Nata De Coco

You have to love nata de coco. For those who don't know, it is a jelly-like substance made from coconut gelatin, formed into cubes. It's transparent and chewy and comes in different colors, but I still prefer good ol' clear. There is a burst of sweetness once you bite in it and most Filipinos are familiar with it in fruit salads or halo-halo or taho.

My brother and I never needed any preamble to pop one open and pass it back and forth, eating away while we sat on the couch.

Who hates nata de coco? Nata me, nata you...

Filipino Spaghetti

The first time I learned that not everyone has hot dogs in their spaghetti was at school. My mom had packed me a tupperware container of her homemade spaghetti and I was wolfing it down when someone noticed that mine had strange red disks in it. When I told the rest of my table what it was they were a little weirded out but I just shrugged my shoulders and continued eating.

I still prefer the flavor of sweet (ketchup) meat sauce and the salty bites of hot dogs on my spaghetti to that of the classic, savory dish with tangy tomato sauce and meatballs. But I like them both.

Who can go wrong with spaghetti?

Jeepney

The last time I rode a jeepney I was 8 and I remember being whipped in the face by the hair of the woman sitting next to me. A little down further down an old man sat, clutching a basket with a chicken clucking inside and the mountains were passing by at exhilarating speeds outside. I absolutely loved it. We were all wedged in, shoulder to shoulder and knee to knee, making conversation with the person across the way or just trying to avoid staring at someone. That was the first time I saw a woman flash a boob and feed her baby, without any thought to her fellow passengers. What also amazed me was how the driver managed to remember all the stops, collect the correct payment and hand back the right change, mostly while driving.

Fat Chat

On a recent visit, my mom decided to tell my husband that I had gained some weight while we were sitting at a table with two other strangers, at a hibachi steakhouse!!

"Ate"

The first time my husband came over to my house he noticed that my brother kept calling me 'Ate'. After a lot of giggling from my brother and me, he insisted that he be called 'Ate' too. It is now a joke between the three of us.

Tsinelas

When I lived in the Philippines my mother would take me to the beach so that I could play in the sand and swim around for a little bit. For some reason tsinelas (flip-flops) and water don't go well together, and inevitably, I'd get one sucked up in a current and could only watch as it bobbed away from me. Needless to say, my mom was very upset.

Last night my husband asked why I even wore them while swimming and I couldn't really remember why. But I think it's because the beach and the water were so full of broken shells and rocks that you'd cut your feet on them if you didn't.

I always wondered what happened to my lost tsinelas...

Solutions

Isn't rice the answer to most of life's questions...?

Messy Eater

Never-ending Fiesta

One thing I loved living near other Filipinos were the parties. It seemed that someone always had a 'fiesta' every weekend and we'd just go from one house to another. The best part was that line that went from the food table to the dance floor to the karaoke machine and back to the food table once again.

Baby Brother

This is for my baby brother...
My brother and I are six years apart but he is only two days apart when it comes to birthdays. His birthday was last Saturday while mine is today. When he was born I had been an only child for almost 6 years and I was upset that I didn't get a birthday party.

When my mom came home from the hospital she told me that we would have a little celebration at a restaurant. It was not like my other parties, being somewhat quiet and subdued, and from then on I've had to share my birthday parties with my little brother.

But we're close now and I find it amusing to think back on how much I disliked him when he first made an appearance.

I never really fed him the fly...

Steps For Making Lumpia

One of my favorite Filipino dishes is lumpia, but it can be a little tedious to make. My mom made it a little differently from the "Shanghai" style, preferring to cook the filling and making "chubby" lumpia instead. I always volunteered to be the one who set up the assembly line and roll it as well, not because I was the good child, but because I got to nibble on the filling while I made it. Funny enough, I would just take out the filling and give my brother the fried wrapper skins. It worked out well that way.

Taglish

My parents spoke 'Taglish' at home. This combination of Tagalog and English was so common that in my younger years of grade school I would speak it automatically, interchanging Tagalog words with English words.

Ketchup and Rice

One ever-present condiment at the kitchen table was ketchup, and of course, it was Del Monte brand because my ninang worked there. Anything with a nice, steaming, kaldero of rice and ketchup ('ketsup' as my mom says) is delicious!

White Shirt

My husband is really pale and this is often a source of amusement for me.

I Got The Hint

My mom's always hinting about when I'm going to have a baby, or rather, when she's finally having an 'apo'. Sometimes it's just funny and sometimes, well... I got the hint!

Filipino Nicknames

What's Up With 'Ano'?