So, I thought I'd leave you with a post that I stumbled upon recently in Blogthings, and maybe give you a glimpse of my heritage. Now, not all of these information are accurate. In fact, some are just exaggerated and I don't think it applies to all of us. Nevertheless, I just thought of posting it here because I found it amusing and it may (or may not) reveal a little bit more about my background. Please note that I put my personal comments beside each of the bullets in red :)
You know you're Filipino when....
- Your middle name is your mother's maiden name. - True.
- Your parents call each other "Mommy" and "Daddy." - Surprisingly, this is true. I realized that they do this so that the kids will get accustomed to calling their parents moms or dads, instead of hearing a different name called out when its between spouses.
- You have uncles and aunts named "Boy," "Girlie," or "Baby." - Haha, for lack of ingenuity, i guess.
- You have relatives whose nicknames consist of repeated syllables like "Jun-Jun," "Ling-Ling," and "Mon-Mon." Mine by the way was "Che-Che." - I have one cousin who is a Jun-Jun.
- You call the parents of your friends and your own parents' friends "Tito" and "Tita." - Yes. EVERYONE is a tito or tita, as long as she is elderly and is acquainted to you. It's a show of respect without having to call them ma'am or sir.
- You have four or five names. - I don't. I only have one, and I don't like it. My hubby and son each have only 2 names.
- You greet your elders by touching their hands to your forehead. - It's called mano. This is done with the older generation. Nowadays, a buzz on the cheek is enough.
- You always kiss your relatives on the cheek whenever you enter or leave the room. - Yup, it's our way to greet people who are close to you. Similar to how the Italians do it.
- You follow your parents' house rules even if you are over 18. - Uhm.... even if you are 31 and living there you still do!
- You live with your parents until and at times even after you're married. - Yup, like me! :) Still saving up for our own place...
- You decorate your dining room wall with a picture of the "Last Supper." - Guilty! But it's my dad's decision...and it's his dining room....
- You keep your furniture wrapped in plastic or covered with blankets. - Uh....NO!!! Never did that in my entire life!
- You have a Sto. Nino (a statue of the baby Jesus) shrine in your living room. - No, we don't do that. Some do, but not my family.
- You have a piano that no one plays. - Sold our years ago, and for that exact reason that nobody plays with it anyway.
- You keep a tabo (dipper) in your bathroom. - Yes. All bathrooms in the country have this.
- You use Vicks Vapor rub as an insect repellant. - Hmmm.... never tried that before. Vicks helps me breathe better, but it never kept mosquitoes off me...
- You eat with your hands. - No, I don't. I don't even know how to do that (unless it was a pizza slice I was holding).
- You eat more than three times a day. - Well, there's breakfast, then a snack, then lunch, then a snack, then dinner, then dessert. What's so strange about that??
- You think a meal is not a meal without rice. - For some, maybe. I eat a lot of pasta and bread, too. Just that rice is our country's staple food, so it's an available companion to meat as potatoes and bread are to other countries.
- You think sandwiches are snacks, not meals. - Well, yes. Sandwiches are sometimes considered snack foods here. Lunch is much heavier than a sandwich.
- Your dining table has a merry-go-round (lazy Susan) in the middle. - Only when the dining table is round. Doesn't make sense if it weren't.
- You bring baon (packed lunch) to work everyday. - Not always. This works only for those who try to save more by not eating out.
- Your pantry is never without Spam, Vienna sausage, corned beef, and sardines. - These are emergency food, just as frozen TV dinners are to other countries.
- You love to eat daing or tuyo (dried fish). - It's a Filipino delicacy.
- You prop up one knee while eating. - NO!!! That's weird....
- You eat your meal with patis (fish sauce), toyo (soy sauce), suka (vinegar), banana catsup, or bagoong (shrimp paste). - These are common condiments used in Filipino dishes.
- Your tablecloths are stained with toyo (soy sauce) circles. - Gee, this only means your maid hasn't been doing a good job in cleaning the dining area...
- You love sticky desserts and salty snacks. - Again, Filipino delicacies...
- You eat fried Spam and hot dogs with rice. - Just as hotdogs go with bread, they go well with rice also.
- You eat mangoes with rice--with great GUSTO! - Not me. I don't like mangoes.
- You love "dirty" ice cream. - They aren't really dirty, though they call it that. They are homemade ice cream that are more available to the masses because the ingredients are cheaper and the process is more manual than the usual branded ones. I like them, though!
- You love to eat, yet often manage to stay slim. - Well, for some who are blessed this applies :)
- You put hot dogs in your spaghetti. - Not all. I don't cook spaghetti this way. It's the equivalent of putting meatballs in your bolognese.
- Everything you eat is sauted in garlic, onion, and tomatoes. - Yes. And all food cooked this way tastes yummy!
- You order a "soft drink" instead of soda. - This is what we were taught how to say soda.
- You hang a rosary on your car's rear view mirror. - Not me. We never hang anything on our rear view mirror.
- You get together with family at a cemetery on All Saint's Day to eat, drink, and tell stories by your loved ones' graves. - We don't because our dead loved ones were cremated. And the urn is with us in our home.
- You play cards or mahjong and drink beer at funeral wakes. - The masses do this a lot.
- You think Christmas season begins in October and ends in January. - Yes, the holiday brouhaha begins when we hit the "ber" months.
- Your second piece of luggage is a balikbayan (a souvenir box) box. - And we look forward to this always!
- You've mastered the art of packing a suitcase to double capacity. - Well, we don't want to pay for extra luggage, do we?
- You collect items from airlines, hotels, and restaurants as "souvenirs." - Sure, if you've got like 15 relatives all waiting for you to come home to receive your pasalubong "gifts" from abroad, it's really the cheapest way to go!
- You feel obligated to give pasalubong to all your friends and relatives each time you return from a trip. - Like I said earlier....
- You use paper foot outlines when buying shoes for friends and relatives. - Last time I saw this was when I was a kid. It's a smart way to make sure you don;t get the shoe fit wrong!
- You're a fashion victim. - Uh, do i have to be Filipino for this?
- You can convey 30 messages with your facial expression. - Cool, huh? :)
- You hold your palms together in front of you and say "excuse, excuse" when you pass in between people or in front of the TV. - It's funny, but I've seen people do this. Have no idea why...
- You ask for the bill at a restaurant by making a rectangle in the air. - Yes. It saves time to just make this hand signal than to wait for the waiter to approach your table and verbally say the words "bill please", before he gets his butt moving.
- You cover your mouth when you laugh. - Simply because it's disgusting to laugh with your mouth wide open for people to see the condition your teeth are in!
- You respond to a "Hoy!" or a "Pssst!" in a crowd. - Only for the undisciplined and unbred...
- You'll answer "Malapit lang!" ("Almost there")--no matter the distance--when asked how far away a place is located. - Guilty. Especially when I'm running late.
- Goldilocks is more than a fairy tale character to you. - It's the name of a famous bakeshop in the country.
- You refer to power interruptions as "brownouts." - Power outtages during the daytime are often called "brownouts", while ones in the evening are "blackouts".
- You love to use the following acronyms: CR for comfort room, DI for dance instructor, DOM for dirty old man, TNT for tago nang tago (in hiding), KJ for kill joy, KSP for kulang sa pansin (lack of attention), OA for over-acting, TL for true love, BF for boyfriend and GF for girlfriend. - Again, we prefer shortcuts to everything. Time is precious. Even talking takes up too much time :)
- You say "rubber shoes" instead of sneakers, "ball pen" instead of pen, "stockings" instead of pantyhose, "pampers" instead of diapers, "ref" or "prijider" instead of refrigerator, "Colgate" instead of toothpaste, "canteen" instead of cafeteria, and "open" or "close" instead of turn on or turn off (as in the lights). - Oh well, you said toe-may-toe, we say toh-mah-toh.....
- You use an umbrella for shade on hot summer days. - I rarely do. I hate lugging umbrellas around.
- You like everything imported or "state-side." - Just as people from other countries like buying European clothes....same banana....
- You love ballroom dancing, bowling, pusoy (poker), mah jong, billiards, and karaoke. - Sometimes. It's just a pasttime.
- You have a relative who is a nurse. - Oh yes. My mom is a nurse.
- When you're in a restaurant, you wipe your plate and utensils before using them. - You can never be too careful! Cleanliness is healthiness!
- You can squeeze 15 passengers into your five seater car without a second thought. - Oh geez, never attempted to do that in MY car...
- You wave a pom-pom on a stick around the food to keep the flies away. - Golly, who does that in their home? I only see them in fresh markets!
- You always ring a doorbell twice, assuming that the first ring was not heard. - I don't. Once is enough.
- You let the phone ring twice before answering, lest you appear overly eager. - Haha, yes, I do this a lot.
- You use a rock to scrub yourself in the bath or shower. - Why use a rock when you have a loofah? I have yet to visit a home that uses rocks...
