6 Things modern Filipinos need to stop doing

On any given pinoy urban day, I would travel a considerable amount of time to get to work. During these times I would encounter countless of characters in the public. 

I have my trusty iPhone and Spotify to thank because I can keep to myself but sometimes I just can’t help but notice or hear things that take me to the edge.

Here are 6 of those things.

Chewing with your mouth open

moonbeamfaeries.wordpress.com

I have a problem with people chewing with their mouths open. There, I said it!

Derelict buildings in Metro Manila and why they are like that

If you look at the business districts of Makati, Taguig, Ortigas, and Cubao and see all these tall skyscrapers, you wouldn't think that the Philippines is a third world country. I've been to New York and although the buildings here can't compete with the grandeur of Midtown and Downtown Manhattan, it's pretty darn close. Okay, not really. What I'm saying is we've got some tall buildings here in the Philippines. 

One pinoy urban day, while walking along Dela Rosa Street in the Makati CBD, I chanced upon the Banco Filipino headquarters. A mini flashback happened of me, fresh from college, submitting a resume to this bank. I did not get a call-back and I eventually got a job with another bank a little ways down this road. Now here I am, 8 years later, taking a picture of this abandoned building that used to house a bank that rejected me.  

Here are some derelict buildings you can find in the business districts that are either eye-sores or iconic, depending on your outlook in life.

Banco Filipino Headquarters

101, Banco Filipino Building, Pase De Roxas Corner Dela Rosa Street, Legaspi Village, Makati, 1229 Metro Manila

The Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank was closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP or Central Bank of the Philippines) in March 17, 2011 due to its liabilities exceeding its assets by Php 8.4 Billion (Wikipedia). 

Scary Stories as told by Filipinos

televandalist.com via: giphy.com

Everyone has heard a ghost story at least once in their life. One Pinoy Urban Day I drove past my old office building in Makati and remembered the ghost stories I've heard associated with it. I also started remembering some good stories I've heard throughout the years. Here are some of the best that I'd like to share with you.

Gate To Hell

infernogifs.tumblr.com via: giphy.com

This is a story I heard from a friend during a High School Retreat (I think). It creeped me out as hell (no pun intended) back then. The story goes like this:

12 Real Filipino Street Food in the Philippines

The World Street Food Congress was held in the Philippines from April 20 to 24, 2016. It was cool, especially considering that it was the first time it was not held in Singapore and all, but the line were all so long that I didn't see the point. It's restaurant grade food being sold in either food carts or food carts, at restaurant grade prices. When I think of street food I expect little bites of things at very affordable prices. 

So one Pinoy Urban Day I got to thinking about the real Filipino Street Foods being sold in the streets of the Philippines itself? 

Fish Balls/Squid Balls/Chicken Balls

pepper.ph

These balls may bear Fish, Squid, and Chicken in their names but when you taste them you can swear you get none of those flavors in the balls. But these are some of the most famous (or infamous) of the Filipino street foods.

Survival tips for commuting to and from work in Metro Manila

I'll be honest with you all since we're friends... We are, right? The main reason I resigned from my first job after four years was because the daily commute had gotten so bad. That's why one Urban Pinoy Day I chose to take almost the same position but in a night shift. I had to adjust my sleep pattern but the commute was less stressful. Voila! I started experiencing success in my career. 

This is coming from the perspective of someone who lives in Cainta and used to work at a Bank's headquarters in the Makati CBD. If you have decided to rent a room (or a bed, I'm not judging) near your office good for you. If you're bringing your car everyday through that congested traffic? Well good luck to you. 

Commuting to work

1. Wake up early (like really early)

lauravirginia.me

That's a gimme. In my case I used to wake up at 4:30 am and be on my way around 5:30 am. That was during the early part of my career, when I still cared. Right before I resigned I was leaving our home at 6:30 am. And you know what? There will be times when I would not make it on time at 8:30 am, more often when I was leaving home at 6:30 am. The frustration of waking up early and still being late was part of the stress I had to go through.

That was about 8 years ago (as of this writing). Now I've heard that it gets so bad you have to leave Cainta at 4:30 am to make sure. Okay, that's exaggerating. 5 am would be ideal, if you can.

Ang alamat ng santol at iba pa, mga kwentong pinoy

If you haven’t heard about the Legend of Santol then you haven’t spent too many times drinking in the provinces of the Philippines. I’m referring to the joke version that would never fail to cause a group of inebriated people into a laughing fit. Here goes the short version:

Person 1: Pare, anong pangalan nitong puno na to?

Person 2: San’ tol?

Didn’t find it funny? You need a drink. A shot of brandy is advised.

One pinoy urban day, I was telling my officemates (well my staff really) about the Alamat ng Cubao (the legend of Cubao) being that our office was situated in one of the new skyscrapers in the Araneta Center. It sounded absurd but oddly enough actually made sense to me. And it got me thinking about the other legends of places I have heard from friends and wanted to write an article about them. Let me know if it’s the same version you have heard of in the comments below!

Ang Alamat ng Ilog Pasig (The Legend of the Pasig River)

Photo credits: foodmetromanila.wordpress.com

This one was told by a classmate in elementary and the gist of the story was corroborated by an officemate who lives in Pasig. I’m telling this based on the hazy details I can remember (it has been more than 20 years as of the time of this writing after all) and I may have filled in some details.

When you see them don't just walk past them

I have been riding the LRT Line 2 (which starts at Santolan, Pasig City, as of this writing, and stretches all the way to Recto, Manila City) since I was in College. I cannot remember when I first saw people asking for alms in the pedestrian overpass but nowadays there are always several of them here. 

Note the discoloration of her face compared to the rest of her body?

Philippine Election Campaign season 2016

It's that time again in the Philippines. Incumbent and aspiring politicians are once asking for our precious votes. Aside from the political sorties, campaigning here in the Philippines involves posting a lot of posters. This is prohibited in the well developed business districts and affluent villages but everywhere else is fair game.

Although there have been noticeably less of these in the past two elections, some are still hilarious as hell. In my hometown of Cainta, there are some concrete pipes lying around on the side of the road for drainage improvement and some campaign posters actually got tacked on these.