You know you're Filipino if you....%

Others49

Respond to hoy/psst..21

Point with your lips10

Are always on Filipino time8

Eat with your hands6

Eat rice6

Including:(4) 'Open' the lights, have an Uncle Boy, have/use a tabo, have tsinelas at the door

(1) your diet lacks vegetables, eat eggs with ketchup and rice, your rice cooker always on, eat dinuguan, eat balut, smell like homecooked food (eggs/toyo), say 'shya', your parents say 'curtail your galavanting', your p's and f's are backwards, your middle name is your mother's maiden name, have no dogs, are always happy, your parents are, are in TP, filling out this survey, wash your ass

Filipino time is....%

1 hour39

30 minutes29

2 hours12

Others12

20 minutes8

Including:(2) 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 45 minutes, 1.5 hours, As long as the event is not over

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

filipino food - overlooked by the rest of the world

Ashley told me about this recent article in the Honolulu Advertiser entitled "Lost in Translation." No, it's not about the movie, but rather about why Filipino cuisine has remained almost exclusively within the Filipino community. (Example: Go to the Max's in Glendale and see how many non-Filipinos eat there daily).

An excerpt from the article (the rest can be seen here):

--

...As a Filipino who loves the food of his culture, Flores has argued for years that it's time for Filipino food to break out. But as a businessman, he's concluded that the only place you can be successful with a Filipino restaurant is in a neighborhood where many Filipinos live. A chain called Jolly Bee (um, that's not how you spell it) has done well in Filipino communities in California, for example. (not necessarily -- look at the abstract of this 2002 LA Times article here.)

"But you don't see a Filipino restaurant in Kailua. You don't see one in Hawai'i Kai," he said. "You see Filipinos eating in Chinese restaurants, but you don't see Chinese eating in Filipino restaurants. It's just how it is."

NO UPSCALE ATTENTION

Nor has Filipino food made it into the high-end mainstream, where deconstructed, dandied-up versions of local dishes enter the $20-a-plate circle.

If there's anyone on O'ahu who could give Filipino cuisine a haute makeover, it's Elmer Guzman, the Maui-born Filipino chef trained by Emeril Lagasse and Sam Choy. But when Guzman went out on his own last year, he opened The Poke Stop, a take-out place focused on seafood.

"I thought about it and thought about it," he said of the high-end Filipino restaurant idea. "I knew it wasn't going to work. Maybe in San Francisco; not in Hawai'i." Given the already narrow audience for big-ticket dining, and the general lack of understanding of Filipino food, "you'd be taking a big chance." This despite the fact that many, many of the line cooks in top restaurants are of Filipino descent, he said.

Guzman also was concerned about communicating the subtleties of his culture's "soul food." On the surface, many Filipino entrees have a sameness: they begin with onion and garlic, they're simmered or boiled, they feature a lot of vegetables, they're flavored with different meats or seafoods, plus dried shrimp or fish sauce. To those who know the difference between pinakbet and sari-sari, both vegetable stews, the nuances are obvious, but they're likely lost on the rest of the audience, he said.

Guzman featured a few Filipino-style dishes when he was chef at Sam Choy's Diamond Head Grill — adobo leg of duck with crispy skin, for example. But, he said, "the thing about it was, visually, you don't have the wow. You might have the flavor, but not the wow appearance. People eat with their eyes." There's also the fact that the minute patis — the fish sauce that's the Filipino cooking equivalent of shoyu in Japanese cuisine — hits the heat, it sends out a powerful scent, one that some diners might not appreciate.

Guzman's comments hint at another point that may explain why Filipino food has not spread: Many entrepreneurial immigrants have been willing to doctor the foods of their home, toning down potent flavors and eliminating unfamiliar ingredients, to make the food acceptable to a Western audience. But, said Stephanie Castillo, a filmmaker and lover of her mom's Filipino cooking, "I don't think Filipinos thought of their food as something to be marketed...."

Monday, August 07, 2006

the mayon evacuation



It looks like the famed "perfect cone" Mayon Volcano in the Philippines is about to have a major eruption again, threatening many surrounding villages. The government has ordered the evacuation of up to 50,000 people who live within an 8-km radius of the volcano.

An excerpt from the Inq7 article, found here:

--

LEGAZPI CITY -- Bundled in Army trucks, jeepneys and private cars and hugging their dearest possessions, thousands of villagers fled their homes yesterday after one of the Philippines’ deadliest volcanoes blasted out clouds of ash, indicating a major eruption was imminent.

The government ordered the forced evacuation of anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 villagers after declaring an 8-km zone on the southeast sector of Mount Mayon a “no man’s land.”

Waiting for a truck on a roadside in Barangay Mabinit, one of the most threatened villages, an elderly woman nervously clutched her rosary beads and made the sign of the cross.

Nearby, a half-naked man carried bundles of newly cut firewood on his shoulder. Other men had toddlers in their arms.

“It could just be hours or a matter of two days before a major eruption will occur,” resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta told an emergency meeting of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council.

Whole families clutching sleeping mats, pillows, frying pans, radios, plastic food and water containers and sackfuls of clothes joined the massive flight.

Behind them, mushroom-shaped ash clouds towered overhead.

Megaphone in hand, Mayor Noel Rosal roamed Mabinit, appealing to residents to leave.

One of the country’s 22 active volcanoes, Mayon has had a violent history of 47 eruptions since 1616. Its worst eruption buried Cagsawa town and killed 1,200 people in 1814. A 1993 eruption killed 77 farmers.

‘Hazardous and explosive’

Laguerta gave the grim forecast after Mayon belched ash columns towering from 300 to 800 meters on the 23rd day of its restiveness. More ash ejections were expected during the day.

This prompted the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to raise the alert one notch higher to level 4, which meant that a “hazardous, explosive eruption” was imminent....

--

Friday, August 04, 2006

the official bebot music videos

Take a look at the official video of the song "Bebot" by the Black Eyed Peas. It was directed by TP alum Patricio Ginelsa.

There are two versions of the video: Generation 1 (1936) and Generation 2 (present day).

Generation 1:


Generation 2:



Other related videos:

Follow the link to the "Bebot in Little Manila" mini documentary.

The teaser:


Article links:
MTV article
Stockton Record article
Inq7 article (talking about how BEP got the Philippine Presidential Medal of Merit)