A Stress-Free Christmas

Some friends are opting for a stress-free Christmas this year. They're not going shopping, they just ordered gift cards online; they're not going into a cooking frenzy, they're just ordering food or eating out; and they're staying home to do what the spirit of the season should be about -- enjoying each other's company. What a liberating concept, don't you think?

But if you're like me who gets energized by the crowds and the frenzy, you'll want to partake of the recipes we're sharing from innovative chef Rolando Laudico, from our food writer Elizabeth Ann Quirino and from Goldilocks USA to make your Noche Buena table groan with enough dishes to feed a battalion. 

Shifting to the Holy Land where it all began, a Filipino priest, Fr. Angelo Beda Ison, OFM, officiates joyously among Filipino immigrant workers as well as Christians and Muslims of all nationalities. First-time contributor Noni Mendoza tells us his story in "Happy in the Holy Land."

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Filipino heritage is celebrated and documented with The Field Museum's 10,000 Kwentos Project -- storytelling sessions about various regions in the Philippines in conjunction with the museum's extensive collection of Philippine artifacts. Rey E. de la Cruz elaborates in "Ten Thousand Stories in Chicago's The Field Museum."

For those who are seeking avenues for sharing this holiday season, how about sponsoring the education of an underprivileged child in the Philippines for 40 cents a day or $150 a year? Check out our Partner post this week on the Philippine International Aid. PIA recently held its annual fundraiser with a fashion show featuring the creations of Criselda Lontok. Beyond the glamour and the festivity, however, is the very real (and well-documented) charity work of PIA which TV journalist Lloyd LaCuesta fittingly captures in our Video of the Week, "The Special Children"

A technical glitch last week cut short my blog so we have reposted the complete version of "The Gravity of Vanity."

A Writeful National Artist

We're a few days late but we nevertheless celebrate the 90th birthday of another National Artist for Literature, F. Sionil Jose, who had a big bash at the Cultural Center befitting a Filipino of his stature. World renowned as a novelist, essayist, short story writer and columnist, Mang Frankie, as he is fondly called by friends and admirers, is also a successful entrepreneur, which puts him in a class apart from his literary peers. He owns the famous Solidaridad Bookshop in Manila, which our contributor from Australia, Larry Ng, writes about with affection in "A Bookstore of Filipino Aspirations." Complementing Larry's piece, San Francisco-based journalist Ben Pimentel writes about his dinner with the National Artist during the latter's recent visit to California. 

The current furor over the CIA's torture practices brings us back to our exclusive interview with Major General (Ret.) Antonio Taguba who was tasked by the US Army to look into allegations of torture in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and was consequently sacked for telling the truth. Read again "The General At Ease."

As Christmas gets closer, food -- and those who cook them -- is on our minds as we anticipate the sumptuous dishes that always mark our holidays. Our food writer Elizabeth Ann Quirino profiles Yana Gilbuena, a traveling chef, in "Have Filipino Food, Will Travel." And, to whet your appetites even more, we're re-posting "Our Christmas Table," also by Elizabeth Ann, which reminds us of what we loved to eat back home.

And we take time to laugh with another compilation of Funny Signs.

For my blog this week, I thought of a cautionary tale before we all gorge ourselves with goodies this season: The Gravity of Vanity.

And our Video of the Week: Filipino Side Up, Lara Ortiz-Luis shows her American friends her Filipino side.

We're Honored

We got an unexpected but very welcome surprise this week when the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) informed us that Positively Filipino won the Best Interactive Media Award - Website Category, one of six categories of the 2014 Migration and Media Awards (MAM). CFO is the very active agency that oversees the wellbeing of Filipino expats all over the world. It also honors outstanding individuals and organizations -- and media outfits -- that bring on Filipino pride. 

According to the MAM Awards Secretariat, "This year’s awardees were chosen for having raised public awareness on issues on Filipino migration, advocated the cause of Filipinos overseas, promoted a positive image of Filipinos overseas, and espoused the concepts of migration and development." We're pleased and honored for being chosen. A big thank you to CFO and MAM for recognizing our efforts, a month short of Positively Filipino's second birthday.

Another source of pride - the Filipino Food Movement (FFM) that was started in the San Francisco Bay Area by some dedicated foodies. Its Savor Filipino inaugural event brought together 22 chefs from all over the country, cooking Filipino-inspired dishes that whetted the taste buds and appetites of the big crowd that attended. Ron Quesada reports in "Not Just Another Filipino Food Festival."

And speaking of events, organizing them is the core service of Plan C Agency, a Los Angeles-based advertising and event marketing agency founded and headed by Giancarlo Pacheco. Anthony Maddela profiles this marketing expert who attributes his drive and vision to his Filipino roots.

Contributing to Pinoyspotting this week is Albert Romero who traveled to Rome and Barcelona and met some interesting Filipinos. You too can contribute your photos of close encounters with Filipinos during your travels to Pinoyspotting. Send them to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com with a short caption on how, when, where, who.

LOL with Mikey Bustos as he eavesdrop on his mother cooking adobo in our Video of the Week.

And while we can enumerate things wrong with Filipinos, there are also a lot of good things to celebrate about being Filipino. My blog this week reminds us of the good in us.