Filipino-Chinese in the Philippines a.k.a Tsinoys

This is a recollection of a previous article I wrote on Tsinoys. It dealt with the book compilation “How Tsinoy Are You” published by tsinoy.com and Anvil which listed the cultural peculiarities of the Chinese in the Philippines. Even though they are getting more modern each day, the local Chinese – like those close-knit Koreans- retain their own unique identity as a social nucleus in the Philippines.

Here are some traits which distinguish the Tsinoys. Your contributions are welcome:
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This week’s quick links on Rickey, the Apple Macs, Japanese food & more!

1,000 comments in one post and 30,000 unique visitors per day?? New York-based Rickey is such a biiiiig guy but acts just like ordinary you and me. ” I bring my camera with me all time just in case I see something interesting, and there’s plenty of that in Manhattan.” Read all about my interview with him here.

What constitutes hacking? Interesting tidbit on why The Manila Bulletin had to apologize to its rival daily on something it didn’t do.
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He wants to be a hotelier!

All these times of staying in all sorts of hotel rooms has influenced my son.

He now wants to be a hotelier when he grows up!

He now says with glee…

“I want to be a butler!

or… an elevator boy!”
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Hotel living 2: the weekend in pictures

It was time to ‘pretend rich’ once again as we were billetted in a two bedroom penthouse suite over the weekend. Funky momma was off to work and brought the Three Cute Musketeers with her.

We were on the 29th floor of this hotel which I liked so much for its design and cool Asian interiors. The Hong Kong hotel was pretty but this one was prettier and right smack home.
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Happy birthday twinnies!

Because God gave you to me

I shall not love one but two. And three.

I shall not stare on two eyes but four

And when we hold our hands together

We shall be counting six. And eight.

Holding on for the better

And hopefully not

for the worst

How blessed that I shall always hear

your two hearts beating in your sleep

and your beautiful smiles peering at me

wide awake

soothing my soul with all your beauty and your sweetness

Your lives are God’s masterful work and miracle

at work in me, and I shall not ask for more.

I love you with my life

Happy birthday my twinnies!

Points of interest in Bacolod , the City of Smiles

I enjoyed every bit of my Bacolod trip in late 2003, moreso because I was able to explore some secret spots in Negros Occidental Our group had an overload of old churches, houses, museums, nature and the best part of all – food!

I can’t forget Bacolod food. We had a native Filipino meal at Aboy’s (ironically owned by a Kapampangan), stocked up on calories with irresistible desserts at Calea, munched on seafood at the turo-turo stalls of Pala-Pala and savored the roasted chicken in Manokan Country. The latter is a whole restaurant strip devoted to different versions of chicken inasal which is best eaten kamayan style with achuete oil poured over garlic rice. Super-yummy!

Bacolod is usually jampacked with visitors every October when it holds the Masskara Festival. This fiesta features smiling masks of every shape and color worn by the participants and dancers in colorful costumes fill the streets. Which reminds me, if I have to go to Bacolod, I have to go during this time … even if I hate big crowds!
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Stepping back in time with the ancestral houses of Silay City

Have you wondered how the houses of the landed Filipino gentry looked like
during the Spanish era?

I was leafing through my photo archives and found some valuable pics of my visit to Negros Occidental in 2003, including Bacolod. Next to Vigan in Ilocos Sur, Silay City is the best place in the Philippines to view Spanish-era ancestral houses in their full-splendor. It is laudable that the city has tried its best to preserve the houses which were built between 1880 and 1930. Most have been turned into museums for public viewing so you really get to see how people in the 19th century lived.
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Will be blogging less.. (hope not!)

My inability to post in the past few days forebodes a trend that I might be blogging less, and am frustrated with the fact. This therefore comes as a sort of an apology to all those who drop by this humble blog every now and then and getting used to my daily posts. Updating has already been a part of me that I feel guilty whenever I have to neglect my “baby” for a while. But it looks like it for the following reasons:

1. There’s no internet where I work right now. Am not saying it’s okay to blog while at work but at least a decent internet connection has saved me from boredom/mental asphyxiation during down times at work. If I have to be disconnected from the net eight hours a day… life. simply. sucks.
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A postscript on virginity

There were all those “virgin” stories I heard growing up and my impression is that virginity was more of an ideal rather than a reality.

There were these male buddies of mine who turned cold on their girlfriends after realizing that they were no longer “virgins.”

And a close friend who recounts with disgust at every opportunity her first experience with her male neighbor who “disappeared” just as soon as he got her virginity, at the age of 18.
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Here come the ‘virgin brides!’ (updated)

June being The Wedding Month, I thought it best to look back at a previous interview I made with “virgin brides” for a wedding magazine article.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but “virgins” these days are a novelty rather than the norm. Mention it and you’re likely to hear the response: “Is there still one in the house?” I do believe there still are. They are the rare bunch who’ve managed to hang on to their purity with tenacity because they’ve taken to heart what their mother told them: “You owe it to your spouse to be pure,” and “Virginity is a gift that a woman gives a man, and a woman’s power is her ability to say no.”
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