Maria's Halo-halo

Baby Talk #9: Mamam

2015-02-14T10:47:00.001+08:00

Mamam for the last year's newly turned two Buchukoy could only be any of the three: mommy, apple, or water. Just by watching his body language, it's apparently not confusing what he's referring to.

Baby Talk #8: Tata

2015-02-12T20:20:00.004+08:00

Also last year, my nephew Buchukoy, called us aunts as "Tata". Tita is aunt in English. It was easier for him to say it that way because he was also thinking of the bird sound "tatata", only with two syllables.

Baby Talk #7: Animal Sounds

2015-02-12T19:47:00.000+08:00

Before Buchukoy turned two last year, he could mimic some animal sounds. Just ask him what an animal does and he would respond to you like these:

Question: Anong sabi ng lion? (What did the lion say?)
Buchukoy: Mmmm... (It's as if he has phlegm or he is angry.)

Question: Anong sabi ng monkey? (What did the monkey say?)
Buchukoy: Hihihihi... (But when we only say "Monkey, monkey", he'll do a hihihi sound while shaking his crib with his hands.)

Question: Anong sabi ng lizard? (What did the lizard say?)
Buchukoy: Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk... (He looks up at the ceiling to search for the lizard.)

Question: Anong sabi ng bird? (What did the bird say?)
Buchukoy: Ta, ta, ta...

Question: Anong sabi ng horse? (What did the horse say?)
Buchukoy: Mmmhuhummm...

Question: Anong sabi ng goat? (What did the goat say?)
Buchukoy: Eheheheh...

Question: Anong sabi ng cat? (What did the cat say?)
Buchukoy: Maw... (It's like he's pleading.)

Question: Anong sabi ng dog? (What did the dog say?)
Buchukoy: A Aww...

Question: Anong sabi ng bee? (What did the bee say?)
Buchukoy: Psst...

Question: Anong sabi ng cow? (What did the cow say?)
Buchukoy: Moo...

Question: Anong sabi ng sheep? (What did the sheep say?)
Buchukoy: Bababa...

Baby Talk #6: Atatata..., Adadada...

2013-02-14T12:23:00.002+08:00

Although eh is the most overused baby word by Buchukoy, atatata... and adadada... are two of these additions to his vocabulary. Atatata... is not tita (or auntie). Adadada... doesn't mean daddy. He just speaks them to start a conversation or to reply. Sometimes, they can imply as he wants your attention. But oftentimes, he likes to use them to talk to himself.

Happy 1st birthday Buchukoy!

Baby Talk #5: Eh!

2012-09-28T19:00:00.000+08:00

Iatotski, my two-year-old niece, is growing up so fast. She's not a baby anymore. So starting today, my posts would shift to Buchukoy, my seven-month-old nephew and my elder sister's first son.

The first word that I heard from Buchukoy a few days after he was born was "Eh!". Later on, his eh has created different meanings. He makes a laughing eh when he is happy. He produces a shrieking eh when he gets excited. A crying eh, which is sometimes with matching feigned cough, happens when he's hungry or irritated. A sleepy eh is accompanied with scratching his head or ear. There's also a chatty eh when he's talking to someone. Another one is a mumbling eh when he's playing alone. A biting eh occurs when he puts his fingers in his mouth. He also expels gas with a burp eh. And finally, if it's time to defecate, he lets out a forced eh.

Mama and Daddy

2012-05-08T23:21:00.000+08:00

I don't know why we sisters call our mother Mama not Mommy, and our father Daddy not Papa. What I know is that Mama and Daddy are exact opposites.

Mama is a sociable type. She would always go out and chat with our neighbors. She's very familiar with most of them including their families, their lives and their problems, but she's not tsismosa. She would always attend birthday parties from young to old, weddings, fiestas, christening, lamay, and whatever-occasion-you-could-think-of. Daddy is a reticent type. He would rather read the Inquirer or the book by his favorite author, do crossword puzzles, or watch TV. He's only very talkative when inebriated -- he transforms into a different person and becomes extrovert.

Mama only made it to high school. They're so poor that she stopped going to school to work for the sake of her younger siblings. If given the chance, maybe Mama might be a CPA or even a physician. Daddy finished college with a degree in Business Administration. His being a CPA influenced my other three siblings to take up Accountancy in college.

Mama can't speak English well but you can fully fathom what she's trying to convey because she speaks from the heart. Daddy can converse in English fluently with a Filipino accent.

When it comes to money, Mama informs us daughters how much money she's got in hand. Daddy is very secretive. We don't know how much he has.

When shopping, Mama visits every nook and cranny of the mall. Daddy drops by only to limited places.

Mama doesn't eat beef. She says it's masebo. However, she cooks delicious mechado and beef steak without tasting them. Daddy loves beef, so he cooks nilagang baka every week.

Mama is very religious. Daddy occasionally goes to church.

Mama is a fan of noontime shows, Filipino teleseryes and Korean dramas. Daddy watches basketball, boxing and English movies.

Mama detests dogs. Daddy is very fond of dogs.

To Mama, texting is a difficult task. To Daddy, it is just a breeze. Oftentimes, they argue when Mama misinterprets texts she reads in Daddy's phone.

These are just some of their differences and they do not end here. I think their being opposites is what makes them complement each other.

Mama and Daddy first met at my maternal cousin's baptism. Daddy is Tito Celo's friend and godfather of his daughter, while Mama is my Tita Simeng's younger sister and her daughter's aunt. Daddy got attracted to Mama that time and the rest is history.

Both of their parents were farmers. They're very hardworking like their parents. They raised us five daughters well. None of us has gone astray. They didn't spoil us.

What we've learned from them are selflessness, sacrifice, honesty, hardwork, frugality and loving unconditionally.

We daughters are proud of our parents. We admire both of them and we are such very lucky to have them.

They're not a perfect couple. They have their share of fights over money, jealousy and dogs. But despite being opposites, we know they really love each other.

Happy 35^th Wedding Anniversary Mama and Daddy! We love you!

Baby Talk #4: Jobee

2012-04-30T20:50:00.000+08:00

There's a recent rumor that Jollibee will have a branch in Singapore soon. My eldest sister's family is based in Singapore. If it's true, then my niece, who is my eldest sister's daughter, will be delighted. To her, Jollibee is "Jobee". She celebrated her 1st birthday with a Jollibee Kids Theme Party when they had a vacation here in the Philippines. She enjoyed watching the Jollibee mascot perform a very entertaining dance number. Since then, Jollibee is her favorite. And because she likes Jollibee so much, her paternal cousin was forced to give her his Jollibee talking doll. Adding to that, she also has memorized the outdated "Isa pa, isa pang Chikenjoy!" move which was taught to her by my youngest sister.

Jobee happy!

Mama-speak #5: Shirimp

2012-03-28T10:38:00.000+08:00

My youngest sister's favorite dish is sinigang na hipon. Hipon is shrimp in English. But my Mama insists on calling shrimp as shirimp. She can't drop the other "i" from it. Since that's the case, let's say it based on my Mama's pronunciation - shirimp sinigang, shirimp pasta, shirimp paste, shirimp barbeque, shirimp salad, shirimp rolls, and so on.

Baby Talk #3: Has Pat

2012-01-23T12:58:00.000+08:00

It was Kuya Kim Atienza's Matanglawin episode that I was able to know about the Komodo Dragon. But my niece first learned about this giant lizard through her Daddy's A-Z video tutorial on his mobile phone. From A-Z, she tried to imitate how the example for each letter was spoken. It was the letter K for Komodo Dragon that was the most distinctive of all. She pronounced this Indonesian reptile as Has Pat. Ang layo naman, baby!

Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Mama-speak #4: Hohoto-hototay

2011-12-13T10:00:00.000+08:00

Hototay is a soup composed of mixed meat and vegetables. It won't be complete without petsay Baguio or Chinese petsay. Because hototay has petsay as an ingredient, hohoto-hototay, according to my Mama's vocabulary, also means pepetse-petse, which I mentioned in my previous blog post.

Mama-speak #3: Pepetse-petse

2011-11-30T10:00:00.000+08:00

Pepetse-petse is used to describe a person who has no energy to do certain things. To make it short in Filipino, it is lalambot-lambot or papatay-patay. It sounds like petsay or pechay. Since petsay is a soft vegetable, my Mama brilliantly transformed "petsay" to "petse" and just added the prefix "pepetse" to it.

Baby Talk #2: Pacham! Pacham!

2011-11-19T11:52:00.001+08:00

Aside from "chi", my then one-year-old niece kept on uttering "Pacham! Pacham!" several times before. She would blurt that out without even thinking. I miss those "Pacham! Pacham!" days, however, I am glad her vocabulary (Filipino, English and, okay, simple Mandarin included) is improving day by day.

Baby Talk #1: Chi!

2011-11-07T10:07:00.000+08:00

In an amusing Tagalog-dubbed Japanese animé Prince Mackaroo which was shown on local TV, there's a character named Khaki who would always end his sentence with "chi". I just remembered my niece would call herself as "Chi" before. It's neither her nickname nor her real name. If asked where she was, she would point to herself or her picture and reply "Chi!" for affirmation. But now that she has gotten over chi, she can say her nickname and full name almost clearly.

Technopreneur

2011-10-28T11:28:00.000+08:00

There's a saying that all work and no play makes you a dull person. But what if you can have them both at the same time?

In my 20's and still living with parents, I opened a small Internet café in front of our house in 2009. I never imagined that I would be a technopreneur at that age. When I was in grade school, I was fascinated with cakes, so I dreamt of becoming a pâtissière. In high school, I donned a laboratory gown in our class to show that I would be a pediatrician someday. However, due to unpredicted circumstances, I shifted from Physical Therapy to Computer Science in college. Fast forward to 2009, I ended up self-employed -- thanks to my very supportive parents.

I come from a family of Accountancy graduates but not entrepreneurs. The only experience I have in business was when we sisters rented out komiks during summer vacation in our younger years. But our first attempt in business failed.

Some people look down on the Internet café industry. They think this is a bum's profession and just a fad. Well, they are mistaken. Before I become an Internet café manager, I had to self-study and attend workshops, seminars and short course. They don't teach everything in school. The computer school where I enrolled in didn't prepare me for this. You have to have a technical-know-how. You need to draft a business plan before you jump into this male-dominated field. You can't learn it overnight. Some lure people especially OFWs to invest in computer shop even without computer background - like it is the fastest way to make money. Mostly after only a few months of operation, they close their shops because they rely on other people to run them.

In my little shop, customers are classified as hardcore and casual gamers, surfers and chatters. They can choose their own seats they are comfortable with. When I hear “Ako sa number 4!”, “Ate, pa-reserve sa 3”, etc., I find them funny because they fight over who gets to the seat first as if it's their territory and it's their own PC. They also have their preference in operating system (Linux or Windows). And believe it or not, kids from 4-10 years old opt for Linux over Windows despite the misconception that Linux is a complicated platform.

With my shop, I've come to know the people in my neighborhood. Some are my regular customers who are like my siblings. They've become part of my extended family. They are the source of gossip and entertainment. Sometimes I help them with their homework.

My shop is a also a makeshift day care center. Some parents or guardians leave the kids in my shop to play games while they are busy or away.

There are customers that I like and hate. I consider the loyal ones the best. Customers who always say thank you make me smile. I'm also flattered when some praise how clean my shop is and how fast its Internet connection. I resent those who are nagmamagaling and show-off. For those annoy me, as much as possible, I apply maximum tolerance to them. I have to bear with these kind of customers who are testing my patience.

I am also getting used to customers refer USB drive/disk, or thumb drive/disk, or flash drive/disk as "USB" only. I just remembered the term ma-traffic (read: ma-movement of vehicles?) instead of "slow traffic" we Filipinos often use as an excuse for late arrival on appointment.

Because I own the shop, I can impose set of rules to my customers. There's no viewing, uploading, downloading of pornographic materials. There's no smoking and drinking. I don't allow students to cut classes. Cursing or trash talk is prohibited. And the most important of all the rules is no pay, no rent.

Since I'm the boss and the sole employee (I'm also the technician, bantayand janitor), I can announce a self-declared holiday. I don't have a regular working hours. I can undergo undertime or overtime. Nobody will scold me for opening late. But no work means no income, so I have to discipline myself.

What I love about my work is the perks that come with it. I have unlimited access to almost everything. I can surf all I want, watch all I want, download all I want, and play all I want. But while I'm enjoying these privileges, I must always be aware of my customer's needs.

As a manager, I must also be updated of the latest software in the market. I don't install pirated software. A good alternative is free and open source software. And as responsible individual, I don't put too violent games in my shop.

One of the Internet café owner's worst enemies is power outage. You have no choice but to close for the day. Second is heavy rain or typhoon which may lead to the first one. Third is unstable net connection or no connection at all. Fourth is hardware failure. It's an added expense to replace the damaged parts. Fifth is competitors. In our area, computer shops are ubiquitous. Competition is very tight. I wonder how other shops survive with a 10 Pesos per hour rate with the continuous rise in electric bills. Fifth is thieves and burglars. These heartless guys don't realize how hard it is to keep a shop alive. The only solution to prevent them is to set-up a security system and always be alert. In my shop, I always check if a new customer or pretending to be a customer is suspicious-looking.

Moreover, I just earn enough to finance my basic needs and to pay for monthly and annual expenses. I don't pay for the rent since it's residential. I don't worry about transportation expense. I'm hands on and I don't depend on other technicians for repair and maintenance.

I'm a technopreneur by accident. This can't make me rich (yet) but it's rewarding. There are ups and downs but what matters most is that I love and enjoy my job (or my hobby). And of course, it doesn't make me dull.

Baby Talk

2011-10-19T20:52:00.000+08:00

It's fun listening to my niece's baby talk. She is now two years old. While she's in this phase of exploring new things, I will write in my succeeding posts about her unforgettable words which I find cute and adorable.

Happy birthday baby!

Mama-speak #2: Twinkle, Twinkle, Ringo Starr

2011-10-12T11:28:00.002+08:00

"Twinkle, twinkle, Ringo Starr,

How I wonder what you are..."

I was so shocked when one time I heard my Mama sang the popular nursery song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to my one-year-old niece. She unintentionally replaced "Little Star" with "Ringo Starr". Who is Ringo Starr anyway? I never heard of him. After googling the mystery man, Ringo Starr is actually a musician and was the drummer for The Beatles. Wow, my Mama knows The Beatles pala!

Mama-speak #1: Ekis Mo

2011-10-08T11:02:00.001+08:00

Anak: "Tara, kain tayo sa labas."

Mama: "Ekis mo."

Ekis mo is the most often used of all my Mama's self-invented expressions by us family members. In Mama-speak, it means ""Ikaw ang taya" (It's your treat) or "Ikaw ang magbabayad" (You have to pay for it). We sisters and our Daddy always borrow this Mama's language whenever there's a special occasion or whenever we go out.

Mama-speak

2011-09-28T20:25:00.001+08:00

My Mama is a master of inventing her own language. She utters some words you can't find in any dictionary. There are terms, phrases and expressions she concocted by herself. She has her own way of innocently pronouncing words that even if you correct her, she speaks back to her version. I laugh at her mistakes, but this doesn't mean I belittle her nor make fun of her. This what makes her endearing, so I admire her more. I am really proud of my Mama!

Hello Blog World!

2011-08-30T17:38:00.000+08:00

This is my first blog post.

Ubuntu Linux + Qt 4 + Gimp