FILIPINOS ABROAD: TOP CHEFS

A reality show for chefs like no other, Top Chef is one of the most watched shows on Bravo TV in America. Now on its 10th season, the culinary showdown which started in 2006 has attracted many chefs who wants get a slice of stardom.

And you may wonder if there are any Filipinos or at least by background, that have graced the show. At least so far three have clearly stated there Filipino background on the show and here they are:

1. Dale Talde

Dale Talde / image courtesy of www.daletalde.com

 
Appeared in Season 4, Dale truly marked his proud Filipino roots when he prepared the Halo-Halo on a quickfire challenge and even said that it is mix-mix if translated in English. His Halo Halo's main ingredients were shaved ice, mango, kiwis, and nuts.

Clip of an episode of Top Chef featuring Dale's Halo Halo. This clip is uploaded by a Youtuber.

You can visit this website for more information about Dale: www.daletalde.com.

2.  Leah Cohen

Leah Cohen / image courtesy of nyjournal.squarespace.com

Sometimes her Filipino mom would jokingly refer to her as Italian because of her love for the cuisine but she, like her mom, is proud of her roots. On the 5th season of Top Chef where she was  one of the contestant, she acknowledged her Filipino cultural background.  She is one of the top contenders of the reality show.

Screenshot of Leah Cohen's websitehttp://travel.chefleahcohen.com
Note the Filipino word "Masarap" on the upper right.

Leah is a graduate from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. She has worked at Eleven Madison Park and was an executive chef at Centro Vinoteca. Today she proudly owns Pig and Khao, and serves there many Filipino dishes like Sisig. You can check out a blog post about the restaurant on this site: http://nyjournal.squarespace.com/journal/tag/leah-cohen



3. Paul Qui

Paul Qui / image courtesy of texasmonthly.com

The first Filipino Top Chef, winner of  season 9, Paul Qui was in fact born in Makati City, Metro Manila! Now based in Texas, he is the Executive Chef at Uchiko Restaurant. He is an alumnus of Le Cordon Bleu Austin.

 Clip of Top Chef reunion uploaded by a Youtuber.

*The videos/images that you see here are not mine. They belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. 

THE ULTIMATE SURVIVOR ISLAND

Have you ever heard of a place called Caramoan?

It is a place like no other. It is beautiful and so remote that according to Maria Sansone of TV Guide Network, it took them a village to get there. That was after she took a 15 hour plane ride from Los Angeles to Manila, then hopped on an ATR 72 turbo prop to Camarines Sur, got on a bus, and finally sailed on a small wooden boat to get to "Survivor Island".

She went to Caramoan when she did a special coverage on Survivor Philippines (Season 25) for TV Guide.
 

Location of Caramoan in the Philippines / Google Maps

Here are the versions and seasons of Survivor that was filmed in Caramoan:

• Survivor Serbia Season 2
• Survivor Serbia Season 3
• Survivor Bulgaria Season 4
• Robinson 2010 (Survivor Sweden Season 13)
• Koh-Lanta (Survivor France Season 8)
• Survivor Israel Season 3
• Survivor Israel Season 4
• Survivor Israel Season 5
• Survivor India Season 1
• Survivor (US) Season 25
• Survivor (US) Season 26

You might wonder why such a not so familiar destination, yet, has become so popular with Survivor producers. The video from Youtube below will tell you why.

 

video of Caramoan from Youtube

For more information about Caramoan, you can visit this link/; http://caramoanislands.com/

 *The videos/images that you see here are not mine. They belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

THE DOOR TO HELL

The Door To Hell in Daravaza, Turkmenista / image courtesy of www.scoopnewspaper.com

 
Oh yeah that is real! The picture above is from a place called Darvaza, a village in Turkmenistan. The hole was the result after a drilling rig in 1971 collapsed that resulted in a crater. Since the hole is full of poisonouse gases, they decided to light the it to stop the spread of those harmful gases and hoping that it would consume and exhaust all in days. But after many decades, it still burns up to this.

This burning crater was nicknamed by the locals "The Door To Hell".Check out the video from Youtube below to see how amazingly strange this place is.

Video of The Door To Hell uploaded by a Youtuber.

*The videos/images that you see here are not mine. They belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. 

THE PHILIPPINES IN THE EYES OF A TOURIST

Cody Mafatu Easterbrook or just Cody Mafatu is a traveler, blogger, actor, reporter and TV host who is based in Hawaii. He once visited the Philippines unluckily on a rainy season in 2011, but surprisingly was enjoying his stay in the country.

Cody Mafatu in Manila / courtesy of http://codymafatu.blogspot.com

On the video he said that once he arrived in Manila there was flood so he could not get to his hotel. He met a Filipino guy who gave him a place to stay and even cooked him breakfast. And then this new Filipino friend became his tour guide.

Cody Mafatu holding sugar coated banana in Manila / courtesy of http://codymafatu.blogspot.com

He immersed himself in a marketplace and streets of Manila and repeatedly keeps on saying that Filipinos are friendly. He played with the children on the streets, eat street food, hangout with local people and got kissed by a lovely old woman.

Cody Mafatu Easterbrook's Youtube video of the Philippines.

While some tourists prefer tour buses, cars, or other typical transportation, he opted to try what the locals use in the area - a pedicab, a pedaled bicycle with a small sidecar that sits two people.

Filipinos are nice they say. But Cody was such a nice guest that his personality was reciprocated by a real true and warm Filipino hospitality.

Please visit Cody's links:
http://codymafatu.blogspot.com/
Cody Mafatu's Youtube Channel
https://www.facebook.com/CodyMafatu


 *The videos/images that you see here are not mine. They belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. 

THE PHILIPPINES WINS MANHUNT INTERNATIONAL 2012

June Macasaet profile picture of Manhunt International 2012 / image courtesy of www.manhunt.com.sg

The Philippines wins its first ever Manhunt International title, thanks to the 29-year old Batangas native Mr. June Macasaet who bested other 52 contestants in Bangkok, Thailand last November 9, 2012. Sweden, Macau, Puerto Rico, and Singapore were his runners-up.

Macasaet also won New Urban Male Award, a special award of the said event.

According to Manhunt International's website, he will be awarded a cash of US$10,000, modeling contract worth US$25,000, photo portfolio worth US$5,000, and other prizes worth more than US$40,000.

FILIPINOS ABROAD: ROSHON FEGAN

Roshon Fegan / image courtesy of www.ibtimes.com

It may not be known to many homegrown Filipinos, but Roshon Fegan's mom is actually a Filipina. Roshon is considered by many as a triple threat - he can sing, act and definitely dance. In addition to that, he plays the guitar, piano, and writes songs too.

Roshon is a regular at Disney's Shake It Up. He has also been part of Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. He had a small part in the SpiderMan 2 movie as well. Though he dances hiphop, he has proven his versatile swag when he was casted as one of the contestants of Dancing With The Stars Season 14.

 

Dancing With The Stars number with Chelsea Hightower uploaded in Youtube by a fan. 

*The videos/images that you see here are not mine. They belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. 

PHILIPPINE "TELESERYE" DUBBED IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Philippine TV  would not be complete if it doesn't have a soap opera or "teleserye" in its line up. And most of the times TV series from Mexico, Taiwan, or Korea are also shown.

Thalia became a superstar in the Philippines, so is the Taiwanese group F4, and a plentiful of Korean Pop Stars because of their TV soaps shown locally and dubbed in Filipino.Filipinos easily embrace foreign programs especially if they can easily understand them.

Not known to many, but Filipino TV soaps are also shown abroad. Ever wondered how these programs look like when dubbed in another language? Here are some videos that I found in Youtube:

 

These are just a few and I am sure that there is more in Youtube. Post will be updated once I stumbled upon them.

*The videos/images that you see here are not mine. They belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.