One of the most colorful festivals in the Philippines is celebrated on the island of Marinduque in the towns of Boac and Mogpog. The festival is characterized by colorful Roman costumes, painted helmets and mask.
The Moriones Festival is a folk-religious festival held in April.
A Morion is a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face.
Moriones in the Philippines, refers to the masked crowds who march around the towns for seven days searching for Longinus a half blind Roman Centurion.
Legend refers to Longinus as the Centurion that pierced the side of the crucified Christ with a spear. The blood of Christ touched his blind eye fully restoring his sight. This miracle converted Longinus and his fellow centurions to Christianity.
The re-enactment of the legend reaches its climax when Longinus is caught by Rome and beheaded.
Boa Kwon , known by her stage name BoA, which stands for Beat of Angel is a South Korean singer from Gyeonggi-do. BoA was discovered by SM Entertainment at the age of eleven. She is one of only two non-Japanese Asians who have had million-selling albums in Japan. BoA began her Japanese music career singing at the velfarre Disco Club owned by Komuro Tetsuya and Avex Trax. velfarre in the Roppongi district was the largest disco dance club in Asia with a legal capacity of 1,500 people.
velfarre closed on new years day 2007 after 12 years.
Two girls with very bad reputations meet. The Green Fairy and Shanghai Bad Girl team up in a special Absinthe cocktail. Remember this is very strong and you may only need to drink two. This drink is similar to the Shanghai dark drinks at the turn of the century minus the laudanum - opium.
The beginning of spring is celebrated by cherry blossom festivals throughout Japan. Since Japan has such great diversity in climate the emerging cherry blossoms, begin in the southern islands and move north to Hokkaido. Daily weather reports predict the peak time for Hanami in each region.
In Tokyo, two of the most famous places for Hanami are the Imperial Palace gardens surrounding the home to the Emperor.
Ueno Park, Mt. Yoshino near Kyoto and Hirosaki in the Aomori Prefecture are among the most beautiful parks. Since this is an old tradition, many women wear kimonos at these festivals.
Today, in Japan there are over 100 varieties of cherry trees.
The Japanese word for cherry is "sakura," which is generally believed to be a corruption of the word "sakuya" (blooming) from the name of Princess Kono-hana-sakuya-Hime, who is enshrined on the top of Mt. Fuji. Her full name literally means "tree-flowers-blooming-princess."
The legend is that the princess dropped from heaven onto the flowers of a cherry tree.
The cherry blossom is considered to be the national flower of Japan.
The famous Japanese cherry trees in Washington D.C. surround the Jefferson Memorial. These beautiful trees were a gift from Japan in 1912.
In 1912 the original Yoshino cherry trees were planted by First Lady Mrs. William Howard Taft and the Vicountess Chinda of Japan.
Step Dancing mixed sometimes with Cosplay has turned into a National Past time in Japan. Here the girl in the Hare Hare Yukai competition hides her idenity and is becoming a National celebrity. Like the others in her Hare Network she uses her webcam in her apartment.
Family in California with Ramiele Malubay of American Idol
RAMIELE MALUBAY - Star Spangled Banner
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