Under the glow of fluorescent lights at Seafood City market in North Hills, packages of pre-made adobo, salted shrimp fry and and dried anchovies glisten in meat coolers.
A DJ, dressed in a traditional barong, blasts a dance remix of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” as a crowd gathers to take a shot of fish sauce together.
“That was disgusting!” a man shouts into the mic, flashing a grimacing expression.
At Seafood City, DJs 1OAK, left, EVER ED-E and AYMO spin in barongs, the Philippines’ national formal shirt.
The smells of lechon and lumpia float through the air. Smiling children munch on halo-halo (a Philippine dessert made with ube ice cream, leche flan and shaved ice). Flags of the Philippines wave in the air as a man in UCLA Health scrubs hops into the center of an energetic dance circle. Employees shoot store coupons out of a money gun and toss bags of Leslie’s Clover Chips into the crowd. Fathers hold their children on their shoulders as a group of college students perform a Tinikling routine, a traditional Philippine dance in which performers step and hop over and between bamboo poles.
“This is so Filipino,” a woman says, in awe of the scene.
Sabria Joaquin, 26, of Los Angeles, left, and Kayla Covington, 19, of Rancho Cucamonga hit the dance floor at “Late Night Madness” in North Hills.
“I came here for groceries,” explains an elderly man, adding that he decided to stay for the party.
Seafood City, the largest Philippine grocery store chain in North America, typically closes at 9 p.m. But on certain Friday and Saturday nights, its produce or seafood aisle turns into a lively dance floor for “Late Night Madness.” On social media, where the gathering has exploded, it looks like a multigenerational nightclub that could use dimmer lighting. But for attendees who frequent the store, it’s more than that. It’s a space for them to celebrate their Filipino heritage through food, music and dance in a familiar setting.
“This is something that you would never expect to happen — it’s a grocery store,” says Renson Blanco, one of five DJs spinning that night. He grew up going to the store with his family. “My mom would [put] us all in the minivan and come here, and she’d let us run free,” he adds. “It’s comfortable here. It’s safe here.”
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1.Rhianne Alimboyoguen, 23, of Los Angeles follows an employee through the produce section.2.Allison Dove, 29, left, and Andrea Edoria, 33, both of Pasadena, enjoy Philippine street food. 3.Katie Nacino, 20, left, Daniel Adrayan, 21, and Sean Espiritu, 21, of the Filipino American Student Assn. at Cal State Northridge, practice tinikling, a traditional Philippine folk dance, in an aisle.
The first Seafood City location opened in 1989 in National City, a suburb of San Diego, which has a nearly 20% Asian population including a rich Filipino community. For its founders, the Go family, the mission was simple: to provide a market where Filipinos and people within the diaspora could comfortably speak their native language and buy familiar products. It’s since become a community anchor. Of the nearly 40 locations in Northern America, at least half of them are based in California, which has the highest population of Asian Americans in the United States.
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The first “Late Night Madness” event happened in September in Daly City, Seafood City’s newest location. The company wanted to launch a street food program at the store’s food hall in a fun and creative way.
The DJ played a selection of hip-hop, pop, soul and classic Pinoy records like VST & Company’s “Awitin Mo, Isasayaw Ko.” Hundreds of people showed up, and videos of people of all ages turning up in the popular supermarket spread like wildfire. So the company decided to continue hosting the event in October during Filipino American History Month and for the rest of the year. It’s since expanded to more locations around the country and in L.A., including Eagle Rock.
By 10 p.m. at the Seafood City in North Hills, at least 500 people are dancing in the produce section, next to rows of saba bananas, fresh taro leaves and bok choy. The lively crowd forms dance circles throughout the night, taking turns jumping in the center to show off their moves to songs like Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Let’s Groove,” “Nokia” by Drake and Justin Bieber’s “I Just Need Somebody to Love.” At one point, TikToker and artist Adamn Killa hops on the mic and says “If you a Filipino baddie, this is for you,” before doing his viral dance.
Among the Philippine street food offerings were pandesal sliders, lumpia-style nachos, lobster balls and various skewers.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
A group of employees dance behind the counter as they serve hungry patrons who fill their trays with various Filipino street food including pandesal sliders (soft Philippine bread filled with adobo, lechon or longganisa) and Lumpia Overload (think nachos, but a bed of lumpia instead of tortilla chips), lobster balls and barbecue chicken skewers. (No alcohol is served.) Meanwhile, a few lone shoppers sprinkle into the store to get their weekly groceries as music blasts through the speakers.
First-generation Filipino American Andrea Edoria of Pasadena says “Late Night Madness” reminded her of the family parties she attended as a child in L.A. and in Manila, where her parents are from.
“Growing up as a child of immigrants, I was kind of self conscious about displaying too much of my culture,” she says between bites of spiral fried potato. She went to the Eagle Rock event with her mother last month as well. “So it kind of fed my inner child to see so many people celebrating this shared culture and experience that we each grew up [with].”
A multi-generational crowd is drawn to the dance floor. At center is Jade Cavan, 44, of Chatsworth.
Members of the Filipino American Student Assn. at Cal State Northridge perform a tinikling performance.
She adds, “I think it’s so important especially now at a time where our country is so divisive and culture is kind of being weaponized, I think it’s a beautiful reminder that we can come together and find something that unites us.”
About 10 minutes before midnight, the grocery store is still bustling with activity. A dance battle breaks out and people begin hyping up the young women. The DJ transitions into slower tracks like Beyoncé’s “Love on Top” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.” The remaining folks sing along loudly as they walk toward the exit, smiles imprinted on their faces. Staff rush to clean up, then huddle together for group photos to memorialize the evening.
After the final song is played, employees rush to clean up the supermarket.
Patrick Bernardo, 34, of Van Nuys looks at the counter, where a man had been chopping lechon, before stepping outside.
“There’s barely anything left on that pig,” he says, pointing to it as proof that the night was a success.
A woman was left bitterly jealous after she noticed that children can do one thing on flights that adults cannot, and she said it means they’re practically in first class
09:33, 17 Dec 2025Updated 09:33, 17 Dec 2025
She was so jealous of what the kids were able to get away with (Stock Image)(Image: Getty)
Flying as an adult is usually a pretty cramped experience, of course, unless you’re lucky enough to be sitting in first class getting fed delicious food and wine until you reach your destination. However, the average person is not in that privileged position and is actually more likely to be in the middle seat, trying to navigate whether their seatmates will be kind enough to let them have the armrests on either side.
However, one woman pointed out that every time young children fly with a family member, they’re practically “in first class”, joking that they don’t understand “how good they’ve got it”.
TikToker @elkekahler videoed herself on the flight, looking shocked, as she flipped the camera around to show young children lying down in a seat, using luggage as a pillow so they were as comfortable as possible.
They were covered in blankets and fast asleep – a far cry from the experience of most adults, who know how tricky it is to get some shut-eye in the air.
She flipped the camera back onto herself as she looked mortified, and jealous the youngsters were able to lie down and sleep.
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Over the top of the video, she hilariously played the song ‘Glamorous’ by Fergie, which contains the lyrics “we’re flying first class, up in the sky, poppin’ champagne, livin’ my life in the fast lane”.
It’s safe to say that these kids were definitely living their best lives when they were able to sleep properly and land in a whole new country without any stress.
Someone in the comments joked that they needed a “tutorial” on how to do that because they wanted to try it for themselves, but if an adult attempted it, their feet would likely be hanging far off their seat and being constantly knocked by the trolley service.
“They’re gonna hate it when they get older and have to sit on aeroplanes normally,” one woman pointed out.
“I’m 19 and still do this,” a woman shared, saying that they were “short enough” to get away with it. But imagine giving it a go only to realise you were too tall? You’d likely be feeling pretty embarrassed.
“My mum prepared the same for my sister and me when I was younger. I can confirm that it’s the comfiest ever,” a TikTok user boasted.
A flight attendant shared: “I used to operate this type of aircraft for Emirates, and we would always have to tell them not to do this because of safety.”
Referring to the blankets, she added: “There is a high risk that you’re not allowed to bring these onto the plane.”
Although it looks like you could make something similar out of a suitcase and a pillow, it’s not confirmed what they actually did.
A woman has shared how an ‘entitled’ plane passenger tried to ban her from reclining her seat on a plane – and it has sparked a debate on whether it should or shouldn’t be allowed
11:41, 16 Dec 2025Updated 13:36, 16 Dec 2025
She shared her horror travel story online (stock)(Image: Getty Images)
However, the 5ft 2ins woman sitting behind her had a thing or two to say after she reclined her chair soon after take-off. She said on Reddit: “I tried to recline my seat and it popped back upright. I tried again and realised the lady behind me was shoving my seat forward.
“I tried again and she yelled at me that I couldn’t recline my seat. I was very shaken up by the interaction, so I just stayed upright for like 10 minutes until I could see a flight attendant nearby.
“I was able to quickly recline and have my chair click into place so she couldn’t shove it forward.”
It was at this point that the woman raised her voice at her, causing everyone on the plane to turn their attention to the pair.
She said: “I told her everyone on the whole plane gets to recline their seat. She said I was reclining too far back, though…
“I told her my seat was in the same position as the person sitting in front of me and kind of held my hands up at her through the little gap between the seats, and then sat back. She didn’t try to talk to me again.”
Sharing her regret, she says she wishes she’d called over a flight attendant to deal with the situation rather than facing the woman directly.
She added: “The whole thing made me so uncomfortable. Even the tall guy whose knees were jammed into the seat in front of him was getting involved, telling her she needed to calm down.”
Commenting on her post, one user said: “It’s such a doomed situation all around. Some people you are literally crushing their legs, and it’s horrifically uncomfortable to sit fully upright if you nod off. Airplane hell.”
Another user added: “I was shocked on a German train when I noticed the recline function in the seat worked by sliding the seat forward… this allowed the person to recline all they wanted, but into their own space.
“I still have no idea why this doesn’t exist in airplanes, as it would fix the problem once and for all. Want to recline? Sure… into your own space!”
A third user said: “As a tall person with long legs, it’s not that I don’t want them to recline, it’s that there is physically no room for the chair to come back any farther.
“Usually, I am flying domestically, and the options for buying a seat with more legroom don’t exist on many of the flights.”