Around the World in One Day: The 49th International Bazaar at the PICC Forum

- Nov. 29, 2015, Sunday.

- Bazaars fascinate me, although I don't always attend them because of the big crowds. There are always interesting little (or big) finds in bazaars - from good deals and discounts, to freebies. If there's one bazaar that I always make sure to attend (unless I'm overseas,) it would be the International Bazaar that is always held at the PICC Forum. The one-day bazaar is usually held on the third Sunday of November, but it had to be moved a week later this year due to the APEC series of events that happened last week. To me, the schedule change did not really matter; what mattered most was that the bazaar still pushed through.

Event poster.

- The International Bazaar is perfect for me since the main stalls represent many of the embassies and consulates here in Manila; this event is mainly organized by the spouses of the ambassadors (aka "SHOM," or "Spouses of the Heads of Missions.") Each stall sells traditional products (from food, clothing, handicrafts, etc.) from the countries that the stalls represent. This is what makes it seem like shopping around the world in one day. On top of that, many local traders are also present to sell their unique products.

- I arrived at the bazaar around 10am, and dashed off in no time to the dining area, where, as one might expect, stalls selling international foods are. This is a tactic when going to any bazaar - eating when everyone's not. I was able to comfortably sit on my cushioned chair, with lots of elbow space, and whenever I leave my food on my table to buy more food or drinks, I won't be worried that someone might take my seat away. I had Turkish pastries, an Israeli falafel sandwich, and a box of Vietnamese rice paper rolls. While buying food, I also encountered the Indian ambassador, H.E. Lalduhthlana Ralte, and his daughter Mawi. It still amazes me that they recognize me by face, name, and profession. (It is such an honor. *Insert happy tears.*)

My falafel sandwich with hummus sauce, my Turkish pastres (one with cheese and another with pistachios I think,) and my Vietnamese rice paper rolls.

- After lunch, I moved through the crowd, and realized that this year's embassy participants were less than the previous years (click here for 2013 and here for 2012; I wasn't able to go last year because I was in Taiwan: click here, here, here, here, and here.) Some regular participants like Russia, South Korea, Iraq, and Malaysia were not present. Despite this, I was still able to enjoy seeing some representatives and visitors in traditional costumes. munching on free samples, and interacting with embassy representatives. Speaking of embassy representatives, Ms. Angela from the Sri Lankan Embassy recognized me from our previous encounter last year; former ambassador H.E. S.V.G. Gamini Samaranayake gave a talk on political conflict and resolutions in Sri Lanka in the UP Asian Center (click here) to see. I didn't recognize her because she was wearing a sea-blue Sri-Lankan style sari. She informed me about the recent turnover, and she was also kind enough to introduce me to the new ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Philippines, H.E. Aruni Ranaraja. 

Eiffel Towers. How French.

Italian masks and glassware.

Iranian woman selling Persian rugs.

Of course, wouldn't miss this for the world.

Sri Lanka.

Passed by Japan; women in kimonos.

Colombian gold and jewelry.

Lao sticky rice.

Back at the Sri Lankan stall; a Buddhist (or Vishnu-related) statue.

With the new ambassador, H.E. Aruni Ranaraja.

- I went around and bought myself a box of Sri Lankan tea, a handwoven Lao scarf, a new and better-fitting Kuwaiti agal (headscarf fastener.) I also saw Dutch beer, Swiss and Belgian chocolates, French wines and jams, Cambodian shawls, Indonesian batik, Italian glass products, Norwegian salmon and patchworks, Colombian gold, Burmese jade, Japanese kawaii products, and much more. Finally, I visited the Indian booth again to have a photo with the ambassador and his whole family; they were really friendly and accommodating.

With H.E. Lalduhthlana Ralte, ambassador of India to the Philippines. Look, I have a free goodie bag with Indian travel magazines and travel guides.

Hola Espana!!

The Indonesian booth is usually stunning as well.

Henna services at the Pakistani stall.

One of the Dutch representatives in a traditional costume.

Just before buying the agal (head fastener) I was wearing. Thank you costumed Filipino representative from the Kuwaiti Embassy for helping me with my keffiyeh (headscarf.)

With the Incredible Indian family.

- I still can't believe that I must wait another year for the 50th International Bazaar. I never get tired of coming to this bazaar every year because the bazaar has always been a good opportunity to learn about all the countries in the world.

60 Years of Asian Studies, 60 Years of UP Diliman's Asian Center

- November 25, 2015, Wednesday.

- The UP Asian Center held its "Asian Center Night" in celebration of the 60th year of the UP Asian Center. The banquet, held at the GT Toyota Auditorium, was filled with Asian Center faculty and staff, dignitaries and representatives from some embassies, university officials, alumni and benefactors, current Asian Center students, and alumni.

- I was invited by current dean and my former adviser, Dr. Joefe Santarita, to be the emcee for the night. Since I was also going to the event regardless of the invitation to be the emcee, I agreed. I was asked to put on something colorful, so I decided to put on my Mongolian deel and the necessary accessories (read about my adventures in Mongolia here, here, and here). Little did I know that the tablecloths and chair covers agree with my outfit. Well, at least I fit in with the motif.

Wearing my Mongolian deel.

Perfectly camouflaged.

With Janus and Ivy.

Outside the auditorium.

- After the opening remarks by Dr. Santarita, we proceeded with the history of the Asian Center, as presented by Dr. Matthew Santamaria. The UP Asian Center was established in 1955 as the Institute of Asian Studies. Later on, in 1968, Republic Act 5334 mandated the existence of the institute. In the following years, the early incarnations of the Asian Center lost and finally regained its government mandate. Today, it remains to be the only center/institution in the whole Philippines to have its existence mandated by a government act. From a research institute, it has also become a degree-granting center that provides graduate-level degrees on Asian Studies and Philippine Studies. (See more details in the UP Asian Center website; click here.)

Emcee duties.

Dr. Santarita.

History of the UP Asian Center.

- UP chancellor, Dr. Michael Tan, gave his speech afterwards, mentioning how the Asian Center is 60 years "young." However, there were some people who contributed greatly to the improvements of the Asian Center in the recent years. These people are Dr. George Ty from Toyota Morots, and Director Hiroaki Uesugi from Japan Foundation Manila. They were both awarded with certificates of recognition.

Dr. Michael Tan.

- The color of the night was provided by Kaloob Philippine Music and Dance Ministry. It is a research and performing group, founded and headed by Dr. Eduardo Lapiz, that aims to preserve traditional Philippine music and dances. For the evening, they made the audience travel the Philippines - from north to south, precolonial to colonial - through their collection of dances.

T'boli dance.

Ifugao dance.

Colonial-style manton dance.

Subanon dance.

Singkil - one of my favorite dances.

The ever popular tinikling.

- Dinner was provided afterwards, and the night was capped off by a toast by Prof. Talampas, the current college secretary, and the chair of the anniversary committee. As for me, it was finally time to remove my really heavy deel and change into my "street" clothes before going home.

Picture with the sarimanok - a Maranao symbol, and the symbol of the Asian Center.

- I am very proud to have been part of this center, and I hope that the Asian Center will continue to grow and expand to other fields concerning Asia. My personal journey in the Asian Center was a bittersweet rocky road, but it was worth it. I know many will also agree with me.

The 2nd Junior Chinese Studies Conference: Chinese in the Southeast Asian Countries

- Nov. 16, 2015, Monday.

- The Ateneo de Manila University's Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies held its second Junior Chinese Studies Conference in the Ateneo de Manila University. This kind of conference was initiated last year as a chance for student-presenters to be exposed to the world of academic conferences, and for the students to learn from their panel reactors in order to improve or develop their current/future research papers

Conference program and my golden Chinese fan as the background.

- Since this was a junior conference, the participants are all undergraduate (college-level) students. Most of the presenters were students from Ateneo de Manila University who are currently in the AB Chinese Studies program, taking a minor in Chinese Studies, or taking a Chinese/China-related class for the semester. Other schools such as the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University - Manila, University of Santo Tomas, and the University of the Asia and the Pacific also sent paper presenters to support the event. The number of papers this year totaled 45, a bit more than double of last year's conference. All papers submitted were more or less about the contemporary Chinese communities/societies in the Philippines, or about preserving the Chinese heritage in the contemporary age. Most papers were backed up with conceptual frameworks from Chinese philosophies, usually, Confucianism. After all, Confucianism is one of the backbones of Chinese and sinicized societies (i.e. Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese) today.

- I was invited by the Chinese Studies Program (via Prof. Sidney Bata, director of the Ricardo Leong Chinese Studies Program) to be a panel reactor for some panels in the conference. This excited me a lot because I've never been a panel reactor before; I mostly present in academic conferences, and I have also moderated (but not reacted) in one panel in Hong Kong last year (click here to see). In addition to this, this is also the first time that I attended a purely Chinese Studies conference; I've mostly attended Asian-Studies conferences (general Asian Studies, usually multidisciplinary,) and a few on Korean Studies (particularly on "hallyu" or the "Korean Wave.") However, the experience and feeling of taking part in this junior conference was "not new" to me, since all academic conferences on Asian Studies that I've been in are almost always concentrated on China, Japan, Korea, in that particular order. Papers on Southeast Asia (usually on ASEAN affairs) are sometimes noticeable (or papers on the Philippines in case of local conferences,) while papers on Indian Studies, West Asia, and Central Asia are usually rare. I'm usually one of the rare beings to present papers on India, particularly Indian popular culture (i.e. Bollywood.) Hopefully, more academic papers on other Asian geocultural regions will be written and presented, to add diversity to "Asian Studies" conferences everywhere.

- Going back to the junior conference, the event started with a keynote lecture by Dr. Diana Mendoza on the (political) influences of China in Southeast Asia. Dr. Mendoza is a professor in the Political Science Department of the Ateneo de Manila University, and is also the director of the Southeast Asian Studies program of the same university.

Mr. Charles Joseph de Guzman, Chinese Studies instuctor and my friend. 

Dr. Fernando Aldaba, dean of the School of Social Sciences, and his welcoming remarks.

Dr. Diana Mendoza and her keynote lecture.

- Throughout the day, four major panels on different themes were held - philosophies and ideologies; tourism, migration, and social mobility; culture and family life; and emerging trends: technology, social media, and education. I was assigned to be a reactor on three succeeding afternoon panels - one on culture and family life, and two panels on technology, social media, and education.

Tarp.

My friend Kat as a panel reactor in one of the morning panels.

Charles, Kat, and me: 2 China Studies majors, and a misplaced Indian Studies major (wearing a Mongolian top.)

Before having lunch.

Mr. Harold Diokno, history teacher from La Salle Greenhills and a China Studies major as well. 

Paul Yiu and his paper on the mixing of Chinese philosophies and Filipino traits among Fil-Chi adolescents. 

Paul's paper, according to his reactors, was one of the "most developed" in the conference; I thought so too. Paul's also a friend of mind by the way.

- The presenters in my panels had really relevant topics ranging from changing language pedagogy in Chinese schools in the Philippines, exploring the Fil-Chi senior society, to the proposing the change Chinese words connoting gender inequality, and presenting the different uses of the Chinese cleaver. Though the students had a long way to go in terms of presenting and writing proper academic papers, they were still able to present a lot of interesting facts on contemporary Chinese, and diasporic Chinese issues that I may not have known or didn't notice before. This is the reason why I strongly feel that schools and universities should continue to push their students to think more, and to participate (not just as a spectator/observer) in mind-feeding activities like this conference.

With Dr. Yugioksing.

Trying to sound professional but I end up saying my comments with a lighter, comedic tone. Well, that's me.

My first panel. I didn't have more photos of the succeeding panels since my "photographer," Eugene Andojoyan, had to leave.

- After surviving three succeeding panels (and I was able to since they were all fun to listen to,) Prof. Daisy See of the Chinese Studies Program formally closed the conference. The bonus of the day was getting to hitch a ride with the Chiang Kai Shek College school bus on the way home (way better than taking the LRT of course.) The bus was there since a lot of Chinese Education majors from the college department went as observers in the whole-day event. I enjoyed the conference very much, and I hope that I'd get to serve as a panel reactor again in the future junior conferences. I also hope that more junior conferences will be held, not only by the Chinese Studies Program, but also in other fields, to allow more students and potential experts to "go out there and shine." Perhaps, later on, a junior conference on Indian or South Asian Studies can be held, to boost this important-but-"forgotten" field in the Philippines.

Prof. Daisy See.

With Chiang Kai Shek alumni (high school) Paul and Austin, and Ryan in the middle is currently taking his Chinese Education degree in the college department of Chiang Kai Shek College. 

Me.

With yet another China-Studies-major friend, Ivy, who also happened to be with me in my recent Asian Studies conference in New York (click here to read.)