Philippe Lazaro
OCTOBER 2016

The Fine Art of Filipino Heritage Night

Back in June, the San Diego Padres held a Filipino Heritage Celebration. It was at their game against the Washington Nationals. They had Katriz Trinidad sing the anthem. Filipino dance troupes performed and some Filipino vendors turned out at the ballpark. They gave away some white bucket hats with baybayin script and Filipino flag colors. I would've gone if I wasn't traveling.

It was a big success. So much so that they ran it back almost right away. They hosted a second Filipino Heritage Celebration in early September. This time against the Cincinnati Reds. This time around they ran it back. The gave out similar looking basketball jerseys matching the bucket hat. You could imagine your Filipino uncle wearing it to a garage party in Paradise Hills.

To their credit the Padres have been pretty good at celebrating the diverse cultures of the city. The 2025 season had Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Portuguese nights. Puerto Rican, Irish, and Mexican heritage nights too. Early in the year they held a BCLT (Burmese-Cambodian-Lao-Thai) night. That made them the first pro sports team I know of to have such a commemoration.

These heritage themed nights sit at a unique cross-section of my interests. The stadium giveaways are only part of the fun. When a team goes all in, you also get cultural nonprofits participating. Local artists perform the national anthem or seventh inning stretch. You get special performances by DJs and dance troupes. Oh… and food.

The best example of a flourishing Filipino Heritage Night is on display. It's in a YouTube video by Asian Verified. The vlog is: The BEST Filipino Heritage Night in Sports. 

According to the vlog, that distinction belongs to the Seattle Mariners. In 2025, the M's gave away blue-yellow-and-red remakes of the team’s classic jersey. 

The vlog also celebrated food options like ube churros and sisig nachos. Then it dove into the rally tabo and barrelman. I don’t have time to dive into these niche Filipinoisms, so IYKYK. Filipino Heritage Night at the ballpark contains multitudes. In this post, I’m gonna focus my reflection on the swag. The giveaway jerseys and merch.

In this department, the Mariners have elevated Filipino Heritage Night to another level. The royal blue dugout jacket they gave away in 2024 can easily fetch $120… and that’s assuming you can find it in your size. Their Filipino-sun hockey-hoodie also does numbers.

Alas, not every Filipino themed item is quite so refined.

In 2023, the New York Mets gave away a hat. It featured the Philippine flag within an outline of their cap logo. It also sported blue and red side panels, yellow buttons, and a repeated map of the islands on the under-visor. There was a lot going on.

This example represents one of the most common missteps. Doing way too much. It’s a common issue that previous efforts by the Padres have been guilty of.

There's another issue that plagues a lot of Filipino heritage night designers. Not being able to go beyond the sun-and-stars. Yes… they are a great visual icon. There’s a reason they’ve made it onto so many Filipino biceps and logos. But we’ve seen it. We’ve seen it again and again. I look at examples like the Houston Rockets in 2022 and the LA Dodgers in 2023. The common pattern is not being able to imagine a tribute beyond the flag, sun, and stars.

The Philippines are 7,000 islands with a wealth of rich inspiration for visuals. They range from textiles to tattoos to nature.

That said, I’m not mad about the sun-and-stars, especially when you can pull it off. When it comes to baseball caps, less is more.

When the sun can integrate with your team logo, that kind of opens up a good opportunity to have fun with it. The Golden State Warriors are the best at this. Their logo is already circular and their team colors overlap well with the Filipino flag. Filling the sun in with the Bay Bridge feels like a natural fit. It works out well that the Bay Area’s Daly City is one of the largest Filipino communities in the United States.

Speaking of cities with a large Filipino presence... that raises expectations for Toronto. The Toronto Raptors have delivered without even trying too hard on their snapback. They’ve got the classic red dinosaur logo that we already love with the eight rays behind it.

The undervisor is a pattern inspired by textiles or tattoos. Not quite a classic batok design. It does make the hat busier. I figure that if you’re already rocking a red and purple dinosaur hat, you already weren’t going for subtle. I could do without the side logos of the flag or Raptors’ claw logo, as they’re redundant. And I could do without the huge FILIPINO colored with the flag on the back, because it’s hard to read, and also, WE GET IT.

One of the best incorporations of the sun has to come from the WNBA. Specifically the Golden State Valkyries. The Bay Area strikes again! Here, they omit the circle to get the rays to line up with the bridge lines on their triangular logo. It doesn’t hurt that on the night of its release, they had Ruby Ibarra and Jeremy Lin in attendance tor ock the gear.

Similarly, the Winnipeg Jets managed to incorporate a lot. Sun rays, the angular outline of a jet, a chevron pattern, and a Maple Leaf. Somehow they did this in a way that doesn’t feel too busy… thanks to some well-thought use of negative space. It would’ve been easy to overlook the NHL when it came to Filipino Heritage Night. I don’t follow hockey much. But there are some jersey gems.

The Clippers’ logo variation seems pretty similar, and they’re a team that gets the less is more approach. It helps that their whole brand is built on minimalism. They do find a way to reflect those vibrant Filipino patterns in a contained way.

The tricky thing about minimalism is that it can quickly veer into laziness. That's the feel I get from the Chicago Bulls, who decided to turn their hat blue, slap a flag on it, and call it a day. That said, while their hat fell short, their bobblehead more than made up for it. The giveaway of Benny the Bull in a Barong draping the flag over his shoulders is a fun one. Teams should get their mascots in on it more. I suppose a bull works very well for Filipino Heritage, being cousins with the carabao.

There are some teams that I’ve simply expected more from.

Let’s start with my beloved Phillies. Philadelphia’s Filipino population isn’t necessarily huge. Especially for the sixth largest city in the US, but it’s there. About 31,000 deep. The missed opportunity is the fact that the team name would be such a layup to work with! 

Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, and Fernando Valenzuela were trailblazers for their countries. When a Filipino or Filipino American truly makes a big splash in the MLB, it'll gets things flowing.

This has happened in the NBA to some extent, with Jordan Clarkson, Jalen Green, and now Dylan Harper. To be fair, the Rockets have rolled out some Filipino gear… just not very inspiring editions. But now… Jalen Green is on the SUNS, which seems like a free throw if there ever was one. Jordan Clarkson going from the Jazz to the Knicks greatly increases the odds. I would’ve loved to see the Jazz play with their classic mountain jerseys.

I’ve already shouted out some good examples from the Toronto Raptors. I’ve got to say, the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays seem to come up short. You mean to tell me we can’t be the Toronto Banana Leafs for a day? Or that the Jays’ logo doesn’t lend itself to some play?

The biggest missed opportunity, in my opinion, belongs to the NFL. The entire league. The themed games have been almost non-existent. Granted, with 16 game seasons, the NFL is probably the stingiest at themed games, but still. I especially expect more from the Niners representing the Bay. Or the Raiders representing three hubs of large Filipino Populations. Or the Vikings having Cam Bynum.

Minor League and Semi-Pro teams have never been stingy about themed games.

There's the Canadian Elite Basketball team, the Vancouver Bandits. They had one of the best logo adaptations. They rolled out pretty true-to-style batok designs on a variation of its usual fox head. The jersey patterns are also a win.

And then there’s the Norfolk Lumpia… usually the Norfolk Tides. Minor League Baseball never misses the opportunity to rebrand as a beloved food item.

Funny enough, Norfolk’s Filipino population barely hovers above 4,000. But its surrounding area of Hampton Roads has around 40,000 Filipinos thanks to being a Navy hub. 

I often get tired of lumpia and adobo being the only Filipino foods non-Filipinos know.

“You’re Filipino? My friend’s mom makes some really good adobo.”

“Congrats, you’re the 99th person to deliver that exact line.”

But still, I applaud Norfolk for branching out beyond the sun and stars.

Speaking of good ways to branch out, in 2024, the San Francisco Giants gave away a barong inspired jersey. This is currently one of my hands down favorite Filipino Heritage Giveaways. Maybe some day someone takes it to the next level. Maybe they do actual patchwork on barong material, that would be a work of art. Probably way too expensive for a stadium giveaway, though.

Now… let’s talk about those Seattle Mariners again. Seattle has about 200,000 Filipinos in its surrounding area and… OH SNAP! I’ve been writing about Filipino Heritage jerseys for quite a while now. And I have like… work and life to tend to.

Okay friends, this is very clearly gonna have to be a two-parter. We haven’t even begun talking about the US Soccer League, or DJ Javier’s NHL collaborations.

I hope you’ve found my takes on Filipino Heritage jerseys amusing… because I’ve got plenty more in the tank! Stay tuned, my friends.

Halloween 2025

Halloween always goes hard around these parts. Logging this past weekend for posterity.

Rhys turned six and was a ninja.

Good times and hot pots with Daniel & Joy.

One of my most fun Optimus Rhyme shows- Halloween edition.

Dropping some bars about Vita Coco in character as Pepe Le Pew.

Trick or treating for mezcal.

Annual stock-up-for-next-year decoration run at a 50% off Spirit Halloween.

Baseball drama.

What a life.

Rhys is 6

The past six years have been the best six years of my life. Also, Rhys turns six today! Coincidence? Don’t think so.

Watching this kid grow up is wild. On one hand, pump the brakes. But on the other, it’s really cool to unlock new abilities and ways we’re able to have fun together.

Would gladly race Bowser, sample cheesesteaks, and tour haunted houses with him every day.

That Thin, Thin Veil

If you’ve seen Sinners, you know what I’m talking about when I reference *that* scene.

In case you haven’t, I’ll be able to refer to it without spoilers, as it calls back the first line of the film.

Some people are born with the gift of making music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death.

I saw the movie in April, during its theatrical release. I don’t make it out to movie theatres very often on account of having young kids, but I saw the movie was getting high praise. Specifically, one online comment that said: Coogler just dropped a vampire musical and it’ll be the best movie of the year.

Well, okay!

I made my way to the theatre after bedtime on a Monday night and was ushered in to a very rich world set in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Some people are born with the gift of making music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death.

I couldn’t hear that opening line without immediately thinking about a friend.

He was a fairly new friend, but an easy guy to talk to. Just weeks ago, he and I had been talking baseball and dad life. Out of the blue, I got a message that he had been hospitalized and it sounded pretty serious.

For about 24 hours, we were unsure how he would pull through. It was the sort of scenario where I kept checking my phone for updates throughout the day. By the time that Monday came around, things looked much more promising. But for a good while, he kept us in a state of uncertainty.

When the movie’s opening line referenced “the veil between life and death” it felt like way more than a metaphor or Biblical allusion. It was a very real thing people could brush up against.

In the past week, I’ve lost a couple family members. They lived full lives; in fact, the number of years they got on earth would make many envious. It’s always sad to say goodbye, but also comforting to know they lived long, lived fully, and at the end found relief from a number of physical discomforts.

I have an old family. Both my parents were on the young end of a chain of siblings, and both of them had me rather late in life. This means that I have plenty of aunts and uncles who are old enough to be my grandparents. Some who felt more like grandparents. I only had enough overlapping years with one of my grandparents to know her well. Thankfully, it was because she kept going for 98 years.

I appreciate my older family. Perhaps some of those longevity genes floated my way. Knock on wood. But it also means that at this stage of my life, in my mid-30s, there will be a lot of funerals to go to.

This week, perhaps even this year, I’ve been a little more conscious of that veil between than typical, and I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.

My kid’s Spanish kindergarten class has been making ofrendas for Dia de los Muertos, and so I’ve sent him to school with several photos of deceased relatives. I got to spend a bit of time in Oaxaca a few years ago, and it was enough to make me appreciate the local perspective on death. Framing it as a part of life, rather than as a hard stop. It’s made me appreciate cultures that keep conscious of death, rather than trying to keep it out of mind.

Losing my dad as a child, growing up in a very religious setting, and having an old family meant I was probably more aware of my mortality than most kids my age. And I think that propelled me towards living life differently. I was more motivated by the idea of building a legacy or having stories to tell than advancement or financial security. And to be honest, I don’t think that’s changed too drastically. I’m thankful I’ve lived this way as I think it’s taken me down some of the roads I’m most thankful for.

These days, I try to let this consciousness be my reminder to go slow. To not take myself too seriously. To deal with setbacks and unpleasant surprises with a deep breath and a sense that some day they’ll be a distant memory.

To spend as much time as I can with people. With loved ones. Especially those getting up there in years.

And to spend more time doing things that feel eternal.

Some people are born with the gift of making music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death.

Unfortunately, I was not born with that gift. But I do wonder if each of us perhaps has some sort of gift that can make that puncture.

I know I can tell stories. I’ve experienced swinging a room between tears and laughter before by painting a picture with words. That’s a good feeling. I’ve been told that one of my stories made someone momentarily forget about a bunch of political drama that had been hounding her lately, and that made me want to try and create that for more people. Not for the sake of escapism, but to go even deeper than the noise on the surface.

I also think that some people might be born with a veil-piercing gift that doesn’t take the form of what we usually think of as art or performance. The gift of deep listening. The gift of making somebody feel like they belong. The gift of lovingly challenging others to be better versions of themselves.

I’m probably not saying anything new here. Memento Mori is as ancient of a reminder as it gets. But I know I still benefit from having that reminder. The reminder that time is passing, but sometimes it can stand still. That there’s a lot of good to be done while we’re here. And that making a visit to an older loved one is something you never regret. 

Tyrese Maxey

“The work you put in when no one is around always comes to light when you’re in front of thousands.”

–Tyrese Maxey

Welcome back to the NBA despite the very awkward start to the season. I just watched Kyle Schwarber’s guest spot on Abbott Elementary and now I’m thinking Tyrese Maxey would be a fantastic feature as well.

Everyone Goofs Different

I hadn’t been in New Zealand for very long when I decided New Zealanders might be the funniest batch of people on Earth.

You know how isolated islands lead to all kinds of quirky species evolve? Like Tasmania or the Galapagos? Something similar must be happening with humor over in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a rather large profile when it comes to comedy, especially relative to its size. Taika Waititi is currently its most known entity. His popularity follows that of Flight of the Concords. You can find Kiwi sensibility all over their work. Yet, to best appreciate New Zealand’s wit, you need to take things down to a street level.

Much like their neighbors in Australia, New Zealand jokes fit the Tall Poppy Syndrome. It’s rooted in a culture that values egalitarianism. It’s what happens when someone starts to achieve a ton of success. When they start to stand out, it’s the duty of their peers to ‘cut them down to size.’

Barbs and roasts are a pretty good way to trim those “tall poppies.”

In comedy terms, you often hear this described as “punching up.” But in New Zealand, it’s often applied among peers than in a revolutionary sense of “speaking truth to power.”

In that regard, no one of Taika Waititi’s pedigree could be a complete ambassador of New Zealand’s funny side. I love most of his movies, but it’s hard not to see him as the current tall poppy in the field.

It goes without saying that the best way to get to know and appreciate New Zealand’s humor is at a street level. It’s in the subtle chuckle of a bus driver when a tour group is too serious. It’s in the self deprecating admission of our wine tasting guide blurting out that he’s more of a beer guy.

It’s mischievous, understated, and revels in the awkwardness of social situations. The proper word is “cheeky.” What a fitting adjective. There’s a fine art to cheekiness that I envy.

For new explorers of comedy’s fault lines, The Office is a good starting point. The differences between the British and American versions, that is. Dry British humor catches so many of us Americans off guard. As a teenager, I discovered TriggerHappy TV. It was Britain’s take on a Candid Camera type show. I loved it, but there was something so blunt about its gags.

That was my first conscious encounter with different comedy cultures. But earlier exposure came via the land of my ancestry, the Philippines.

In the 1980s, a duo called Dolphy and Babalu were the Laurel and Hardy of the Philippines. Their comedy routines often involved a lot of shouting and running around. I still remember a bit when Dolphy (or was it Babalu? Who knows?) is trying to take a shower in a bathroom with a bunch of plumbing malfunctions. Around the same time, I was also introduced to Yoyoy Villame. Imagine the Philippines’ Weird Al. A maker of silly songs.

Filipino humor was as loud as New Zealand’s is subtle. But what it lacks in sophistication it makes up for with endearing sincerity. And there are some good explanations about why it’s like that.

On an archipelago with over 700 languages, slapstick and physical humor rule. They cover more ground than language based jokes. That said, Filipinos love wordplay and puns. It makes sense to me. With how much we love to sing, auditory experiences go far.

The country has seen its share of poverty, political turmoil, and natural disaster. With that in mind, humor can be a bit of a coping mechanism. Humor is a reflection of the national characteristic of being resilient, matiyaga. It helps to keep spirits up during crises.

It dawns on me that I have these insights because I have a direct link through my Filipino heritage. The settings are familiar to me. I understand Tagalog. And that makes me realize something. My grasp on the different comedic cultures of the world will always have limits. Comedy needs context. While I’ve been able to travel a lot, without the lived experience or language of a place… you won’t quite get it.

Sure. Every now and then we get a Mr. Bean or Khaby who can transcend those boundaries. But that happens like once in a generation.

(And yeah, I stand by my assertion that Khaby is the Gen Z Mr. Bean.)

Spanish creates an interesting window. Spanish speaking countries vary quite a bit in how they approach humor. When I lived in Argentina, there was a sarcastic, cynical undertone to a lot of the joking. So much of it veered into politics. I love Argentina, but this is so different from my style. It’s so different from the lighthearted storytelling humor you find in Colombia. Or the playful, raunchy jokes of Mexico.

South Africa has one of the most fascinating relationships with comedy. At least that I’ve encountered. For starters, it has a patchwork of different influences. South Africa has seen drastic amounts of social change in recent history. So much comedy takes place in the awkward in-betweens of carving out a new normal.

The linguistic diversity of South Africa creates opportunity. It allows storytellers and comedians to take on different characters. Code switching mid-anecdote paints a picture. Playing with or subverting stereotypes challenges societal expectations. Many South African comedians have a skill at switching styles. They go between macro-political commentary and humor focused on mundane everyday moments.

There are elements of that cheekiness I loved about New Zealand in South Africa as well. Is it a former British colony thing? A Southern Hemisphere thing? I don’t know. I do know I appreciate South African’s exaggerated responses. Responding to an absurd situation with a hearty shoooooo... That makes it that much more lively.

There’s no one way to be funny.

I’ve traveled a lot, and the crossroads of culture and humor remain mysterious.

I find it delightful and humbling.

The Observatory Hotel

This is possibly my favorite hotel. If you put eco-lodges and that sort of thing in another category, this might take the top spot. Definitely a top five.

The Observatory in Christchurch is modeled after Oxford. The whole city of Christchurch is named after a school in Oxford, so there’s a lot of school spirit going over there.

The location is about as good as it gets. It’s directly across the street from the city park and botanical garden, which is an excellent spot to spend hours outside. Walk ten minutes in the other direction and you’re at the river, right at the heart of the city, surrounded by all the good food.

The hotel only takes up the corner buildings of this section. The rest of the complex includes a wine bar, a pub, a paint-and-sip type place, a dance studio, and a full on cinema. You could spend a whole day just enjoying the site.

And inside the hotel, there’s a perfectly cozy drawing room where it feels like you’re supposed to do nothing but sip coffee and read.

Fewer hot takes, more Point-of-View

A friend of mine became a true accidental influencer.

He was never the type to seek out a big internet following. He only sought to get a handful of followers. For work purposes. He made a handful of shortform videos, and a couple of them caught the fair winds of the algorithm. It was the perfect storm. Without much effort, he wound up with millions of followers in a matter of days.

He’s brilliant and creative, but even he would admit that this sort of came out of nowhere. And now it’s turned into an unintentional second job.

For the most part, his videos piggyback off of others’ conversations. He stitches on to other shortform videos and adds his insight.

“Of course, whenever I start my videos by yelling WRONG! they do well. Being aggressive always does a lot better than when I try to nuance things.

By this point, none of this is much of a surprise. It confirms what we already know.

The internet stirs up big feelings by design. The minds behind the apps know that nuance slows us down. Thoughtfulness leads to moderation. Anger and fear keep us coming back for more. Whenever posts deliver these, they’re destined to do well.

We live in the era of the hot take. And there’s no denying that it’s entertaining. It’s normal to start a conversation with your strongest, spiciest opinion.

It’s a structure that works very well with the way our brains’ design to process stories. And quite often, it uses that against us.

When our brains have to play defense, we’re less open. Less creative. Less effective at actual problem solving.

This reminds me of Fred Rogers. The rise of zany, slapstick children’s entertainment appalled him. It didn’t respect their developmental needs. While he was polite about “not naming any names.” But according to Maxwell King’s autobiography: “Fred abhorred violence. Even cartoon violence. He had no patience for slapstick. He believed that children needed slow, deliberate programming. He was unapologetic about the pace of his own show.”

So, no naming-and-shaming. Fred Rogers’ ultimate protest was the existence of his own show.

The deliberate pacing. The quiet music. The meaningful dialogue.

It was a form of quiet protest. Soft but strong. And its memory has outlived many of the shows he sought to contrast.

Of course I’m nowhere near Fred Rogers’ level. But the noise of incessant hot takes still makes me want to swing in the other direction.

I’ve seen so many articles and videos giving tips on how to drive up video view counts by stirring the pot. By starting with controversy. By flirting with ragebait. And straight up, I don’t want to play that game.

I’ve rejected a lot of these “best practices.” I’ll attract a smaller crowd, but I’d much rather have that than a crowd that turns out for drama.

The effects of living in a culture that amplifies the loudest voices are well documented.

Yes, we get a world where everyone’s angry all the time. Yes, we get a world where people gain influence by being loud.

People are capable of nuanced opinions. We don’t have to be walking caricatures of a particular worldview. But it’s common to only hear opinions the loudest and most extreme voices. That makes people pull back. Rational people retreat from conversations about important topics. The world becomes even more deprived of healthy dialogue.

I would like to live in a world of fewer hot takes.

But that doesn’t mean I want to live in a world of muzzled opinions.

I want points-of-view.

Those are different from hot takes. The difference is subtle but significant.

A point-of-view is a perspective. It contains opinions, sure, but it’s more than that. It’s a way of seeing the world.

When you’re prompted for a hot take, you’re asked for a strong opinion you have. An unpopular opinion, or one on a touchy subject.

But a point-of-view is more than an opinion. It’s a way of seeing the world.

This idea became clearer to me through improv. In improv, one of the most important things to establish in a scene is a character’s point-of-view. Without one, the characters and the scene will most likely flounder. A strong point-of-view invites goals, actions, choices, and reactions. Pick one and everything flows with ease. On stage, even a simple point-of-view can carry a scene.

This is one of those times where a skill you sharpen through improv applies quite well to the rest of life.

As you go through the world, know your POV.

On stage, once you’ve established a point of view and made it known to your scene partners, there’s a lot you can do. You can explore how having a particular point of view applies to different scenarios. Do you have a character whose point of view is to always be polite? How would they handle a career in professional wrestling? You can push that belief to its limits and the point of absurdity.

Another thing to do? Explore where that belief came from.

Does your character believe in always being polite because mom said so? Because they were a jerk before and they need to restore balance?

This is actually one of the biggest differences between a point-of-view and a hot take. Hot takes are cheap. People adopt them for sport.

But a point of view? It has an origin story. It comes from somewhere.

You aren’t shooting from the hip for the sake of having an opinion.

You’re drawing from an experience.

Because of this, it means your opinions aren’t colored by some other commentator’s words. They’re tied to values and beliefs that you embrace because of something you’ve gone through.

Imagine if our world was a lot less reactionary.

Imagine if whenever a bill was being passed and we didn’t look to our usual talking heads to see what they thought.

Imagine if a threat emerged and we didn’t pick our response based on political allegiance.

Instead, what if we ran those experiences through our biggest beliefs. Our decisions about what’s important in life. What matters at the end? How we’re supposed to relate to each other?

It might make the world less of a spectacle and more of a space to put our perspective into practice.

We live in a very loud, angry, and opinionated era. But I don’t think that our response should be to abandon our beliefs for the sake of civility. We need to dive deeper into them. See where they came from. See how they color what’s in front of us. See what we’re supposed to do next.

Hot takes are cheap.

A true point-of-view will actually ask something of you.

Redefining Aliveness

If you know me, I’m always up for an adventure. There have been times where I was convinced that pursuing big quests was the “right way to live.” Then there were times that I thought growth and maturity looked like being so satisfied with simple things that you could spend 14 hours staring at a leaf and be happy.

These days I’m not so black and white on the matter. I’ve realized that a little thirst for adventure is just part of how I’m wired. It’s a good thing, especially when I focus on quality over quantity. AND I’ve also realized that there’s something really beautiful and true in being enchanted by the ordinary.

Valencia is one of the best places to travel with kids

When my kids were two, two, and four, we took an ambitious family trip to Portugal and Spain. This was-without doubt-the most difficult set of ages for traveling. We’ve been going on international trips with kids as young as five months, but the age of two was a special challenge.

Not old enough to be potty trained, to have patience for long flights, and to keep outbursts minimal. Old enough to be very, very mobile.

Now that you know the context of our trip, let me emphasize: I am real glad we spent a week in Valencia.

Spanish culture is as laid back as it gets. That’s important to counterbalance the demand of traveling with kids. On top of that, Valencia has family-friendly infrastructure. It has plenty of playgrounds and so much good food.

Let me highlight all the reasons why Valencia is such an ideal destination. Especially with young kids. Here's what's worth checking out.

The City of Arts and Sciences

The Cidade des Artes e Ciencias alone might make Valencia worth the visit with kids.

Really? A science museum?

More like a museum of museums.

It’s a futuristic whale-shaped complex on the Turia River with several attractions. It includes:

  • An IMAX cinema and planetarium

  • Prince Felipe’s Museum of Science. It's your classic science museum, except that the whole first floor is a basketball court

  • A biosphere known as L’Umbracle

  • The Oceanografico aquarium

  • An opera house

Even if you didn’t go into any of the attractions, the bridges and courtyards around the complex are fun. Though if you made it that close, it’d be odd not to go in.

Each museum within the complex could merit a whole day’s activities. We prioritized the science museum and the aquarium for our two-day pass.

Any guesses about my kids’ favorite part?

It was the café in the lobby of the Science Museum where robot cats serve as the waiters.

A lot of other museums

Sharing a city with the mother of all science museums must be pretty tough on other exhibits around town. But there’s a huge upside! Much smaller crowds.

Valencia’s Museum of Prehistoric History is information-rich. It's also full of interactive things for kids to get their hands on. It’s also built into an old Byzantine style church, so the structure itself is of interest. You’ll want to budget a good amount of time for this one.

L’Iber – You’ll remember this one as “the toy soldier museum.” It's a massive collection of tin soldiers and other miniatures. It can capture attention and imagination for much longer than you’d expect. It feels like you’re looking at every war Spain ever fought all at once.

L’Ento – The Valencian Museum of Ethnology, but think of it more as Valencia’s pop culture museum. Grown-ups might note how art and entertainment reflect its history and politics. Kids will find several displays featuring toys and cartoons, and other familiar things.

And while this isn’t a formal museum, I gotta shout out the Casa de los Gatos. I have a little girl who loves cats. Kids who share that fondness will love the tiny decorated facades. These decorate openings in city walls that house street cats.

Siesta culture 🤝 Naptime

To me, this was the most obvious reason to visit Valencia–or at least somewhere in Spain–with young kids. Nap time is still an important part of the day. Why not head to the country that seems to have perfected the art of napping?

That said, there is a flip-side to putting your family on the Spanish schedule. While the naps are decadent, prepare for the days to stretch out longer. Dinners often kick in around 8:00 pm or later. Don’t be surprised if bedtime gets rolled back a few hours.

At home, staying on schedule seems to serve us well. But when in Spain…

The beach was immaculate

We stayed in the Malvarossa neighborhood of Valencia. That meant that we were always a mere blocks away from the beach… and we took full advantage.

It surprised me that every single day, Malvarossa Beach seemed quite empty. We seemed to have several soccer pitches worth of open sand and water all to ourselves. The sand was smooth and perfect for building things. The Mediterranean waters were the perfect temperature.

We were there in April. Maybe that helped keep the beaches empty. They seemed capable of accommodating much larger crowds.

Every 200 meters was another unique play structure. The parallel sidewalk was lined with cafés.

In the mornings, this strip of beach worked well for a 10k run.

It is most likely a lot more packed in summer.

There were playgrounds everywhere

On the beach, you couldn’t go very far without running into a playground, and you know what? That was basically true for Valencia across the board. There are play structures everywhere.

Some playgrounds are in more central parks and plazas. These typically had more complex structures and lots of families hanging out. But even in low key walkways, it seemed like the City of Valencia figured out a way to squeeze in a slide and a jungle gym. There was one right outside the supermarket which made shopping a lot easier.

One observation of these Valencian playgrounds: there is no shortage of rocking horses. Or rocking motorcycles or dolphins. Whatever designed seat they decided to put on a giant spring.

At some point I imagine a Valencian city planner got it deep in his head that them kids love rocking horses! 

There is one special playground I gotta call attention to: Gulliver’s Playground

Parque Guilliver, that is!

It’s a large structure of tunnels, staircases, climbing walls, and slides... all in the shape of Lemuel Guilliver. You know, the sailor stranded on Lilliput who is then tied up and climbed all over by the tiny Lilliputians.

Gulliver’s Playground is only one part of the Jardin del Turia. Turia is largest urban park in Valencia and a place you can visit over and over for family walks and other outings. It was built into the old riverbed of the Turia. Back in the day, it flooded, making the city rebuild. Now it also features a model train, Centro Ferroviario Camp de Turia, that the kids can hop on.

But are kids these days even up on their Gulliver lore? Seems like a forgotten fandom to me. Have they no idea who they’re climbing on?

Probably not. Even that Jack Black movie adaptation was 15 years ago. He’s the Minecraft guy now.

Nonetheless, the playground is doing its part. And it’s still fun. And some of those slides are actually pretty intense, so keep an eye out if you have very small ones.

You can leave town for a little bit…

Here are a few of my picks:

  • Xativa – A medieval city on a hill with stone walls and ancient castles. If you’ve got castle-fixated kids, this is ideal as long as they can handle the walking. Lots of little shops and cafés.

  • Ruzafa – This isn’t even a daytrip where you’d leave Valencia. But Ruzafa is Valencia’s bohemian hipster suburb. Lots of vintage shops, used bookstores, and tapas joints.

  • Albufera Natural Park – This nature park is set on the Southern Spanish Wetlands. There are boat rides and plenty of wooden walkways to explore. It’s a great escape to take a break from the city.

…or head deeper into the heart of the city.

The historic center of Valencia is actually a good spot to get lost for a little while. Large parts of it are pretty pedestrian friendly. It’s easy to grab some essential Spanish eats while walking around. Here's what's worth seeing.

  • Plaza de la Reina – is the iconic central plaza. Sometimes I enjoy just embedding myself where all the action is and taking it all in. This is that kind of place.

  • On the northern end of what I’d consider Central Valencia is Torres de Serranos. Those Gothic towers once served as the city gates. It matches my childhood impression of what a castle should look like. Two rooks from a chessboard connected by a wall.

One other very Valencian thing I wish we had the chance to do was to catch a Valencia CF match at Estadio Mestalla. My favorite La Liga squad is the one untethered from Barcelona and Madrid. While the schedule didn’t work out in our favor, we did get to bop around the fan shop in central Valencia for a bit.

Public transit is pretty fun to ride around

I have a transportation kid. As in, a young boy obsessed with vehicles and ways of getting around. Trains, buses, all that. And the public bus system of Valencia was his idea of a good time.

Valencia's buses made it easy for us to get around. Our main routes went between Malvarossa and the City Center. The bus route enabled us to discover lots of restaurants and cafés, along with a look at ordinary Valencian life.

It’s also worth noting that Valencia is an excellent bike town. If my kids were riding bikes already , we would’ve borrowed some wheels. Rent Bike Virgen is a great spot to hire a bike to pedal around Turia Gardens and other spots.

Spanish food culture

We decided to not serve meat to our kids until they could understand where it comes from. Spain made that so much easier with the hanging pig legs at every grocer for jamon iberico. One of our kids had his first animal protein on the trip. Not ham, mind you, but escargot. A snail picked right out of a pan of paella.

The must-try items are well-known. Jamon iberico. Wine. Paella. Oh, and note that paella with seafood is generally seen as a tourist play. The local stuff will have chicken, or more likely, rabbit.

I do recommend the Mercat Colon as a food hall where you can try a good number of things. Valencia happens to be the origin site for horchata. One of my favorite spots to grab one would be Orxata Daniel, located within Mercat Colon. To top it all off, I’d visit a rival horchata-maker, L’Orxateria… but for their churros y chocolate.

Other Considerations

Once again, I am so glad we made Valencia a destination. Even during these years of challenging young-kid travel. There are a few other considerations I’d keep in mind:

Timing – We did very well by visiting in April. This was possible, of course, because our kids aren’t in school. Missing three weeks in the spring is easier in preschool than the higher grades. Our reward were those wide open beaches, as well as temperatures. Spain gets hot in the summer, to the point where I wouldn't recommend it anymore.

Las Fallas – It’s Valencia’s most popular carnival, and it’s definitely a memorable thing to experience. The drawback is that unless you stuck around for a lot longer, you might not experience much else. Expect way longer lines at the museums and higher prices for everything.

Ever do Valencia? With kids? Thinking about it? Let me know below!

Best of New Zealand

Aotearoa dreaming.

Very unsurprised by how much I loved this New Zealand. Sharing some more favorites.

Kitekite Falls – The waterfall was gorgeous, and the pool below made for a great swim hole. But also, don’t overlook the walk up there. Wonderful nature walk with some fascinating vegetation.

The Shire – Probably the most touristy thing one could do in New Zealand, but still pretty chill. Loved walking through a hobbit house.

Green Dragon Tavern – They’ve got their own exclusive ales, so hopefully you don’t like it TOO much. You won’t find it elsewhere.

The TraNZalpine Rail – Scenic train ride up to Arthur’s Pass, with an onboard café and a viewing cart.

The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves – My favorite single outing in New Zealand. Absolutely breathtaking moment of wonder.

Castle Rock – Famous for being a film site in the Narnia movie, but even if it wasn’t these boulders are impressive

The Observatory Hotel – Maybe my favorite hotel? The drawing room alone was worth it.

Piha Beach – Intense waves, but a unique mix of beach and forest

Devonport – Daytrip by ferry