Philippine Café

The Pacquiao factor

If there’s one Filipino who represents all Filipinos ...

... it's Manny Pacquiao. He’s modest, humble, respectful, a down-to-earth, genuine, warm human being. But when he gets into the ring: pow!  The world’s eyes are opened.

Pinoys are like that.

With a reputation as the friendliest people in the world, it’s easy for us to be underestimated; but we are also capable, motivated, hard-working and determined, and Filipino ingenuity and capability benefits every economy on earth.

Similar can be seen with our food. We are crazy about our food – it’s special, it’s ours, and we love it. And yet there are so few Filipino restaurants in NZ.

The Delights of Chickenjoy

I recently brought a Kiwi friend of mine to Turo-Turo in Glen Innes, and she was awed by the menu. She wanted to try everything: lechon paksiw, pancit canton, bistek tagalog, sisig, mami, longsilog – although she didn’t quite go as far as wanting to try dinuguan. In the end, after I explained the whole Jollibee thing (how many Pinoys in NZ have asked for gravy at KFC, without the potatoes, hoping to discover the delights of Chickenjoy?) she had – and loved – the Joyful Chicken.

Proudly Filipino

As I looked around the café, I saw other Filipinos with non-Filipino friends, and I started to realise they felt the same as me. They were so proud to be sharing their food, their hospitality, their culture with others – and yet, like me, they would feel awkward about openly promoting those things.

That modesty is a trait we all share

and it does have its drawbacks. We can be critical of Filipinos who are mayabang about their success, and  sometimes we start looking for faults or weaknesses almost out of spite. But I guess that is partly because our culture sees such value in the principles of bayanihan – the idea of all working towards a shared goal, and a shared pride.

I suspect that shared pride is something we Filipinos all felt that day at Turo-Turo café, proud that our friends were discovering our cuisine for the first time. And it’s something we all feel when Pacquiao stands proudly for our national anthem, a mere 2-4 rounds away from his next K.O.


Manny Pacquiao photo source: http://www.mp8.ph/  permission pending