Are you feeling like a generous Santa lately? Delifrance’s Secret Santa Kris Kringle Celebration lets you give anyone–your crush, an old friend, an ex-friend you want to make up with, a boyfriend, a secret love, your tatay and nanay–a sweet treat, and you don’t have to wait for Christmas to give it away.

All you have to do is log onto the My Secret Santa Website and you can start giving away treats to anyone. The best thing is, it’s FREE and you can give as much as you want!

Between November 24 and December 7, you can give away some chocolate chip almond biscotti. Perhaps, if you hurry now, there might still be some almond star cookies, which have been available for a week now (but we only learned today) and can be had up to November 23.

A playful twist to the classic German cookie, the almond star cookies are almond-topped gluten-free cookies that are a cross between the light macaron and a sweet meringue.The chocolate chip almond biscotti has a choco-nutty goodness that, when paired with a steaming cup of Delifrance espresso, makes an invigorating treat.

Your recipients will get an e-mailed coupon that they can present at the nearest Delifrance outlet (remind them to bring an ID!). When they log onto the My Secret Santa site and are feeling really sweet from all the treats, they can also pay the gesture forward by giving someone else a biscotti.

Feeling generous now, are you? Go straight to My Secret Santa and start giving!

Los Angeles–If you didn’t know of last July’s bus tour of Historic Filipinotown, the Filipino American Library is organizing another tour this month. If you want to know more about your Pinoy roots, this is one tour you wouldn’t want to miss.

Historic Filipinotown is a district in Los Angeles, California, where the early Filipino migrants of the twentieth century first settled. Today, it has the highest concentration of Filipino Americans and remains the cultural heart of Pinoys in Los Angeles. Many Filipino restaurants can be found in Historic Filipinotown.

[Read more]

Skin Deep, the 40th season offering of the Philippine Educational Theater Association, won two major awards during the recent Aliw Awards. Robert Seña won the award for Best Stage Actor for a Musical, while PETA’s veteran actor Nor Domingo received the Best Stage Director for a Musical award.

A musical comedy by Vince de Jesus, Skin Deep dissects the idea of true beauty and the culture of narcissism while poking fun at the obsession with superficial standards of beauty and the ridiculous lengths that people go to achieve it.

[Read more]

Designer Bea Valdes’s “Bedtime Stories” features sculpted animal figures embellished with crystals and semiprecious stones. Inspired by fairy tales, these whimsical creatures bring us into a darkened landscape where the sinister lurk with the enchanted.

Fable and folklore, as we find all throughout the history of oral literature, were often embellished with exaggerated or gruesome details as stories were passed on from one person to the next. Women, who sat in groups as they worked on tasks such as knitting and spinning, often recounted such tales of gore.

[Read more]

Pinoy indie artist/songwriter and environmentalist Cynthia Alexander celebrates 10 years of songwriting with “Walk Down the Road,” a live album recording on November 28, 1o p.m., at 19 EAST, Sucat, Paranaque.

Thanks to Emong for the tip.

As promised, we’re announcing the winners to two contests that we ran almost a month ago.

The winner of the Share Unique Bag Story contest is Jake M. Here is his entry:

My first school bag was made of buri palm leaves woven by my mother. It’s 12 x 14 inches and has an open top with woven buri leaves handle. The larger version of that was called “libon” which were being sold at wet markets which is now replaced by screen bags. That was ages ago when I was still in grade school. Everybody seemed to be carrying that kind of bag during that time since it doesn’t cost anything at all. I studied in a remote barangay atop a hill. My buri bag was my protection against the rain and heat of the sun. It can carry a piece of notebook, pad paper, pencil and my “baon” of daing and steamed riced wrapped in banana leaves.

Armand chose Jenny Uy as the winner to the Red Box Wii contest. Here’s what Jenny answered to the question “Which Wii Character Are You?”:

I’m definitely a Cooking Mama. I can chop faster than any Nintendo. I can beat egg whites into stiff peaks with my stylus (or a wire whisk). And when it comes to repairing dishes . . . Do Not Worry . . . I Can Fix It . . .

Thanks to all those who gamely joined in! Watch out for another contest in the next two weeks–we’re giving away a Moleskine!

Jenny and Jake, Joyce Pogoy of the PR firm GeiserMaclang will contact you for details on how to claim the prizes.

From all of us at Pinoycentric, big thanks to the GM peeps for being so generous enough to sponsor this contest.