Promoting the wonderful culture of the Philippines is a huge part of working in Foreign Service. Each of our consulates and embassies all over the world has an entire team working together with the Department of Tourism in order to keep this vision. In San Francisco, the month of May marked the sixth celebration of ASEAN Heritage. Basically, it was a whole street filled with parades, performers, booths (from serious causes like political prisoners to cultural message boards to Korean face paint to spine alignment to colon cancer detection to the usual merchants who sell their stuff), and my personal favorite--food stalls (I found--through taste, haha--that we have extremely delicious barbecue from each nation. Also, I totally loved Mango Lassi and Pad Thai from Thailand and fresh spring rolls from Vietnam. Always have, always will! :D) from all over the ASEAN region. Personal bias aside, I thought our food stood out because foreigners and Asians alike kept on lining up for adobo and rice ($10) and our fruit juices (guava, dalandan, mango-pineapple, all for free). There was, literally, a lunch line in front of one of the Filipino stalls. I feel very happy about that because I truly believe in the simplicity but tastiness of Filipino food. :)
All I did was eat, actually, but then again I have pictures so I'll just share some.
San Francisco City Hall. Mayor Newsom also showed up for the event. He seems nice.
Asian Museum of Art. The on-going exhibition is all about the majestic women of Shanghai. I'll make sure to pass by once my internship is over.
I love this really big sculpture of (who I think is) Brama on the middle of the field.
Really cute young girls roaming around before the festivities started. Good things come in threes!
I laughed. I totally did.
Awesome booth next to us sold these figures. Too bad I'm a girly girl and have no interest in stuff like these. I do appreciate the artistry though. :)
The big boss and the bosses of the office. Con Gen Paynor, Vice Consul Lea, and Sir Doy (also a Consul but of a higher rank). They told me to get in the frame but damn, I got shy. Looking back, I should've had. Hahaha. Shoot me in the eye, will you?
Shivering old ladies representing our Filipino seniors. Lolas rock!!!
Vietnam. The same country whose steady economic growth continues to shame our pitiful country everyday.
