Rena Avendula: Gears Up for Filipino Artists in the US

 By Marivir R. Montebon
New York City

On Woodside's 52nd Street, Rena Avendula not only contends herself with promoting Filipino dishes in her restaurant called Payag (nipa hut in Filipino).  She is also in the thick of whipping up dreams to raise the bar of Filipino entertainment in New York, and eventually the whole of America. Along with fellow dreamers (and believers) Howie Clavite, Peter Obach, Ruby Lagare, and Jose Paulo Cortes, Rena has created the Pinoy Pride sa America (Filipino Pride in America) which intends to showcase the multi-faceted talents of Filipinos.

[caption id="attachment_2787" align="aligncenter" width="409"] Filipino artists can create greater impact in the US.[/caption]

The Pinoy Pride sa America is a business entity that unites all non-profit organizations to create shows and cultural undertakings to raise their own financial resources, quips Rena. She observed that Filipino groups are too sporadically operating on their own thus creating limited impact in the community.

Hopefully, the Pinoy Pride will bind the organizations to create bigger visibility, she said.

On October 4, the Pinoy Pride sa America will kick off its first gig at LaBoom, with the famous rock band Aegis holding a concert along with three other bands (Filharmonic, Sheldon Magbanua, and Tony Gado), a fashion show featuring the works of Anna Puruganan and Darius Gibbs, an art exhibit by the GPENY.

Brought together by the Gawad Kalinga USA, Philippine Jaycees, Payag Restaurant, Faldef, GPENY, Falcon, HRS Innovates, and We Talk, the concert-fashion show-art exhibit will be an event to watch.

Excerpts from the interview:

1.      What inspired you to form PINOY Pride sa America?

What has inspired me to form PINOY Pride sa America is my bilib sa Pinoy (my faith in the Filipino), dahil talaga namang BIDA ANG PINOY (because indeed, the Filipino is a star)!  We only need to provide an opportunity and the right venue for us to showcase or to stage this.  And what could be a better way of achieving this than collaborating with fellow the non-profit organizations here who have the same level of commitment.

[caption id="attachment_2789" align="aligncenter" width="644"] The challenge is right here in the US.[/caption]

2.      As a young entrepreneur in NYC, what challenges do you have in running a restaurant business?

Real competition is here.  This is the greatest challenge for me and this is the very thing that keeps me focused and going.  I work best under pressure.

3.      Is it much better to operate in the US than in The Philippines?

Yes, because I am here in the US for at least 310 days in a year.  (Laughs) Seriously, though, here in New York, I am in a better position to introduce the best of Filipino cuisine and culture in the US market, a stepping stone to globalize our brand.

4.      What are your hopes and aspirations for the FIL-AM Community in NYC?

I hope and aspire for the Fil-Am Community not just in NY but in the whole of America: unity in show-casing the best of the Filipino in everything that we do, unity sa makikipagtulungan sa kapwa Pilipino para sa ikabubuti ng lahat (helping Filipinos for the better good), and unity sa paglingun sa pinanggalingan (looking back where we came from) by reaching out and helping our countrymen back in our homeland especially in times of need.

5.      What events are we going to expect from PINOY Pride sa America in the coming months?

A lot of plans are being considered and we shall be disclosing these very soon.  But for sure they are all aligned with our mission which is to collaborate with US-based non-profit organizations in order to help promote and show-case the best of the Filipino talent.

[caption id="attachment_2791" align="aligncenter" width="459"] In New York, I am in a better position to introduce the best of Filipino cuisine and culture in the US market.[/caption]



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Chateau Renaissance Wines: Sweet Despite Bitter Times

By Marivir R. Montebon

The rugged country artistry of Chateau Renaissance Wine Cellars stood out in the teeming Green flea market at Union Square last summer. Both by its looks and the outright friendliness of its marketing person, Allen Zausner, had caught my attention. The uniquely shaped wine bottles were inviting.

Zausner was busy attending to some customers, but made an effort to say hi. And so our chat begun.  "Times are tough, and being here in the flea market is part of aggressive promotions to survive.  But we have a great market who loves our unique taste, that's the bottom line," he quips.
Allen would later introduce me to Patrice De May, owner and winemaker who comes from a French family whose lineage with wines dates back to 400 years ago in France.

Chateau Renaissance's labels are remarkably handcrafted in watercolor painting, something which absorbs you into the time of centuries old conoisseurs.  Its logo, the lutin (an amusing goblin which popped up from the cork), is distinctively French.

The labels alone were an attraction.

On display that sunny Saturday were the champagnes and fruit wines which the Fingerlakes-based company has been famous for.   Its champagne selections include Naturel, Brut, Demi Sec, Doux, and Rouge.

Its Brut Champagne won a gold medal in California's 2001 Grand Harvest Awards wine competition, with a rating of 91 points from the judges panel.

Brut Champagne is one of five actual Methode Champenoise Champagnes (the process of blending wines) made one bottle at a time by Patrice, using a 400 year old recipe from his family  champagne cellars in the Loire Valley of France. Its cuvee wines are made in the traditional European style using spontaneous wild yeast fermentation.

The label used on the Naturel, Brut, Demi Sec, and Doux champagne bottles was commissioned by Serge DeMay, Patrice's father, for the DeMay-Gremy Champagne Cellars in France in 1933 while the artwork for the Rouge label is by Patrice which features a painting of his father working on the champagne dosage machine.

Champagne Rouge is for meat and chocolates, Demi Sec for light meats and salad/medium sweets, Naturel for any food, Brut for lobster and seafoods, and Doux for pastries.

Chateau Renaissance's "Fruit Sparkles" or champagnes dosed with 100% fruit wines are as amazing.  They come in Pear, Peach, Raspberry, Cranberry, Blackberry flavors.

Its white wines include Chardonnay, Reisling, Late Harvest Vignoles, D'Artagnan, Basset Blush, Joie de vidal, and Frosty and the red wines are Merlot, Sangria, DeChaunac, Cabernet Franc, and Vineyard House.  All the wines are completely from local grapes and pressed at the winery.

I bought the Cranberry and Raspberry fruit sparkles, on a discounted price.

Then Patrice comes back to the booth, in bright red shirt and beige shorts.  "It is hard doing business these days. People buy 3-4 bottles instead of the usual 2 boxes at Fingerlakes. That is why we are here at the flea market," he immediately said.

Survival is the name of the game, Patrice said, who had to cut on labor cost and work the entire business process all by himself and his wife. He admitted to having lost $60,000 in revenues last year.  The recession also meant aggressive marketing in the midst of cut throat competition.

He has some bitter words at political leadership today.  "This is the worst presidency in my entire business life," Patrice opines. He believes that taxing small entrepreneurs like him who earn $250,000 isn't a good idea.  "The taxes are killing small entrepreneurs. We better have someone who can straighten things out."

It is not surprising for many businessmen like Patrice to admire Presidents Reagan and Clinton, who were staunch bipartisan leaders who stood in the middle to unify the ideals of the Democrats and Republicans in the economic and fiscal spheres.  A seasoned winemaker, Patrice also teaches wine making at the Corning College in upstate New York.

He said he doesn't see hope in President Obama and wished that things change in Washington by November, to breathe a new life into his business. Meantime, his centuries old family enterprise is on survival mode.

ESTHER SALOMON-MICHIWAKE: A Hardworking Pinay Shines Bright in Japan

BY BISAI YA

Japan continues to be unfazed by the earthquake and tsunami that hit her the past year.  Her citizens have remarkably remained resilient and enduring. One citizen, who is also Filipina, has withstood the trials and continues to exhibit a flourishing spirit of strength and courage to succeed.

Businesswoman and English Teacher Esther Salomon-Michiwake, 48, hails from the province of Cebu, and is one of the many successful Filipinas in Japan.  She shares to OSM! some of her secrets to success and how it is like to be in business in a highly male dominated society like Japan.

Esther owns and operates a convenience store in Kanagawa Prefecture, from the coastal Yokohama city.  SHOPFIVE is currently the only exclusive convenience shop in the Kanagawa-ken area in bustling Yokohama which caters to the needs of Filipino communities and other expatriates.

“Japan is dominated by convenience stores and currently there are over 40,000 convenience stores here. We call it konbini in Japanese or sari-sari store in Pilipino.  Naturally when we first thought of putting up a business here, it was a logical decision to think of the needs of the community and the majority populace and konbini came up on top of our choices."

Esther said Yokohama's business environment is conducive to growth because it allows entrepreneurs to operate in many ways, such as producing and introducing foreign products and flexible services to make make the lives of customers easier and convenient.

"I purchase my goods back in Philippines in Shopfive. I am able to promote high quality Philippine made products to a very discerning Japan market.” Esther's Filipino-centric convenience store operates six days a week (from 9AM to 8PM) which is a licensed International Convenience Store.

Not to be cowed by competition by other Filipino entrepreneurs, she makes sure that her store provides for the basic needs of her Filipino clientele while offering them Japanese made products as well.  Her distinctive advantage in business proves to be her cooking streak. She cooks and prepares the specialty Filipino foods that are to die for in her convenience store.

Esther also works as an English teacher in a Japanese Public Elementary School. She teaches first to sixth grade schoolers. There are about 800 teachers employed in the school and Filipinos comprise about 35 percent of the faculty members.

“Japanese people basically don't speak any foreign language. They are a nationalistic lot. Currently the Education ministry is trying to give importance to the English  by making it mandatory  from Nursery and First Grade. My students learn the basic conversational and grammatical usage of English.
Filipinos who teach English in Japan are well-respected because people know it is not easy to learn Japanese. Many Japanese professionals nowadays are now openly enrolling themselves to English classes, usually conducted by foreigners. Filipinos are considered to be one of the preferred teachers because of their teaching style and their friendly and patient nature.

Esther, who came to Japan since 1989, studied Japanese and aspired to reach a higher degree of fluency and proficiency of the language in order to be equipped her for other opportunities that abound in the country. It was because of this foresight that made Esther succeed as a professional Filipina in Japan.

She used her proficiency in Japanese to help Filipinos in more ways than one.  She offered freelance interpretation services for Filipinos who need translation services for submitting legal documentations used for job-hunting, bank transactions, loan applications and documentation for visa and any legal purposes. Only verified and classified translators in Japan are allowed to operate legally in this category of service, as Japan is very strict in this aspect.

She offers free translation jobs as a volunteer for Filipinos who encounter brushes with the law in Japan. Her translation services used at police stations for legal documentations proved to be useful many times where people both Filipinos and other expatriates needed quality translation and don't have access to such facility without being charged highly.

Being one of the most difficult languages in the world, Esther said anyone wishing to learn Japanese must be patient and dedicated to learn it by heart. "Once mastery of the language is achieved, it can be very profitable for someone to use it to his or her advantage since survival in Japan includes having to learn to communicate in Japanese. Without it, life would be challenging since locals do not speak much of other language other than their own."
Esther is married to a Japanese national and has a 17-year-old daughter who is a naturalized Japanese citizen. She enjoys the privileges of any other Japanese citizen.

“I admire the Japanese' dedication to work and industry. This characteristics regained the country's wealth and power after WWII. The Japanese are so disciplined in many aspects. They always wait in line to get things they want to have. This is an admirable trait."

Japan does not allow dual citizenship. One has to select only single citizenship. But as a naturalized Japanese citizen, Esther enjoys the same benefits as the natural Japanese citizens do, such as travel to any country in the world without visa issues, and many other perks that the government provides.

She is also a proud mom to Siena, who loves Japan and the Philippines equally, and speaks both Japanese and Cebuano languages. "I am glad that my daughter is growing up gracefully beautiful in character inside and out."

Esther studied in Cebu’s premier women institution, the Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion for her secondary and college degrees. She graduated Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in Accounting.

Like the rest of the world, Japan is going through tough times, but Esther's entrepreneurial spirit remains indomitable. .“Nowadays, business in Japan is quite hard and a lot of business establishments are closing.  But I continue to work hard and be disciplined. In tough times, it is a matter of faith in oneself and God," she said.

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