It was okay but we didn't really make too many friends. The best part was watching the single kanos walking around drooling. Darn there were some hot Filipinas there. It was nice to be able to impress a few people with my [extremely limited] Tagalog. The other kanos hate it though, cuz it makes their wives want them to learn a little. But English was definitely the lingua franca at the event.
I was disappointed by the beauty contest. Mr. & Mrs. Philippines 2002. Middle-aged Filipino-American couples who were doctors/lawyers, etc., involved in community service, blah, blah. If they had wanted to do a real beauty contest there would have been more than enough entries, that's for sure.
We had to park a mile from the event as both sides of the road were filled as far as the eye could see in both directions. There were twenty Filipino food booths and they awarded prizes for the best decorated ones. They had pretty good entertainment on a big center stage but the Filipino actor/singer/model my wife had never heard of.
All in all it was worth the three hours of driving and fifty bucks spent.
