Things To Do Before Bedtime

In case you're not doing it yet, you can read Positively Filipino from your smart phone or tablet. Just bookmark the website, add the icon and enjoy the stories whenever, wherever you are. (See below for instructions on how to bookmark the page.)

Like you can imagine yourself  "Chasing Dolphins" at the Tañon Strait  as you take your lunch break. The Tañon Strait, off the island of Bais in Negros Oriental is where half of the 27 species of dolphins and whales found in the Philippines congregate, and it's quite a sight, as our regular contributor Criselda Yabes describes.

Or in case you are considering a relationship with a Kapampangan (a native of Pampanga Province) and want to have some insider info on their character, you can read cultural historian Robby Tantingco's "10 Things You Need to Know About Kapampangans" while taking the train on your way home from work.

And before you step into the supermarket to buy ingredients for your dinner, you can stop and savor this week's The Happy Home Cook recipe: San Miguel Steamed Manila Clams with Longanisa, as created by brothers Chase and Chad Valencia who are making waves in Los Angeles with their LASA pop-up restaurant, also featured here (Anthony Maddela's 'LASA: Rescuing Filipino Cuisine from the Doldrums').

When doing your daily walk, you can also check out our Pinoyspotting feature by our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco who met some interesting Filipinos in Balboa Beach, Budapest and Berlin. Or watch our Video of the Week featuring the fun creations of famous Filipino couturier Patis Tesoro during the Independence Day Gala in Washington, D.C. this year.

While relaxing before bedtime, during this month that honors fathers, you can Read Again some stories to stir your hearts: Eva Alminiana Nieva Monroe's "The Ardor of My Father" and Robert V. Ragsac Sr.'s "You'll Never See Me Again."

Take Positively Filipino with you wherever you go, scroll through the variety of present and past stories, and you'll never have moments of boredom.

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To add the Positively Filipino icon on your mobile devices, go to your browser, and open the PF website then choose "Add to Home Screen" the website (i.e., bookmark a website, www.positivelyfilipino.com).  This adds the PF icon to your home screen. So anytime you want to read Positively Filipino, you can just click on that icon and you will be brought directly to The Magazine.

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Enter the National Hero

As if we still need convincing that our national hero Jose Rizal was one talented dude, contributor Rene J. Navarro, a long-time practitioner and teacher of  martial and spiritual arts, regales us with a feature story on a lesser known side of Rizal: his practice of and discipline as a martial artist in "Jose Rizal: Martial Arts Warrior." It's our hero's 154th birthday on June 19.

It's also Immigrant Heritage Month and we present to you a graphic overview of "Two Hundred Years of Filipino Immigration to the US." Bloggers Ray and Kira Del Rosario contributed this piece that illustrates how there are millions of us here now.

The positive contributions of immigrants in the US are well-documented and almost universally acknowledged. Rey Faustino, who was brought to this country as a young kid, is one fine example of someone who successfully beat the odds and is now giving back to the society that nurtured him. By founding One Degree, a nonprofit that harnesses technology to enable social service agencies to reach the needy more efficiently, Faustino has been rewarded with the support of some of the biggest names in the technology sector as well as government agencies and other nonprofits. Harvey I. Barkin profiles this innovative thinker in "He Founded the Yelp! of Social Services."

For those planning a visit to our Inang Bayan, a must-see destination is Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan, where you can step back a century prior and lose yourself in the grace and the elegance of Philippine ancestral homes. Omar Paz brings us there in "Time Travel at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar."

For our Video of the Week, we feature venture capitalist and technology titan Dado Banatao and how his nonprofit PhilDev is helping the Philippines rise. 

And The Happy Home Cook this week is Celia Ruiz-Tomlinson sharing with us her own version of the classic pulutan favorite, "Kinilaw."

Happy Father's Day and A Meaningful Summer Solstice to everyone.

June Busting Out All Over

June is the month we shower our motherland with love as we celebrate the 117th anniversary of Philippine independence as well as the 154th birth anniversary of our National Hero Jose Rizal. Some of you are probably flying back this month to attend weddings of kin, as June is also still the month of promising eternal love, even if December or January are giving stiff competition for the marrying-est month of the year.

To all the Filipino communities in the world who are celebrating Philippine Independence their own unique ways, we are one with you in spirit.

We start off this issue with a plea: Please Stop Calling the Philippines "P.I." That term is outdated and wrong, a colonial appellation that should have been banished along with the colonialists. So please, delete it from your vocabulary. History professor Dr. Michael Gonzalez explains why.

We have two recipes in The Happy Home Cook this week: the first is for "Adobong Dilaw," the original of which was created by Maria Agoncillo, the second wife of the first Philippine president, Emilio Aguinaldo, from whose balcony in Kawit, Cavite, Philippine independence was first declared. Our resident foodie, Elizabeth Ann Quirino, recreates the recipe for the modern cook and flavors it with some historical vignettes. Find out why this adobo is yellow in "Adobong Dilaw, A Timeless Recipe."

The second recipe is for Fried Chicken Sandwich that uses pan de sal made from scratch, a creation of Ria and Matt Wilson, the innovative and enterprising chef-couple who headlines WILD at Canele in Los Angeles. Savor Anthony Maddela's report, "California French (and Filipino) Cuisine Goes WILD."

And for another look back at history, Read Again John Silva's "A Valiant People's Army," featuring rare photographs of the Filipino American War.

Our Video of the Week is a heartwarming collection of testimonials from non-Filipinos who have chosen to live in the Philippines. Enjoy "Sarap Maging Filipino."

And my blog this week is dedicated to some friends who just reached the big 6-0. It's not as bad as you imagine.

Happy summer!