Would somebody tell me what in blue blazes is piang?
Culture
Cut and Paste
I once got into trouble with a coworker because I made the mistake of wearing my brains on my sleeve and announcing my undying aversion to Filipino romantic melodrama. She declared me unpatriotic (oh, and I can almost hear someone from a mile away accusing me of just being pa-sosyal right about now). In the interest of promoting corporate peace and harmony (I was in charge of employee relations), I offered my apologies, shut my mouth and went on hating Piolo and company in the comfort and privacy of my other secret self. What I should have told her was that watching the polar ice caps melting from Sharon Cuneta’s eyes does not constitute patriotism. There is no excuse to love your own when it’s only capital is its appeal to the tear ducts.
The Dead Shall Bury the Dead
I just came back from burying the dead. I had been gone too long but it couldn’t be helped. I needed time to accomodate the wealth of Filipino customs and traditions that I had no idea accompanied funerals and burials. It seems Christ’s biblical exhortation to let the dead bury the dead is unheeded in this largely Catholic nation.
Nonetheless, I deeply respect tradition and I have chosen to follow its requirements among people who believe in them. Besides, Filipino SOPs for the dead are interesting cultural elements to mull over.
Death By Diabetes
Dear Readers,
Someone close to me just died because of the complications of diabetes. My take on the preferred Filipino disease however, and my discovery of the real reason why poor folks in the Philippines apparently have less costly diseases and preludes to death than rich folks are for another post entirely. Right now, I simply wish to inform you that I shall be taking a brief break from serving the freshest wit and sarcasm known to man.
I am now currently knee deep in making my services available to the bereaved family. I do this even if I still do not fully understand why we must stay up all night playing mahjong and drinking killer spirits when most of us in the room are also diabetic; wear white when we are not Chinese and pray on the 9th and 40th nights when half of what the manalabtan (prayer leader of sorts?) is saying is in a tongue seemingly foreign to all known life including her own. I shall be back next week when I am done with propagating tradition, staying awake for the rest of the week, raising my blood sugar level, musing over the meaning of life and bidding my fellow being a great afterlife.
Godspeed.
Gracia El Caustica
Hurricane Fiesta
There were a lot of things to write about last week. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss blogging about the government plot to convince people that they are stupider than they really are, the captive chickens in my in-law’s backyard, the tragedy that is American Idol and the reasons why Wyngard and Jolina shouldn’t be spewing pieces of advice and diluted expletives in Pinoy Idol. Yeah, I should have written about all that but I’ve been busy reserving all of my physical and mental energies for an expected social calamity— the town fiesta.
Holy Week in Bantayan
Today is Good Friday. I am not deeply religious but I do respect and practice what is expected of us Roman Catholics during the Holy Week. I suppose it’s not just because I grew both my first permanent tooth and my first white hair with nuns (i.e. I spent an insanely large amount of time with nuns). My natural inclination to observe the Holy Week may be due to the fact that my mother is from Bantayan island.
Korean Wave
What does an average Juan do when he is distressed by politics, demeaned by unemployment, depressed with poverty or drained by the routines of life? Does he:
Home Sweet Home
I’ve said it before. There is a practical function behind the Filipino’s tendency to keep close family ties. By nature, we really do value family but I think there is also a social reason behind this. Because we live in a poor country, we each need other people to survive. Families help individuals survive economically. Living with my in-laws despite my being vertically and horizontally grown has allowed me to survive.
Pamalaye
Last week I had the pleasure of experiencing a dying Filipino custom for the first time and all because I have this rare ability to smell food 10 kilometers away. Actually, I just happened to drop by a friend’s house and was happily surprised that her table had been richly laden with all of nature’s goodness as well as all of its evil—the kind that kills your heart after pleasuring your taste buds.
*Photo credit: download-free-pictures.com
Let’s Vote In
We Filipinos are known for our ability to band together in the snap of a finger for a common cause. In recent years, that common cause has been to provide the most number of votes to Filipino contestants in international vote-in contests. That’s the secret why Filipino contestants always win something be it the first prize or the Ms. Photogenic award. That’s also why some international contest organizers know better than to go for a vote-in format when there are Filipino contestants unless the contestants talk dirt about the country and prefer sushi to adobo. Haha.
Rumor has it that the victor in the recently concluded Austrian Musical Die-Show, Vincent Bueno won because of the legendary Filipino people-text-together power. Bueno is a full Filipino who was born in Austria. He was the only Asian in the contest that was Austria’s glitzier answer to American Idol. Instead of pop songs, contestants had to battle it out by performing theater songs that required more vocal and stage prowess. Votes for the contestants came from the residents of European nations. Bueno was said to have gotten 67% of the final votes.
Of course, the rumors are just rumors but I can just imagine every single man, woman, teen, child, cat and dog with Filipino blood living in Europe sending in thousands of votes for Bueno. I can’t deny though that from my point of view, he does seem like he deserved to win. Who am I to disagree when I can only squawk while the guy can spin on stage and sing at the same time, get wet with water while performing and not slip or croak, sing and dance while apparently not breathing and sing in theater and have six pack abs?
Yes, we who don’t know a flat from a minor definitely think he’s a sensation but I wonder what real theater experts think.
*Video Credits: ronny1988FAK1911