Posts Tagged ‘Philippine culture’

21 Mar

Para ! Para ! Para !

Posted by renxkyoko in Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Random thoughts, Tagalog , Filipino language. Tagged: , , , .

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I was watching a subbed Argentinian thriller movie the other day…. then I heard the word Para.! Para ! The passengers in the car were shouting that word and I assumed they were telling the driver to stop. I was surprised because that word is  a  Philippine  word that  also means STOP .

They say there is actually no Filipino language. Filipinos  speak so many languages, 100 to 200 , depending on the classification being used. They are not ” dialects” .  It’s weird.  California is larger than the Philippines in terms of size, but the people living within that small area speak different languages . Drive about 100 miles from Manila to the province of Pampanga and you will hear people speaking an  entirely different language , I kid you not. Pampanga language is like Greek to me.

 

For example:

 

English   :   a) Where are you going ?

b)  I have no idea  !

Tagalog   :   a) Saan ka pupunta ?

b)  Ewan ko sa’yo !

Ilongo      :     a) Diin ka makadto ?

b) Ambot sa imo !

 

My mother provided the Ilongo translation.

 

In 1935,  the Philippine Constitution designated Tagalog, the language spoken in the capital city of Manila, as the ” official ” language of the country, together with English and Spanish, and it also stated that,   henceforth, ” Tagalog shall be taught in all schools, with requisite 24 units of Spanish in college,  and  English as the medium of instruction “. I am not surprised this  turned  Filipinos into a  Jack of all trades, master of none, to the point that Taglish   is now the accepted lingua franca in the country. Taglish is the use of Tagalog and English phrases or words in one sentence.

English : Let’s have lunch now. I’m so hungry.

Taglish :  Mag- lunch na tayo. I’m so hungry na.

Me    :      [  …….    ]

 

I watch Filipino language tutorials on You Tube  , then watch  other  videos to learn more, and I ‘m , like,  the heck .

 

I wonder……… if English is the medium of instruction from  elementary to college, is Grade 1 Math taught in English ?  Yes, and it blows my mind.  Just think……. Kindergarten and first graders are taught English grammar for the first time, and  Math 1 and History ( Civics  ), Science 1,  etc.   are simultaneously taught in English. How is that possible ?  I asked my parents about that, and they were as perplexed as I was. They did say that maybe , educators assume pre-schoolers  have a basic knowledge of the English language.  I remember when I was  in Kindergarten in the Philippines, we were taught Arithmetic this way……. 12 take away 6 is , what is the answer , class ?  Ma’m , ma’m , here, here ( Ren raises hand )…. Okay, Ren,  what is the answer ?  6 ! !   Very good !

 

The only subject that is taught in their native language  is ” Filipino Language .” All the rest , like Math, English Grammar , Reading, ( Run, Spotty, Run ,  I still remember the title ! ! )) Civics, and  Good Manners and Right Conduct , ( yes, they study  that over there ) are all taught in English.   Filipino kids have to do double time to learn stuff not in their own language, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.  This is the subject of a well- read  book by Renato Constantino titled The Miseducation of the Filipinos which I read a few years ago.   It has something to do with abandoning the native language and favoring a mishmashed one .

 

But,

 

I understand. It’s easier  to read and understand NO ENTRY, instead of BAWAL PUMASKO DITO.

 

Photo below is a gasoline station in the Philippines. Notices are in English.

 

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Photo below…. the sign says  Php 2,000 Minimum Payment for Bumping Barrier

 

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Oh, well. I guess I have to go back to  my You Tube Filipino language tutorials.

 

PS: Example of Grade 4 English Grammar test in the Philippines which my Dad still remembers.

Choose  the correct word or phrase ;

A)  It’s raining,  _______________   ?

a) aren’t they ?

b) isn’t it ?

c)  none of the above

My Dad answered , It’s raining, aren’t they ?  X    Ha ha ha !

 

This is just an FYI  about  the country where I came from.

 

This is all for now .Bye and Peace !

 

Impeach !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Aug

Something cute….9 year old kids singing

Posted by renxkyoko in Filipino kids in a singing contest, Philiipine culture, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , .

Hi, Renxkyoko Iglesias here !

 

Well, that rant on my previous post….. it was cathartic, so give me some slack, okay ?

 

To make up for that , here’s something cute. This is from a Philippine TV variety show ( I think it’s a  kids’ singing contest ) where three 9- year – old kids sing to Beyoncé’s song Listen. Even if you cannot understand the language, you can tell it’s an unrehearsed singing contest.

 

This is 3 minutes, 35 seconds of your precious time, folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 Mar

Philippine culture, part 2

Posted by renxkyoko in Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippine honorifics, Random thoughts. Tagged: , .

Renxyoko Iglesias here, hello ! !

 

Here are some random Philippine habits, quirks, bits and pieces of culture and tradition that a tourist, like my friend @Ste J, may or may not encounter in the Philippines.

But before that, here’s something nice to watch.

 

 

Did you watch it ?  Of course,  I have to admit  there’s poverty all over, especially in urban areas ,  but Filipinos are consistently on the list of the happiest people on earth, despite the natural disasters that come their way,  year in and year out.(  off the chart typhoons, their current  president, earthquakes, volcano eruptions ….. Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 was the biggest in the 20th century….. it caused the lowering of the earth’s temperature by at least 1 degree )  They say Filipinos eat disasters for breakfast, and no matter what happens, they just shrug them off. This is because of their ” Bahala na ”  attitude, which means, roughly, ” That’s the way it is, so live life to the fullest. ”  The exact translation is ” Whatever “, accompanied by shrugging of shoulders.  I’ve heard some Filipino friends say ” Bahala na si Batman. ” meaning, ” Whatever, Batman’s got my back. ”

 

In a crowd, Filipinos respond to ” Oy ! ! ”   ( Huh ? Who’s calling me ? )  Oy ! Comusta ! !  (  Hey, how are you ? ) However, Filipinos don’t say ” oy ” to older people.  That’s very disrespectful.

 

When Filipinos speak to older people, their language is interspersed with ” po  ”  or ” opo ” ( yes ).  It’s a sign of respect. However, the use of  po is nuanced.  Some people will not appreciate hearing ” po ” when, say,  a 25 year old person is speaking to a 30 year old woman . It’s like , ” Oh, noooooo !   She’s saying ” po” to me ! I’m getting olddddddd ! ! !”  Still…. it’s unimaginable for a Filipino to not say ” po ” to a …. okay, much older person. It’s okay, though,  for a 7- year old kid to say   ” po” to a 15 year old teenager ….. I think  ?

 

Filipinos are party animals…… and every Filipino household owns a karaoke. ( Videoke now ) We own a Magic Mic here at home, and my mother’s planning to update it to a videoke  soon. Yay ! ! I can now  sing my heart out . And yes,  Filipinos love fiestas!

 

Just like other Asians, Filipinos are big on honorifics.  I call my older sister ” Ate “,(pronounced Ah-teh,) meaning older sister, and my older brother,  Kuya (  pronounced Koo-yah, meaning , older brother ) .  Ate  Jennie,  Kuya Benjie, or just plain Ate and Kuya, unless one has other older siblings, then they have to add their names.

 

And this is where Filipinos differ from other Asians……… how they greet  each other.   Filipinos sometimes greet each other ( usually men ) by tossing their heads upwards. Oy, ‘  Pare,  comusta. ( ‘ Pare is short for Spanish word Compadre, meaning, pal/buddy), then a handshake, and a pat on the back.  Filipino women greet each other and relatives , male and female alike, with a hug and kiss on the cheek, sometimes, both cheeks. The term is beso- beso. Beso means kiss in Spanish, I think ?  Greetings are  boisterous. When we had a reunion in the Philippines, I think I hugged and kissed a hundred relatives and guests in one day. The kissing and hugging are repeated when they say  their goodbyes.    It is, indeed,  a touch culture. By the way, Filipinos greet their elders  by touching their elder’s hand to their foreheads, and saying, ” Mano po, Lola” ( grandma  or Lolo, grandpa) Mano means hand in Spanish.

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Filipino Customs and Traditions(

Got the image from the Internet. Whoever owns this, please don’t sue me. T.T

 

They call Restrooms/toilets in the Philippines, CR. ( Comfort Room )  ” Excuse me, Miss, where’s the CR ?”  @ Ste J, remember this. ^___^

 

This is all for now. Another one coming right up..

 

And check out my anime/manga site at http://2megaworthitwordpresscomblog.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 Sep

Why a Philippine -American will never become a US President

Posted by renxkyoko in Random thoughts. Tagged: , .

Renxkyoko  Iglesias here.  Hello ?

Before anything else,  check out my manga/anime blogsite  HERE     The latest entry is Ouran High School Host Club manga 10/10, Ouran High School  Host Club anime, 0/10

 

I have not been feeling well these days.  The  see saw change in temperature always gets to me. Yesterday and today , it was 98 F, the day before that, 80 F.    Temperature should have started  steadily going  down in  middle of September, but it hasn’t.  The climate  is truly and irreversibly  whacked.

 

I came across some jokes circulating on the Internet  about why  a Philippine – American will never be a US President. Since it is presidential  election year here in the US ( it’s on  Nov. 8, don’t forget to vote ), I think the jokes are right on the nose, and  can be your future reference  , just in case.  d( ^_^d )

 

Here are the reasons :

 

a)  The White House is not big enough for the First Couple’s immediate family, in – laws, and extended  relatives to live in..

b)  There are not enough White House parking  spaces  for the extended relatives’ cars.

c)  The White House will smell of fried dried fish( tuyo )  , fish sauce  ( patis ) , and the stinkiest of them all, shrimp paste ( Filipinos call  it bagoong , pronounced bah-goh-ong )

d)  Since Filipinos  cook too much , foreign dignitaries and VIPs   will be flabbergasted to receive  food to ” take home ” , and  for their secretaries and  drivers , as well….. and they cannot refuse,  because the First Couple will insist on it.  Of course, expensive Tupperware plastics will be used, instead of recycled plastic food containers. Another thing,  state dinners will always be buffet, eat all you can.

Below is a typical Iglesias  food spread, for  6 or 7 people.  At the White House, I’m sure they will be serving one whole roasted pig  called  lechon, guests will get in line,and there will be a classy sous chef who will slice off  crunchy, melt in your mouth pig skin for the special ,  pork eating  dignitaries. d( ^_^d )

 

 

e)  The First Couple will redecorate  the dining room wall  with a huge bas relief or painting  of  Leonardo da Vinci’s   Jesus’ Last Supper, (  tee hee .. we have that here at home )  and,  a small statue of Baby Jesus ( Santo Nino ) ,or of  the Blessed Virgin Mary will appear somewhere in one corner of the White House formal  living room. How does one know if the house is owned by a Filipino family ?  There’s a Last Supper  on the dining room wall.

 

Last Supper wall decor

 

f)  The Presidential car , and all WH staff cars  will have a rosary hanging on the rear view mirror.

 

 

g)   Budget  staff  will not allocate  funds for karaoke for each White House room.  * we have one at our house….  called Magic Mic .   How does one  know if a house is owned by a Filipino family ?  There is a karaoke machine in the house. *

 

h)  Air Force One will not allow  overweight  Balikbayan boxes on the plane.

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I hope my Filipino readers will not get offended by this post.  It’s true Filipino culture, admit it.  (^___^)

This is all for now. Thank you for reading

 

 

 

 

26 Apr

Fun Vacation in the Philippines, Part 5

Posted by renxkyoko in Boracay Island Philippines, my life, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippines, Random thoughts, rantings. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Continue reading →

27 Jan

My Philippine vacation, Part 4

Posted by renxkyoko in Boracay Island Philippines, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippines. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hello !  Renxkyoko Iglesias  here.

This is my first post in 2015, and I guess, the one and only post for the month.  I hope I can post more often this year. So, you ask, what’s preventing you from writing, Ren ? You’re not that busy, are you ?  Actually, I am.  I  work full time since I’m on vacation , and I’ve been doing stuff  that I’ve been wanting to do, but couldn’t find the time to do it,  because,  you know, life gets in the way .  Anyway,  my best friend  said, Get out of that nunnery black hole,  Ren !  And  get laid !  Huh ? Uhm, okay. Understood.  So, last week, I binge watched  the anime  Attack on Titan, all  28 episodes of it, and  2 seasons of Doomsday Preppers ( love this ! ). I also watched  Inside North Korea. That’s one heck of a fascinating documentary.  The North Koreans’ behavior  was so bizarre it made the hair in my arms stand on end while watching it.  Well, that’s what brain-washing does to people.  I liken them to the Fundamentalists, of any religion.  What  ? You saw the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in your ham sandwich ? Nope, I’m not going there. I’m a practicing  Roman Catholic. XD

Speaking of which….. Pope Francis just visited the Philippines last week.  The Philippines is the third largest Catholic country in the world.  Well, 90% Catholic in a population of 90 million.  Just a trivia for you.  And,  because  this post is about my fun vacation in the Philippines.

Remember these photos ?

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That’s the before and after photos of our vacation house at Boracay Island, Philippines.
Oh, but we don’t live there. We live in Manila, the capital city… well, Paranaque, specifically.  So from there, we took  a  6 –  hour- ferry ride to Boracay. Could have flown, instead, but it was too expensive. The ferry ride was like 900 pesos ( USD  20 ), and plane fare was Php 4,000.  I won’t bore you with money matters or lack thereof.  But for PhP 900, we got this.

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The one and only meal we had was terrible. Actually, it tasted good, but it looked so unappetizing,  and pitiful. 1/2 cup steamed rice and  3 beef cubes drowning in dark sauce. Good thing our aunt warned us about this. So we made sandwiches, brought some Cheeze-it and Oreos. We left the port at  8 PM  , and arrived  in Aklan  at 4 AM.  Since big ferries cannot dock in Boracay , we had to ride on  a small contraption they call banca.  Anyway, while on the ferry,  the passengers were entertained  by 2 pretty singers and a Minus One.  the singers were good, but they were too loud.

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The banca…. it was a 10 minute ride from one island to another.

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My cousin  , my friend/neighbor,  and I,  sleepless, tired, but none the worse for wear.  We look like refugees.

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That crude contraption is there to balance the banca, and do you see that small  thingy tied to the bamboo pole ? I assume that’s our lifeboat, just in case.  x_x

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There were no furniture in the house, no bed, nothing… just a small electric cooker,   a few stools, and a makeshift table.
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Oh, there’s an eletric fan, and an airbed. But I slept on the mat.

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.The house has 4 floors, ( the 4th is a rooftop garden, with a nice view, ), 7 bedrooms, 4 toilets and bath.  Well, I’m going into details because we’re renting out  the house to tourists.  XD  We’ve been told there are beds already, and a few furniture, and a refrigerator. ( My Mom left some money for a fridge before we left )  So, to my readers from the Philippines, if you plan on going to Boracay, email me.  ( shameless  advertising) )

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A bedroom with a nice view, airconditioned, with its own toilet and bath.

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.A small kitchenette, first floor. The first floor is ” private quarters “… for our family  and has a separate entrance.

We didn’t waste any time, and headed out straight to where the action is.. the beach.  Actually, we rode a tricycle to go there. Our house is about  a 5 minute walk to the beach, but we’re at a “quiet” part of the island.  ( which we preferred , by the way…. but we wanted to see the touristy area. )

A tricycle

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.Actually,  it was more like this.  he he

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.We were packed like a can of sardines. Fun, fun, fun.  My  US – born cousin really loved it.

The last photo is just a glimpse  of  yours truly  at the beach….  a long shot …. well, I don’t want to show my flabs, , pardon me.   ~_~

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This is it for now. … more  Boracay photos on my next post.

Thank you for reading. PEACE !

 

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15 Dec

My family’s holiday food fare

Posted by renxkyoko in Filipino food, Happy Holidays, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hi there !

Renxkyoko Iglesias here.

It’s Christmas time, my most favorite time of the year.  ( If you’re not a Christian, it’s alright, you can roll your eyes.  ❤   )

But, before I talk about  Christmas, let me show you what we had for Thanksgiving Day. Yeah, it’s foodie time.

Actually, there wasn’t much food, compared to last year’s. It seems we’re getting less and less food  every year, but it’s okay, we do throw away so much , especially the turkey. That’s why we don’t do turkey anymore.

By the way, I cooked most of the food. Not bragging, though. Just sayin’.

Oh, wait, before I forget…. can someone please translate this? It’s Japanese. I want the exact translation, please.  You’ll help me win an argument.  🙂  Thank you.

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He he. I know it’s juvenile.

Anyway,  the food.

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Roast pork ( lechon),, with liver  gravy, ham,  kare-kare (  beef stew in peanut sauce,) there’s noodles ( pancit ala Malabon ) , fruit salad, potato salad, lumpia ( pork eggroll with sweet – sour sauce), and various cakes.

DSCN2391Kare-kare

DSCN2392Pancit a la malabon. Malabon is a place in the Philippines. I think this is Malabon’s  specialty.  I cooked that.  Do you know what’s in there ? Shrimps, flaked smoked fish, pounded chicharrones ( pork cracklings ) Napa cabbage, and the juice of pounded shrimp heads.

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This is Renxkyoko’s specialty……. Lumpia ( ground pork eggroll. ) I stayed up the whole night ( and morning ) rolling the darn things. I made a lot, for us, and for our Forensic class’s  assistant teacher.

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Huge pastry with Bavarian Cream filling, Double chocolate cake, cheesecake, and brownies.  We baked the pastry. We bought the rest at Costco.

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we call the above dish Ginatan. It’s made of sweet potato, cooking banana ( saba ), taro root, rice balls, and coconut milk.  And sugar, of course.

So, that’s it, our Thanksgiving Day meal.

We already have a menu planned for our Christmas meal. I am definitely going to cook my other specialty….. Paella.

And I’m looking forward to a family Christmas tradition……….. the whole family going to Chrismas Eve Midnight Mass. Here in the US, it’s at 10 PM…… in the Philippines, it’s at 12 midnight.  We used to have our Christmas meal right after the Mass,  but we had discarded that. My mother said it was stressful.   But we do open the gifts as soon as we arrive from the church.  In the Philippines, the midnight meal is called Noche Buena. So, what ‘s a typical Filipino  Noche Buena ?  Bread , ( pan de sal, bite-sized French bread ) with Queso de Bola ( Edam Cheese ). Jamon ( ham , glazed with pineapple and sugar, ), castanas, ( chestnuts) noodles, ( at home, it’s baked macaroni ), leche flan, ube jam, ( purple  yam ) and yes, fruit cake !  These are the icons of Filipino Noche Buena. I’m going to bake fruit cake, that’s for sure. And it isn’;t like the fruit cakes that are sold here in the US.  They ‘re nasty. No wonder Americans make fun of them.  My recipe is delicious. Lots of rhum in it !

I actually want to have  a food blog . But, I don’t think it will happen. I don’t even have time to post here. Don’t be surprised why I’m interested in food. My mother had a successful catering business in the Philippines, and if we didn’t come here to the US, she would be holding a Dunkin’ Donut francise.

Oh. 550 words, already. Time to to say bye for now. Thank you for reading and PEACE !

Happy Holidays !

 

 

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24 Nov

Fun vacation in the Philippines, Part 3

Posted by renxkyoko in Filipino food, Forensics, my life, Philippine Heritage, Philippines, Random thoughts, Taal Volcano. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hello ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here  ! ❤

Wow. My last post was Oct. 24.  I know, I’m a lazy blogger.  I’m suppose  to post  Part 3 of my fun vacation in the Philippines, but, I feel it’s gone  stale already.  It’s  still okay, I guess.

Oh, wait…. remember my Cringe- worthy  Forensic Science project ?  I  was told  not  to talk about it. Now you’re telling me. I just did. And I’m not going to delete that post.  I mean, Forensic  shows are all over cable, so there’s really nothing  federal  about it.   Oh, and before I forget, we made 6 trials, and that means, we asked for 5 more of  THAT.  THAT is semen.  I don’t have to  act coy anymore.  I’m past that.  Here’s another jar, pal. And put it in the freezer immediately.  * ponders*  Actually, I’m sensitive and fragile so please take care of me.

The US  Congress is planning to pass a law  that will allow the government to get the DNA profiles   of all Americans and store them at  the  DNA Data Base  center.  This way, it will be easier for law enforcement agencies to catch the criminals.  That’s a good thing,  right ? Wrong.  Even  Forensic Analysts  do not agree.   Criminals are smart now, especially those who commit  premeditated murders.  The bad guy can just pick up any  cigarette butt or  beer and soda cans, and plant  them at the scene of crime.   Even if  the innocent guy has a solid alibi, he still has to explain the presence of his DNA  at the scene..  Even if the prosecutor cannot find  any motive, you can bet that the sun is up there the prosecutor will find one.  The innocent is totally screwed.  He’ll be looking at a life sentence without the possibilty of parole, or worse, death penalty. That’s what happens if all our DNA profiles are in the DataBase.  Well, you know what they say… it’s preferable to free 100 guilty men over incarcerating  one innocent man, or something like that.  In fact, this happened already. The bad guy planted a random cigarette butt……. good thing the DNA  profile found on the cigarette did not have a match  at the National DNA  DataBase.

Enough of chatting.

Here’s Part 3 of my fun vacation in the Philippines.

So, off we went to see Taal Volcano, the smallest volcano in the world.DSCN0045

.Can you see the volcano ? It’s right there in the middle of the picture. You can see the mouth of the volcano, right ? It was misty  around the area of the volcano , even though the temperature was like, 100 F  ( 38 C ), and very, very humid.

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Facing the picture, the volcano ‘s  to the right of me.

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We went up there to have lunch at that restaurant in the photo, but it was closed for renovation.   Good thing there was a Chinese restaurant  nearby, with a nice view too.

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DSCN0059.Photo below is the view from the restaurant .

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The first thing that I ordered was real coconut juice, straight from the fruit. By the way, coconut is not a nut. It’s a fruit. Oh, my gosh, it tasted sooo good.

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After drinking the juice, we scraped off the white meat with a spoon. Delicious.

This is all for now.  Oh, before I forget,  on my Part 2 Philippine post, there was this singer whose  song was played over and over  on our  trip to Taal Volcano.  Well, he was Rick Astley, and the songs were Never Give You Up and Together Forever. :/

And the owner of the car is a relative who is also a Prosecutor.  That car plate  was a souvenir  given  during a Prosecutors’ Conference  held a month ago before I took that picture. She said she wasn’t supposed to make that a permanent fixture 😮  It’s  dangerous.  I talked about her on my Part 2 Philippine post.  She received death threats a few years ago.

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She’s okay now. The bad guys are in jail. Still….. announcing you’re a Prosecutor is a bad idea. Try doing that in Mexico, and see what happens.
Oh, well, what do I know .

This is all for now, and thank you for reading.  PEACE !

 

 

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29 Sep

My Philippine vacation, part 2

Posted by renxkyoko in Barbie Dolls, my life, Philiipine culture, Philippines, Random thoughts, Taal Volcano. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hello, there.  Renxkyoko Iglesias here.

My  last post  was about crying at sad movies, and I listed down some of the movies that tugged at my heartstrings.  But I forgot one…. the last Toy Story movie.  I cried at that part where grown -up Andy  bequeathes  gives away his beloved  treasures  toys  to a little  girl.   Well, I did  exactly the same thing this week.  I   finally said  goodbye to my beloved Barbie doll and Toy Story  collection and donated them to , I hope, a  deserving brat child who will take care of my stuff lovingly.

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.In that box are over a hundred  beautiful Barbie gowns and dresses, a revolving dress closet, kitchen, dresser,  ( I gave away that stupid  cute barbie car a long time ago), etc.  and most importantly, my Toy Story toys… Woody, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head,  Jessie,  and  sadly, my beloved Buzz Lightyear.  * Buzz, parting is such sweet sorrow.  But I’m an adult now. I can’t play with you anymore.  So, here’s to you, pal….  To Virginity  Infinity and Beyond !!!!! *

Oh. I’m keeping my complete collection of Pokemon cards.  Sorry, kid.  You don’t know what my mother  I went through to complete it.  Not gonna happen.

So…….. here’s part 2 of my fun vacation in the Philippines, as promised.

We spent the first few days after our arrival visiting malls, shopping, and tasting Filipino foods and delicacies at the mall food courts.  So, okay, not all were Filipino foods,  like this Japanese omurice rice ( fried rice wrapped in omelette ) and sizzling steak with mushroom gravy.

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That red thing is ketchup. I think Filipinos love ketchup., seriously.  I mean, my father drowns his sunny side up  in that thing and my Mom does  it with French fries. Half a bottle of ketchup is used up for medium sized fries.   Oh, and it has to be Del Monte catsup, not Hunt’s, nor Heinz…  Eh, what am I saying …..

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.Steak, with rice, and I don’t know if you can see the sunny side up, but it’s there, with the carrots and beans. Ha ha What a combo. Both dishes are USD 2 each.  Cheap, huh.

Photos below  are of   family reunion at our house.

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That’s me in the photo, looking bored. But I wasn’t bored.  I was concentrating on the Monopoly game.

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Just a few slice of life photos above.

The following day, we were invited  by a relative to see the smallest volcano in the world,  Taal Volcano , located about an hour drive ( 50 km./31 mi ) from our house.  Taal Volcano is active,  in fact,  there were so much seismic activities  that were detected in 2011.  Its last violent eruption was in 1977.

The drive to Taal was quite interesting .  Our relative, who was also the driver, played the same songs over and over again… ABBA, Tears for Fears, and one singer  whose name I can’t recall at the moment. Worse, she and my Mom knew the lyrics… so yeah.  * You are the dancing queen,  young and sweet, only seventeen….lalala ” .  The singing was interrupted when Mom opened the glove compartment and saw a small gun.  ” What the h*ll  ! ”  So, okay, our relative ia a senior Prosecutor in the city of Manila, and that gun was issued to her by the mayor for her protection.  Three years ago, she prosecuted the mistress of a rich man for attempted murder. Our relative received death threats purportedly made by the mistress’s relative. They are now both in jail.  And our relative assured us there were no bullets in the gun. Still…. Anyway, they continued singing.  It drove  me crazy.  And then I saw this……

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Then this…..

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.Can you read it ?  It says ” Warning.  P 2,000 ( $46) Minimum Payment for Bumping Barrier. ”  Ha ha ha !   We don’t have that here in the  US !

Well, I have to stop here.  Part 2 of our Taal Volcano trip will be on my next post.

 

Thank you for reading , folks ! be well, and PEACE !

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30 Jul

Woohoo ! I’m in the Philippines ! !

Posted by renxkyoko in Boracay Island Philippines, Filipino food, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippines, random musings, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Oh , my gosh ! !  Renxkyoko Iglesias here !

I’m in the Philippines !   We left good ol’ USA on June 21 , 10:30 PM, and arrived in the Philippines 0n June 23 at 4:30 AM. It was a 14 hour flight. It wasn’t a smooth ride, there was too much turbulence from get go,  and I was so scared I almost cried.  It didn’t help that I actually have plane phobia. I didn’t get to sleep at all. Instead I watched  5  movies. (  Frozen, Transfomers, X-Men, The Hobbit,  The Conjuring. ) The only good thing about the flight was the food. Philippine Airlines was quite generous . Dinner was delicious, we had sandwiches and muffins and juice/coffee in between , then breakfast.  I’m sorry I can’t post any pictures as yet because I’m using a teeny weeny notebook, and it isn’t mine.

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Today is July 25. I’m back home, yay, California ! !  We left the Philippines on July 21, 10:30 PM and  arrived here in California , also  on July 21 , 8 P.M.

It’s been a week since then, but I have not done anything  here, no reading, no writing. I’ve been busy at work.  I’m even afraid to check out my emails.  I’m sure I already have thousands of thousands of unread emails.

Oh, well, I have to start writing , anyway, so here I am. Bear with me, please. I think I left my enthusiasm in the Philippines.  So, where do I begin?

Do you guys remember this picture? I posted this in Novemeber. That’s how our vacation house in Boracay, Island in the Philippines looked in November last year, 2013.

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Here is how it looks now. It’s 99% finished, except for a few paintings here and there…. and the house is empty, no furniture, and just 2 beds.

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DSCN0084.It looks like it has 3 floors, but actually, there’s a 4th floor , which is the rooftop.  I love the view from the rooftop.

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It was such a hectic and busy one month vacation in the Philippines.   The bulk of our vacation was spent  checking out the  huge shopping malls in the city. Do you know 3 of the top 10 biggest malls in the world are in Manila, Philippines?  Mall of Asia, North EDSA/Trinoma, and EDSAMegaMall. . They  were so huge that  just walking around and window shopping  at these places  overwhelmed and exhausted us.   And then there are smaller ones, but still  3x bigger than the shopping mall here in our city in the US..  Even  the friendly neighborhood mall at the subdivision where we live in the Philippines is 2x bigger… 4 floors and 2 buildings connected by a bridge.  It’s insane. The Philippines is supposed to be a Thirld World country,  but shopping malls are full, people are actually shopping and  we always have to wait a bit at restaurants to be seated.

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Above pic is one 0f a smaller malls. I like the interior architecture of this one.

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Our vacation was mostly   food  tripping, too. The price of food over there is ridiculously low.
For example, the takoyaki is $0.50 and  shawarma  is $1.50. Takoyaki is Japanese octopus balls.

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We arrived at 4 AM at the airport. By 12 noon, we were already at the neighborhood mall , shopping for walking shoes and flipflops. We sure didn’t waste any time.

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.That’s yours truly in the photo.

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The next day, it was again another shopping spree, this time for real pearls. There’s a mall there ( Greehhills ) with seemingly endless stalls of pearls. It was a sight to behold.

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DSCN0019Eh. I’ve been found out. I’m the one wearing  white shirt, and wearing glasses ! He he. he. I’m near  sighted.

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That’s the food court at nearby mall ( SM MegaMall ) where we had lunch after the pearl shopping.  SM MegaMall is one of the largest in the world.

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Different kinds of food from different countries to choose from.

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Check out the prices. At Philippine peso 43.50 to a dollar, that PhP 87 on the menu board is only $ 2.00.

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My $2 lunch…. fried rice, pork bbq, chowmein, and fruit dessert. I bought the cheapest.

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That’s Korean rice. Yep, it was hot.

It was raining heavily when we came home. Traffic was horrendous.

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On the way home, I saw these  showrooms.

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I don’t know if you can read what’s in that building. Well, it’s Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Audi.

About the photo below, what the heck does that mean ? LOL

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So, this is it…. 2 days into my one month vacation in the Philippines.

Good day and PEACE.

 

 

14 Dec

Holiday Musings, 2013

Posted by renxkyoko in Filipino food, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Hi  ! ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here again ! ! !

I’ve been busy  ( as usual ). Next week is exam week, my finals, and also the last week of  my school semester.

So, okay, I know I’m late for the party, Thanksgiving party, that’s what, but I ‘ve had this post written just after Thanksgiving, and kept on my folder, and I know it’s now stale and lame,  but  I’m  posting it, just the same.  Well,  mainly  pictures, anyway,  so  I hope you don’t get too bored.

To start off…….  look closely at the pic below. There’s a baby turkey  up there . It was taken about 3 months ago at our frontyard. Can you see it? It’s a little above center.

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Well, here they are again, just a few days before Thanksgiving Day.  My, how they’ve grown.

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On Thanksgiving day…… RIP Turkey

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We didn’t have guests on Thanksgiving Day. Just family, all  6 of us,  so we didn’t cook much. In fact, the roast turkey pic was last year’s. We had decided not to have turkey this year. We had ham , though. I cooked my specialty, Paella, pic below.

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I also cooked  vegetable wrapped in eggroll wrapper, with brown sauce.   Sooo delicious.

DSCN2357.Below are barbecued ribs and roast pork with liver sauce. ( liver sauce in the bottle )

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Shown below is Kare-kare,  baby back ribs , stewed in peanut sauce. Peanut sauce ?  It’s actually very delicious.   Well, I guess it’s an acquired taste.  But, believe me, it’s good.

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Below  is cassava cake.

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There’s also turrones  ( banana wrapped in lumpia wrapper )  The banana  Filipinos use is not the common banana, nor plantain. We use  Saba.  Below is a pic of saba.

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.Chicken macaroni salad and fruit salad.

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.Above is almond jelly and lychees.

That’s it. Our Thanksgiving spread. Oh, there’s pumpkin pie too.  Our dishes were purely Philippine, though.  No turkey, no mashed potato, no green bean casserole.

After dinner, I went to work for this  Black Friday madness.. 10 PM  on Thanksgiving Day up to 7 AM Friday.  There was already a long line of shoppers  at the store when I arrived.   Crazy. I guess I was just as crazy. I shopped  after work. I  had been  eyeing a few items at our store but couldn’t buy them. There were only 6 of each item so  I was happy there was one left for me.  It’s a $400 coat  but because employees get 75 % discount….. *wink *

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.Then I went to the next door store to purchase this nice Bebe sweater, then off  I went to Nine West to buy this pair of leather boots.’

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.I also bought  a few toastie scarves. I came home  exhausted, sleepy, but  a  happy , contented cow.

Then, on Dec. 6, my parents and I went to see  the Fab Four concert.  This  is a Beatles look-alike, sound -alike band.   Oh. my. gosh,  they do look and sound like the Beatles.  My Mom sparkled !  And sang. And clapped  * Hold me, clap, clap, love me, clap, clap…. lol * and swayed . Mom?  . LOL !

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.I wonder, how and where did  they find a guy who looks and sounds exactly like Paul McCartney ( or John Lennon), plays the piano, harmonica, drums, bass guitar, and LEFT HANDED, to boot. ! ! !

My Mom did  watch a real Beatles concert when she was in  Grade 6. She also knows and can sing all the Beatles songs ( we have an Anthology,  a complete collection of Beatles songs), and in high school , was  obssesed with Paul McCartney. She had a shrine of Paul McCartney in her room.   Maybe  with candles, too ? Now , that’s creepy.

Three  years ago, I watched an Eric Clapton concert with my parents.  Great guitar playing ! !  I love classic rock !

This is all for now.  Happy Holidays, folks ! Be good, be nice, and Peace to all !

19 Nov

Boracay Island, Philippines & other stuff

Posted by renxkyoko in Boracay Island Philippines, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippines, random musings, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , .

Hi, there ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here !

My father arrived from Manila , Philippines , Friday evening . He has tons of stories to tell because he was right there in the Visayas islands in the Philippines  when the super storm happened.  Fortunately, Boracay Island wasn;t  hit hard. For a few hours though , it felt like the end of the world , Dad said.

My regular readers know we are building a vacation house in Boracay. A fellow blogger friend, Dead AnarchistPhil  had asked about the house… was it damaged or not?  Luckily, no. And here are some pics of the house, nothing much as you can see.

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.It looks like a building but when it’s done, there’s going to be a nice roof, French windows and doors, verandas, etc.  It’s  3 floors with a roof garden, 7 bedrooms,  4 t/b.  It ‘s gonna look like a house, not a building.LOL ( We were disappointed too when we saw the pictures. )

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Heh , There’s dad in yellow striped shirt.

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That’s the back of the house… Dad going up the hill. Landscaping is part of the contract , so , I guess  they’ll make the backyard nice too. It does look like a jungle.

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.A relative’s restaurant, beachfront.  The whole place was blown away by the storm, except the flooring.  Our  cousin managed to take out all the  restaurant stuff before the storm… to be honest, I hope he left those pink heart thingies hanging from the ceiling. Ugh.  The place needed a serious make-over, anyway. Just kidding !!!   I love the open space, bamboo materials, and thatched roof !

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Dad at the beach., 2 days before the super storm.

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.Tourists unaware a super storm was coming.

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.Those structures were blown away, too, Dad said.

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.Such blue sky ! Who would have thought…….

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/Nightlife at the beach.  This is the ” busy ” part of the island. Ours is very quite and private, which I think is nicer, imo.  Tourists can go to that place at night  if they want fun.

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Dad safe at our house in Manila, the capital city, far from the storm devastation.

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You can see the French door on the left. We’re going to install exactly the same thing at Boracay, but the squares will be made of  steel, not wood.  Oh, do you notice the unusual shape of the window ? It’s a quarter moon, and it’s repeated outside , at the main entrance. Neighbors say it reminds them of The House at Elm Street. he he he

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There you go… the other window.  Outside.  And that’s my aunt…. and what the heck , why is there a mirror outside?

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.Okay, this is the French door I’m talking about. It’s on the second floor, and that’s the veranda. The house at Boracay will have verandas all over. Oooh, that’s my bedroom door.

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.I’m showing you the water tank. Now I understand  why we have it.  We’d have water , just in case.  When we were there 2 years ago, there was a huge storm, too, and there was no power for  3 days.  In our subdivision, no power=no water.  It was fun at night, though.. We had candle lit dinners, and a few childhood friends would come over, brought snacks,  and  talked about ghosts…….. and how our house was called a haunted house for several years when we immigrated to the US. You see, nobody lived in our house for 5 years  (until my aunt who was a Singaporean resident retired and  is now living in our house.) Anyway,  we only had a caretaker who came in 3x a week to clean  and water the plants.  Some neighbors swore they would sometimes see a woman walking around in the house at night. No, not the caretaker. She didn’t have the key. Our relatives, who live next door, had the keys. And it wasn’t our relatives, either. After listening  to these  stories, I slept with Mom through the remainder of our vacation. LOL  I’m a scaredy cat.

Speaking of which….. I post 2x a month, that’s all I can manage…. I’m too busy, especially these past few weeks, and these coming few days before Thanksgiving Day.  We’ll have exams just before Thanksgiving vacation.  But, guess what,  I found time to guest post here.  C’mon, click this , guys. I won’t tell ya what it’s all about, but it’s a true story.  He he… Oh, it’s not political ! =_=”

another pic …

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.A small nice backyard.

So, that’s it for now. It’s a tour of our house in the Philippines, and an update on construction of our vacation house at Boracay Island.

PS… The engineer and the 13 workers are all from Tacloban City, the center of  typhoon Haiyan’s destruction . The engineers house is gone, but thankfully, his father managed to secure all his stuff, especially his 50 inch Sony TV, his prized possession. 0_0 ” All the rest of the workers had damaged homes…. but they all came back to Boracay . They say now is the time to work. They need money. In fact, some people there are begging to be taken in and work there, too.  The engineer has enough workers, sadly.

Have a good day, folks !  Next will be my Paris tour.  Aaargh, I know…..

28 Apr

My Musings on Jews in the Philippines

Posted by renxkyoko in my life, Philippine Heritage, Philippine-Israel friendship, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hi, there ! It’s me , Renxkyoko Iglesias.

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My previous post was a bit intense, huh, and I’m sure I  had offended a few readers.  I couldn’t help it, though.  I was  on  edge , and so was everybody else here in the US.  Although I was careful  with the words I used so as not to offend anyone,  I might have inadvertently  used some hurtful words.    I  did try my best to be politically correct, and , believe me, it was no mean feat. I was angry.  It was easier to just lash out, and be like this —-> bleep, bleep, bleep,  asdfghjk !  But  then I’d regret it forever.  Nothing comes out well with words said in the heat of the moment.

My family had a very interesting  topic of conversation over dinner  last night.  My brother who lives in San Francisco told us that he saw a documentary film about the history of Jews in the Philippines . The documentary was shown in San Francisco to commemorate the  unveiling of the second marker in Israel in honor of  Philippines -Israel friendship. This is actually the second marker. The first one is a monument  that was built  at the Holocaust Memorial Park located  outside of Tel Aviv.

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Philippine flag is shown. That’s a huge monument , isn’t it?

There’s an interesting story  behind these two memorial markers. First off, a bit of Philippine history.  The US colonized the Philippines in 1898 ( after defeating Spain  during the Spanish-American war ) . In 1935, the US turned over governance of the country  to a Filipino, Pres. Manuel Luis Quezon , with an American overseer , Commisioner McNutt. The Philippines  became  the Commonwealth of the Philippines.  Full independence was given on July 4, 1945 after it was liberated from the Japanese. In the 1930’s , we all know , of course , what went on in Germany.  The German Jews all wanted to leave  but there were very few countries that wanted to take them in by the thousands.

Now here’s the most interesting part…….

The Philippine government had decided to take in Jewish refugees ( in fact, the Philippines was one of  very few countries, including the USA , that took in refugees, and the only one in Asia ) during a poker game in 1938 ,, with players  Commisioner McNutt, Pres. Quezon,  General Douglas McArthur,  Gen. Dwight Einsenhower (  Gen, Eisenhower  became US President , but that time, he was just Gen. McArthur’ second in command  of the US Army in the Philippines. ), and an American- Jewish businessman living in the country named Frieder.  While playing poker,  Pres. Quezon decided right there and then, to take in Jewish refugees. Eisenhower  suggested 100, 000 visas should be issued.  Pres. Quezon immediately  issued 10,000 visas  to German Jews. It wasn’t only to German Jews that  visas were given.  Jews who were already in Asia and those from the Middle East, mostly from Turkey,  were allowed to come in.  Jewish immigartion stopped  when Japan invaded the Philippines.

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Pres. Quezon

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.A synagogue in Manila, later destroyed  during WW2.

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.A new synagogue in Manila, Philippines.

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Photo above were German refugees having a party in Marikina , where they were settled temporarily. The land was Pres. Quezon’s  property. ( Sorry I stole this photo from somewhere. Please don’t sue me.)

It’s weird that the matter of life and death  was decided during a poker game.  However, this was not the only time  the Philippine government had helped the Jewish people.  In 1947. the Philippines  ” delivered the  most crucial and deciding vote ” at the United Nations ‘ resolution to create a state of Israel.  The Philippines was also the only  Asian country to recognize Israel as a state.  As a footnote….. there were  Philippine officials then who had a few misgivings about allowing  so many Jews into the country . That was understandable because the country was totally Catholic.  Pres. Quezon angrily told them,  ” The Jews gave us Jesus Christ” ! ! ! Pres. Quezon was a hot-tempered man.  It was said that he would often use the gavel and yell , Puneta ! ! ( pronounced poon-ye-ta ) at Filipino officials. The word means literally masturbation, but it’s actually a generic all -purpose swear word.  Filipinos swear in Spanish. But I digress.

Majority of the Jews later  immigrated to Israel and the US after the war.  Some remained and became prominent businessmen. ( If you’re a Filipino reader of this post, I don’t know if you’re aware of the Ysmaels, Kahns, Menzis, Guthriers, Levy’s etc,. … appliance manufacturer, owns jewelry stores such as La Estrella del Norte, A&W,  Alhambra, Manila Stock Exchange, etc. They are all Jewish )

Well, that’s the history. I’m not surprised  then why Israel erected a huge monument in honor of  the  Philippines’ humanitarian efforts .

On a personal note……. and another bit of Philippine history.

The first European to step on Philippine soil was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. He also died there. Spain colonized the country for almost 400 years , and named it in honor of King Philip II.  ( So now you know why it’s Philippines, ha ha ) In Europe at that time , there was a Catholic Inquisition that went on. In Spain, Catholics,  Jews and Muslims lived in harmony before the Spanish monarchy started The Inquisition in the 1590’s.  Muslims and Spanish Jews were either forced to convert or leave Spain.  Some of those who left went to the Philippines.  However, they still couldn’t practice their religion since the Philippines was now entirely Catholic. Practicing  Judaism  was punishable by death.  My mother was born in a remote town , about 200 miles from Manila. Although it was a remote town, there was a high concentration of Spaniards who lived there.  The town’s church is one of the oldest in the Philippines, and there’s a Spanish fort with cannons, to protect the town from Chinese pirates.

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.San Diego  de Alcala Church

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San Diego fort

Now I wrote above  that this story was something personal. We had an extremely  interesting discussion about  this over dinner and after dinner.  It might shed light  on some strange stuff that my mother had often  heard from her grandparents when she was just a kid.  *  Don’t let anyone know you’re a Jew.” It was always said randomly, and to a kid, it  was  really strange, and didn’t make sense.  I mentioned  above the Turkish Jews  who immigrated to the Philippines.  My mother thought back about  the unusually  large number of Turks in their remote town. In fact , right across from their house were the homes of  two Turkish families, the Adads.  The people there called them Turkos.  She remembers them very well because she had a humungous crush on one of them.  And by the way, Pres. Quezon  came from the same place.  The whole province was later named after him… Quezon Province.

Ha ! Conspiracy theory?  Anyway, won’t it be great to trace my genealogy ?  My mother’s side, of course. My father’s is pretty straightforward. We know where  his grandfather  came from… Sta. Maria la Nueva, Segovia, Spain. I wrote about him here (   Barcelona, Part 16). My grandmother even went there to Segovia to meet her relatives.  So, there’s nothing mysterious about that.  But, the idea of  possible Jewish roots  is almost unbelievable. Could it be….. ?  No, I don’t think so. It’s inconceivable. ……………..  It’s funny that 2 random people on 2 different occassions had asked me if I was Palestinian.  Huh ? Why were they  so specific about the place?   And just last week, I was asked by a customer  if  I was Persian . What ? Again?  ( My manager is a nice  Persian lady )  I’m Asian, people !

So, okay, I know  this post is  boring.  If you are  still reading at this point , thank you.

My next post will be my tour of Amboise and Bourdeux in France. Promise.

PEACE  ! ! !

30 Mar

Philippine Honorifics and Culture 101

Posted by renxkyoko in my life, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippine honorifics, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , .

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Hello ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here. * waves *

Today is Good Friday. For Catholics, it’s Fasting and Abstinence aka meatless day. Catholics used to actually fast the whole day ( no eating the whole day ) but I guess no one follows this tradition anymore. But It’s still meatless day today , so, yeah, we’re having fish for dinner. ( which is nothing special, come to think of it. In our household, we eat fish all the time ) In fact, we don’t eat meat for 3 days during the Holy Week; Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday.

I live in a liberal household that is, at the same time, very much steeped in religious and cultural traditions that are very Filipino. We’ve retained what is good, and does not harm others. Such as ?, you ask. Well, the whole family attend the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, after which we have dinner , a midnight dinner we call Noche Buena. And like most Asians, we use honorifics even here in the US. In fact, the use of honorifics in Philippine culture is mandatory. Not using a honorific is rude and disrespectful

and reveals to others that said person has not been taught good manners and right conduct by the parents. For example, young people do not use the singular pronoun YOU in addressing a much older person or one with a higher “status” . It has nothing to do with subservience, bondage and inequality. It simply conveys respect. This is similar to addressing a judge ” Your honor “, instead of YOU.

The Philippine word that is equal in meaning and usage in the English lamguage of the word YOU is the singular pronoun IKAW. (pronounced ee-kaw ) IKAW is used only to address a person younger, same age, slightly older, or someone of similar or lower level in status. Otherwise, the plural pronoun of YOU or IKAW , which is KAYO, ( pronounced kah-yoh )is used. There’s no equivalent plural pronoun for YOU in the English language. In other words, English speakers use YOU to speak to a 5 year old kid and to a 90 year old aunt.

Philippine conversations are also interpersed with the word PO when speaking to an older person , and someone of much higher status.  They don’t say directly NO to an older person. ( HINDI is No in Philippine language ). They say HINDI PO.

I know it’s a bit disconcerting that I seem to give undue emphasis on social status. It may seem like that, but it’s not , really. There’s no institutionalized caste system in the Philippines, although I have to admit, albeit reluctantly, to the ever-present class system …..but, it exists all over the world, doesn’t it, even here in the US . As they say, the rich are different from you and me. That said, age still takes precedence over status. A 30 year old manager will never use Ikaw ( singular YOU ) when speaking to a 60 year old company janitor. He will also use “po” and use some honorific title like “Manong ” before the name, as a sign of respect for his age. It’s similar to Mister, but not quite. There’s a tad more respect in Philippine honorific. I myself use honorific titles on my elders. I call my older brother KUYA Bert and my older sister ATE Jenny, or just Kuya and Ate . ( pronounced Koo-ya and Ah-teh , meaning, older brother, older sister ). Funny thing is, last night, my sister’s boyfriend ( a white guy ) just hollered ” Ren, your Ate is calling you.” Ha ha . He used the term correctly. The use of the term gives it more authority, and that means, I have to do her bidding , pronto. Of course I ignored it, he he. I was watching something interesting on TV. You know, I will teach my future kids to call their older siblings Ate and Kuya, and teach them this sweet traditional  Philippine gesture, too ———–>

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And my kid will then say, ” Mano po, Lola.” ( Your) hand, Grandma …….and it will be so cute  even if my American kid will pronounce it as ” Manow pow, Lowla.”

In South Korea, older brother is Oppa and older sister is Onee-chan ( not sure… I think that’s Japanese ).., Speaking of which, what is that  idiot pres. of North Korea , Kim Jing Un thinking, with his bellicose threats and saber rattlings, by declaring a “state of war”  againts South Korea and threatening the US with nuclear missiles?  Does he know what our  B-2 Stealth bombers  can do, and that  60% of  US military forces are now  being  deployed  to the Pacific?  Does he know South Korea can obliterate them with their K-Pop boy bands, Gungnam style?  Pfffft !

I’m blabbering . Guess  I have to say bye now. .  My next post  is my tour of France.

PS…. I’m having second thoughts on this post. I find it such a total snooze.  But this is not random.  My  Ate Jenny ‘s BF  even wants me to call him Kuya.  Aaaarrgh. I cringe.

Bye . Stay cool.  France tour is next. * clicks Publish *

6 Jun

Break -ups

Posted by renxkyoko in my life, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Come here, Ren….. * whispers*  Don’t give excuses anymore.  Everyone knows you’re one lazy blogger. ”

So, what have I been doing the past few weeks ? Well, I’m almost done packing for my European tour. The tour agency has  given us our tour kits, pic below…..

.The tour organizer of Grand European tour is Cosmos. I’m sure you’re wondering why I included that green , plastic water dipper/ scoop  in the picture .  Well, Mooselicker wrote in his really funny  post about brown streaks in his underwear. Bahahahaha  !  That’s  funny coz I also talked about this stuff  on my blog not once, but two times.  I know, I’m gross. ……… There’s a joke circulating on the Internet  about Philippine habits and culture/ One such habit is keeping a water dipper. /scoop Filipinos call “tabo” , in the toilet, like that one in the pic above. I don’t think I need to explain what that thing is for. ………. Okay, I will.  After doing the business, we step into the tub or shower room and wash our butt with the sweetest- smelling soap. You don’t think the smell’s gonna come off even if we use one whole roll of toilet paper, do you?  Funny thing is, though we do  have tabo in our toilet, that green one was given to us by my cousin ( the relative who visited us ) . lol. She actually brought 2 from the Philippines. She thought we didn’t have  one here in the US she could use.  Aaargh, I don’t know where this topic is going. Anyhow, to make the story short, the green tabo is coming with us to Europe. Hey, we’re not country bumpkins…… just a tad  fastidious in the hygiene department.  Or maybe it’s just a culture thing….. the tabo, I mean.

We’re leaving on the 17th, this month at 6: 55 PM and arrive in London at 1 PM,  June 18. I’m sure that’s London time.  Our hotel is located at Bayswater Rd., directly opposite Hyde Park and  Kensington Gardens, and a  mere 5 minute walk to Notting Hill. I’ve been hearing about these places since forever, so I’m really excited  to be there. Wow, just 12 more days from now.  Woooo ! !  * happy dance *

Meanwhile………

My Mom got a call from the Philippines, from my Aunt who’s touring with us in  Europe ( we’ll meet up in London ). She informed us a cousin is getting married in December.( My cousin is our next door neighbor too in the Philippines ) . We thought it was about time… she’s 26  now , and she has been in a relationship for almost 4 years , anyway.. She and her then  fiance entertained me when I was there , took me out to dinners, etc.  so we were surprised when my aunt said she was marrying a different guy.  Huh ?  So what happened?  HE CHEATED , that was what   happened . My cousin and her boyfriend were co-workers, so I don’t know why she never noticed that he was acting weird.  She saw “them” together in December, 2011, broke up with him,  got another BF after a few months, and now they’re getting married after just a few months of being together. Darn ! I smell REBOUND ! ! I think she’s  making a big mistake, marrying another guy while she’s still hurting.  But , my heart goes out to her. We were told that  after the break-up, she just cried  for weeks, didn’t go to work, refused to eat, was hospitalized……. the shock was too much for her.   I don’t understand. My cousin is sooo pretty and sweet and nice.

* ponders*

Men are  natural cheaters. Don’t hate me but that’s  what I think.  If they can, they will. It’s a given.

I have another story that’s as heart-breaking as this one. Except that, the cheater was my  guy cousin.  He and his long time GF were getting married too, already got an apartment,  and lived together.  Unfortunately, my cousin was a good-looking guy and had many women crushing on him at his workplace. There was a co-worker who was so into him that even though she knew he had a fiancee  and was soon to marry, she came on to him without any care., until , one day, he succumbed to her constant seduction and one date with her got her pregnant . He and his fiancee broke up, of course, stupid guy ! I wonder what his fiancee felt when he told her about it.  Oh, Lord .  I cannot imagine the pain and hurt.

* shakes fist in air *

* picks up a placard *  DIE ! ! !

Slapping is not enough. But,   I don’t know what else to think . I really feel bad for my cousin  and her family.  We’re very close to them. They are not only our neighbors/relatives, but her older brother came here to the US to study and lived with us for 4 years . He was like a real brother to me.  When he graduated, he went back to the Philippines….. 2 years after, he died, at the age of 25.  He was playing basketball, and collapsed, just like that.  He literally dropped dead. By the way,  do you know my cousin was with her Mom when they saw her then  fiance with another girl?  Dafaq !  I feel like driving a jackhammer into this guy’s  skull. May his teeth ache forever. If nothing bad happens to him, then there’s no justice in this world.

* sigh *

Do I hate cheaters! I think Pres. Clinton is the only cheater that I don’t hate. What was Monica Lewinsky thinking when she did THAT? ” Wow !  I, Monica Lewinsky , am doing THIS to the most powerful man on earth ! ”

Last year,  I wrote a story that I intended to submit to a Japanese publisher of graphic novels ( mangas ).  Problem was, I couldn’t draw to save my soul.  So, I’m saving up to pay someone  draw for me.  I have everything set up, including the script, what to put in the panels, etc.

The theme of the story is love and revenge.  It’s rather depressing, so depressing I’m sure most readers will drop it ( just  like me,….. I drop heart-breaking stories ) but  it has a very happy, satisfying ending.  It’s about 2 sweethearts who love each other very much. The main girl has a best friend . What she doesn’t know is that the best friend is head over heels in love too with the BF. The best friend though is the childhood friend and neighbor of the BF, so , this girl  always comes up with an excuse to come to the BF’s house. I ‘m sure you know what happens. What is so sad about the situation is that the BF really loves his GF, but , as much as I hate it,  I rationalize his infidelity  due to his age, ( he’s 18 ) with testosterone at maximum peak.  His GF is sweet and virginal.  I know this is cliche. In this story, though, the devil is in the details.  The revenge for this betrayal will make the reader stand up and applaud.

No, not that kind of revenge.  I wrote in all my hatred in the story.

This is all for now. This post is really weird.  Anyways, PEACE ! !

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