October is Filipino American History Month in the US. I’m a Fil-Am, and apparently Fil-Ams are the second largest Asian American group in the US! Though Scott is not Filipino, we have been a couple for over 30 years, and he is an honorary Fil-Am, having attended many large and loud family events. We both love traveling to the Philippines and have done three trips in just the last five years – 2017, 2018 and 2020.
With the pandemic still an obstacle to international travel, we’ll have to get our fix in the US. There are several Filipino eateries in NYC, but you can find any cuisine in NYC. Since moving to Jacksonville, Florida, we have been pleasantly surprised by how many good Filipino restaurants, food trucks and bakeries are here. Jacksonville has the largest Filipino community in Florida, and it shows!
A taste of the Philippines right in downtown Jacksonville
The Museum of Science and History (MOSH) celebrated its fourth (4th!) annual Taste of the Philippines event in early October. In addition to having food stations from nine delicious chefs, several Fil-Am artists were featured, including Jefre, who was selected this past summer to design what will be the main landmark for downtown Jacksonville – a $12 MM, 151-foot stainless steel sculpture. It was fascinating to hear about his thoughtful design for Jacksonville, as well as his overall career. It was also delicious to sample the different tastings:
- Chicken bbq and acharra from The Perfect Pear
- Pork belly sinigang ramen from Abstrakt
- Halo halo and buko pandan (with homemade ice cream on each!) from Pinoy Eats
- Pork pan de sal, Hawaiian macaroni salad and cupcakes from Say So Sweet
- Filipino hot cocoa and ube or plain ensymada from Kusina Jax
- Mango calamansi juice and banana bread leche flan (yes, it’s as delicious as it sounds) and pork belly adobo from Purple Roots
- Dessert tray of puto, cucinta, bitso bitso, ube pianono and champorado (really chocolatey, really good) from Azurea
- Breakfast empanada made of chicken longonisa and garlic rice, Filipino fruit salad and ube bibingka (served warm!) from the Marriott at Sawgrass Village
- Pancit, chicken and pork adobo from Jeepney Stop
Filipino cuisine is widely celebrated and featured
It’s not just the MOSH event that is proof that Filipino cuisine is having a moment in Jacksonville. Edible Northeast Florida recently did a feature on Filipino desserts. Jacksonville Magazine put Filipino cuisine on the cover of a recent annual food issue. There are so many food trucks we want to try that Scott has begrudgingly stepped up his Instagram activity so we catch them when they’re in our area: Lumpia Lady, Abstrakt Filipino Essence, Pinoy Eats
One of our favorite parts of visiting the Philippines is how well and cheaply we eat while we’re there. This is easily replicated in Jacksonville. A new bakery as of January 2021, The Baker’s Son By Valerio’s, features dozens of Filipino standbys, many for under $5.
Jacksonville also has the tropical heat and fast-moving downpours
Summers are hot and humid in Jacksonville, much like the stickiness we experience in the Philippines. We time our visits to the Philippines to avoid the rainy season, but Jacksonville has its own share of heavy rains, some of which just last minutes. If we happened to be stocked up on Valerio’s pastries during one such downpour, we could set a buffet up in our sunroom and just pretend!
OTT means I can easily recreate my airplane movie marathons – no flight needed
One of my favorite parts of our regular trips to the Philippines is the chance to binge on an airplane ride marathon. I can catch 6 movies, 7 movies or even 8 movies (click the links for what I watched and my reviews). OTT is just the media industry terminology for streaming (e.g., Netflix, Hulu, etc) and allows me to binge right in the comfort of my own living room.
We are still discovering Jacksonville
Even though Florida remained much more open during the pandemic, moving here in fall 2019, shortly before things shut down has definitely slowed down our integration into the community. In addition to a long list of Filipino restaurants, food trucks and events to try, there’s all the non-Filipino specific activities. We just started on the Jax Ale Trail – 22 craft breweries are participating, so that will keep us busy. We have a 10-concert subscription to the Jacksonville Symphony (including a screening of Return of the Jedi with live orchestra!). I can revisit my list of 100 things to be grateful for and pick from the many nature activities to create a tropical staycation and continue the Philippines theme.
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
