Confused about your ethnic identity; Want to know just how Filipino you are? Take this less-than-scientific quiz to rate your Filipino-ness. You might just be surprised at the results!
Scoring: Give yourself 3 points if you can relate to the following characteristics yourself, 2 points if it relates to an immediate family member (mom or dad) and 1 point if you know of someone who has the characteristic.
(NOTE: This quiz was taken from "The Philippine Review," August 1995 edition.)
MANNERISMS & PERSONALITY TRAITS:
• You point with your lips.
• You eat using your hands and have it down to a technique!
• Your other piece of luggage is a balikbayan box.
• You nod your head upwards to greet someone.
• You put your foot up on your chair and rest your elbow on your knee while eating.
• You use a rock to scrub yourself in the bath or shower.
• You have to kiss your relatives on the cheek as soon as you enter the room.
• You're standing next to eight big boxes at the airport.
• You collect items from hotels or restaurants "for souvenir's sake."
• Your house has a distinctive aroma.
• You smile for no reason.
• You flirt by having a foolish grin on your face while raising your eyebrows repeatedly.
• You go to a department store and try to bargain the prices.
• You use an umbrella for shade on hot summer days.
• You scratch your head when you don't know the answer.
• You never eat the last morsel of food on the table.
• You go bowling
• You play pusoy & mah jong
• You find dried up morsels of rice stuck to your shirt.
• You prefer to sit in the shade instead of basking in the sun.
• You add an unwarranted "H" to your name (i.e., "Jhun," "Bhoy," or "Rhon.")
• You put your hands together in front of you as if to make a path and say "excuse, excuse" when you pass in between people or in front of the TV.
• Your middle name is your mother's maiden name.
• You like everything that's imported or "state-side."
• You check the labels on clothes to see where it was made.
• You hang your clothes out to dry.
• You are perfectly comfortable in a squatting position with your elbows resting on your knees.
• You consistently arrive 30 minutes late for all events.
• You always offer food to all your visitors.
VOCABULARY:
• You say "comfort room" instead of "bathroom."
• You say "for take out" instead of "to go."
• You "open" or "close" the lights.
• You ask for "Colgate" instead of "toothpaste."
• You ask for a "pentel pen" or a "ball pen" instead of just a pen.
• You refer to the refrigerator as the "ref" or "pridyider."
• You say kodakan instead of "take a picture."
• You order a "McDonald's" instead of a "hamburger" (pronounced ham-boor-jer).
• You say "Ha?" instead of "What?"
• You say "Hoy!" to get someone's attention.
• You answer when someone yells "Hoy!"
• You turn around when someone says "Psst!"
• You say "Cutex" instead of "nail polish."
• You say "for a while" instead of "please hold" on the telephone.
• You say "he" when you mean "she" and vice versa.
• You say "aray!" instead of "ouch!"
• Your sneeze sounds like "ahh-ching" instead of "ahh-choo."
• You prefer to make acronyms for phrases such as "OA" for overacting, "DOM" for dirty old man and "TNT" for, well, you know.
• You say "air con" instead of "a/c" or air conditioner.
• You pronounce the following words:"hippopo-TA-mus," "com-FOR-table," "bro-CO-li," and "Mongo-mery Ward."
• You say "brown-out" instead of "black-out."
• You say "Uy!" instead of "Oops."
HOME FURNISHINGS:
• You use a walis tambo and a walis ting-ting as opposed to a conventional broom.
• You have a "Weapons of Moroland" shield hanging in your living room wall.
• You have a portrait of "The Last Supper" hanging in your dining room wall.
• You own a karaoke system.
• You own a piano no one ever plays.
• You have a tabo in the bathroom.
• Your house is cluttered with burloloys.
• You have two or three pairs of tsinelas at your doorstep.
• Your house has ornate wrought iron gates in front of it.
• You have a rose garden.
• You display a laughing Buddha for good luck.
• You have a shrine to the Santo Nino in your living room.
• You own a "Barrel Man" (shwing!)
• You have a parol hanging outside your house during the holidays.
• You cover your living room furniture with bedsheets.
• Your lampshades still have the plastic covers on them.
• You have plastic runners to cover the carpets in your house.
• You refer to your VCR as the "Beyta-Max."
• You have a rice dispenser.
• You own a turbo broiler.
• You own one of those fiber-optic flower lamps.
• You own a lamp with the oil that drips down the strings.
• You have a giant wooden fork & spoon hanging in the dining room.
• You have wooden tinikling dancers on the wall.
• You own capiz shell chandeliers, lamps or placemats.
AUTOMOBILES:
• You own a Mercedes Benz and call it "chedeng."
• You own a huge van conversion.
• Your car chirps like a bird or plays a tune when it's in reverse.
• Your car horn can make three or more different sounds.
• Your car has curb feelers on it.
• You hang a rosary on your car's rear view mirror.
• You have those air fresheners in a bottle.
FAMILY:
• You have aunts and uncles named "Baby," "Girlie," or "Boy."
• You were raised to believe that every Filipino is an aunt, uncle or cousin.
• Your dad was in the navy.
• Your mom or sister is a nurse.
• You get smelling kisses from your grandma.
• Your parents call each other "mommy" and "daddy."
• You have a family member that has a nickname that repeats itself (i.e., "Deng-Deng," "Ling-Ling," "Jong-Jong" or "Bing-Bing.")
• You put hot dogs in your spaghetti.
• You consider dilis the Filipino equivalent to french fries.
• You think that eating chocolate rice pudding and dried fish is a great morning meal.
• You order things like tapsilog, longsilog, or tocilog at restaurants.
• You instinctively grab a toothpick after a meal.
• You order a "soft drink" instead of a "soda."
• You dip bread in your morning coffee.
• You refer to seasonings and all other forms of monosodium glutimate as "Ajinomoto."
• Your cupboards are full of corned beef hash, Spam and Vienna Sausages.
• "Goldilocks" means more to you than just a character in a fairy tale.
• You appreciate a fresh pot of hot rice.
• You bring baon to work every day.
• Your baon is usually something over rice.
• Your neighbors complain about the smell of tuyo on Sunday mornings.
• You eat rice for breakfast.
• You use your fingers to measure the water when cooking rice.
• You wash and re-use plastic utensils and Styrofoam cups.
• You have a supply of frozen lumpia in the freezer.
• You have an ice-shaver for making halo-halo.
• Your cloth tablecloths have tell-tale "toyo circles" on them.
• You eat purple yam-flavored ice cream.
• You gotta have a bottle of Jufran handy.
• You fry Spam and hot dogs and eat them with rice.
• You think half-hatched duck eggs are a delicacy.
• You know that "chocolate meat" isn't really made with chocolate.
