Maryanne Moll tagged me with a Six Weird Things About Me meme. But for once I don't feel like writing about me, so I'll share six things about life in the Philippines instead. Maybe to those of you who haven't been here, some of these may seem weird. But for us, they aren't so out of this world because we're used to them.
1. English is widely spoken here. But some of us seem to speak and write in a language that's neither American English nor the Queen's English. In any case, reading stuff like this is a lot of fun.
photo courtesy of witerary.com
2. Headhunting used to be part of the way of life for several indigenous tribes. A warrior's tattoos indicated how many heads he'd taken; the more decapitations, the higher his stature. The practice may be obsolete, but strangely, there seem to be a lot of headless -- or I should say brainless -- people walking around. Especially in the field of politics.
3. We have what many consider to be the smallest active volcano in the world: Taal Volcano.
4. We have one of the smallest primates in the world: the Philippine tarsier. It's a small, cute, monkey-like thing.
5. We have the smallest freshwater fish: the dwarf goby. The world's biggest fishes also swim in our waters, though not exclusively: for example, the whale shark. [I could be mistaken for one.]
6. We're big on laughter, oh yes we are. We think so. Even in the toughest of times, there's still laughter to be heard and felt within and without.
If you want to do this meme, knock yourself out. Thanks, Maryanne. I had fun with this.
1. English is widely spoken here. But some of us seem to speak and write in a language that's neither American English nor the Queen's English. In any case, reading stuff like this is a lot of fun.
photo courtesy of witerary.com2. Headhunting used to be part of the way of life for several indigenous tribes. A warrior's tattoos indicated how many heads he'd taken; the more decapitations, the higher his stature. The practice may be obsolete, but strangely, there seem to be a lot of headless -- or I should say brainless -- people walking around. Especially in the field of politics.
3. We have what many consider to be the smallest active volcano in the world: Taal Volcano.
4. We have one of the smallest primates in the world: the Philippine tarsier. It's a small, cute, monkey-like thing.
5. We have the smallest freshwater fish: the dwarf goby. The world's biggest fishes also swim in our waters, though not exclusively: for example, the whale shark. [I could be mistaken for one.]
6. We're big on laughter, oh yes we are. We think so. Even in the toughest of times, there's still laughter to be heard and felt within and without.
If you want to do this meme, knock yourself out. Thanks, Maryanne. I had fun with this.
A whale shark!?! - stop fishing for compliments - start discipline yourselves and don't eat so much CHOCOLATE.
ReplyDeleteDaddyP, stay where you are occupied house in gated community!
ReplyDeleteI fish not for compliments. I have love handles -- though they aren't of whale shark-like proportions...yet.
And I'm being good. I haven't had chocolatey yumminess in about 3 days.
That little monkey thing is adorable.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is. But I have yet to see one up close.
ReplyDeleteI'm coming to visit...
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list. Thanks Lizza...I would love to visit...the different vegetation and wildlife is spectacular.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, Taal, that brings back memories
ReplyDeleteI did not manage to see that little fury animal
Next time, next time
That document reads like triple-translated stereo instructions. And yet I totally understood everything. So yay!
ReplyDeleteIan
The only thing I wasn't sure about on those rules was the no staying or sitting in the other cottage during eating times.
ReplyDeleteBy reading your post you're making my misses more intense. I've been longing to go back to The Philippines. I loved it there!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I read about #2 and #4 before. As for Taal, it was beautiful!
(:
The tarsier is so utterly darlingish!
ReplyDeleteAnd if there were a 7th point, it would be that all you Pinoys are brilliant musicians. [I couldn't hear enough about this all over Singi & HK].
And that the 8th that you guys have 7 thousand, 1 hundred and 7 beaches, which isn't just unfair or shameless, it's obscenely unfair and shameless.
Oh and that document there, that's just our very superior Asian word processing, meaning making, english defying, creative capabilities. If only you'd see that they've said more than they've actually said, and converyed less that they've portrayed they wanted to... etc. See how complicated it all is? Yay us [Asians].
Headhunting! Another name for Philippine politics, eh?
ReplyDeleteI had just as much as fun reading this post as you did writing it. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Lizza.
ReplyDeleteYou could also say that we are the country with the most beautiful women. :P
Just popping over before going to bed. Work had been toxic for over a week now.
Goodnight! :)
Yes, don't forget the part about all the beautiful girls!
ReplyDeleteKiyotoe: I hope you do. :-)
ReplyDeleteBond: And you too! Many areas here have ecological problems because of commercialization, etc. But certain conservationists are doing a good job.
ZI You should try swimming in the lake. Nice, warm water. So what if the volcano erupts? Haha, kidding. :-)
Ian: Exactly. We can still make ourselves understood. :-)
Trav: From what I figure, that's so they'll have an easier time figuring out which cottages are unoccupied. But why during eating time specifically? :-)
Kyels: I hope you can come over again soon. Still lots of places waiting for you here. :-)
Dearest soul sis: I am not a terrible musician, I'm no musician at all! Can't even sing without scaring babies. But I do love good music.
We have 7,107 islands, but...most islands have more than one beach. So we have significantly more than just 7,107 beaches. Please don't hate us. ;-)
Haha! I love your take on our (Asians') use of the language. And yes, yay for us Asians! :-)
Migs: Bagging a politician's head sure is no trophy. Haha! Well, lots of them anyway. Some of them I like. Won't tell you which, though!
This was fun to do. And you know I adore your posts about life in this quirky country of ours. Nakalimutan ko na ngang banggitin na pwede tayong bumili ng yosi ng tingi. Perhaps that will sound odd to others. Haha!
Maryanne: I'm sorry it took a long time before I finally got around to doing it. I liked doing this tag, made me laugh.
Of course, we have beautiful women, too. :-D
Scott: Lots of beautiful women all over the world, and I'm glad to say we have our fair share. :-)
I want one of those little critters. And DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO post the damn shark????!!!!! :(
ReplyDelete-N
But the whale shark is harmless to humans, Natalia. :-) It don't bite! It's awesome, I'd love to get up close to one.
ReplyDeleteThe tarsier is really cute!
ReplyDeleteThat it is, silverneurotic. And I hear it's a pretty sweet thing too. :-)
ReplyDeleteOf course I want one of those lil critters....
ReplyDeleteI could tell you guys are big on laughter....just from reading you!
Peace
(no chocalate in three days?????;d
What a great list, Lizza! I want to visit :)
ReplyDeleteHello Lizza, I found your site through Bond. I have been lurking at your site for some time. I hope that is okay. I am also a Filipina, and have been able to make the trek back home twice - although not for sometime. We have plans to visit next year...
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that I do enjoy reading through your blog, and many things you say about Philippine life makes me nostalgic. I look forward to getting to know you.
Odat: I knew you'd love the tarsier. :-D And yes, no chocolate...4 days now.
ReplyDeleteTammie: Heyy, great to see you again! Thanks, it would be great to have you visit.
Gail: Thanks for weighing in, and thanks for the kind words. It's always nice to meet someone new.
You'll find lots of things have changed here, but strangely, many things have stayed the same.
I had to enlarge that great notice - it's the kind of thing that I love reading. Aww, cute volcano. Awww, cute little pop-eyed tarsier. But I have to tell you - brianless politicians are not peculiar to the Phillipines - witness George Bush.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute little volcano!!! And you'd never be mistaken for that!!!
ReplyDelete