One of the biggest Filipino festivals in the entire USA, the Fil-Am Friendship Day Festival is an annual celebration which began in 1971 to both promote and unify the Philippine culture in the Hampton Roads area and beyond. Friendship Day features vendors, showcase, live performances, cultural celebrations, and sports events that embody the Filipino culture. [...]
Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category
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Tatay’s Day
June 21st, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
This is a belated Father’s Day post due to the fact that I was busy spending time with my dad. In the U.S., Asian father’s are usually perceived as strict, uncaring, and cold hearted people. This usually applies to Americans who don’t understand our culture or what is accepted as a proper upbringing for Asians. [...]
Philippine National Flag Day
May 28th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
May 28th is Philippine National Flag Day, which commemorates the date when the Philippine flag was first unfurled after the Philippine Revolutionary Army defeated the Spanish forces in the Battle of Alapan in 1898. The celebration starts from May 28 until June 12, the Philippine Independence Day. All Filipinos are then encouraged to display the Philippine flag in all offices, [...]
Legaci’s A Song for Mama
May 9th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
I just had a great weekend at Virginia Beach with the family for Mother’s Day and I hope all of you had the opportunity to thank your mom on this day. Legaci’s cover of Boyz II Men’s “A Song for Mama” is a part of their album entitled “SESSIONS,” which is available at cdbaby.com and ubetunes. Legaci [...]
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2010
May 7th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
It’s May, which means Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is here. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) is celebrated in May to commemorate the contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States. Congress passed a joint Congressional Resolution in 1978 to commemorate Asian American Heritage Week during the first week of May. [...]
25 Nailed to Crosses in Pampanga on Good Friday
April 3rd, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
It’s that time of the year again when Philippines makes headlines for marking Easter with re-enactments of whippings and crucifixions. Dozens of devout Filipinos whipped themselves until blood flowed down their backs and others groaned while being nailed to crosses as Asia’s bastion of Catholicism marked Good Friday. About 25 people, including 34-year-old Mary-Jane Mamangun, [...]
Harana: Courtship Filipino Style
February 3rd, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
We live in a world where the media pretty much tells you that love is dead, youth relying too much on text messaging, and people telling you that you should have as much sex as possible. For these reasons, I feel that everyone should know the beauty of harana. What is harana? Harana is a traditional form of [...]
Are Filipinos Offensive?
February 3rd, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
Since it’s February and Valentine’s Day is approaching, I thought I would look into possible gift recommendations for everyone. This search has brought me to Filipinos, the brand name for a series of biscuit snacks made by Kraft Foods. Many Asian bloggers have already brought up the issue with Filipinos snacks but I would like to reintroduce [...]
Pit Senior!
January 20th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
Pit Senior! “Pit” is a shortened word for “Sangpit,” which means “call.” Thus, you are calling to Senior Santo Niño when you say Pit Senior! This past weekend many Filipinos especially Visayans like myself were celebrating the Feast Day of Santo Niño. For those not familiar with Philippine traditions, Santo Niño is representation of the [...]
Jose Rizal’s 113th Anniversary
January 4th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
Since I was taking a break from updating, I wanted to inform everyone on this post that December 30th was Jose Rizal’s 113th Death Anniversary. For those who are not familiar with Philippine history, Rizal was a Filipino polymath, nationalistand the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered the Philippines’ national hero and [...]