Asian food: Celebrating Asian heritage If you're looking for a variety of Asian food, entertainment and, of course, shopping, a Circle-the-Pacific air ticket to a dozen countries will cost you upwards of $2,000. A quicker, more inclusive and -- best of all -- free route is to head to the Greater Richmond Convention Center Saturday for the ninth Asian American Celebration. The biggest dilemma is deciding where to start the trip. Saigt Koh Ang from Cambodia or Nasi Goreng from Indonesia or Singapore Laska? Or maybe you should check out the hands-on activities for kids. Kite making? Origami? Henna hand painting? Calligraphy? You could watch the Thai dancers, listen to the Chinese drummers. Celebrate a mock Indian wedding. Get revved up at the Korean or Japanese martial arts demonstrations or the annual Iron Chef competition. Start some early Mother's Day shopping at the international marketplace, where nothing costs more than $5. "It's amazing to see so many cultures under one roof at one event," said Rumy Mohta, community relations director for the Asian American Society of Central Virginia. The annual event fetes the cultures of more than a dozen communities that have a presence in the Richmond area. And although many of these communities have individual festivals during the year, the Asian American Celebration offers the 50,000 or so Richmond area residents of Asian descent a chance to teach their cultures and celebrate their heritage under one really big umbrella. New to the festivities are Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The featured country this year is India, and festival highlights will include a mock wedding and an Indian dance troupe from the Washington area performing a "Tsunami Wave" dance. "It is an education for our members as well as the community," Mohta said. "For example, as an Indian [who is married to a Filipino], I don't know that much about the Korean culture. But, as our motto says, we celebrate unity through diversity." "We want to take pride in our heritage," said Maria Cielo Eugenio, who coordinates culture programs in Richmond's Filipino community. "Many children haven't seen anything like this. They were born here, but we want to teach them the history of where they came from." For Dr. Eugenio's students, this includes several traditional dances from the Philippines. The Pilipino Language and Culture Class Dancers will perform the Cordillera Dance (a tribal dance featuring young girls balancing jars on their heads), Anihan, Alay kay Rosa (a rice harvest dance), La Jota Cagayana (a Spanish-influenced dance) and Pandanggo sa Ilaw-Wasiwas (a dance of lights where the dancers balance oil lamps on their heads). As kids enter the festival, they can pick up a questionnaire about the participating communities. Answers will be found at the various cultural booths, and completed forms can be redeemed for a prize. Mohta sees education as a vital mission of the festival. "Children are our future. They can learn about new cultures and it will make them more inclusive during their lifetimes." By Lisa Crutchfield Special Correspondent --