Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year 2014

I would like to greet everyone a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year this 2014. Not only the Chinese are celebrating this Chinese new year event but even other races who lives with the Chinese in a country. I hope money and happiness would come to me. I hope my family and my kids would have good health and prosperous year.

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Po Ge Lai

"Po ge lai" is a Chinese term, meaning eating healthy foods within a month after giving birth.  And those "healthy foods" are black chicken, pigeon, duck, fish, egg and tortoise (not sure if that turtle thing is called a tortoise or what).  Fried foods would be fried using sesame oil.  The egg will be fried with ginger.  The black chicken too and the duck would be fried in ginger.

The woman under "po gel lai" needs rest, would take care of the baby but would also sleep or just rest as much as possible to regain strength.

No cold water, should drink the "o tso sem" a herbal drink.

I just finish "po ge lai" but there's a twist on mine...

• I underwent cesarean operation on October 26, 2012.  When I go home with my baby, I take care of her even during night time.
• I go back selling items on November 3, 2012.
• I chilled and got high fever.  I just took medicines.  I need to take care of my baby.
• My mother-in-law do help a little on taking care of the baby.  And she's the one who give the baby a bath.  But after lunch, she went to mahjong until about 8:00 pm.
• I am still eating "po ge lai" food!  It's overdue.  They want me to eat those food since there are still some left on the refrigerator.  I still eat eggs fried with sesame oil.  We got lots of bottles of sesame oils, given by friends.
• I move and pack items I sell.  Although I know I shouldn't be doing all these.  But I have to.
• I shouldn't touch cold water and shouldn't take a bath for a month.  I had took my bath after 21 days of giving birth.  I had touched cold water sometimes.  But washing hands with cold water, sometimes my hands hurts and I know it's because of the cold water.
• I got sick after my first bath!
• I still drink water warm and not too warm.
• After I went home from the hospital, everything seems normal. Only with the additional task of taking care of the baby, and eating healthy foods, and not taking a bath!
• When still at the hospital, I had iced tea and coke, both cold!  I just want to drink to satisfy myself.  But I didn't drink the whole cup.

"We" concentrated on the food I eat, especially now that my 2nd baby is breastfed. About my strength, my mother-in-law and everyone else tells me to sleep if the baby is sleeping.  But what about my online shop.

There are lots of my mother-in-law's friends who thought that it's been more than a month after I gave birth because they see me taking care of the baby, or using the computer, or packing and carrying things.  I gave birth cesarean section.  I know I need more rest but we're not that rich to hire a yaya, and me not earning money.  I work to earn money, unlike some other mothers who doesn't want to leave work because they are so happy with they work they don't like to stop and take care of their baby.

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Chinese Kasi... Part 1

I had heard this phrase "Chinese kasi" in an LBC outlet, wherein a Filipino (a local of the Philippines) answered that to the LBC personnel.

LBC personnel:  Hindi kumpleto yung address nito. (This address is not complete.)
Filipino guy: Chinese kasi (Because they are Chinese.)
LBC personnel:  Bakit, tinatanong ko ba kung anong lahi ng amo mo?  (Why, am I asking for the nationality of your employer?)
LBC personnel:  Wala akong pakialam kung anong lahi ng boss mo!  Bumalik ka sa boss mo at hingin yung kumpletong address.  Sabihin mo sa kanya na hindi kumpleto yung address na binigay nya.  (I don't care about the nationality of your boss!  Go back to your boss and ask for the complete address.  Tell them the address they supplied is not complete.)
Filipino guy:  Iwan ko dito yung papadala.  (I'll just leave the package here.)
LBC personnel:  Dalin mo yan!  (Bring it with you!)


The LBC personnel is friendly to me.  We're kind of friends, sharing about what's happening on our lives.  I met her in LBC branch  :)  Although she's super friendly to some of her customers including me, she's easily irritated to the low-level and close-minded customers (those terms came from her).

I was there when she and the "Chinese kasi" Filipino guy was on their heated conversation.  When the Filipino guy left the LBC to get the complete address from his "Chinese" boss, the LBC personnel and I talked about it.  She said she and his co-LBC staff had a checklist before of a "Chinese kasi" chart.  If there's anyone who said that phrase, they would put a check mark for the day on the chart!  By the way, she's a Filipina.

The Chinese boss is a Chinese from China... someone who can talk Fookien Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, can understand Taiwan Chinese, can converse in Tagalog but not really good in that language, and may know a little super simple English or may not know English at all.

When I leave the LBC branch after I sent my package, there were lots of customers inside, both Filipino and Chinese of the Philippines.  As I left, the Filipino guy walked in.  When it's his turn to send the package, the LBC personnel told him...

LBC personnel:  Next time wag kang magdadahilan sa akin ng "Chinese kasi".  Kumpletong address lang naman ang hinihingi ko.  Nakakahiya dun sa isang customer. Chinese yun.  Regular yun dito.  (Next time don't reason on that "Because they are Chinese."  I'm just asking for a complete address.  I was embarassed to the other customer.  She's a Chinese.  She's a regular here."

Filipino guy:  Sapakin ko pa sya eh.  (I can punch him.)

LBC personnel:  Anung klasing tao ka!  Sinasabi sa iyong hindi kumpleto ang address tapos ang sagot mo eh "Chinese kasi."  Namamasukan ka lang dun sa amo mo, tao ka lang nya, ganyan ka umasta.  Sinusueduhan ka ng amo mo.  Eh kung Chinese sya, eh ano ngayon.  Buti pa yung Chinese may business, ikaw namamasukan ka lang sa kanya!  (What kind of a person are you.  I just told you that the address is not complete, then you answered me with a "Because they are Chinese."  You're working for your boss, you're his employee, then you are like that?  They give you salary.  If they are Chinese, so what.  The Chinese are better, they have a business, and you're just working for them!)

LBC personnel:  Sa susunod na magpapadala ka ng package, wag kang babalik dito sa branch na ito kung ganyan pa ren ang ugali mo!   Alam mo, wala akong pakialam.  Nakabukas yung video camera na yan.  Gusto mo ipakita ko sa iyo yung video ngayon?  (The next time you'll send a package, don't you ever come back here on this branch if you're still like that.  You know, I actually don't care.  That video camera is open.  You want me to play it for you?)


After the conversation, after the Filipino guy's transaction, after he left the premisses, an old Chinese of the Philippines (considered as Tsinoy... not a half Filipino half Chinese, but a real Chinese) told the LBC personnel...

old Chinese guy:  Alam mo, bait ka.  (You know, you're a good person)
LBC personnel:  Ay thank you.  Pero hindi ako bait, sungit ako.  (Aw thanks.  But I'm not good, I'm short-tempered.)
old Chinese guy:  Hindi.  Bait ka.  (No, you're a good person.)
LBC personnel:  Sige na nga.  (Fine.)

Then they both laugh.

The "Chinese kasi" phrase becomes our regular joke.  And we're adding the "Pilipino kasi" for the Filipino version  :)

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Why Can't My Husband Quit Smoking?

I don't know why he can't quit smoking.  He got so many packs and boxes of cigarettes of Chinese brand. Those cigarettes are from China or bought from Chinese store. My husband didn't bought those.  All are given by his friends with business relations.  As my husband said and I think some other also had said to me, if he (they) stop smoking, the business and money flow would also stop.

They smoke cigarettes. When someone give you a stick, it's a respect to smoke it.  Of course, they won't give someone cigarettes when they know that he doesn't smoke.  It's like building good business relationship and at the same time... trust.  The Chinese, those in China, work with trust.  Contracts are good, but those are only papers.  All transactions of my husband here in the Philippines and in China doesn't have contracts.  It's more of a "you pay then I send the items" kind of thing.  They do transactions with trust in mind.  Almost all first transactions are based on referred friends.

It's like, if you love to eat candies, and your uncle gives you candies, and you say no, how would your uncle feel?  It's the same idea with accepting cigarettes of a business-related person.

Once my husband quit smoking.  He's just at home or with his relatives having lunch or dinner.  He has no packs of cigarettes.  He doesn't smoke at all.  He said that he's quitting smoking.  I got worried...

Not smoking = No cigarettes = No business-related persons around = No sales/trading/ideas = No MONEY

This is an exception to non-smoking Chinese from China.  But most of them smoke  =)

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