Coming together as a community to invite others for a meal, whether in our home or on the street, is a labor of love. Kain na! Kaon sa ta! Mangan la! Filipinos in Vancover continued this very human and much-needed tradition last weekend for Lapu-Lapu Day. And then tragedy struck, as lives were lost and people were injured.
In the days that follow, we will need community even more. We must continue inviting each other in – for a meal, a conversation, or both. Meal after meal, day after day.
We must also examine how Asians in “Western” countries such as Canada and the US are afflicted with all sorts of issues especially when it comes to mental health. We can see physical scars and take action to heal them, but how do we approach scars in our minds? How do the countries we call home, from the Philippines, to Canada, to the US… approach these issues in mental health?
As more stories and conversations unfold after this moment we must also remind ourselves that no tragedy can ever be bigger than the love, hope, and conquering spirit of community. In the spirit of the ancestors we celebrate, the food we enjoy, and the words we use – “kapwa”, “dayon”… words that express inclusion and acceptance, but have yet to be put into practice in our world today – amping kanunay, ingat lagi.
Take care of each other.
Update Apr 30: A linktree to resources for victims in Vancouver, as well as links to fundraisers for some of the families: https://linktr.ee/isangbaksak
The City of Vancouver has a webpage “dedicated to providing support and resources following the tragic mass casualty incident at the 2025 Lapu Lapu Day event” below:
If you need a gift for that Filipino food lover in your life, be sure to check out my Filipino Food Art Etsy shop! Printables are a fun and affordable way to gift something unique, and most of the shop is full of adorable Filipino food and Filipino-themed art someone in your life is likely to love.
People can simply download a chosen design and print it out at home or at a local print shop. You can get creative and add a personal touch by matting and framing the art in a special way. And I have a growing number of printables that people can customize before printing, making the artwork special for a particular person.
Below is a list of printables you can get at my Filipino Food Art Etsy shop. There is a wide variety of Filipino food-themed designs, coloring pages, and greeting cards to choose from, so I’m sure you’ll find the perfect gift for almost any occasion. If not, follow Filipino Food Art on Instagram or Facebook for new artwork coming up!
What is in your adobo? The basic ingredients for most adobo is soy sauce, vinegar, and a central ingredient which could be meat like chicken or pork, or even vegetables like long beans (sitaw) or water spinach (kang-kong). Other homes add coconut milk, bay leaves, tomatoes… either way adobo makes for a delicious home-cooked meal with rice.
For people who go bananas for banana sauce, and the people who love them. This is a special printable people can customize with Canva, a free design app you can use in your web browser.
Calamansi is used in everything! As a condiment mixed with patis, sili, suka, and/or toyo. It is also used for desserts, marinades for various dishes, and flavoring for different kinds of pansit. Calamansi can be refreshing as a cold beverage, or on a cool morning as a hot tea.
Introduce Filipino veggies and veggie-based or vegan dishes to young ones with this Filipino Vegetables Alphabet or ABCs! It features vegetables found in Philippine cuisine such as ampalaya, kalabasa, and wansoy. It also comes in a printable set of flashcards!
When you and your mom have a problem, what is your GOTO solution? I love puns, so you’ll also find some Filipino pun comics you can print and hang on the wall. You can find more Filipino food puns here!
Stay cool with a tall glass or short bowl of Haluhalo! Popularly spelled Halo-halo, it is often referred to as our Pambansang Panghimagas or National Dessert. This art features halo-halo with all the special ingredients involved to make one possible.
Like jeepneys, samurai, and transformers? What all 3 combined into one artwork? This printable download comes with 3 different art pieces depicting the a jeepney samurai transformer.
What do you call someone who takes pictures of sticky rice cakes? A puto-grapher! This was another pun I enjoyed making. Just imagine a cute little puto cake taking your photo, before you eat it! If you thought this was cheesy, check out more “tito jokes” and puns in my blog post here!
We hope you like ube jammin’ too. What song should they play next, “Purple Rain?” This was another fun pun I enjoyed making, combining everyone’s favorite palaman or spread with the love of making music.
Women’s organizations located in the Southern Sierra Madre are now reaching out to more customers to purchase their “biodiversity-friendly” products.
Kamias prunes and catmon sinigang powder can be purchased from Emma Ayapana. She manages KUMARE, an organization that was founded in the 90’s after a typhoon hit their homes in Real, Quezon. It stands for Kilos Unlad ng Mamamayan ng Real – “Action to develop citizens of Real.” Kumare is also a term for fellow woman.
Cristy Luna, made the eco-bag below with the help of her family; it features a rafflesia flower. She is president of the KALIPI Infanta federation, which stands for Kalipunan ng Liping PIlipina – “Association of united Filipino women.” Kalipi is also a term for fellow group or ancestors.
KUMARE and the KALIPI federations of Real and Infanta work with the Women Go project of the Haribon Foundtion to insure that forest management in their protected area involves women leadership.
Learn and teach the ABCs and numbers 1 to 10 in Filipino with this new pair of artwork highlighting Filipino food! The artworks feature various Filipino dishes and ingredients enjoyed from all over the country.
The first artwork of the pair highlights the alphabet and 26 different Filipino dishes:
A – Afritada
B – Bistek (Filipino beef steak)
C – Champorado (chocolate rice porridge)
D – Dinuguan (blood stew)
E – Escabeche (sweet & sour fish)
F – Fruit Salad
G – Ginataang Kalabasa (coconut squash)
H – Hopia
I – Itlog Maalat (salted egg)
J – Junay (Tausug rice)
K – Kalabasa (squash)
L – Leche Flan
M – Menudo
N – Ngohiong (Cebuano fried spring roll)
O – Opia (Ilocano wafer)
P – Pancit
Q – Banana “Q”
R – Rabong (labong or bamboo shoot)
S – Saba
T – Tiyula Itum (Tausug coconut soup)
U – Upo (bottle gourd)
V – Venes (gabi stalk dish from Batanes)
W – Wansoy (cilantro)
X – X-tra Rice
Y – Yangka (jackfruit)
Z – Zamboanga Roll (Mindanao fried rice roll)
The 2nd artwork shows numbers 1 to 10 in Filipino or Tagalog:
Isa ng Isaw (BBQ intestine)
Dalawa ng Dalandan
Tatlo ng Talong (eggplant)
Apat na Alimango (mangrove crab)
Lima ng Lumpia
Anim na Arroz Caldo
Pito ng Puto (rice cake)
Walo ng Wansoy (cilantro)
Siyam na Sili (chili pepper)
Sampu ng Sampaloc (tamarind)
Filipino numbers in different Philippine languages
Below you’ll find more information behind some of the major or regional languages of the Philippines through numbers 1 to 10.
Sampung Sampaloc!
The number 10 in various Philippine languages is:
Sampu in Tagalog
Sampulo in Bicolano
Samplora in Pangasinanse
Sangapulo in Ilocano
Napo in Bisaya & Waray
Apulu in Kapampangan
Napulo in Hiligaynon
How do you say “ten” in your language?
How many sampaloc do you put in your sinigang?
Siyam na Sili!
How many sili can you eat? The number 9 in various Philippine languages is:
Syam in Kapampangan
Siyam in Hiligaynon, Tagalog, Bisaya & Bicolano
Siamira in Pangasinanse
How do you say “nine” in your language?
Walong wansoy!
Wow, who wants walong wansoy? The number 8 in various Philippine languages is:
Walo/u in Cebuano, Waray, Tagalog, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kapampangan, and Bicolano
Walora in Pangasinanse (but Walo as well for short!)
The word wansoy (cilantro/coriander) is from the Hokkien term, 芫荽 or iân-sui!
How do you say “eight” in your language?
Pitong puto!
The number 7 in various Philippine languages is:
Pito/u in Cebuano, Waray, Tagalog, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Bicolano, and Pangasinanse
Also Pitora in Pangasinanse too.
How do you say “seven” in your language?
Anim ng Arroz Caldo!
The number 6 in various Philippine languages is:
Anim in Tagalog
Anem or Anemira in Pangasinanse
Anum in Hiligaynon
Anom in Bicolano
Anam in Kapampangan
Innem in Ilocano
Unom in Cebuano and Waray
How do you say “six” in your language?
Limang Lumpia!
The number 5 in various Philippine languages is:
Lima in Bicolano, Kapampangan, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Tagalog, Cebuano, Waray, and Pangasinanse
Also Limara in Pangasinanse too
In fact, the number 5 as well as other numbers sound similar in countries surrounding the Philippines too. This is because we all speak languages under the Malayo-Polynesian language family.
The number 5 is also Lima in Malay, Indonesian, and even old Chamoro which is spoken in Guam. In New Zealand, Maori for the number 5 is Rima! In some Philippine languages, ka-lima means hand.
How do you say “five” in your language?
Apat ng Alimango!
The number 4 in various Philippine languages is:
Apat in Tagalog, Hiligaynon, Kapampangan, and Bicolano
Apatira in Pangasinanse
Upat in Bisaya and Waray
Uppat in Ilocano.
Alimango typically refers to mangrove crabs or “mud crabs,” which are different from Alimasag (blue swimming crabs) and Talangka (river crabs)! Alimango are popularly used in dishes like Ginataang Alimango or coconut mangrove crab.
How do you say “four” in your language?
Tatlong Talong!
The number 3 in various Philippine languages is:
Tulo in Bisaya and Waray
Tallo in Ilocano
Tatlo/u in Tagalog and Hiligaynon
Talora in Pangasinanse
Atlu in Kapampangan
Eggplant is Tawong in Cebuano, Tarong in Ilokano, Talong in Tagalog, Talon in Pangasinanse, Terung, in Malay, and Terong in Indonesian. And Solanum melongena… to scientists!
It is difficult for linguists to piece together the words for Proto-Austronesian, especially when written sources back then were limited or lost. Instead, they piece the puzzle together using languages still used today. How many Austronesian languages do you speak?
How many languages are in the Philippines?
In total there are over 180 languages in the Philippines. See 180 listed here: iyil.ph/languages
Major languages of the Philippines
There are usually 8 languages in the country considered the most prominent in terms of number of speakers:
Bikolano
Ilokano
Hiligaynon
Kapampangan
Pangasinan
Sebwano or Cebuano
Tagalog
Waray
These are also often called regional languages. Maranao, Tausug, and Magindanaw are sometimes included in this group as well.
Languages vs dialects
Speakers of different languages cannot understand each other, but speakers of different dialects of a language, can!
Examples of dialects include Laguneño and Batangueño, which are dialects of the Tagalog language.
Philippine English and Singapore English are both dialects of the English language. Singaporeans and Filipinos using their specific English can, and do, communicate with each other. Cebuano dialects include Bolanon, spoken in Bohol.
Learn Filipino Food Alphabet and Numbers 1 to 10
A simple printable of both the Filipino food ABCs and Tagalog or Filipino numbers 1 to 10 are available on Etsy and Gumroad!
Get the digital files below, then print and frame them as a gift for your kids, nieces, nephews, or “pamang-kids”!
Filipino food alphabet of vegetable dishes and ingredients
What is Ilocano for bamboo shoot? What is a “rice flour roll” from Zamboanga?
Learn this and more from an alphabet of Filipino vegetables & vegetable-based Filipino food, from A to Z! Read more about this artwork here, or download the printable in our Etsy shop below!
