Parols like the one's up there in the photo can get pretty dangerous. See the parol on top of the kids? It fell after the photo was taken and picked a fight with my cousin. Just kidding. I was about to spread some tsismis! What does tsismis mean? It means rumor: it's the gift that keeps on spreading! In Bisaya, tsismis means "to talk smack about your cousin/parol/ex-girlfriend/fish" or something like that. Sari-sari stores are actually the best places to sit down and spread this kind of love.

Whew, Rota wheels being "made in the Philippines" doesn't mean "made by 10 year old slave laborers." If anything, 10 year olds in the PI drive on them, which is just as bad. Anyway, if you know anyone who owns a slave-driver company in the Philippines or anywhere else, kill them.

Forget Bill Gates, ask the Balbutins or Tita Loly for business advice. Go to the Philippines and you'll find a whole bunch of sari-sari stores on one block, selling everything from soap to airplane engines (sari-sari means 'alota-different-stuff'). If you give them a certain password, the owners will add your name to their store signs. Actually they don't that.

My dad and his brother arrived in the US around 1925, working in California's farmlands along side Mexican and Japanese farmworkers. Back then when discriminated, Filipinos roasted their tormentors lechon style in front of their families! Good times, good times.

"Broken Promises" is a 12 minute documentary on the Fil-Am veteran battle for equity for their part in World War II. You can watch the video here. Brought to you by KmB. The guy rapping halfway through the video is Filipino.

Once upon a time Jollibee and I hung out and had our photo taken. In the photo, I noticed a Filipino man behind Jollibee posing with us. I suddenly felt worried. Not because the man was wearing the same fake Louie Vuitton sunglasses I got from Greenhills in Manila, but because the man himself was my Uncle Boobot... who died 13 years ago that day.

I freaked out and ran as fast as I could. I searched for a safe place to hide but all I could find was a dark, abandoned warehouse on top of a cemetery. So I hid inside. As I walked in a hand came out of the 'eh-shadose' and grabbed me... it was Jollibee!

I was thankful that my good friend Jollibee had come to save the day, until he stabbed me with a Cutco knife. Confused, I kicked Jollibee's face, which suprisingly was only a mask. It wasn't Jollibee at all stabbing me with a Cutco knife, it was... Oh yeah, Cutco knives! I remember my cousin used to sell Cutco knives. Those knives were also great for peeling and other various chopping needs. I remember one time my cousin was showing us how the Cutco knives could cut through pennies. That was cool. Before Cutco, my cousin sold Rainbow vacuums.

The end.weffriddles.com/level1.html

Popular Filipino pastries are baked like bibingka, or steamed like puto. But I like Filipino pastries that are deep fried in that used cooking oil found inside the old "I can't believe it's not butter" container by the kitchen sink. Binangkal should be deep fried in that same oil.

I called lola for her special recipe: "Add mga maybe 2 cups of shukar. Ah no, 3 cups of shukar. Ah nebermind, to taste na lang, to taste."

Like Yoda to a Jedi knight, she told me to find out by myself. By the time I was done my arms and face were full of hot oil scars and the binangkal came out nasty. I need to make a hundred more batches before I reach the quality of lola's binangkal. For now i'll use my binangkal as Filipino scrubbing rocks: those rocks Uncle li-lit uses to scrub himself in the shower.

The Philippine government started the "WOW Philippines" campaign in 2002 to attract more tourism to the islands. The website is complete with cute palm trees and animated scuba divers but the negative affects of tourism on the Philippine environment can get pretty ugly. Just look at the poor snake for goodness sake.

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