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On June 8, under a radiant Beijing sun, the Philippine Embassy, China Radio International Filipino Broadcast Section, and Peking University Filipino Studies Department jointly organized the Philippines-China Friendship Lunch and Concert to celebrate the 13th Philippines-China Friendship Day at the Embassy grounds. With the theme “Hawak Kamay”, the shared food, music and games recalled the centuries-old friendship between the Filipino and Chinese peoples, through the finest Filipino tradition of hospitality and fiestas.
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Grown-ups get the goodies and race |
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Philippine Embassy, CRI and Peking University students prepare the decor and games |
In her brief remarks, Ambassador Erlinda Basilio expressed to the Chinese guests the commitment of Filipinos to their centuries-old friendship with the Chinese people, and she explained that, inspired by a popular Filipino song, the Embassy chose the theme “Hawak Kamay” to convey how Filipinos will not abandon their Chinese friends in their time of need.
In his response, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Counselor Bai Tian reiterated the strength of this friendship which he said time will not weaken. In the spirit of fiestas and celebration, he sang the opening lines of the pop song “Celebrate”, and good humouredly played with the children in their “Bring Me” game.
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| Ambassador Basilio expresses how the Filipinos will not abandon their Chinese friends, while Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Counselor Bai Tian speaks to the guests of the timeless friendship of both peoples. |
Filipino all-time favorite food like pork sinigang, chicken adobo, kare-kare, lumpiang shanghai, and grilled bangus were served to the Chinese guests. Desserts like majablanca and biko, served to introduce the Chinese palate to Filipino sweets, were popular and were consumed quickly.
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| Arnis anyone? Or kung fu? |
Using Cebu Pacific’s popular onboard game “Bring Me” as the ice-breaker, the Embassy asked guests to look for red shoes, to bring a “dancing mommy”, and to locate an official from the Chinese MFA. Players competed to reach for Oishi goods and candies in two rounds of Pabitin games, with the pabitin grid decked out in Philippine-colored ribbons. Adults huddled around the palayok for four rounds of “Basagan ng palayok”, and ran relay matches using costumes and hullahoops. The ever-popular tug-of-war saw Filipinos and Chinese, children and adults teaming up together for more improvised fun.
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| “Bring me someone from the Chinese MFA” |
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| Looking for the pot of candies, finding the fiesta spirit |
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| Tug-of-war: hey, whose game is this? |
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| The winning team |
Just before closing, three Filipino bands jammed to perform the theme song “Hawak Kamay”, with children and Embassy officials joining on stage to sing with the audience.
Every guest was delighted to leave the party with a big red gift pack of goodies and snacks from Oishi.
