Yesterday during TC's dance practice, the dancers were treated to some good ole Filipino partay food. And by partay food, I mean a mixture of Filipino and Chinese food. One of the younger girls turned 9 and her family brought in food for the dance company. For the past month, practices on the weekdays turned into two hour sessions and on Saturdays, nearly a 5 hour marathon. This birthday party was a welcome break in the routine. First up is the pancit. Although Chinese in origin, this birthday party staple is de rigeur for any Filipino birthday party because the noodles symbolize long life.
Next up, you have to have some fried shit in there. Although I didn't eat this dish myself, I was told that this was chicken.
Then you have the Orange Chicken (not a Filipino dish), which was quite popular.
More food? Yes, it's Mongolian beef:
And of course, fried rice. Like the "serving utensils"? I thought that was pretty damn funny. Most of us moms were behind the counter serving the kids assembly line style.
One of the moms (who's husband is one of the chefs at the U.S. Grant) made soup. This had chicken, cabbage, water chestnuts, and baby corn. It was kind of a hot day, so I didn't have any soup.
Here's all the food on the counter. Ha ha - those cups!
We had fresh fruit for dessert too. The birthday girl's mom bought several flats of fresh strawberries from Henry's. She said they were $2.99 each, so she bought 3! Earlier, I did strawberry hulling duty while another mom quartered the starberries which we put in a huge white serving bowl. We used up a flat and a half of strawberries. Later on we poured heavy whipping cream mixed with mascarpone cheese and sweetened condensed milk over the berries...OMG, this was so good! Everyone loved the strawberries...
...especially with crumbled chocolate/caramel brownies on top! Another mom and I bogarted a few corners for ourselves! We're so bad, ha ha.
Thankfully the birthday girl's mom didn't get the cake from Costo. Those mass produced slabs are as tasteless as they are devoid of personality. Instead, she bought a cake she knew everyone would want to eat, one from Hans and Harry bakery in Bonita. This cake was Chocolate Raspberry and while it wasn't decorated fancy or antyhing, it tasted much better than a Costco creation.
Two more weeks until the big Junior concert! This is TC's 4th year as a dancer in PASACAT, the oldest Philippine dance company in San Diego. Their choreographer may be a taskmaster but she produces results. As a former Bayanihan dancer, she sets high standards for all of the dancers regardless of age. As for TC, she started the junior company when she was 4, going on 5 right after the 2005 Junior Concert. As one of the younger and tinier girls, one of her first dances was
Pasigin. Now that she's older and taller (and can't fit into the Pasigin costumes anymore), she doesn't have to do that dance anymore, much to her happiness and delight. She'll be doing several new dances, which include a few dances from the Maria Clara suite which are
Habanera (luckily she's one of the background girls so she doesn't have to do much),
Ciega (this is a fun dance where girls push a blindfolded boy around as he plays the guitar), and the Spanish influenced
Aray (she did this two years ago; during her exit, she nearly pulled down her dance partner! She's much better now, thank you). She also does a couple of dances from the Philippine Countryside suite which include the Ilocano folk dance
Nasudi (which she loves because she gets to push her boy partner down at the end), and for the third year in a row,
Tinikling in the finale. There are three sets of bamboos on the stage. She's always been on the side, not the center. Her dance partner is the same boy as well. They've done this for two, going on three years now but he still gets the footwork mixed up. Last year, they did the Bench Dance (
Sayaw ng Bangko) together and, despite doing it perfectly during rehearsals, did a quick wobble off the bench during the actual show. They recovered quickly though! Plus, it looks cute when little kids mess up, but not when they get older and bigger!
Next up, you have to have some fried shit in there. Although I didn't eat this dish myself, I was told that this was chicken.
Then you have the Orange Chicken (not a Filipino dish), which was quite popular.
More food? Yes, it's Mongolian beef:
And of course, fried rice. Like the "serving utensils"? I thought that was pretty damn funny. Most of us moms were behind the counter serving the kids assembly line style.
One of the moms (who's husband is one of the chefs at the U.S. Grant) made soup. This had chicken, cabbage, water chestnuts, and baby corn. It was kind of a hot day, so I didn't have any soup.
Here's all the food on the counter. Ha ha - those cups!
We had fresh fruit for dessert too. The birthday girl's mom bought several flats of fresh strawberries from Henry's. She said they were $2.99 each, so she bought 3! Earlier, I did strawberry hulling duty while another mom quartered the starberries which we put in a huge white serving bowl. We used up a flat and a half of strawberries. Later on we poured heavy whipping cream mixed with mascarpone cheese and sweetened condensed milk over the berries...OMG, this was so good! Everyone loved the strawberries...
...especially with crumbled chocolate/caramel brownies on top! Another mom and I bogarted a few corners for ourselves! We're so bad, ha ha.
Thankfully the birthday girl's mom didn't get the cake from Costo. Those mass produced slabs are as tasteless as they are devoid of personality. Instead, she bought a cake she knew everyone would want to eat, one from Hans and Harry bakery in Bonita. This cake was Chocolate Raspberry and while it wasn't decorated fancy or antyhing, it tasted much better than a Costco creation.
Two more weeks until the big Junior concert! This is TC's 4th year as a dancer in PASACAT, the oldest Philippine dance company in San Diego. Their choreographer may be a taskmaster but she produces results. As a former Bayanihan dancer, she sets high standards for all of the dancers regardless of age. As for TC, she started the junior company when she was 4, going on 5 right after the 2005 Junior Concert. As one of the younger and tinier girls, one of her first dances was Pasigin. Now that she's older and taller (and can't fit into the Pasigin costumes anymore), she doesn't have to do that dance anymore, much to her happiness and delight. She'll be doing several new dances, which include a few dances from the Maria Clara suite which are Habanera (luckily she's one of the background girls so she doesn't have to do much), Ciega (this is a fun dance where girls push a blindfolded boy around as he plays the guitar), and the Spanish influenced Aray (she did this two years ago; during her exit, she nearly pulled down her dance partner! She's much better now, thank you). She also does a couple of dances from the Philippine Countryside suite which include the Ilocano folk dance Nasudi (which she loves because she gets to push her boy partner down at the end), and for the third year in a row, Tinikling in the finale. There are three sets of bamboos on the stage. She's always been on the side, not the center. Her dance partner is the same boy as well. They've done this for two, going on three years now but he still gets the footwork mixed up. Last year, they did the Bench Dance (Sayaw ng Bangko) together and, despite doing it perfectly during rehearsals, did a quick wobble off the bench during the actual show. They recovered quickly though! Plus, it looks cute when little kids mess up, but not when they get older and bigger! 
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