The Best Things About Being

1. yelling pssst......huuy at a gathering of pinoys and watching everyone turn around
2. crashing a pilipino association picnic at some park and getting yo'grub on....if questioned....claim your mom's name is baby..or dad's is boy
3. being able to cook rice without the measuring cup
4. hot pandesal
5. the smell at the pilipino store (whoa, i feel dizzy)
6. getting a glimpse at the look on your white neighbors' faces when they get a whiff of the tuyo yo moms just cooked
7. getting anything free
8. having relatives visit who you've never met and getting $40
9. new slippers
10. mango and bagoong (who would've thought)
11. receiving bootleg polo or guess shirts as presents
12. opening a new bottle of patis
13. bypassing the limit on sale 2-liter soda by bringing your whole family to the store to buy 4 each
14. drinking alak with foods like raw goat or edible beef bile
15. soup with beef tripe
16. getting polvoron candies from friends who were vacationing in P.I.
17. tocino with newly cooked rice
18. rice
19. having a mini plantation of out of the ordinary vegetables like upo and chayote and ampalaya
20. going to someone's house who does have a mini plantation and getting vegetables for free
21. watching Filipino uncles suck the brains out of the bangus head
22. eating ox tail, beef tripe, green veggies in a peanut butter broth with fried bagoong on the side...(kare kare) [what were they thinkin'?]
23. singing minus-1 vilma santos songs
24. pointing with your lips
25. at parties being told incessantly that you are big now...and asked how many boy/girlfriends do you have??
26. flirting with opposite gender by raising your eyebrows rapidly
27. the ability to feel the underside of a mahjong tile and
28. knowing the character just by touch....(oooh that's skill)
29. one word... DINUGUAN!
30. tripping over shoes and slippers in the front of your house.
31. rice
32. explaining to your white friends why your front door looks like a Foot Locker.
33. burning your f---ing tongue on freshly fried lumpia
34. Watching Filipino movies AND understanding them
35. talking sh-t about people in tagalog or Filipino language of your choice
36. that cool smell in the house after your parents fry fish
37. plastic outdoor runners INSIDE the house...looks cooool man!
38. SPAM, CORNED BEEF, and VIENNA SAUSAGE, the gourmet meats of Filipinos!!!
39. turning over them plastic runners and watching a family member walk over the spikey side (ouch...hahaha)'
40. SPAM, CORNED BEEF, or VIENNA SAUSAGES on sale, and buying them by the case loads
41. when your parents come home from the commissary (groceries bought at mass quantities at a time)
42. desserts from "goldilocks"
43. eating solely with the use of your hands (no need for utensils)
44. that comfortable feeling you get by eating with your hands, having one foot rest on the chair you're sitting on, and using that bent knee as support/balance for your elbow
45. taking food home from a party
46. going to a relative's/Filipino friend's house and their parents offer you food (ie. snacks, a meal, a drink) ...actually they don't offer it, they just kinda give it to you and you take it out of respect and to be polite (but you know you're really hungry)
47. cooking rice and having it come out perfect (not too wet or dry) after you measured just the right amount of water by using the "finger method"
48. BALUT!! (mmmm..Yummy!)
49. being exposed to harsh weather (ie. rain, wind, snow, etc.) and your high aqua net hair sprayed hair is still in place (think back to those high hair old school days)
50. bibingka...hot or cold
51. arrozcaldo on a cold, rainy day
52. seeing the excitement in the faces of your aunties and uncles as they dance the electric slide, macarena, or any other type of line dances
53. rice
54. the smell of hot, fresh pandesal in a Filipino bakery store
55. when an uncle offers you a beer
56. That sound you make when you run in slippers