Just got an email from Jamie at JapanLA and they have 7 styles of the new tokidoki bags in. Here is a pic of the Carnival Amica.  They are available at JapanLA or on their online store,  www.japanla.com Jamie says they all have great print placement too!  I think I want to get my hands on a Carnival Bacio and use it as a wallet! 

For over 35 years, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), headquartered in Historic Filipinotown, has served this impoverished neighborhood as well as the greater Los Angeles Filipino American community with mission-fueled passion and relatively little fanfare. SIPA continues to provide health and human services as well as community economic development programs to the now diverse, multi-ethnic youth and families residing in the area as well as Filipino Americans all over Los Angeles County.

This summer SIPA is pleased to announce the launch of Pilipino Summer Day Camp, a one week program from Monday, August 18th to Friday, August 22, 2008.  Pre-registration deadline is Friday, July 18, 2008. There is a $25 registration fee.  Program fees:  All-inclusive cost $150/week, a half-day program is available at $75/week, there is also a sliding scale applied to qulified families. Open to children ages 5-13.

The program includes lunch and snacks with daily programming.  Programming with emphasis on the reich heritage and culture of the Philippines and Filipino-Americans including the Pilipino language, customs and cuisine.  Recreational activities will include:  games, sports, visual and performing arts.

For more info:  call Ernest Tamayo, Youth Activities Coordinator at (213) 382-1819, x129 or etamayo@esipa.org. Visit www.esipa.org for camp flyer and more info on SIPA’s mission.

I had the pleasure to attend the annual recital fundraiser for Tupulaga today.  Tupulaga is a Polynesian dance team based in Los Angeles, California.   The group was founded in 1990 with 10 members who practiced in a garage in Carson.  The group currently has a group of 25 dancers and musicians who participate regularly in community activities and cultural festivals.  Tupulaga performs dances from Tahiti, Hawaii, Tonga, Fiji and New Zeland and specializes in dances from Samoa.

This was my second year in attendance and it was fantastic.  (Thank you to Melin and Melani for inviting me)  Tupulaga literally means “generations” in the Samoan language.  It’s is commonly used to describe younger generations.  Tupulaga’s mission is to preserve and perpetuate the Polynesion tradition and culture through dance and music.  They strive to educate their students about their history and ancestry. 

I purchased a Tupulaga CD.  The CD sales go towards supporting the dance team. Most of the songs on this album are songs that they have used in the “Our Voyage through Polynesia” performance.

I encourage you to see for yourself how gifted and dedicated these folks are.  For more information you can contact Dr. & Mrs Kurene Ma’o at tupulaga2003@hotmail.com or your can check out the Tupulaga myspace page.  Send them blessings as they journey to Tahiti this summer!

I was a bit skeptical about how the new and improved registration process would go this year but as it turns out it was rather smooth.  I did however waste a bit of time standing in line to get into the actual LA convention center and really didn’t need to. Once we got in it was a free for all until we walked up to the pre-reg lines. There were like twelve other entrances into the convention center..oh well, my husband is convinced that most AX attendess just like to get in line just for the sake of standing in line….weird.

There was quite a bit of walking around because certain areas were roped off and the AX volunteers made us walk the long way to most activities.   

This year was extra special becuase I took my daughter for the first time. She loved it and is looking forward to next year. 

Artist’s Alley was my favorite part of AX this year. There was plently of space, lots of different kinds of art, t-shirts, jewelry, cosplay items, cat hats and cat ears.  I also enjoyed that fact that there were about 12 Japanese art students that were there and they were selling their sketches.  I picked up two, one was Salior Moon for my daughter and I wanted a sketch that I saw of all three characters from Samauri Champloo (my fav)

Now that I know the layout I think I will enjoy AX better next year. It was announced at closing ceremonies that AX2009 will be held again at the L.A. convention center.