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I have this little book my cousin gave me. In fact, I have 2. I gave the other one to my sister’s boyfriend  who is a white guy, so he’ll  know what he’s in for….. or what he’s getting into, if he does marry sis. Hehehe…. Poor guy.

The author of the book is Neni  Sta. Romana -Cruz. Mom said the husband, Elfren Cuz was a good friend of hers in the Philippines, but she ‘s never met the wife, the author.

Well, here goes…. ( some are quite embarassing though, so I may just leave them out… (~.^)

FAMILY MATTERS

1. You’re related to everyone. ( Haha, that’s true ! !)

2. Your middle name is your mother’s maiden name. (  Well, my middle name is my mother’s last name before she married my father. For example, before she married Dad, she was Julie  Encarnacion Santos, so when she married Dad, she became Julie Santos Iglesias, and  I’m renxkyoko Santos Iglesias. By the way, these are fictitious names. )

3. You’re parents call each other ” Mommy” and “Daddy”.  ( Not my parents, and all of the Filipino parents I know )

4.You have uncles and aunts named Boy, Baby or Girlie. ( blushes , coughs, yes! )

5.You have relatives with the letter “h ” slipped into their names, as in Jhun, Bhen, Sahmeeeeh ( LOL, I don’t know about that but mom says only gays working at beauty salons do that…. she knows of Bhoy )

6. You have relatives and friends whose nicknames consist of repeated syllables, such as Jun-jun, Ling-ling, John-john  ( Yes ! I’ve met a Len-len  )

7. You call the parents of your friends and your own parents’ friends,  ” Tito ” or ” Tita”.  ( nods…. )

8. All your children have 4 or 5 names. ( I have 4…. blush )

9. You greet your elders by touching their hands to your forehead. ( nods, yes, or kissing them on the cheek )

10.  You always kiss your relatives on the cheek whenever you enter or leave the room. ( nods…. there was a lot of kissing when I was in the Philippines )

Befor I continue with No.11, here’s some music for you to listen  to, a rock band named Parlor Mob. I was introduced to this group by Rob, a friend from UK

11. The prospect of sending your parents to a nursing home is inconceivable. (  nods…. someone who wants to marry  me should be told he’s also marrying my parents, hahaha )

12. You abide by your parents’  house rules even if you’re over 18. (   * cough*  yes   )

13.You live with your parents until…. at times, even after…. you’re married. ( In the Philippines, yes, it happens…. here in the US, I  don’t know…… but I know my parents will be saddened  when that time comes )

14. You think nothing about hosting a houseful of visiting relatives for weeks on end…. and can still smile about it. (  LOL… last year we hosted 3 relatives from the Philippines… they stayed for one month )

15. You’ll sell, borrow, beg, or steal the  last cow to send your children and siblings to university. ( So true….. parents will sell their farmlands, jewelries, mortgage homes  to pay for their children’s tuition )

WHERE WE LIVE

1. Your house has a distinctive aroma . (  Hahaha…. it smells of adobo, or something being sauteed, or worse, shrimp paste we call bagoong, .. non Filipinos describe it as  dead rat or rotting fish…. that’s why we spend so much on Glade and aromatic candles )

2. You can’t build a house unless you first bury religious medals and money at the site. ( nods… mom said they threw silver coins into the foundation before the carpenters covered it with cement )

3. You decorate your living room wall with your family’s  framed diplomas, certificates and plaques. ( not in our house, but I’ve seen Filipino homes with these stuff )

4. On your living room wall,you display a shield bearing ” The Weapons of Moroland “, alongside a giant wooden rosary wooden ” tinikling ”  dancers. ( No, not here in the US, nor in our house in the Philippines, and I’ve not seen these in any of the houses I went to back there……. on second thought, I think I saw a giant wooden spoon and fork in my aunt’s kitchen’s wall , hehe )

5. You decorate your dining room wall with giant wooden spoon and fork, and a framed picture of the Last Supper. ( about  Jesus’ Last Supper…. uhm, my aunt gifted us with a Last Supper, carved from wood ( ^___^) “”

6. You keep your furniture wrapped in its original plastic wrapper/cover.  ( I’ve never seen one like this. )

7. Most of your home decor / furniture is made of wicker. 

That was my room in the Philippines…. thats wicker furniture you see there.

Another set of wicker furniture, small seating area between bedrooms

8. You keep a Sto. Nino shrine in your living room,. ( No, Sto. Nino is baby Jesus. But I’ve seen one in our cousin’s house  here in the US , haha )

9.Your house has a ” dirty” kitchen and a ” clean ” kitchen.  (  We don’t have that here in the US, but in the Philippines, yes ! A dirty kitchen is where  Filipinos do all the cooking and is usually located outside the house. The clean kitchen is just for ” show “, no oil splatters, no weird smells.

10.You recylcle plastic shopping bags as grabage bags. ( A big YES ! )

11. Your kitchen table has a vinyl tablecloth. (^__^)

12.You own a ” Footsteps in the Sand ” poster.  ( shrugs )

13. You use the finest things you own only when there’s company. ( shrugs )

14. You have a piano no one plays. ( Hahahaha ! We have one here  that no one plays. )

15. You keep a tabo ( water scoop ) in the bathroom . ( LOL )

16. You use a halved, dry coconut husk to polish the floor.  (  nods, in the Philippines, Yes. I ve seen that stuff. It polishes the floor with floor wax real well… ( ^_^)

To be continued !

This is all for now.  Bye, paalam, sayonara, Tchau, adios, adiue, an neyung, zai jian. Peace !