Filipinos | Sinigang For The Soul

dmeemai on October 4th, 2007

You know you’re STILL a Filipino at heart living abroad when:

the only carb that matters to you is RICE.
you eat the only carb that matters at least twice if not thrice a day!
you eat at breakfast buffet, gulping your all you can eat bacon, sausage, corned beef and eggs with toast AND ALL YOU CAN THINK of is “damn, this is really great with rice!!”
you have Silver Swan soy sauce, Rufina Patis, Jufran banana ketchup, Mang Tomas condiments in your shelves.
you use Ginisa Mix, Sinigang Mix, Palabok Mix and any other Mama Sita or Knorr Mix as part of your cooking.
you fry salted dried fish in your backyard or outside your home for all to smell, ignoring even the snare of your neighbor!
you have sky flakes as your saltine crackers of choice.
you drink and or have your kids drink Milo and Ovaltine as ‘energy drink.’
you crave for bagoong (shrimp paste) and would get it no matter the cost!
at your extreme anger, you blurt out expletives in Tagalog!! Leche! Gago ka! P***ng Ina mo! Bwisit! Bastos!!
you don’t trust your postman. you’re afraid to leave a stamped mail in your box thinking it might be stolen or the postman will not deliver your mail.
you have Johnson’s Baby Powder in your purse.
your cellphone is Nokia, the cellphone of choice in the Philippines.
you know all the shopping SALE and you frequent in outlet stores.
you keep two cellphone lines. One for sending and recieving text messages to/from the Philippines and the other for local calls in the country where you are.
you can’t avoid saying OA (over-acting, corny), KSP (Kulang sa Pansin-lacks attention), TNT (Tago ng Tago-in hiding), KJ (kill joy), CR (comfort room), TAN-G-A (Stupid), GF/BF (/girlfriend/boyfriend)
you send balikbayan boxes instead of money or often on top of the money!
you carry a calculator to convert local currency to philippine peso.
all you can think about when shopping for yourself is your loved ones back home and end up shopping for your pamangkins (nieces and nephews), kuyas and ates (brothers and sisters), nanay at tatay (mom and dad) and other relatives.
you don’t care about your cholesterol level and binge on Lechon (Roasted Pig) and Chicharon (Deep fried Pork Skin) any chance you get.
you have a balde (pail) and tabo (dipper or scooper) for showering, right on your nice modern bathtub or shower room!
you still say, “I’m going to take a bath” or you tell your kids “go on, take a bath na (already),” when you meant just taking a shower.
you look for a friend or relative and beg to give you free haircut!
you’re always late and blame the traffic!
you equate price with quality. the more expensive they are, the better the quality!
you have a Friendster account instead of Myspace.
you save every stamp you receive from the mail and keep it even though you’re not a stamp collector and or you look for someone to give it to.
you own a videoke/karaoke system with the ultra watchmacallit with everything on it microphone.
you put ketchup in your rice when eating spam or hotdog.
you still use eskinol as astringent and papaya soap for your face!
you have a CD from any of these artists: Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Sharon Cuneta, Apo Hiking Society, Yoyoy Villame, April Boy Regino, Pilita Corales, Hadji Alejandro, Basil Valdez
you have The Filipino Channel (TFC)!
you’re still a Vilma Santos, or Nora Aunor, or Sharon Cuneta, or Tito, Vic and Joey fan.
you are still either a kapuso- GMA or a kapamilya- ABS-CBN TV company fan.
you gotta have pansit (noodles) on your birthday for long life.
you teach po and opo to your kids and never allow them to call you by your first name.
your eyes lit up when you go to a Filipino party and find Kare-kare with bagoong, adobo, palabok, lumpia shanghai and barbecue on stick!
you crave for SINIGANG (sour soup)! I do at least twice a month (with leftovers for days)!!
you can’t read maps and would rather ask a police officer or passerby for directions. OR you own a GPS!
your conversations include “actually” on it! Actually!
you still say, “kill the light” when you meant turn off the lights; or “kill the faucet” when you meant turn off the faucet. nothing wrong with that, I think it’s cute! my mom still says that! (It’s hard to resist because we say paki-patay ang ilaw in Filipino which literally translates to please kill the light and so on).
you see a kababayan, exchange numbers and become friends! (as opposed to “westernized” ways where a Filipino would completely ignore another Filipino or simply give a hi and dismiss the conversation).
you can’t help but say overtaking instead of passing, overspeeding (which is redundant) instead of speeding and for a while instead of hold on when putting someone on hold on the phone.
you bring pack lunch to work.
you l-o-v-e branded stuff!
you have all your family, friends and relatives’ vital statistics including waist line, shoe size, shirt size, favorite color and wish lists.
you love taking pictures and you’ll pose for any monument, any art form, any bridge, any mascot, any landmark you see when travelling.
you frequent at thrifty stores, second-hand stores, vintage (used) clothing stores BUT will never admit to it!
(if you’re Catholic) you have a Rosary, Sto. Nino statuette or any religious articles hanging on your rear view mirror (for protection and safety).
you eat with your hands with one leg up on a chair, your hand resting on your knee. And when you’re not eating with your hands, you eat with spoon and fork instead of fork and knife and when in a restaurant, insists on a spoon!
you make it a point to send something to your loved ones through a balikbayan who will hand deliver the package when he/she returns to the Philippines.
you have your sense of humor intact and still laugh at yourself.

This is obviously inspired by the comically true, “You know You’re a Filipino” list that’s been going around in print and on the net for years. But that’s a general description of the traits of Pinoys. This is my version for Filipinos living abroad who STILL very much are Filipinos at heart. I compiled them from Filipinos I encountered and met here. Some and if not most, apply to me!! I know this is but a partial list of a true blue Filipino’s funny yet endearing qualities while living abroad. I invite you all to add more or let me know what number still applies to you… ©

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Desperate Housewives Picks On Philippine Medical Schools

dmeemai on October 2nd, 2007

Another Malu-like Controversy in the Offing? NOT AGAIN! Anybody who watched the premiere episode of Desperate Housewives last Sunday would know what I’m talking about. For those who missed it, Check out a clip on Youtube. Susan Meyer (played by Teri Hatcher) went for a check up and uttered the following:

“Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Cause I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines.”

What’s wrong with that line? Most people are overreacting and are calling it a racial slur. I wouldn’t be surprised if Filipino bloggers around the world would start another campaign to boycott the show like the recent Malu controversy asking to blacklist Manila Standard Today! We are such sensitive, passionate and emotional people, what can I tell you? But to be honest, in this instance, I wasn’t offended. It wasn’t an insult to the Filipino people. It wasn’t racist. I was a little bit hurt- just a little bit because it is the truth. While we are producing fine, talented and competent medical practitioners in the field of medicine, nursing and physical therapy among others, we are also producing a bunch of inept, unqualified and inefficient medical people at an alarming rate! Just look at the number of nursing schools without proper credentials sprouting all over the Philippines, some offering a nursing diploma in just months! Heck, we know for a fact that one can even buy a diploma of your choice in Recto!

Let me tell you why I am not offended. First of all, the doctor in question isn’t even Filipino. He’s Caucasian. Second of all, she said some med school- she didn’t say, I would just like to make sure they are not from a med school in the Philippines. See the huge difference? There are some med school in the US too and everywhere else that are being frowned upon. The scriptwriters could have picked any other country to make a punchline but they probably alluded the Philippines in the light of the Philippine Nursing exam leakage and alleged cheating last year that was headlined for all the world to know. With that said, one (like Hatcher’s character) is bound to question another’s competency and qualification in the practice of medicine. It is part of a patient’s bill of rights.

In the Philippines, a Filipino patient may not even know that he/she has rights but here in the US and in most countries, the patients are on top of their medical condition. They make it a point to meddle on their affairs from what drug to take, the kind of care they want and most especially who will provide for that care. While offensive, majority of Filipino nurses who may or may not have been in the field for years and are highly competent are being bluntly dismissed by patients because they look young or they appear to be a student nurse or dear Lord help them, because they’re colored! Such is life. Reality bites.

When the episode premiered, I talked about it with my Filipino and American friends and asked them what they thought of it. The Filipinos including me, were hurt but only for that moment and recognized that Susan Meyer, Teri Hatcher’s character is not someone you’d take seriously. She’s clumsy, always says things she doesn’t mean, puts her foot in her mouth and gets in murky situations for her remarks. The character of Gabby played by Eva Longoria, makes fun of the Latinas most of the time and she’s a Latina herself!

After the show, I forgot about the remark until it exploded in the internet! My American friends just shrug off the idea because they know better. They don’t believe that medical practioners who graduated from the Philippines are in any way less competent than US trained Doctors. One sloppy remark from a TV character doesn’t make a statement true and correct! Poor Teri Hatcher. She takes all the bullet. If I had agreed on the majority, I’d say don’t kill the messenger but the sender! (Translation: Blame the writer not the actor!). Still, others reason that she could have said “no” saying the line. It’s always easy to say what could have been done in hindsight.

Before fellow Filipinos around the globe start another online revolution, I hope they watch the episode and judge for themselves. It was a one liner that shouldn’t be taken out of context and out of proportion. It was a general statement referring to some (not ALL) med school in the Philippines. So hush now. Besides, if you come from the suburbs like Wisteria Lane, you probably can’t help asking for your doctor’s credentials before continuing treatment. No harm in that…©

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