MANNERISM AND PERSONALITY TRAITS
You point with your lips
You eat with your hand and have it down as a technique
Your other piece of luggage is a “Balikbayan Box”
You nod your head upwards to greet someone
You put your foot up on your chair and rest your elbows on your knees while you eat
You use a rock to scrub yourself in the shower
You kiss relatives on the cheek when you enter the room
You’re standing next to eight big boxes at the airport
You collect items from hotels or restaurants as “souvenirs”
Your house has a distinctive aroma
You smile for no reason
You flirt by having a foolish grin on your face while raising your eyebrows repeatedly
You go to department stores and try bargain with the price
You scratch your head when you don’t know the answer
You never eat the last morsel of food on the table
You go bowling
You play pusoy or mahjong
You prefer to sit in the shade instead of basking in the sun
You add an unwarranted ‘H’ to your name: Jhun, Bhoy, Rhon
You put your hands together in front of you as if to make a path and say “Excuse, Excuse” when you pass in between people or in front of the TV
Your middle name is your mom’s maiden name
You like everything that is imported or ‘stateside’
Your perfectly comfortable in a squatting position with your elbows resting on your knees
You consistently arrive 30 minutes late for events
You always offer food to your visitors
You put your arm on the other person’s shoulder if he or she is a close friend of yours
You draw a rectangle in the air when asking for the bill, which never fails to baffle the restaurant staff
You don’t sit on the bowl in public toilets, no matter what part of town or if your thighs ache like hell; and you flush the toilet with your feet
You think ‘tuck out’ is the opposite of ‘tuck in’
You tell everyone you meet where you studied and the intricacies of your family tree-just to show them you come from good stock - it never occurs to you that people may not have heard of your university or your clan’s last name
You show up late for work and your excuse is ‘I forgot to on the alarm’ or better yet ‘traffic eh’
You linger over the Tonite and Balita tabloids available at the Star Ferry, but quickly buy the Asian Wall Street Journal when other Filipinos start browsing
Brushing your teeth after lunch in the office lavatory is an unbreakable habit, even if your colleagues can’t bear touching the taps after you’ve drooled and spat all over them
Namedropping is your favorite sport when you meet up with new acquaintances from back home
Toni Braxton, Basia and Swing Out Sister are your idea of party music, you hardly listen to anything else
You sell Amway and Herbalife as sideline
You fight noisily with Cathay Pacific check-in staff over the size of handcarried luggage-which could be anything from oversized suitcases to major appliances
You underdeclare your income when you pay Phil tax, even if it’s peculiar that a consultant is paid little more than a domestic helper’s wages
At Immigration, when they call out ‘Maria’, you and 46 other women stand up
When they play ‘Anak’ anywhere, your chest swells with pride and say ‘that’s Filipino’
You think taking a shower and taking a bath are the same thing
You use shopping bags as garbage bags
You use laundry detergent to wash your dishes
You use print rags from an imported fashion magazine as cover of your textbooks and notebooks
You enjoy watching Pinoy action films with the same plot: Hero and villain are mortal enemies. Hero’s family’s killed by villain. Hero seeks revenge. Hero meets bar girl with sad tale of past love. She comes from a poor family, that’s why she’s working in the bar. They fall in love. Villain kidnaps girl, threatens to kill her if hero won’t stop harassing him and his henchmen. Hero rescues girl, they run away. Chase goes on in a dilapidated car. Hero finally kills villain and police arrive. Hero and girl live happily ever after.
HOME FURNISHINGS
You use ‘walis tambo’ and ‘walis ting-ting’ as opposed to a conventional broom
You own a karaoke machine
You own a piano that no one ever plays
You have a portrait of the Last Supper hanging on your dining room wall
You have a ‘tabo’ in your bathroom
You have a rose garden
Your house is cluttered with ‘burloloys’
You display a big laughing Buddha for good luck
You have a Santo Nino shrine in your living room
You own a ‘barrel man’ (schwing!) from Baguio
You have ‘parol’ displayed during the holidays
You cover your living room furniture with bed sheets
Your lampshades still have plastic covers on them
You have plastic runners to cover your carpets
You refer to VCR as ‘Betamax’ even if it’s a VHS
You own a rice dispenser
You own a turbo broiler
You own a lamp with oil that drips down to the strings
You have a giant wooden spoon and fork hanging in your dining room
You own Capiz shell chandeliers, lamps or placemats
You have a pair of wooden tinikling dancers on your wall
You have ‘Weapons of Moroland’ shield hanging on your living room wall
Your wall to wall carpeting includes the ceiling
You own one of those fiber-optic flower lamps
Your microwave, washer, TV, VCR, computer, printer, toaster and doorknobs are hidden under quilted covers
You have the entire Apo Hiking Society collection, plus maybe some Tito Mina and Pops Fernandez thrown in
There’s a pail in your bathroom, just in case there’s a water shortage or the toilet won’t flush
You have fly swatter in your kitchen
You have multiplex tapes
You buy song hit mixes like “New Wave Disco Hits”
CLOTHING AND APPEARANCE
There’s Angelique eyeliner and Johnson’s Baby Powder compacts lurking in your makeup drawer
You use Perla soap on your face
You have several pairs of ‘tsinelas’ at your doorstep
You deliberately flaunt your pager and cellphone
You find dried-up morsels or rice stuck to your shirt
You check labels on clothes to see where it’s made
You hang your clothes out to dry
You’ve had the same bobbed hairstyle since high school
You wear fake or original Tommy Hilfiger shirts in bold and shouting prints
Your next goal is to buy Polo or Burberry’s bag
Your ponytail ribbon covers half your head
You wore kung fu shoes in high school
You use an umbrella for a shade on hot summer days
You play basketball in you chinellas (slippers)
AUTOMOBILES & DRIVING
Your car chirps like a bird or plays a tune in reverse
You have a rosary on your car rear view mirror
Your car horn can make three or more different sounds
You have those air fresheners in a bottle
You own a Mercedes Benz and call it a ‘Chedeng’
Your car has curb feelers on it
You have a fake banana display attached to your car window
You own a huge van conversion
You do not try to avoid pedestrians
A traffic cop says “your license expired eight years ago”
A road sign that says “Dangerous curve, Death toll 19” causes you to make another accident
For you a yellow light means ” go paster”
A traffic cop is known to you as a “crocodile”
You refer to a female driver as a “lesbian”
You insist on fitting 8 people into a taxi, much to the distress of the driver, and say, ‘we’re making ‘kandong’
FAMILY & FRIENDS
You were raised believing every Filipino was an aunt and uncle
Your dad or uncle was in the Navy
Your mom or sister is a Nurse
You get smelling kisses from your grandma
Your parents call each other mommy and daddy
You know someone with a name that repeats itself, i.e. Jon-Jon, Len-Len, Jong-Jong, or Bing-Bing
You have aunt & uncle named Baby, Girlie or Boy
You know a veteran dynamite fisherman called “Lefty”
You have a dog named whitie, blackie or bantay
Your parents call each other ‘Mahal’ and they call you ‘Anak’ or by your wonderful Filipino nickname you’ve had all your life (Jang, Cici, Meng, Choy-Choy, etc) ….and you KNOW they’re mad at each other or at you when they use actual names
FOOD
You think eating chocolate rice pudding and dried fish is a great morning meal
You order breakfast items like tapsilog, longsilog, or tocilog at restaurants
You always grab a toothpick after each meal
You order a ‘soft drink’ instead of soda
You dip bread in your morning coffee
You refer to seasonings and all forms of MSG as ‘Ajinomoto’
Your cupboard is full of corned beef hash, spam and vienna sausage
You appreciate a fresh pot of hot rice
You bring your ‘baon’ to work everyday
Your ‘baon’ is usually something over rice
Goldilocks means more to you than a fairy tale character (bakery)
You wash and re-use plastic utensils and styrofoam cups
You eat purple Yam flavored ice cream (ube)
You know that ‘chocolate meat’ isn’t really made with chocolates
You think half-hatched duck eggs (balut) are a delicacy
You have an ice shaver for making ‘halo-halo’
Your cloth tablecloths have telltale ‘tuyo’ circles on them
You have to have a bottle of Jufran handy
You use your fingers to measure the water when cooking rice
Neighbors complain about the smell of ‘tuyo’ on Sunday mornings
You fry Spam and hotdogs and eat them with rice
You eat rice for breakfast
You have a supply of frozen lumpia in the freezer
Your buy ketchup made from bananas and named after alien spaceships
You’ve eaten hotdogs made from worse things than lips and ass
You put hotdogs in your spaghetti
You consider dilis the Filipino equivalent to french fries
You know the meaning of double dead egg. double dead chicken
The pasalubong you want from Manila is cornik, which you snack on eight times a day in the office
Your idea of a diet is a diet coke with a McDonald’s meal
You serve coffee in small glass coffee containers
You drink beer with ice
I GOT THIS FROM THE FACEBOOK GROUP “THE FILIPINOS CAN REACH 2 MILLION BEFORE ANY OTHER NATIONALITY!”
48 WAYS TO KNOW YOU ARE FILIPINO
You unwrap Christmas gifts very carefully, so you can save and reuse the wrapping (and especially those bows) next year.
You only buy Christmas cards after Christmas, when they are 50% off.
When there is a sale on toilet paper, you buy 100 rolls and store them in your closet or in the bedroom of an adult child who has moved out.
Your stove is covered with aluminum foil.
Your kitchen has a sticky film of grease over it.
You use the dishwasher as a dish rack.
You have never used your dishwasher.
You eat all meals in the kitchen.
You save grocery bags, tin foil, and tin containers.
You use grocery bags to hold garbage.
You always leave your shoes at the door.You have a piano in your living room.You play a musical instrument.
You pick your teeth at the dinner table (but you cover your mouth).
You twirl your pen around your fingers.
You hate to waste food….(a) Even if you’re totally full, if someone says they’re going to throw away the leftovers on the table, you’ll finish them. (b) You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one leftover chicken wing.
You don’t own any real Tupperware-only a cupboard full of used but carefully rinsed margarine tubs, takeout containers, and jam jars.
You have a collection of miniature shampoo bottles that you take every time you stay in a hotel.
The condiments in your fridge are either Price Club sized or come in plastic packets, which you save/steal every time you get take out or go to McDonald’s.
Ditto for paper napkins.
You never order room service.
You own a rice cooker.
You fight over who pays the dinner bill.
Your dad thinks he can fix everything himself.
You majored in something practical like engineering, medicine or law.
When you go to a dance party, there are a wall of guys surrounding the dance floor trying to look cool.
You live with your parents and you are 30 years old (and hey they refer it that way). Or if you’re married and 30 years old, you live in the apartment next door to your parents, or at least in the same neighborhood.
Your parents’ house is always cold.
You reuse teabags.
Your mom drives her Mercedes to the Price Club.
You always look phone numbers up in the phone book, since calling Information costs 50 cents.
You only make long distance calls after 11 pm.
You have acquired a taste for bittermelon (ampalaya).
You prefer your shrimp with the heads and legs still attached-it means they’re fresh.You always cook too much.
If you don’t live at home, when your parents call, they ask if you’ve eaten, even if it’s midnight.
You e-mail your friends at work, even though you are only 10 feet apart.
Your parents send money to their relatives in the Philippines.
You’re always late.
You eat every last grain of rice in your bowl, but don’t eat the last piece of food on the table.
You know someone who can get you a good deal on jewelry or electronics.
You never discuss your love life with your parents.
Your parents are never happy with your grades.
You save your old Coke bottle glasses even though you’re never going to use them again.
You keep used batteries.
Your toothpaste tubes are all squeezed paper-thin.
Your relatives either work in medicine or real estate.
***You say “Close the Light”, You always use hand gestures”
I GOT THIS FROM THE FACEBOOK GROUP “THE FILIPINOS CAN REACH 2 MILLION BEFORE ANY OTHER NATIONALITY!”
12:25am / Jan. 6, 2010
Hello! Supposedly, this entry shall date Jan. 5, 2010, but I fell asleep when I arrived home from school, and I just woke up few minutes ago. This afternoon, we didn’t start the classes yet, though Professors already came in. I have 3 subjects for this afternoon, and just right after our first subject at 1:30pm, My Best Bud Melissa and I went to her “Ate’s” condo unit in Paranaque, we rode the LRT2 and we’ve traveled for barely 2 hours. We just ate a very “anemic” spaghetti (did I spell it right? haha) cooked by her Ate, and we’ve stayed there for only an Hour; then we went back to school. We arrived back to school at 4:30pm just in time for our last class. We’ve been dismissed a bit earlier than the usual 6pm dismissal time, and Melissa and I went to divisoria to buy a cloth ‘coz I would like to go to the tailor shop and have a jacket made which is fit just right for me. I thought I’m gonna report and we’re going to take our remaining prelim exams today but luckily they were moved on Friday.
By the way I don’t know why I’m feeling depressed right now. It feels like there is something missing that I shall find very soon.
…This is all for today, I still haven’t eaten dinner yet.
Love,
Junnie
11pm / Jan. 4, 2009
Hello! I woke up this morning with a phone call from may lola. My Mom answered it, and we thought at first that it was a Good News, but yeah it was good news actually; but not as good as we’re expecting.
“Ano! nanalo ang tatay sa ……?!” —My Mom said. I thought my lolo has just won the jackpot from what we call a “game-of-luck”, I prefer not to mention it. But the ironic part of it was he didn’t really get the jackpot, but some huge amount of consolation prize. I was already shaking bad—my hands, my knees, my whole body! until my Mom told me that it was a “false-alarm”, hahaha geez, I felt like stupid.
Anyways, the classes have resumed today, I woke up and prepared quite early, I came to school an hour before my 10:30am class, I was excited, and together with my classmates, I’ve waited until there was no professor came in. And I felt like, “ooppss. this isn’t a good day for me!” Then I went home.
Good thing my ate dhet is always there to help me with my reports (well actually she’s my Aunt, and she’s only 22 and it’s very uncomfortable for me calling her “tita”, so I prefer calling her “ate”) I bought materials for my visual aids before I go home, and I let ate dhet do her thing… This is actually for my report tomorrow.
(I’m going to attach a photo of her doing the visual aids… I hope it appears here)
…This is all for today. Please watch out for my daily blog!
Love,
Junnie
1:40pm / January 3, 2010
Hi! I woke up quite early today, I woke up at 10am. Congrats Junnie! haha… I’m still not yet done reviewing and preparing for my demonstration lesson, I still have to polish a lot of things and I have to revise the activity for my motivation. I’m currently watching A.S.A.P. and right now they’re singing some Tagalog songs which have been the soundtrack of different telenovelas; it’s kinda new and refreshing to see them sing Tagalog songs, because most of the time they do perform those pop-rock-lady-gaga-like songs.
By the way,
I had a bad dream last night. I dreamt of a Man standing before me, I know it’s just a dream, I’m awake though I’m sleeping. I don’t know… it was weird actually, all I know is that whenever I’m gonna close my eyes I could feel the man standing before me… geez, I’m having goosebumps right now.
Anyways, tomorrow is the start of the classes, though I’m excited I still don’t want to come to class. haha But I have no choice but to attend tomorrow though I only have one subject, and surely we’re not going to do anything as far as Developmental Reading is concerned. haha
For now, I have to finish reviewing and doing my report.
A warm afternoon!
Love,
Junnie
6:50pm / Jan.2, 2010
Hi! It’s second day of the year, I woke up at 6pm; and I’m keeping my promise to post a blog entry every single day. Well today is a very lazy day, I just want to relax and have fun! But the classes will resume in two days and I still have to prepare for my remaining Prelim Exams on my two subjects, yeah two of my professors have decided to move their exams January of this year. Thinking of going back to school really makes me feel a bit sad and excited. A bit sad because I’ll surely miss sleeping for 1 whole day, texting all night long, DVD Marathon, and staying up in midnight doing some internet stuffs. At the same time, I’m also excited to see my friends at school and hang out with them, and to go back being a Student-Teacher myself.
While I’m doing this blog my internet connection is fluctuating, I have to turn on and off the computer and re-type this blog again, well I’m used to it!; and I feel sorry for only having a cheap Globe Broadband Connection.
…this is all for today, I still have to review and set my mind in School Mode again.
Good Evening fellas!
Love,
Junnie
8:30pm / Jan.1,2010
Hello! I just signed up an Account here on Tumblr. Well my first impression on it was, “Oh I might replace my facebook account with this one”.
Yeah It’s New Year (Year of the Tiger, I believe) And the start of this year is kinda not good for me, I just had a stomachache and it made me fell asleep just before it gets 12am, yeah I was on bed, sleeping and I woke up at 2:30 am caught myself vomiting on the toilet bowl. The party was over, my cousin’s gone, everybody’s cleaning up already. Oh crap! I missed a very important occasion.
Well I’m not really after the party, but because I used to believe since I was a child that the first thing that will happen to you on the first day of the year will be the same thing that will happen to you throughout the year.
Before it gets 2010, I promised myself to maintain a blog for 1 whole year that I will be posting a blog entry every single day. I’ve been doing this for 3years already but I haven’t managed to post an entry every day. So I hope by this time, with my new tumblr account, I will be able to keep that promise. =)
I just ate a leche plan (caramel custard) and somehow it made me feel “just fine”. I’m somewhat excited for this year, and I have set so many goals that I must achieve before this year ends, *to maintain my Grades and to maintain a General Weighted Average of not lower than 1.40, *to triple my efforts in doing demonstration lessons, *to read many books (of any sort), *to forget about LOVE and to focus on my studies. I have also let myself forget those painful experiences / depressing situations that I had for the previous year, and promised myself to think only for positive things that will motivate me to strive even harder.
This year will also be the year of me “being DEAD SERIOUS” about Academics, especially that on the first quarter of this year will start my formal practice teaching. Oh boy! That will be veryyy exciting and veryyyyyyyy challenging!!! I just hope that it will be successful and I will be able to graduate with distinction. =)
I can feel that this year will be a very good year for all of us.
I wish everybody good luck and good health. May our dreams be fulfilled in this year of the Tiger.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Love,
Junnie
