we haven't done that, and why don't we go to another location and put me up against a tree and go home and have my first solid [ expletive ] in a week. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> oh, my god! this is from albert!

♪ ♪ ♪ >> we have a request from the audience. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> 'twas the week before

christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. ♪ ♪ actually, that's not true at all. ♪ >> metro manila, bustling, sprawling, southeast asian capital of the philippines, home to somewhere between 12 to 20 million people. the world's most densely populated city. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> but it is christmas. ♪ ♪ >> a twinkly, festive wonderland where the mostly catholic population take their holiday season very seriously. >> merry christmas! >> because filipinos are for reasons i have yet to figure out, probably the most giving of all people on the planet. think i'm talking shit? keep watching.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> good afternoon, everyone. we're the band called keystone. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ofw stands for overseas filipino worker and they are one of the philippines' largest and most important exports, people. go abroad, make money, improve

the quality of life for the whole family. all over the world be the philippines sends architects, doctors, construction workers, nurses, house keepers, nannies. the entire filipino economy relies heavily on the money sent back by more than 10 million ofws, roughly 30 billion u.s. dollars a year or about 10% of the nation's gdp. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> until recently, after domestic workers, the largest category of ofws were musicians. ♪ ♪ >> like filipino cover bands. they're everywhere, on cruise ships, hotel lobby, bars and of course, in manila, where the competition is fierce and the penalties for not getting a beloved biker favorite like, i don't know, billy idol, can be severe. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> know this, pampered rock 'n' roll stars, at any given moment somewhere in the philippines there is at least one person and probably many more who can step in and do your act better than you. and after only a couple of hours' practice. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hi, mom. >> it is true that i lied to my daughter and tell her that ronald mcdonald has been

implicated in the disappearance of small children, that ier. >> at fast food and revile it at every opportunity, but i am also a hypocrite because to me, filipino chain jollibee is the wackiest, jolliest place on earth. >> hello, hi. >> hi. could i have the jolly spaghetti with the hot dogs on it, right? >> yes, sir. >> okay. also, chicken joy. thank you. >> jolly afternoon! >> welcome to jollibee. there are over 900 of these things all over the 7,000, plus philippine islands and a whole lot more internationally wherever there are hemsick filipinos. there is a jollibee in new jersey, by the way. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i hate mascots. you know they fart in those suits. oh, yeah. chicken and spaghetti and not just any spaghetti. i think it's like sweet, ketchupy with hot dogs. the spaghetti is deranged, yet strangely alluring. ♪ ♪ it's not a burger. it's rice. wait, my sinister brown sauce. i don't know what it's for. ♪ ♪ >> that's awesome. that's what crowe do with the brown stuff.

♪ ♪ >> i hate myself. >> hi, jolly afternoon! >> did i mention it's christmas? the 7,000-plus islands that make up the philippines rank number one according to internet scientigzs when it comes to celebrating the jolliest afternoon. >> it begins a full hundred days before the 25th of december which means there is a lot to do in this town especially if you like crashing other people's parties. >> let the party start. ♪ ♪ >> welcome to the seven con nents travel and tours corporate christmas party held in the fabulous banquet room of the downtown pearl garden hotel. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> so, cheers. >> cheers! >> merry christmas! >> merry christmas. >> very catholic country. >> 80-something percent. christmas starts in september. >> really? >> it starts in september. you go to the mall and start hearing carols. >> i would lose my mind. >> so at 12:00 midnight at september 1 everyone greets merry christmas on facebook. there's lechon on the menu. >> i have very fond memories of the last time i had lechon in the philippines and not to kiss your ass, but it is the finest pig i've ever had. amaze pg. >> providing these babies to holiday parties is big business and standards here where pork is king and the lechon the best in the world, very, very high. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> today our little friend has

prepared the old school way, turned slowly, slowly on a spit over coals for hours. oh, delicious, delicious lechon. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> you know, during this time of the year there are a lot of christmas parties and the lechon is always the star of the party. >> they graj the party, by the size of the lechon. if you have lechons you are a big star. >> that is good pig. >> it is our director and -- and it is the season to be jolly! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> as we all know, one must at a

holiday party, drink, and then get drunk and tell off the boss. this, i expected and was prepared to do, but the games, i was a little surprised by. >> ladies? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ laughter ] >> then, if i remember correctly, i totally kicked ass at a game of drunken musical chair, but i can't be absolutely certain. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i told them i was bob from accounting. ♪ when they found out things could get ugly. ♪ ♪ [ cheering ]

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello. halo-halo, please. >> one halo-halo. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thanks so much. thank you, ladies. >> this is wonderful. >> i don't even know what half of these ingredients are. i mean, it's delicious, but how is it made? what's in it? let's find out. >> halo-halo. >> halo-halo means mix mix, and it is delicious. [ speaking foreign language ] >> an icy, milky, technicolor

concoction of beans, candied fruits and gelatins. >> mixed coconut. >> milk. delicious. delicious. ♪ ♪ >> this is a wonderful creation. it's like the fruit loops marinate for a while and the milk kind of tastes like this. you want one? >> thank you. >> that's okay. >> very satisfying. yeah. i recommend it. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheering ] >> sisig!

>> this looks really good. ♪ ♪ >> night in metro manila, and i am ready for my single favorite filipino food, possibly the best thing you could ever eat with a cold beer. ♪ ♪ >> i'm talking, of course, about sisig. hot, sizzling pig face with a runny egg on top and bitch, you better ask somebody because nothing is getting between me and this spicy, chewy, fatty goodness. >> mix it up and go? >> yes. yes. >> there's a lot of sisig restaurants here, but this one is the best. >> this is really, really good. >> this evening's dining companion, cover band regatta. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> you may remember them from some such epic office christmas parties as last night's. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> this is the christmas season. a lot of christmas parties? >> yeah. >> a lot of work? >> yeah. >> a big season. >> all over southeast asia. any hotel lobby and any hotel bar there is a filipino band. >> exactly. >> and that is true. >> and i've sat there drunk and challenged band after band, no problem. all of dark side of the moon, no problem. all of guns and roses, no problem. >> and that is true. >> music and singing are a huge part of life in the philippines, so making it as a cover band, being sent abroad to perform is a big deal. ♪ ♪ >> but one thing remains the same always, to succeed, you better be able to pick up new material fast. >> celine dion, toni braxton, beatles, and elvis presley. >> how many songs in your

repertoire? >> around 1,000. >> if you don't know it you can fake it really quick. >> yeah. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> five years from now where would you like to be? where would you like to be playing? >> that's a good question. [ laughter ] >> like, my biggest dream is to play in las vegas. in the u.s. this is my dream. >> when we get to the dream, you know, playing at las vegas, we want to the play when we got there, we are the champions. if we get there. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ho, ho, ho, merry christmas, everyone! ♪ ♪ ♪ >> merry christmas, everyone!

♪ ♪ ♪ >> ho, ho, ho! ♪ ♪ >> merry christmas! ♪ ♪ ♪ >> happy new year, too! ♪ >> despite initial appearances, the philippines is not all holiday cheer, warm hellos and dancing bugs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>. >> the filipino national martial

art kali is among the most brutal, remorseless defense systems going. it was developed to deal with very harsh realities and a very tough, very bloody history. ♪ ♪ >> three centuries of brutal spanish colonial rule. ♪ invasion by the japanese, near the end of world war ii, american forces bombed manila, pretty much leveling the city. fert nanned and imelda marcos' extravagantly corrupt regime, martial law. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> although the philippines has remaineded a democracy since then, it can seem at times fragile. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> now you both are photojournalists. >> based out of mof manila? >> mark lives in mendonau. >> does a journalist need to carry a firearm in this country? >> for me, yes. ♪ ♪ >> in the philippines a press badge is no defense, particularly in the south of the country where mark navales lives and works. >> it's for the last comedy because of the radicalization of recent years, the growing specter of isis, mendonau is a fertile ground for that. >> traditional, the argument against arming themselves is journalists have been able to portray themselves as noncombatants. >> there was some presumption that they would not shoot you, but these days people seem to not make that distinction. >> dating back to the marcos

years. >> since 19 t92 77 journalists were killed. >> politics can be deadly. before 2009, the massacre claimed the lives of 58 people, dozens of whom were journalists and it was the single deadliest events for journalists in history. mark was the first one on the scene with a camera. >> there is no justice and there is no government tending to your needs. >> no one is coming to save you, is that what you're saying? >> no one is coming to save you. ♪ ♪ i have my family and my small kids. for me, my last recourse is to defend myself. it is very much a do it yourself culture and you can see it in people's homes the way they're stacked one on top of each other built out using spare bits of

metal. no one will give it to me. i'll build it. i'll make it myself. >> there is a lot of poverty in this city, that is for sure, but there a not a sense of hopelessness or rage. they decorate. they may not have much, but they decorate. >> yes. >> they sweep the street. >> there's still a sense of humble ownership in a sense of this is my home and it's going to be safe and it's going to be fine. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> some forecasts are calling up to one meter of rain and this is a typhoon with sustained winds of well over t200 kilometers pe hour. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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in any metropolis you find all of the good and the bad in the world. manila being bigger than most has plenty of both. ♪ ♪ >> yet this is a nation of 7,000 islands, and i really wanted to see at least one more of them. but i learned about something filipinos are only too familiar with, the typhoon. so it looks like it's going to be christmas in the city. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you.

[ cheering ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> name of the band is -- >> keystone. >> keystone. how long have you been playing together? >> five years. >> five years? >> five years. >> all right. a double's in the house. >> looking pretty. >> thank you. thank you. >> as one does, i dragoon the

band keystone hoping that one of these young punks would know how to make a good adobo. >> is there an authentic adobo recipe or does everyone does it differently? >> everyone would claim to do the best adobo, but the basic ingredients remain the same. so it's garlic, pork, we can now add the chicken, vinegar, peppercorns, bay leaf, soy sa e sauce. >> this adobo is amazing. it's really, really good. where did you learn to cook adobo? >> i learned this from my mom. >> so the answer is as always as to who makes the best adobo is mom. >> yes. [ laughter ] filipinos like feeding people. >> yes. yes. >> what else do filipinos like?

>> filipinos are hospitable. >> everybody knows how to sing. they don't necessarily have to be in tune, but they want to sing. they like to sing. >> we've been listening to music from a very young age. >> i'm the drummer for the band, but i'm not actually formally trained and up to this day i don't read notes, but i can memorize a song if you gave it to me, like, in a day. >> that's pretty much, you have to, right? >> you guys have played abroad. >> no? >> it's one of the goals, actually. >> five years from now, where would you like to be? >> hopefully we get to play for a bigger crowd, you know? because i think the fulfillment for me is actually getting more people to enjoy the music. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i waited for you to come back to me ♪ ♪ i'm hoping you will make it home early ♪ ♪ ♪ >> filipinos speak about home with immense pride and love, and if you're an overseas filipino worker, longing.

especially during the holidays. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> merry christmas! >> it's always, always about family in the philippines or anywhere you find filipinos. for christmas, of course, everybody, those who can, anyway, gets together. like family matriarch aurora and her daughter ana lynn. >> okay, ana lynn, you're a big help and amy and ruben, her adopted children. >> amy, can you help me? that bay leaf. wowment? smells so good. >> also cousin, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and even some great-grandchildren. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> la, la, la, la, la. >> i love cooking. i really love cooking.

>> cari-car-i is one of the favorite of the filipino people and i use the tripes and i put the ox tail on the pressure cooker. >> wow! >> now the peanut butter. >> peanut butter, please. no more. no more. now the banana blossom. the eggplant. the eggplant! >> oh, holy night, the stars are brightly shining. here is the cari-cari. i hope everybody will enjoy this ♪ okay! it's time to eat! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> amen. >> amen. >> i'm hungry. although we always say ladies first, i think we'll serve you. >> it's okay this time? just this once. [ laughter ] >> so good. so how long have you been back in the philippines? >> in the philippines? >> three years. >> three years now. >> where have you worked? >> hong kong for five years. >> for five years and then i went to america upon, and i stayed there for almost 30 years. >> aurora is back in manila after most of her life spent abroad. >> what kind of work were you doing? i did house keeping and baby-sitting. >> the money she sent home put everybody here and many, many more through school, lifted them up to a more comfortable life. >> and you left family behind? >> yeah. >> to go out there and make

money. >> that's never an easy decision, a painful, painful choice. aurora's children now middle-aged are finally getting to know their mother. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> okay. okay. okay. bring the food inside! ♪ ♪ ♪ >> many, many, many filipino women like you who had to leave their families, go abroad. >> yeah. absolutely. her three children. >> my eldest is about four years now in qatar, and the other one is two years and the other one is in hong kong. >> working conditions for ofws, particularly in some gulf states can be punishing, at best, abusive or worse. >> i'm a single mom with my two grandchildren. i really cried a lot especially in this holiday season.

>> still, due to lack of opportunity at home, many filipinos have little choice, but to go, somewhere far away. find a job, money. >> but hopefully in a few years, you think, they come back? >> i ask them to go home because i'm not getting younger anymore. i need them with my side. i tell them several times they call me up, please get home soon. i need you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you know we said we'd take a look

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♪ any filipino watching will recognize this immediately. the balakbayan box. a christmas tradition. a way for ofws to show loved ones though separated by oceans that you miss them, that you're still out there. what's in these boxes? whatever you can send. little things you'd casually give to a loved one if you didn't live on the other side of the world. this facility alone sorts thousands of these boxes a day

during the christmas season. just one of hundreds of facilities like it. some 5 to 7 million boxes a year. that's a lot of love. >> so how many relatives do you think you have in america? >> in america, oh, my gosh. seattle. california. calbert. >> my sister is in california. >> in hong kong we have at least ten. >> ten. >> and then dubai around eight. and qatar -- >> i'm at this christmas gathering today because of one of our directors, eric osterholm. it was aurora who raised him. for over 20 years she cared for and loved eric and his sister, looked after his whole family. >> eric sent me a letter talking about you. i wanted to read you what he said. "aurora is such an incredible woman. she has an infectious and loving

energy that is so powerful. i am 100% the man i am today because this woman literally raised me from when i was 6 months old. singing to me. dancing with me. wiping away my tears. cooking for me and making me laugh at every turn. unfortunately, like so many filipinos, her story is not all smiles and love. she had to choose a life away from her daughter and thousands of miles from her family. there are literally thousands of people around the world, thousands of people around the world, me included, who have been influenced by her endless kindness and love." filipinos give. of themselves, of their time, their money, their love, to others. they do and continue to do what needs to be done to survive. ♪ edelweiss ♪ edelweiss

♪ every morning i greet you ♪ small and white ♪ clean and bright ♪ bless my homeland forever ♪ blossom of snow may you bloom and grow ♪ ♪ bloom and grow forever ♪ edelweiss ♪ edelweiss

♪ bless my homeland forever ♪ ♪ ♪

>> oh, my gosh. this is from albert. oh, my gosh. [ cheers ] >> oh, my gosh! >> there. you can have it. >> that's my name. >> i really hope you enjoy the simple gifts i send, and i know that my heart is with you always. i love you very much. albert. ♪ ♪ joy to the world ♪ the lord is come ♪ let earth receive her king

♪ let every heart ♪ prepare him room ♪ and heaven and angels sing ♪ and heaven and angels sing ♪ and heaven and heaven ♪ and angels sing ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and wonders of his love ♪ and wonders of his love

♪ and wondrous wonders of his love ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com when we first pitched this show you should know the whole idea behind this show is it's a show where a black guy goes places either he shouldn't go or you wouldn't expect him to go. and we're like oh, where should we go? i was like i don't know, maybe i should go talk to the ku klux klan. that was their reaction. [ laughter ] that was exactly -- hmm. then it got quiet for a long time. but i could tell it was that kind of quiet where this was like that might be good for ratings. but kamau might die. but that might be really good for ratings. [ laughter ] when i pitched the ku klux klan idea i didn't think they'd actually let me do it. you know what i mean?