JDDavao

Bush The First was famous for, "Not gunna do it."

My wife always pays. Wait. That's my money. Nevermind!

I found that a while back. Really good stuff. S&R also has vodka. Now, if they had copper cups, we could make proper Moscow Mules...

Actually, you can't tell who's got money. I've seen it both ways with rich and poor. But you could label them New York and Seattle. Or Boobs and No Boobs.

Should they rather be labeled...

One of the final things we did to complete our house was to buy a doorbell. The packaging was very descriptive. it read: Ding Dong Doorbell. So that's what Mr. Dantes is called now. :)

Just don't fall into the trap of "lazy" language. For instance, "more yummy" is nicer (to my inner ear at least) than "yummier". Same number of syllables (same number of "beats"), just nicer. And "my bad" reflects the laziness (to me). There's nothing at all wrong with "my mistake". "I apologize" is much better than, "sorry", or "my bad". And the proper reply to "thank you" is "you're welcome" and not "no problem" or "no sweat". Everything keeps getting shorter. Pretty soon, we'll just be grunting at each other like Neanderthals.

All of the hairy, fatty pieces go immediately from my plate to my wife's so, it's possible bro. It's possible.

What is it with the organizing gene? My wife does this over and over again. I'm at the point now where I don't know where anything is kept. Anything! Every time I can't find what I want, I swear out loud that I'm going to rearrange her bureau drawers how *I* want them to be. I get "the face" when I say that.

We bought a goat for the padugo blessing when we were about to do the foundation for our house here. The workers did the cutting and dripping blood into each column hole. They then made goat adobo afterward. I ate some to be polite but there were too many bones for me. The thing is, they bought the goat a few days before the padugo and tied it up on site. Damned if I didn't get attached to it. Now ask me how it is for me with us raising piglets (no, please don't). Back on topic, I like just about everything I've eaten here. I love spicy vinegar. I over-do the bagoong with karekare. I find dinuguan tasty usually. I don't care for ampalaya. Neither my wife nor I eat balut. I've had the inihaw chicken intestine but generally don't like anything off of the coconut charcoal because of the charcoal taste.

One thing that boggles my mind here is the fat on the meat. My wife never complained about the missing fat on the meat in the US. Here, she's greedy for it. There's a damn inch of fat on a pork chop here. I don't like the mouth feel of it and give it to her. In that respect, she's been de-Westernized. She's also forgetting the English words for things and gets mad sometimes when I don't understand her "long way" of speaking ("the thing that goes on the thing before you tighten it" for "washer", for instance). I have noticed that her standards seem higher for many things. That comes from living in the USA.

You know what I dreamed of having when I was a kid? Green Giant Niblet corn in a pouch. My mom had to buy store brand frozen veggies on our budget but I had some Green Giant at a friend's house one evening. Oh! The butter sauce was so sweet and the corn so tender! Such is life for a poor kid. I tasted Coke for the first time at a friend's house. At our house, it was Shop-Rite cola at .15/can. People today are faced with spending $2 for two cheeseburgers at McDo's or $2 for a head of caulilower at the market. And then they're blamed for their decision.

The little boy across the street jumps up and down and yells, "Americano! Americano! Americano!" If we ever get a Starbucks nearby, I can send him for my morning coffee.

We went to the NBI and BI here in Davao (they're neighbors) the other day and had to walk back and forth a couple of times across the tiny city sidewalk populated by vendors and standers-by (it's a jeepney stop). Half of the women were carrying umbrellas. If I was smart, I'd invest in an eye clinic and open it up across the street. "Emergency Eye Poke Center".

Happy Beerday, Jack!