Living Batangueño: My new vocabulary

I'm a city born boy living and working in Batangas City for the last 4 years. This post is part of a series about adjusting to life in Batangas - Living Batangueño. Please subscribe!
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Don't call the ladies "manang"

In Manila, it is common to refer to anyone older than you as "manang / manong", or "ate / kuya", both meaning elder sister or brother. In Batangas, the proper term for respect is "Ka". For example, you would call an elder who is not your relative "Ka -insert_name_here-", say for example, Ka Roger or Ka Pedring or Ka Linda.

When I was newly transplanted, some colleagues and I would have lunch at this nearby "bangihan" (bbq) place. One time, I was wanting something spicy for my sauce, so I called out to the serving lady, "Manang, pahingi ho ng sili (can I have some chili)". The lady just smiled at me and asked for some chili from another serving lady. The other lady then brought her some chili teasing, "O, Ka Manang, eto na yung sili! (here's the chili!)". Hehehehe. Pwnd! :p

Call me "Utoy" (not tutoy!)

On the other end of the geriatric spectrum, while elders are called "Ka", young Batangueño boys are referred to as "utoy" and young Batangueño girls are called "ineng". Being baby-faced and short (ouch!), I'm often called "utoy" here. That actually took some getting used to for my ears as "utoy" sounds very similar to "tutoy" which is in Manila, a short name for a kid's penis. Lol!

 

It's pronounced "gah"

One of the very first Batangueño things I learned was how to properly pronounce "ga". I had always thought it was pronounced with a shortened guttural "a" sound, pronouncing the "g" then closing your throat as if you choking. I was wrong! :p It's pronounced with a bit more sustained "a" (like "gaa" or "gah").

Now go practice!


"Ano, ga?"

Random: I've been on vacation mode since last week

Vacation Mode
I cannot for the respect of everything corporate continue like this...
Sure I have completed some tasks...
Sure I replied to some emails...
Sure I have not wasted my manhours on nothing...
Sure I'm still net positive on output vs input (haha, whatever)...

But damn, dude, my brain is already at the beach, receiving a relaxing massage by the shore, listening to the waves and soaking up the sun. My brain has been, since last week, off to Boracay or Puerto Galera or Palawan, begging my body to go and book a flight already! Please please please...

So I went and finalized a trip to Puerto Galera Beach in Mindoro this coming Labor Day long weekend! ...Excited much? I'll bring back photos. Haha.
Don't know yet where we will be staying, but I'm looking forward to relaxing and partying, maybe play with some fishies, go snorkeling, go dancing, swimming, whopee!

Vulcanized
I accompanied a friend of mine to a vulcanizing shop to take a nail out of his tire. Turns out he had 2 tires that had nails in 'em, for a grand total of 4 holes. lol. He's been driving around with 4 freakin' holes in his tires. :p

While we're on the topic, I think vulcanizing shop mechanics are terribly underpaid.

10,000 blog hits!
I do believe I am semi-obsessive.
How many times do you check your blog daily just to see if someone left a comment? :p
Do you keep an excel spreadsheet of your daily blog hits? (By the way, I'm approaching 10,000 hits on this blog, and expecting it to reach 10k within the week! 10,000 hits, and MORE THAN HALF of that was just in the last 4 months!)

I just restarted blogging in January of this year, and from an average of 3 hits per day last year, I'm now up to 80+ hits per day. I know that's not a lot yet, but hey! Thanks to all the visitors.

OK, all for now. Off to dinner.

Directory of Philippine Choirs and Websites

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Philippine Choirs

The new (last) Harry Potter and the HBP trailer

The final Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince trailer is out! It's below after the "jump". Are you excited? The trailer looks awesome. Really dark and mysterious. Need to review the book though, it's been more than a year since I read it, haha.

And read this: "The release of the new Harry Potter film in the US has been brought forward by two days. It'll now open on Wednesday 15 July - the same day as it opens in the UK."
I had reported on this blogpost last month that Harry Potter and the HBP will come out in the Philippines on July 16. Are you going to watch it?

'Ere's the trailer:

Theme Thursday: Earth!

This is a blast from the past for me, from my childhood (which, come to think of it, is now quite distant...) watching cartoons on television. One particular cartoons series I enjoyed was Captain Planet and the Planeteers. This week's theme reminded me of it because it's always the first element they shout. I actually know this next one by heart...

Kwame: ...Then let our powers combine! EARTH!
Wheeler: FIRE!
Linka: WIND!
Gi: WATER!
Mati: HEART!
Captain Planet: By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!
All: Go Planet!
*Song - Captain Planet, he's our hero! Gonna take pollution down to zero...

- then I don't know anymore. Haha!
This video, I conveniently found on YouTube, the intro to Captain Planet's first episode:



I really enjoyed this series because aside from the entertaining action sequences (hehe) they also have tips on how to save the earth at the end. I think this is really helpful in making children aware of how pollution affects the world.

This is one of my favorite cartoons from the 80's. But just to reminisce, my other favorite cartoons then were Transformers, Voltes V, Daimos, Thundercats, He-man and the Masters of the Universe, Care Bears (stare!), Visionaries (this one is my favorite!), King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table, Thundercats, and so many others! Haha...

What was YOUR favorite cartoon series?

I live on a golf course but cannot play to save my life

Next week will mark the 4th anniversary of the first time I came to live on a golf course. And in those 4 years, I have never been able to hit a golf ball properly. Not once. Nope.

Let me qualify though, that in those 4 years, I have only held a golf club a maximum of maybe 10 times... Haha! But truthfully, I am all praise and respect for anyone great at golf because it is one mind boggling game. I have never been able to get my mind around how to actually play it. That oddly shaped stick and the tiny hole where you have to putt it in is just too much of a mismatch to comprehend.

I mean, basketball, even though I suck at that too, is fairly easy to understand HOW you get to be good at it. The same goes with football, volleyball, even tennis or badminton. Chess, the game of strategy, is also a concept not that difficult to understand: you anticipate your opponents moves and make your own strategic plans...

But golf, dear Holy God, whoever made this sport was crazy...

Some more photos of the golf course...







Okay, some of those are not really part of the golf course, but who's keeping track anyway? :p

The white thing in the foreground is a mushroom!







With the swimming pool and some flowers along the driveway too.
And lastly, here's a funny blogsite with jokes about golf.