It’s true, laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional alterations in the body. Laughter boosts your mood, strengthens your immune system and protects you from the damaging effect of stress. In this time of pandemic, a laughter or two can go a long way to lift up your dreary spir-its and anxieties.
The 2nd episode of virtual Christmas presentation “12 Days of Christ-mas/Labindalawang Araw Ng Pasko” will surely hit your funny bones. It features popular luminaries like Jojo Alpuerto, Youtube sensation Jeppy “Tita Che” Paraiso, plus a very apt Christmas parody from Virtual Pop Choir.
JOJO ALPUERTO is a realtor by profession, a stand-up comedian, singer/musician by preoccupation. Vancouverites surely remember him as the other half of funny duo, “Pork en Bean”. Alpuerto is a comedian who’s naturally funny without even trying. He also serves his community as highly esteemed pastor at the Church of Latter Day Saints in British Columbia.
JEPPY PARAISO is the man behind viral “Tita Che” videos. Raised in America by Fili-pino parents, Paraiso has always been in touch with his Filipino roots. After seeing all the posts about American aunts on Thanksgiving, he couldn’t help but compare them to his own titas. Hence, the birth of “Tita Che” in November 2017. Paraiso worked as pastry chef at a gourmet doughnut joint in Washington DC. It started with a simple one-minute video inspired by the Thanksgiving Clap-back memes that everyone around him had been sharing. “Tita Che” is now considered amongst most popular social me-dia influencers. He helps younger Filipinos growing up abroad familiarise themselves with Filipino culture, values and traditions.
VIRTUAL POP CHOIR is Chorus Studio’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic! They sing online to keep our community connected and safe. Primarily based in Vancouver, they are a group of 70+ singers who are also teachers, lawyers, students, actors, busi-ness owners, contractors, nurses and even a firefighters!! For more infor-mation, please visit https://www.thechorusstudio.com
Not to forget the now becoming popular cooking & baking segments in every episode of “12 Days of Christmas”. In this episode, you will learn how to cook Pancit. A Filipino dish that usually consists of noodles cooked with soy sauce along with some variation of meats and chopped vegetables. Also the all-time favourite dessert Leche Flan or Creme Caramel. It’s a Filipino dessert made with egg yolks, milk, sugar and vanilla ex-tract.
Capping off the episode will be musical performances by Vancouver’s exciting per-formers— Michael Unso & his niece Mikaela Unso, JJ “Wonderboy” Cepeda and an all-girl harmony group DI-VERSITY comprising of talented teeners Jasmine, Shea and MJ. With Sheryn Regis providing finale number as special guest. You will recall Regis rose to fame during the first season of the singing competition Search for the Star in a Million (formerly Star in a Million) where she placed runner-up to Erik Santos in 2003.
Hon. MP Ken Hardie, FCCHS 1st VP Rey Fortaleza and FCCHS 2nd VP Roldan Ro-bles will provide their heartfelt greetings to the Filipino-Canadian community. “12 Days of Christmas/Labindalawang Araw Ng Pasko” virtual Christmas presentation is co-presented by the Fil-Can Cultural Heritage Society (FCCHS) of Surrey BC, 88 Super-market, Reyfort Media Group and Pinoy Buzz Media. The group also gratefully acknowledges the support of the City of Surrey’s Cultural Grants Program. (babescastronewland@gmail.coml)