The 3rd Asian Festival which was held from 10:00 – 9:00 p.m showcased unique music, cultural performances, food, beauty pageants, fashion, handicrafts, gifts, and other products and entertainment of Asia. The Asian  Festival was sponsored by the Thai Tennis Organization in America (TTOA), the Reston Association and Singha Beer to promote growth in the sport of tennis and a greater understanding of the Asian culture from Thailand, China, India, Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, etc.

The Festival offered a rich tapestry in Asian culture with the following features:  Food, Shopping and Entertainment  Twenty-five well-known Asian restaurants featured authentic specialty dishes from their countries and regions. A multi-cultural marketplace also featured unique items imported from various regions of Asia.    The Asian Festival  had  two different stages  highlighting “non-stop” performances, fashion shows, Asian martial  arts demonstrations, music, and even an Asian Idol contest, where anyone was invited to sing any song in any language for a chance to win $1,000.

Tennis Events More than 100 up-and-coming tennis stars from the Washington, DC area competed for the wildcard spot and a chance to compete in one of the 5th largest prize money in women’s professional tennis challenges in the United States. A free Children’s Tennis Clinic was also be offered by top world players from the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

The FilAms showed excellent volunteerism skills together with their other Asian counterparts in several activities during the Festival.  The main Fil Am contingent came from the Filipino American Tennis  Organization of Northern Virginia and the Filipino American Tennis Association of Maryland (FATAM)

Ed Tiong, the coordinator of the Filipino participation issued a statement thanking all who volunteered their services. He gave  special thanks to the following players for bringing their families and share the occasion with their children:1) Ron & Debbie Diokno Family  2) Ervin & Lara So w/ daughter: Justine  3) Arnel & Mabel Majillo Family 4) Bernie Trompeta and Family 5) Garlund Gee & family

Other volunteers who came and enjoyed a great Asian festival  and “Wild Card” Women’s Legg Mason tournament 1) Dindo Gonzalez 2) Rafael Marshall  3) Jose Macaranas 4) Kristine Solidum  5) R.P. Shah  6) Manny Manaba  7) Geraline Chao 8) Rommel Bernardo   and 9) Euler Uy.  All volunteers received complementary tickets to Legg Mason Tennis  Tournament, food coupon, souvenir T-Shirt, and bottle of water.

FIL-AM KEGFEST AT BOWL AMERICA.   Fourteen teams will battle  it out for bragging rights and the honor of being labeled king bowlers when the 2006 FilAm Winter Bowling League blasts off at the Bowl America Edsal  with a tough field of highly competitive strikes and spares specialists take to the lanes every Friday night starting August 25, 2006 until May of 2007.

FilAm Bowling president Tony Leyva, issued the invitation to all Fil-Am bowling enthusiasts to join in having fun with our kababayans and at the same time enjoy the added pleasure of having a healthy exercise. Leyva describes the weekly bowlfest as having lots of exciting moments, with a lot of action thrown.

If you have nothing to do on Friday nights your best bet would be to head to the bowling lanes especially when you can interact with the other FilAms. Come and stay and relax or unwind with lots of food and drinks available. And of course the company of kababayans.

There is noting like maintaining the camaraderie with our fellow “kadugo” according to Leyva.

Meanwhile, Leyva released the winners of the just concluded Fil-Am 2005-2006 Winter League also held at Bowl America Edsal in Alexandria, Virginia.  Perennial champions V and Co with Leo Antonio as team captain made it again to the top.  They will be defending their title in the coming 2006 Winter Bowlfest.  Making it to 2^nd place  is team KURIPOT  with Eric Labrador manning the helm.  BOWLWIZER completed their campaign by bagging third spot.  Please try to join, Leyva exhorts.  Bowl America telephone is 703-354-3300.

Pinoy Cue Artist Pockets 5 Million Pesos.  Marlon Manalo the latest Pinoy sensation in world billiards play may have been philosophical when he took home 5 million  pesos instead of P18 million. Manalo was a cinch to grab the $350,000 first prize in the in the IPT North American 8-Ball Championships at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada recently.  

He rampaged through  the earlier rounds, demolishing a very tough cast of international cue artists.  But he was hounded by dry breaks all night during the final match and was beaten by Thorsten Hohmann, a German who was a former world 9-ball champion. Thorsten came from behind and rallied to win the richest prize in any pool tournament in the world. More of our kababayans should venture into this sport and earn more  than they can ever earn at home even as business executives.

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