TREE TO GET READY, NOW GO MANGO!

After years of waiting and LOTS of hard work, our Sydney Trade Office finally got to deliver the most awaited Fil-food news in Australia   

(non-Jollibee division) 

Yebba!  Look at all that golden-yellow goodness!  Now, they were supposed to arrive months ago in time for the start of the Australian winter, and some technical hitches kept them at bay for a while...but that only made us want them even MORE!   

and oh, Trade Office, you were such a tease about it =) 

And then...Christmas in spring suddenly arrived!  

with a world-record flex to boot!  

I was, however, still a good little boy and merely hoped but did not fully expect fresh fruit Santa to bring me the presents I wished for -- as far as I knew, these things were completely sold out even before they cleared customs.  But the Trade Office once again delivered...literally!

   

for those few wonderful minutes when the box wandered the aisles like a bayong sa palengke, everything in the office looked and smelled - as they say in Aussie slang - Sweet As. 

In an accompanying news report, one of the importers said bringing in the mangoes was "more about that nostalgia and having that family atmosphere with the taste of what they grew up with." Mismo! When I brought home and served the two precious pieces I scored, the LLDD-Baby's unfiltered, unplanned reaction to once again tasting the Philippine mangoes that - as she dramatically but accurately put it - "I haven't had for half of my life" was...emotional

wala pang bagoong 'yan

Sweet As.  

JUNE, GONE TOO SOON

So many things happen during indie month, you might miss a few gems:

EJ Obiena, call me

For that matter, Olympic committee, call them

We got you sorted too, half-time show producer

This month's Herald's gourmet food magazine confirms: the hostile Fil-food takeover is happening

There's Chair of the Standing Entertainment Committee, then there's Entertainer Standing on the Chair Committee

This gentleman's Philippine company just built Australia's largest solar farm, that is all.

A "secret" Knighting ceremony held deep beneath an old hidden dwelling gives Da Vinci Code vibes but for the cool owner, yummy sponge cake and truly huge personal lobster tank in the basement

Them: you can't wear barongs for winter.  Fil-com creatives: challenge accepted

Finally, a painter -- within the span of an accompanying theme song -- creates a multi-piece landscape that somehow works both pulled apart and put together

Voltes V legacy, so to speak

FIL FOOD...FIGHT!

We support and promote all Philippine food and beverage everywhere of course, but I get a special sportnerdy thrill whenever I come across Filipino products that are made/labelled/branded/marketed from inside another country -- it's like a visiting football team's travelling supporters coming and taking over a home team's stadium. WHOSE HOUSE OUR HOUSE BECAUSE WE BROUGHT BETTER MERIENDA! 

And I get even more pumped if I can somehow find these products -- online, in store or in our office pantry -- purposefully lined up like a FIFA starting 11 intro.  So Sydney GET UP (and go to your grocery or online delivery app) for YOUR (locally based):

Winning Wines!

Locker room Lattes!

Ice Screeeeaaaaam!

Go nuts, go cuts GO Coconuts! (fun fact: the english term for Macapuno is Coconut Sport.  Hell yeah)

And The Sauce.  Hit me with the Hot Sauce!

every team needs an enforcer

HOY! PINOT AKO!

Super shout out to all the people at 7,000 Islands co. for sending a sample set of their first vintage Oro Plata Mata (OPM) Chardonnay, Rosé and Shiraz to posts around the country.  The wines are single vineyard small batch made in Australia, described and labelled in Tagalog, and specifically designed to go well with both Australian and Filipino cuisine.  I feel honored and distinguished just looking at them!

you can also tell how pure class the group is by the owner's handwriting  

Not only that, they even held a Filipino Tapas Wine Pairing event bringing in all the foodies, connoisseurs and fine-diners out there

...as well as all Acting "Madams".  I mean, para que AHOP....

But seriously, it was a great, raucous affair, and the family was only too happy to promote all the Philippine drinks on offer (although the LLDD-Baby wasn't having any of it) (because she's underage)

(and also, she just wasn't having ANY of it) 

Sorry, anak, it may be a while before you can fully enjoy something like this. 'Til then, leave the tasting and the reviews to the newly-feeling pro

let  "Shiraz at Sinigang" be our new tourism slogan

SEASON'S CELEBRATIONS WERE LIT

How lit?  At the Australian-Philippine Business Council year-end shindig, CEOs and top government officials storm to stage for a singalong   

At an Ibero-American-Australian fiesta, guests rip up the dance floor to Pilita Corrales jams...on a harp 

And at the Seniors Association Christmas bash, no one gets down harder than the lola with a walker

Encore all y'all shimmying seniors, ENCORE! 

Nothing achy or breaky here.  PARTY ON!

HOLD MY BREW

While our Cultural peeps continue to crush it, shout outs too to our Trade section for its own ongoing and gorgeous-looking promotion of PHL tastes, especially the mouth-watering drinks and desserts perfect for the just-arrived Aussie summer/holiday season     

Today’s ☀️ weather calls for a refreshing, all natural drink made from brewed tea with lemongrass. @bayanibrew #tea #proudlypinoyinoz #philippineproducts #filipinofood #pinoyproducts #pinoyfood #gawadkalinga

Posted by DTI Sydney on Saturday, November 21, 2020

Posted @withregram • @entree.pinays Meet the Abraham family. Led by co-founders and parents, Jaypee and Victoria, @...

Posted by DTI Sydney on Saturday, November 21, 2020

Posted @withregram • @chefmikoaspiras Recently had the privilege to create drinks and desserts using Calamansi or the...

Posted by DTI Sydney on Thursday, November 26, 2020

WE'LL DRINK TO THAT, MATES! 

GUSTO N'YONG ZOOMAMAN?

Happy to have just hosted/emceed our first full-fledged webinar for the Fil-com -- on Financial Literacy no less! Happier still that no Kids-Crashing-BBC-Live-Interview level of mishaps took place during recording.

Financial Literacy Webinar with DTI Sydney and Landbank of the PhilippinesLearn about basic budgeting, saving, investing and debt management.

The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney in partnership with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center-Sydney invites the Filipino-Australian community, international students and professionals and anyone interested to this Financial Literacy Webinar held on Thursday, 16 July 2020 at 6PM AEST.

The Landbank of the Philippines’ will also give information on the launch of OFBank’s digital-only, first branchless bank in the Philippines where Filipinos overseas can open an account online without the need to be physically present in the Philippines.

Posted by Philippine Consulate General in Sydney NSW on Tuesday, July 21, 2020

 

no amount of money talk could overcome my Mr. Worry forehead and elite "umm..."'s per minute though

PINOY SNACK PANIC ATTACK

haha in a span of 24 hours our Trade office proudly announces that one of the biggest/busiest supermarket chains in Sydney CBD now carries an entire shelf dedicated to Pinoy foodstuff and chichirya...  

...then Fil-com facebook claps back that the racks are being wiped out...

...then the Supermarket has to literally take stock of the situation

There must be an epic Pinoy party/inuman going down somewhere in Sydney someone please DM me and the Trade office the details ok thanks =)

CAN'T MISS THIS TRAIN

Trust our friends at the Tourism department to keep up the great Philippine i-push mo 'yan campaign around the world: the Sydney office just put up a bunch of "More Fun" boards on some of the city's cool double-decker trains taken by millions of commuters everyday. Good on ya, mates! 

(although, unfortunately, I haven't been able to personally see or document any of the branded trains yet; they run mostly underground on a line that I don't take to work so I can't just chance upon any of them -- unlike during the great Philippine cab and bus pokemon go-type spotting fun I had back in London)

(also, they launched the London campaign right outside the Embassy where I could readily step out and take this gem of a blog's iconic banner photo, whereas the Sydney ribbon-cutting was held across town from the Consulate at Bondi junction and I wasn't part of the program so I couldn't be part of the official photo-op)

(or could I?)

*grab photo*        

ENHANCE

dammit Chloe, they're STILL on the wrong side of the road!!!