Filipino culture and more: 10 signs that you're definitely Filipino!

Only in the Philippines

It’s more fun in the Philippines, they say. It truly is! Especially if you have to complete the statement "You know you’re Filipino when…”

Screen grab from You Tube (fudgkaomi)

Baptism

You have multiple godparents owing to a momentous religious occasion - baptism, confirmation, wedding, or all three.

Screen grab from You Tube (altonchaingang)

Tapsilog = Tapa + sinangag + itlog

You know what "silog” is, plus all the different prefixes attached to it (tap, long, to, chix, bang, hot, corn, embo, etc.). And although it’s customarily breakfast fare, you eat "silog” for lunch or dinner too, and you like at least two of its many variants.

Screen grab from You Tube (Tagalog Kitchen)

Manila jeepney

You have ridden in a jeepney and you know the two-syllable Tagalog word to utter to make the jeepney driver stop. You can also reel off jeepney maxims such as "Basta driver, sweet lover,” "Barya lang sa umaga,” "Pull da string 2 stop,” and "God knows Hudas not pay!”

Screen grab from You Tube (moymoypalaboy)

Pedicab

You know what a padyak or de-padyak is and that they do "special trips.”

Screen grab from You Tube (Benedick Icban)

"Mano po"

You show respect to the elderly by taking a person’s hand and touching it to your forehead while bending over slightly and saying "mano po”.

Screen grab from You Tube (JayDayBrown)

Pandesal

You like pandesal, especially in the morning, and you call a loaf of bread "tasty.”

Image source: GMA News and Public Affairs

Patintero

You played games like taguan pung, patintero, tumbang preso, luksong tinik, piko, agawan base, Pepsi-7-Up and langit-lupa in your youth. In addition, you call the hand game "rock, paper, scissors” "Jack en Poy.”

Bee-da ka!

You are well-acquainted with Jollibee. You know its menu, you’ve attended parties there, and you most likely have a picture with the store’s mascot.

Image source: fi2w.org

Greenhills tiangge

You know what a tiangge is, that you can make tawad there, and where fake and pirated stuff are sold.

Screen grab from You Tube (B Adventures)

Just add an H

You have friends, relatives or acquaintances whose names have a superfluous "h” like Bhoy, Mhel, Jhun and Gherlie.

Boy or girl?

You are superstitious, and it’s mainly because of the "oldies" in your family who adhere to all sorts of pamahiin. Did a fork drop? Then you will have a male visitor (it would be a female if a spoon fell instead). Look at that pregnant woman! Her tummy is rounded, not pointed. That means she’ll have a girl. Puwera usog!

Kwek-kwek and Betamax

You can identify Pinoy street food especially the ones with the silliest names such as kwek-kwek (a.k.a. alien), tokneneng, isaw, betamax, adidas, balut and penoy.

Image sources: Tumblr, The Filipino Lifestyle

"Don't English! I'm panic!"

You laugh at and like to share jokes that mangle the English language. More often than not, these LOL snippets feature "quotable quotes” from politician Joseph "Erap” Estrada (the nerd of that guy!), model Melanie Marquez, and actress Alma Moreno.

Image source: no-benta.blogspot.com

Philippine flag

How many of these cultural quirks do you identify with?

About the author: Regina Posadas

If you have any insights, questions or comments regarding the topic, please share them in our Comment box below. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Google+ to stay up-to-date on the latest from theAsianparent.com Philippines!

Written by

Regina G. Posadas

what makes you Filipinoyou know you're Filipino whenfilipino cultureEnglish