At the start of the holiday season, the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce Greater Los Angeles (FACCGLA) held their holiday event, Be Merry & Bright Mixer and New Member Onboarding last December 14 at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. The event was kicked off with a speech from Consul General Edgar Badajos, the current Consul General of the Philippine Consulate
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Njoy Games and Comics started behind Liane Singh’s mother-in-law’s store in 2000, located in the same complex as Chuck E. Cheese on Reseda. Fast forward to 2013 and the comic bookstore finds a home on Reseda Blvd and Rayen Ave in Northridge and is a neighborhood staple for all comic books and tabletop gaming fans. Her daughter, Jasmine, helps with
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Even as a child, 818 local Char Quirino was always an artist. She drew and painted. Growing up watching Dragon Ball Z and Sailormoon, she would trace over images and modify them to make them her own. Her family support and validation of her artwork contributed to her pursuing art through her teenage years. Becoming a mom in her 20s
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Community historian Joe Bernardo is valley born and raised. His parents immigrated from the Philippines in 1970s, setting up roots in Northridge. At that time, they were the first people of color in the neighborhood. They moved to Calabsas in the early 90s where he attended Calabasas High School. The family eventually found their way back to Northridge. Joe comments
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It started with a conversation between three friends in a dorm room at California State University, Northridge during the summer of 1996. Then college buddies Moonie Lantion, Allan Aquino, and Elvin Lubrin wanted to bring awareness about October as Filipino American History Month. That conversation started the creation of Students for Pilipino American History Month (SPAHM). With the contributions and
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Marie Urquidi, the author of DLI Parent books, a series of Dual Language Immersion books teaching both children and parents Tagalog (Filipino). Starting this series during the pandemic, her goal was to introduce Tagalog to her children while keeping the cost of learning affordable and the time committed to learning flexible. She shares a bit about her story with us
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It’s my pleasure to welcome back Mia P. Manansala to the first Meet the (818) Interview of 2022! When we first talked to this Chicago-based writer, it was the debut of her first published cozy mystery, Arsenic and Adobo. Today, we’re chatting about the release of her second book in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Series, Homicide and Halo-Halo. In the
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Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural and Bookstore finds a new home on Glenoaks and Hubbard in the Sylmar Towne Center, just a couple of miles away from their former location. With a location three times bigger than the original, they can house more books and have more space for their various programs from workshops to music lessons, book clubs and other
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Outside, the arches of lights look like any other light display but when you step inside those tunnels, that’s when the magic happens. Walking through these tunnels, the night sky becomes a beautiful backdrop to the incandescent light of the tunnels. It turns your walk around the block extra special. This family winter holiday display started 17 years ago, when
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In today’s Meet The 818 Interview, Hector Perez-Roman, host and Executive Producer of Valley Views, talks about community building, connecting with others, and spreading positivity through highlighting other’s stories. Valley Views focuses on stories of people, organizations, businesses and social movements with a positive impact on the San Fernando Valley & beyond—through deep and fun discussions at the intersectionality of
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In today’s Meet the (818) Interview, Andy Zaldivar, best known as Double A, the creator and host of Profile Pod TV, shares the beginnings and the evolution of his podcast. We chat about shinning a spotlight on people making waves and impacting their communities in a positive way. He talks about the successes and the growth he’s experienced both personally
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In the middle of the pandemic, friends John Erick Pabalan and Jason Lustina set out to create a Facebook community group called So Cal Filipinos. Their goal was simple: to connect Filipinos/Filipino Americans in (or have connections to) Southern California through shared experiences. From June 2020 to present, this online community now consists of 25,000 members and is still growing.
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