Saturday was my niece Rachel’s birthday and today is her sister Anna’s. Happy Birthday nieces! Saturday I also celebrated the birthday of Philipe (otherwise known as Jing-Jong). It was a Filipino birthday party in Manhattan! It was very fun and really interesting. There were about twenty people there. They were all talking in Filipino. I wish I had a recording. It was crazy! But I did find a few people to talk with. One couple brought their one year old daughter and she was so cute I kept smiling at her. Her dad was really friendly and talked to me for a while in English. Another woman was obviously born in the US and also talked with me for a while. It turns out she’s from Arlington, VA so we had something to talk about — not being from New York.
The food was really good. My favorite were the empanadas. They’re like mini turnovers full of meat and potatoes. There were also many other good things… a noodle dish of some kind, a stuffed fish, and a tasty dessert cake thingy that was made of cassava. But the traditional food for a celebration like this is Lechon. It is a whole, roasted, baby pig. We did not stick candles in it and sing “Happy Birthday”, but the lechon did seem to be the center of attention, much like a birthday cake. Everybody was all surrounding it before the eating started, but they did let me take a picture of it before they dug in. I came back later and took an “after” shot.
Warning: graphic roasted dead pig pictures follow.
Everybody’s favorite part (except me) was the skin. The crunchier the better. Now, I like pork rinds as much as the next guy, but eeewww. The stuff all over the table is garlic and other herbs. The pig was stuffed with them.
Poor little piggy…be careful, you might get some whacked out animal rights activist throwing paint on your door for that one…
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