South Bay Fish & Grill

Today was the day our school district honored their outstanding Filipino American students with scholarships. As far as I know, we are the only district in San Diego that does this. The luncheon reception was at the South Bay Fish & Grill(formerly known as Bob's on the Bay, and prior to that, formerly known as Jake's). See yelp reviews here. I tried not to get run over in the parking lot as I took this shot!

I was part of the scholarship committee. There are a couple of teachers, one Principal, two Assistant Principals (they're female), and three counselors (me being one of them). I'm the 6th person (or the 3rd person from the right). And you know what's cool?! We're all FILIPINO AMERICAN. That may not be a big deal to some people, but when you go through life not seeing educators of your own heritage, it does make a difference. Subconsciously you wonder why you aren't represented, not just in history books but in everyday life. Speaking as a Pinay, as a second generation Filipina American, I never had any Filipino educator role models (unless I count my mom who was a former elementary school teacher). The only Filipinos I saw were either the janitors or the cafeteria workers. When we lived in Washington state, I saw no educators that looked like me as a young kid. It was only until moving back down to San Diego in the late 70's and living in the South Bay did I start seeing more Filipino American educators in the schools. In fact, Tagalog was taught at my high school, but I took French and Spanish instead. Without getting all high handed about this, basically my ethnic identity and knowledge of my history was pretty much downplayed during my formative years. My parents were too busy working to provide for us and let us navigate the American school system on our own. In addition, my parents weren't aware of the history of Filipinos in the U.S. to even teach me anything about it.

Until I hit college and grad school did I realize the importance of learning my history as a Filipina American and how our people contributed to the larger American society. I double minored in Afrikana Studies (formerly known as Black Studies, at SDSU) and Child Development and majored in Psychology. There were few Filipinos in my field of study because most Filipinos I knew were steered either into the more prestigious and money making fields - such as nursing, science, and engineering. Yes, very stereotypical. I was majoring in a 'non-traditional' field, Psychology. I'm just grateful my parents didn't restrict my college major like some parents of my friends. They were just happy I was going to college!

I found it odd that I knew more about Black History than my own heritage and that prompted me to learn more about Filipino American history and the Asian American movement on my own. I was to later become involved in the Filipino community during my masters program, joining professional organizations geared towards Filipino American educators, and the Filipino American National Historical Society National Chapter and later the local chapter which was formed in 1995. I also did many presentations on Filipino American history at local schools and colleges during high school conferences as well as statewide conferences. After the birth of our daughter nearly 9 years ago, I drastically scaled back my involvement to almost nothing because I wanted to concentrate on her now and not on me. I still do a high school conference every now and then, but it's time for some new blood!

One thing that really touched me today was something that our guest speaker said to me at our table. She told me that she remembered seeing me about 14 or 15 years ago at an event at her old junior high school. She told me that I was one of the first Filipina educators she ever saw and it made an impression on her. This was quite unexpected. This statement came from a dynamic young lady who is currently the Assistant Dean at a prestigious private university in the Bay Area. This came from a young lady who just gave one of the most inspiring keynote speeches I'd ever heard in my life (and I've heard a lot of speeches, many of them more yawn inducing than a Kenny G song). This came from a young lady is currently working on her Ph.d. The event was so long ago, I scarcely remember what I did, who I met, and who I saw that day. But this young lady noticed me and remembered me years later.

I thought back to what she said about the lack of Filipino American educators. About 15 years ago, there were about 3 or 4 other Filipina American counselors in the district (there's a few more now!) and none in her district. Our districts boasts at least ten or more Filipino American counselors, several school pyschologists, Assistant Principals, and yes, a Principal too! Our district also has a strong Filipino language program and dozens of teachers of Filipino heritage teaching all kinds of subjects ranging from English, Math, Science, you name it. Sometimes, as an educator, you don't really know the impact you have on someone unless you hear about it. Today was one of those times.

Fashionwise, almost all of us wore traditional Philippine garb. The men wore Barong Tagalog shirts while three of us women wore a modified Barong tunic - all of us had the same kind, except mine had embroidered black and white flowers and designs on them (courtesy of BarongsRus). I actually have the same one as the other women but I wore that one a few years ago and didn't want to repeat myself. Funny thing though, it's events like these where I wear my traditional Philippine clothing. Usually it's during this scholarship reception, now in it's 9th year, or during high school graduation ceremonies. I figure, why not! I'll represent the culture and look good at the same time!

The sky was overcast but the clouds were supposed to burn off later. The South Bay Fish & Grill is located off the East J Street/Marina Parkway exit from the I-5. The restaurant is right next to the Chula Vista Marina, as evidenced by all the boats you see...

The table settings:

This was my salad before I had them take it back because it had dressing on it. I'm picky like that. The salad tasted bagged so I just picked at it. Well, it was the shredded carrots and the red cabbage that had that old dried up bagged taste.

All attendees at the scholarship luncheon were given a choice of either Teriyaki Mahi Mahi or Chicken with grillled vegetables and coarsely mashed potatoes (you can't see it, but that's what the protein was resting on). I had the Mahi Mahi which is pictured below. I picked off just the top parts that had sauce and ate a few of the vegetables. I wasn't that hungry.

Almost everyone at our table had the Mahi Mahi, except for the Scholarship Chairperson. This is his place. Looks like same as the Mahi Mahi doesn't it.

After the speeches by the Superintendent (his wife's sister used to be our neighbor across the street! Small world!), a Board Member and the guest speaker, we presented the scholarships to the students. There were 11 awards total ranging in amounts of $250, $500 to $700. Some of these students were going to places like Santa Clara University, Cal (UC Berkeley), UCLA, and SDSU (yeah, my alma mater!) and a few others that I can't think of. At some point, we were served what was supposed to be dessert. The servers must have skipped me, which was a good thing because this subhuman abomination did not look edible at all. I took this photo from someone else's plate. It was sliced apples or peaches (I can't tell!) with some sort of sauce (I could tell cinammon was in it - the smell was so strong) and a smear of whipped cream.

I'm glad I didn't eat that dessert. Empty calories. Well, tomorrow is Mother's Day! Don't know what's in store yet, but I'm sure it will be a great day!