Why is it Brits want to be Pinoys and Pinoys want to be British??
It is one thing working with Filipinos and having them work for you one day a week, but when you live with one you become even more Filipino , as happened when Julz lived with me briefly.
So what did I learn?
Chef Coco teaches Trainee Chef Julz the art of cake making
32. ( I will carry on the numbering from my earlier blog) Filipinos are obsessed by their teeth, frequently paying out for braces, to make them look better. This is in addition to whitening cream, endless lotions, and even in one case a nose job to make Isa's big nose smaller! Julz was horrified by the teeth cleaning schedule in my bathroom where I monitored my target of cleaning my teeth twice a day. Before Julz arrived i was lucky to clean my teeth 5 times a week , not bothering at the weekend and falling asleep in the evening. Julz told me I should be cleaning my teeth 3 times a day. So I drew up a new spread sheet and managed to get it up to 17 times in his second week here and finally 21 times the week he left- a truly Filipino performance!
Jeyboy and his braces!
33. Cracking eggs- I get through a lot of eggs ( 7 a week - 3 for breakfast - one cold hard boiled egg every other day and 4 for lunch with salad every other day) and in Awali I used 15 on a Friday when Jake, Corleen, Shji, his colleague and I have a 3 egg Omlette each for breakfast. In England we crack eggs on the side of the pan that we are poaching them in , or the side of the frying pan . In the Philippines, Chef Gracie taught me, you use a knife to crack the egg. Since I first wrote this blog Rachelle told me I should only eat one egg every other day so I have dramatically cut my egg consumption! Salamat Po!
34. Cleaning your bottom after using the toilet. I have to say that this was the hardest thing for me to learn. When you have spent 59 years cleaning your toilet with toilet paper I was a little confused when I stayed at Jhoanna's house in Baratoan that there was none! So when Julz came to stay he taught me how to use the hose and soap to wash my bottom after using the toilet ( or CR as the Filipinos call it) . Julz ended up repeatedly having to mop the bathroom floor as I missed the target!
Sorry, no more naked photos. Zaid is seeking revenge after he did not get promoted , in spite of complaining to the GM
35. Sleeping- I had a problem sleeping in Bahrain , falling asleep early ( around 8 pm) and waking up early ( anywhere between 2 and 5 am) . This was a big problem for Julz who liked to go out cycling at 11 pm and chatting to his family back home at 2 am ( 7 am in Philippines) and then he found it hard to wake up at 3 am when I needed help to use the toilet. However I later discovered from him , Alvin, Corleen and this reminded me what I had already seen from Drew back in 2013- the secret is morning and afternoon naps! Drew used to disappear regularly when I was sunbathing and when I asked the staff at Cove if they knew where Mr. Norman was they would point to our room and make sleeping signs! Likewise when I was suspicious that Julz had been quiet for rather too long I crept in to his room to find him fast asleep. As time went on the early mornings got to him and one night he fell asleep before me and I had to sleep with my lights on. He did not even wake at 4 am when I went to the toilet and finally I had to wake him at 6 am for breakfast! Corleen was easier to tell when he was asleep due to the loud snoring. One time he was so loud I thought a Baboy was asleep on my sofa.
Baboy Corleen sleeps ( while he was supposed to be cleaning ) hugging my Union Jack cushion and his phone- he decided to go on a diet after seeing this pic!
36. Skinning Garlic- In the UK we use a sharp small knife to cut away the ends and then peel the garlic before dicing it to use in cooking. This method usually means that your fingers smell of garlic for days. The Filipinos have a much easier way , using a large knife to crush the garlic which both peels and dices it in one move - MATALINO PINOYS
37. Cooking rice - In England we weigh out the rice, boil water in a kettle , and add it to the rice in the saucepan, stir regularly and then cook for 20 minutes. Finally you drain off the excess water in a sieve and rinse the rice.
In the Philippines kids learn to cook rice from an early age ( they have it for every meal after all) by taking ONE cup of rice per person, rinsing it in the pan several times, and then adding enough cold water to cover the first joint in the finger above the rice. They then cook , without stirring, until all the water has evaporated and you have fluffy rice every time.
If you don't believe me watch this:
38. Sleeping together - when it came to bed time in Baratoan as the guest and Maputing Tao ( white man) and Tatay ( daddy) I was given the only mattress on the floor. I asked if any of the kids wanted to share it but they were too scared so they all slept together on the floor opposite me ( Jhoanna 20, Elay 16, Making 13 and Althea 13) . In the middle of the night I woke in a fright as I felt something touch my leg, and it was only when daylight came I found the cat had seen a space and sprawled out on the mattress next to me. The only noise in the night was the kids snoring and the rotating fan ( no AC in the provinces!) .
39. Showering- I was so glad that I stayed at Johanna's house as I really learnt what living in the provinces was like. I got up after the kids woke and did their chores and went off to school. I collected my wash bag and towel from the car and asked where the bathroom was, much to Jhoanna's amusement. She pointed at two huts in the garden and explained one was the toilet and the other the shower. Making and Elay had already collected the water from the well and it was in a big bucket inside each hut. There was a small container to pour the cold water over my head. I took off my shorts and tee shirt and hung them on a piece of string that ran across the roof of the shower "cubicle" and accidentally knocked off Making's tiny briefs that were hanging there to dry, and they fell in the water. Sorry Making! Then I poured the first bucket of water over my head and it was freezing. I am sure everyone laughed at the white man having his first cold shower. It did not take me long at all! The hardest part was getting dry and putting clean clothes on without getting them all muddy on the wet floor!
40. Shopping. We took so much for granted in Bahrain. Get in the car (actually with COV 19 most Bahrainis shop on line and have it delivered ) and go to Alosra where there are fridges and freezer loads of food. I will never complain about the limited range of goods in Alosra Rifa , having shopped in Baratoan! The kids decided they wanted me to cook as their mum was in Puerto looking after Lola who was in hospital, and who has since, sadly , died. So we decided on Adobo and headed to the shop for ingredients. We asked for chicken and were given a frozen one ( often the shops are the only places with a generator and so keep a lot of frozen stock and then defrost it as needed). With no microwave and an urgent need to eat we asked the boy to swap it for a fresh one. I heard the sounds of chicken running in the yard and said "Not that fresh!". Eventually we had all we needed and paid by cash ( no credit card shopping here) and we headed back across the road to cook. The really strange thing, considering there were pigs in every garden , is that no one sold pork, so we had to settle for chicken adobo ( and there were no chicken livers either!) but they still voted that it tasted Masarap! Salamat anaks. Mahal kita .
41. Cooking on a wood fire- when I stayed at Jhoanna's house in Baratoan I was amazed how she cooked on a log fire as they had run out of gas cylinders. They used an old wok to protect the saucepan you are cooking in from the flames. It really is a whole different ball game living in the provinces as you have to rise early to feed the chickens, get all the old food and cook it for the pigs, feed the dogs , get wood for the fire, get water from the well and wash up, and then light the fire and cook, and that's all before the kids start showering for school and the mother or older sister hand washes all the clothes, and hangs them up to dry before folding them and putting them away.
Cooking my Adobo on the log fire
So that's it as The British Kabayan learns more Tagalog ( I have 18 pages of typed Tagalog phrases now and 3 of Bisaya and 1 of Cuynon) , and how to behave like a Pinoy ... but I know I still have plenty more to learn!
I will keep you undated on my progress through my Blogs and Vlogs.
Until then...... Mahal Kita, Ingat Palagi, Kita kits xxx
PS If you missed part one of this series click the link below
41 ways to become proudly Filipino part one
For part two , click here
41 ways to become proudly Filipino , part two (thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com)
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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