Pinoy berday paty

We were invited to attend a pinoy birthday party yesterday and yes, as expected, it was all fun! I was happy having to taste some of our pinoy delicacies again, like pancit, sinigang, lumpiang shanghai (for the non-Filipinos, lumpiang shanghai is not from Shanghai, China. It's a Filipino adaptation of the Chinese fried spring rolls), biko, and chicken sopas. To top it all up, we spent the remainder of the night singing our hearts out with OPM and western classics in the ever reliable magic mic.


It was not only the Filipinos who got to demonstrate their singing prowess. A bunch of American kids caught the pinoy singing fever as well and at some point dominated the magic mic for a sizeable fraction of the night. What amazed me was that these kids were not singing the likes of Jonas bros, Miley Cyrus or Timbaland. They were going for classic songs like Thriller, Hound Dog, and (as for the photo below) Britney's Oops I Did It Again. Haha, I rember there's this kid who grabs the mic and shouts, "Ooops takeling!" in an attempt to read the song title "Ooops! Teka lang!" That was cute and hilarious. Kinda reminds me of the dragon katol ad in the Philippines.


Below is the birthday mom, Hydie, and her lovely daughter singing Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. She couldn't read the words yet, but still got a grade of 100%! I think magic mics have built-in biometric sensors that detect their owner's finger prints. In fairness, she was really good and we all concur that her singing genes are 100% derived from Filipinos :)


This gathering made me realize one thing: Filipinos, no matter how far they are from home and how long they have been disconnected from their roots, could still find a way to uncover the "pinoy genes" in them. Initially, I felt a bit awkward being greeted by Filipinos with thick american accents and idiomatic expressions. But when they all start singing and dancing, that's when the true Filipino colors come out.

I couldn't think of a better way to end an awful week than this ... except probably if I could have the option not to go back studying again the following day. I definitely look forward to attending future pinoy gatherings in Syracuse just to remind myself how I always enjoy the company of our kababayan (fellow countrymen and women). Hydie, thanks for the fun party and happy birthday again!