What Kind of Food Are You?

You Are Chinese Food

Exotic yet ordinary. People think they've had enough of you, but they're back for more in an hour.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Subject: Americana - Philippine style (Wit of the Filipino)

This was forwarded to me by a friend and I just had to share it. Thank you Mico, for making my day.

Wit of the Filipino
By Nury Vittachi
(From THE FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW)

THERE'S A SIGN ON Congressional Avenue in Manila that says: "Parking Costumers Only." This may be a misspelling of “customer." But the Philippine capital is so full of theatrical, brightly dressed individuals that I prefer to think it may actually mean what it says.

This week, we'll take a reading tour of one of the most spirited communities in Asia. The Philippines is full of wordplay. The local accent, in which F and P are fairly interchangeable, is often used very cleverly, such as at the flower shop in Diliman called Petal Attraction.

Much of the wordplay in the Philippines is deliberate, with retailers favoring witty names, often based on Western celebrities and movies.

Reader Elgar Esteban found a bread shop called Anita Bakery, a 24-hour restaurant called Doris Day and Night, a garment shop called Elizabeth Tailoring and a hairdresser called Felix The Cut.

Smart travellers can decipher initially baffling signs by simply trying out a Taglish (Tagalog-English) accent, such as that used on a sign at a restaurant in Cebu: "We Hab Sop-Drink In Can An In Batol." A sewing accessories shop called Beads And Pieces also makes use of the local accent.

Of course, there are also many signs with oddly chosen words, but they are usually so entertaining that it would be a tragedy to "correct” them.

A reader named Antonio "Tonyboy" Ramon T. Ongsiako found the following:

In a restaurant in Baguio: "Wanted: Boy Waitress;"
on a highway in Pampanga: "We Make Modern Antique Furniture"
on the window of a photography shop in Cabanatuan: "We Shoot You While You Wait;"
on the glass wall of an eatery in Panay Avenue in Manila: "Wanted: Waiter, Cashier, Washier."

Some of the notices one sees are thought-provoking. A shoe store in Pangasinan has a sign saying: "We Sell Imported Robber Shoes." Could these be the sneakiest sort of sneakers?
On a house in Jaro, Iloilo,one finds a sign saying: "House For Rent,
Fully Furnaced." Tonyboy commented, "Boy, it must be hot in there."

Occasionally, the signs are quite poignant. Reader Gunilla Edlund
saw one at a ferry pier outside Davao, southern Philippines, which said: "Adults: 1USD; Child: 50 cents; Cadavers: subject to negotiation."

But most are purely witty, and display a love of Americana. Reader Robert Harland spotted a bakery named Bread Pitt, a Makati fast-food place selling maruya (banana fritters) called Maruya Carey, a water-engineering firm called Christopher Plumbing, a boutique called The Way We Wear, a video rental shop called Leon King Video Rental, a restaurant in the Cainta district of Rizal called Caintacky Fried Chicken, a local burger restaurant called Mang Donald's, a doughnut shop called MacDonuts, a shop selling lumpia (meat parcels) in Makati called Wrap and Roll, and two butchers called Meating Place and Meatropolis.

Tourists from Europe may be intrigued to discover shops called Holland Hopia and Poland Hopia. Both sell a type of Chinese pastry called hopia. What's the story? The names are explained thus: Holland Hopia is the domain of a man named Ho and Poland Hopia is run by a man named Po.

People in the Philippines also redesign English to be more efficient.

"The creative confusion between language and culture leads to just simple unintentional errors in syntax, but in the adoption of new words,"says reader Rob Goodfellow. He came across a sign that said, "House Fersallarend." Why use five words (house for sale or rent) when two will do?

Tonyboy Ongsiako explains why there is so much wit in the Philippines:
"We come from a country where you require a sense of humor to survive," he says. "We have a 24-hour comedy show here called the government and a huge reserve of comedians made up mostly of politicians and bad actors."

How Observant Are You?

C

You tend to notice the big things in life... But the details aren't exactly your forte

How Observant Are You?

What Kind of Blogger are You

Your Blogging Type Is Thoughtful and Considerate

You're a well liked, though underrated, blogger. You have a heart of gold, and are likely to blog for a cause. You're a peaceful blogger - no drama for you! A good listener and friend, you tend to leave thoughtful comments for others.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

The World's Shortest Personality Test

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant. Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle. You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs. For you, comfort and calm are very important. You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection. You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

I have to admit though that this one was my first choice :D

You are sexy, powerful, and bold. You're full of passion and energy... Sometimes this passion has a dark side. You feel most alive when you're seducing someone. You never fail to get someone's attention. Quick minded, you're also quick to lose your temper!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Muppet Personality Test

Rowlf the Dog! You scored 53 Mood and 37 Energy!

Easy-going and fun, Rowlf is the talented, piano playing dog with a heart of gold. You go with the flow and people are attracted to your personality.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 28% on Mood You scored higher than 2% on Energy

Link: The Muppet Personality Test written by TheLadyEve on Ok Cupid

My Patronus

I am such a Harry Potter charm, I just had to check this out. Here's my result:


Your Patronus is the Wolf! The wolf is a symbol of
wisdom, loyalty and independence. He is one of
history's more revered (and feared) characters.

That your Patronus is a wolf says that you are very
wise as a person. You tend to be loyal to your
friends, even when they screw up, but you are
also independent. Finding that balance is key;
finding it will ensure that you will be a
wonderful witch or wizard!


What is Your Patronus? Version 1
brought to you by Quizilla

Prejudice

I ran smack dab into prejudice last Saturday. I was told that someone I know is weird because she's into all this metaphysical things and just came from a thon of her fave TV show. Since the speaker was at an activity of people who sell videos, it's strange to me that they cannot relate to someone enjoying a show so much that people gather to watch the shows over and over again. Maybe they don't know what a thon is?
Funny, if someone was to say they were into cars and attended car shows regularly no one would say a thing. Neither would they consider it weird to really like dogs and to attend dog shows. But if you start to talk about being into TV shows, metaphysics or the like you automatically become weird.
Don't get me wrong. I do understand that sometimes people go to extremes. I just don't see why people have to be so prejudiced and snotty.
What is ironic is, if the same item that is currently considered a weird interest were to suddenly become really popular, or if this fictional thing were to suddenly become a reality (such as Jules Vernes imagination becoming real in submarines and electricity) these same judgemental people would be the first to say I told you so, claiming they had the vision to see the future in such and such.

Emotions

I just finished reading a post of my sister about Honest emotion. Boy can I relate. I mean, I can't even tell her exactly how I feel. She gets upset and refuses to listen or cannot accept what I say because I am her baby sister.

Growing up, I thought we should be open about our emotions. I am one person who is always open about exactly how I feel. I don't know how to hide it. What's wrong with expressing how I feel? I figured as long as I wasn't hurting anybody, right?

After the failure of a major relationship, I often heard don't waste your emotion. There's no point in getting angry. And it's so true. I'd find myself upset and the other person either doesn't know or doesn't care about how I feel. What a waste. Also just frustrating. Still it's one of the hardest things for me to do.

I have learned that I need to rein in my volatile emotions because if I don't, they set off fireworks everywhere and sometimes, I get caught in the backdraft.

Not to say I no longer feel anger. Boy do I get angry sometimes! But I try not to rant while I'm at it. I find it just alienates people. I mean, who wants to hear me go on and and on and on about what so and so has done this time? I know I wouldn't want my errors and faults to be aired that way. Only maybe to a chosen few, say it once, say it twice and that's it. Even these close friends and family will get fed up.

I think this is partly why I love the gym. There is one place where there is no anger. I cannot be angry and workout at the same time. I cannot even be sad. The least is that my mind becomes so focused on my exercise, it blanks my mind, soothing my ragged emotions. On great days, the endorphin levels really climb and whoopee! Natural high on life.

Bottom line...I don't want to grow old before my time, there are too many problems, getting angry gets me nowhere...so, I choose for the most part deal with the emotion as best I can, no explosions and I'm ever grateful for my wonderful family and good friends.

Picnic Dinner

I just realized that last night we had our first dinner guests in my relatively new home. Even after almost 10 months, my home is barely furnished, still with boxes everywhere. So I actually asked our househelp to move and hide all the unsightly boxes in the rooms. Then she put a nicely printed sheet to cover the ones we couldn't move.

Wonderful friends, they loved the view from my window and didn't mind that we had to eat dinner picnic style in the middle of the living room. I loved the food and the company. It is so true what they say that food always tastes better in good company.

I'm looking forward to having friends over more often. Hopefully we'll have more furniture by then.

Cooking Experience

It really is something else to know the theoretical and to have done the practical. I have always preferred to do dishes or clean the house rather than cook. So I never spent much time in the kitchen.

Now that I'm on my own, I don't have the luxury of someone else cooking for me anymore. Not to mention that it costs more to buy food from outside than to cook it. So it has been a series of experiments.

Some dishes I'm quite happy with such as my Chicken in White Sauce. But I swear! I just can't seem to get the hang of adobo. And to think it's supposed to be one of the easiest dishes...sigh....

At least I know enough about the basics to at least get the basic frying, grilling and boiling done. I have to admit though that I always look forward to going out and eating someone else's cooking for a change :D

Independence

So, this is what it feels like... The peace and quiet...nobody telling you to get up and do stuff...the rumbling of my tummy that tells me, get up and cook something! So off I go to the kitchen and experiment on cooking on a device that practically burns everything I put on it (ok, so I'm no chef).

Now, I'm beginning to feel a little dizzy. Not quite recovered from the bug I picked up somewhere. I really miss my mom's TLC. Now, there's nobody to take care of me or buy my medicines. Part of the price to pay for being free of parental rule - self-reliance.

My new home is barely furnished. I only have a board on top of a stand for a table, some rusty chairs, a cooker for preparing my food in and a ref plus my bed. No TV or radio even to help relieve boredom. With all the empty space and my beautiful wondow corners, I find myself itching to buy a christmas tree to help make the air more festive.

Excited, definitely! Scared, most certainly! I sometimes find myself questioning myslef on whether or not I'm really ready for this, especially when I'm really tired to the bone and the silence becomes too much and the loneliness sets in. But when I look out my front window at the great view of the city from my new home, watching the sunrise, I can't help but feel IT IS WORTH IT!