Meet a Canadian Raising a Filipino Family

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]And with Filipinos, there's that connection, right? There right away there's a smile and there's like, "How are you?" And they're so welcoming. I find like with Filipinos, they do that.

[00:00:09]There's always that strong knit community and they never judge. I don't find them judgy people at all. I just find uh them just amazing people. Meet my new friend, Christelle. Originally from Canada, Christelle was introduced to Filipino culture through her husband.

[00:00:24]Now more than 20 years later, she has fully embraced it and lives a very Filipino lifestyle. Christelle creates great content with her family. So, make sure to check out their videos links below. We talked about what it's like raising half Filipino kids in Canada, the differences between Filipinos and Canadians, her first impressions of the Philippines, how she's adapted to the culture over the years, and so much more. I hope you guys enjoy the video.

[00:00:48]Can you just give me a rundown of where you're from originally and how you met your Filipino husband? I'm originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. So, right in the middle of Canada. And I moved to Vancouver in 2001. So, at that time, I was like my late 20s. And I met my husband, Nico. We worked together at a riverboat uh casino in New Westminster.

[00:01:11]Like, I knew Filipinos, but really didn't know Filipino culture. He moved to Canada when he was 12, so he grew up in the Philippines. His parents actually they were teaching their kids English since they were born. They were English- speakaking in their household because their plan was always to either move to the US or to Canada. When they got to Canada, then they were right away they went into school knowing really good English and pretty much how we met. And >> where is his family from in the Philippines?

[00:01:39]>> So they're from the province of uh Nova Viskaya. So they're Ilano. I've been to the Philippines twice. So, I've been to his hometown and they his parents actually built a home there on their land. And so, there's four siblings, so we all have our own bedroom and bathroom and then communal kitchen and living room. And I actually haven't been there to see the finished house.

[00:02:00]Unfortunately, his mom passed away 2 years ago, but it's always been her dream for all of us to be there and and, you know, enjoy life and celebrate in the Philippines. And it's on our bucket list to go back and see the finished house and see what they've done. Having that seems very Filipino to me as well.

[00:02:16]That kind of idea of communal living and having your family close by and things like that. You said that your husband's parents mostly spoke English with him and his siblings when they were growing up even though they are Ilocano speakers. Does that mean that he didn't learn to speak Iloilano?

[00:02:30]>> Oh no, he knows Yeah, he knows and Iano and he even knows Gadang.

[00:02:35]>> Oh >> yeah. One of the native languages and his dad knows seven dialects.

[00:02:39]>> Wow. How did he end up learning these languages if he like predominantly grew up in Canada?

[00:02:44]>> They did speak a lot of it in their home growing up in the Philippines and when they moved to Canada, they still spoke it, but they just made it a point to teach them English cuz they knew that they were going to be coming abroad. So, they needed to know the English language. I believe his youngest brother was eight when uh they moved to Canada and he even can speak all the languages as well. So, they kept it predominant in their dialogue. And then when I came into the picture, it was, okay, I'm going to tell you right off, I don't I don't speak the language as much as I want to, but I would pick up pieces and kind of know what they're talking about, but when we when I was living in their household, they would mix Tagalog and ilano and then it was just way too confusing for me. But yeah, I mean, they speak it a lot.

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[00:03:42]Plus, you'll also get lifetime access to PDF vocabulary sheets to help you review and retain what you learn. I made this course because I know how hard it can be to find highquality Thealog learning materials. I built the resource that I wish I had when I started. Ready to learn? Check the first link in the video description below to get started. Now, back to the video. I mean, it's nice when you can have both, right? Learn the language of the country that you're living in while also maintaining that heritage language at home so that you don't lose connection with the culture and things like that. Now, you guys have is it two kids?

[00:04:18]>> Yeah, we have two. Yeah.

[00:04:19]>> And so, how does that work with them?

[00:04:21]Are you guys raising them with multiple languages or what's the what's the deal?

[00:04:25]>> When we were living in Vancouver, cuz that's where his family lives as well still. So now it's like we pretty much don't hear any Filipino language at all other than here and there, but back there um they they would be able to hear it more. Uh not that they were picking it up, but since we've moved to Calgary 4 years ago, our kids' friends are mostly Filipino. It's a great Filipino community where I am. They're learning themselves. They're learning the language. Like they're learning how to count to 10. Uh, my daughter can sing Tagalog songs, but she doesn't understand what she's saying. But she can sing it and she pronounces the words mostly correct. And she's even taken it upon herself to try and like really start conversing with her friends in Tallalog, which is so impressive. And she's only 11. Nico's father's going to be coming to visit uh very soon and he'll usually stays with us for a month or two. Nico always makes a point when he has family, he's like, "Make sure you speak to Gallo cuz I want them to learn."

[00:05:19]So once we're having those conversations, it's like we'll start picking it up again, right? So I told Nico when his dad comes, I'm like, "We have to do a boodle fight here." And our neighbor's Filipino and we're going to invite her over and, you know, have like have a nice I just want a nice gathering again. You know, like that's something that we really miss since we moved out here.

[00:05:39]>> How long ago was it that you and Nico first met, by the way?

[00:05:42]>> Uh, so we met in 2004, so is it 22?

[00:05:47]>> Oh, yeah. 22 years. 22 years. Yeah. We got married in uh 2011, 2012 in the Philippines, we got married. And then uh so it's been an adjustment because I went from a very much meat and potato type of diet. If I ate rice, it would be in cabbage rolls cuz my mom's Ukrainian.

[00:06:05]So that would be pretty much it. And then moving to to his culture kind of it was like rice's breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And they would eat panset on rice. it. I'm like, you can't eat carbs on carbs. And it's like, that's what they do.

[00:06:19]>> Rice and noodles together. Yeah.

[00:06:21]>> Right. Yeah. It was definitely an adjustment. But now it's like it's been a part of my life for so long that it's normal. It's normal to me. And it's funny when my parents actually live downstairs in our house. We we share a house together. So if they come up for breakfast, it's like they won't really eat much of our Filipino food. But you know, if we cook like, you know, pancakes and bacon, they Yeah, they'll have that, but they, you know, they won't eat uh langana and bonus and stuff like that.

[00:06:49]>> You're kind of like living between the two cultures. You're kind of like by cultural, I guess you could say. I mean, what was kind of like your first impression of Philippine culture at the beginning? Were there any like culture shocks of having you know a partner from a different country and a different culture and all that? Yeah, we weren't like personally I wasn't sure when I met his family how it was going to be like oh he's you know this Caucasian woman you know and I you know I'm not sure like I grew up in an environment where you know like it was predominantly you know white culture right but his parents and were so welcoming and it turned out all a lot of his tittas and titos are married to foreigners or different cultures as well so it wasn't even Filipino and Filipino it was like oh man I had no idea And then my parents were totally welcoming too. I kind when I got immersed into the Filipino culture, I was like, "Oh, I love this. I feel like I've been missing this my whole life." I mean, one of the biggest things that I loved about his family was the welcoming aspect and everyone eats dinner together, especially we don't eat dinner unless everyone's there, right? So, we wait for everyone and then we we have dinner where how I grew up was you got your dinner and you went in front of the TV and you ate your dinner. So, I really longed for that nice family connection at dinnertime, sitting at the table, eating, talking about your day. And when Nico and I um moved out on our own and started our family, that was one of the important things we wanted was no TV.

[00:08:19]We're sitting at the dinner, we're eating, and we're eating all together.

[00:08:22]So, it's very important to us.

[00:08:23]>> The way that you're raising your kids now, is it very different than the way that you grew up in Canada?

[00:08:28]>> Yeah, very different. Besides the fact that we're always like eating together and stuff, they eat a lot of Filipino food. Nico does um the Filipino cooking.

[00:08:36]Although, now that we've started our own YouTube channel, I decided to venture out and try making my own stuff. But this is really important for us again like he's he does the cooking on the weekend cuz he works all week. So, he cooks predominantly Filipino food. And the kids all love it. And we don't we don't give him a choice. It's like this is your this is what you're eating. You know, especially the younger one might be like, "Oh, I don't like it." it. But then once he tries it, he's like, "Oh, this is so good." I'm like, "Yes, it is." Another thing we do too is like we like to go to um Seafood City like at least every 3 weeks and get our pick of food there. And they're their palette is way better than mine ever was. Like even now I'm still like I'm break trying to break through those mental blocks of me like eating fish with heads on it and other stuff. Like actually when we first started dating I never even ate pork and Filipino diet is a lot with pork is a big thing. So his dad would go out of the way and make me something with chicken when what I go to his house and eat. They they would make sure oh this one you could just pick out the sausage but the rest is chicken. You can eat this. And eventually I'm like you know what I'm just going to start eating pork and then the kids it is. And then the kids they'll they'll eat everything.

[00:09:48]They seriously I don't think there's a Filipino dish they don't like. I mean, I'm always curious about the cultures that kind of multicultural couples end up having. I mean, how how is it for you guys? How would you describe the home culture that you have?

[00:10:01]>> I don't even really think about it being like Canadian. It's just like everyday life for us, but there is elements that are still Filipino. Like we listen to a lot of Filipino music when we're driving. It's like a lot of Filipino songs and artists. And even Nico started playing um background Filipino background music. Piranha music, serenade. It's something about it means serenade to your loved one or something.

[00:10:26]>> Yeah.

[00:10:26]>> But it's we just kind of trickle things in throughout our daily life that no one would even suspect would be a Filipino thing. I mean, come Christmas, we like hang up our parole and, you know, put that in the window. And, you know, Christmas time, we do uh ariscaldo. We always cook uh Christmas Eve and and New Year's Eve. And then birthdays is um you always cook something with noodles for long life. So punit's usually the thing that we cook. So I mean things like that is just our our norm. Not even thinking, oh this is like actually a Filipino thing.

[00:10:58]>> It's become nor so normal for you that you don't even recognize it as being separate from the culture that you grew up in.

[00:11:04]>> Yeah. Exactly.

[00:11:05]>> Yeah. I mean that's a that's a beautiful thing. I mean, there's so much that all of us can learn from different cultures, you know, and I I just love that um element of exposure to the international community, let's say, you know, like you can learn so much from Filipino culture or any other culture for that matter. It it gets us out of our comfort zones, right? And exposes us to a new way of kind of seeing the world. Yeah, that that's like super cool. You said that you haven't really learned too much of the language, but is that something that you would like to do at some point? My plan was to secretly learn Tagalog.

[00:11:36]Although it won't be a secret because he's going to watch this now. But that's >> I was going to say hope he's not watching this.

[00:11:41]>> He'll probably forget.

[00:11:43]>> But I want to uh I want to learn the language. So then one day I can actually start speaking or understanding even what they're saying and just start conversing. And same as the kids, like I want them we we could do it as a unit, right? Like let's all learn.

[00:11:56]>> That's a great idea. So, Nico always buds me because when we first started dating, there was a language program called the Rosetta Stone. Do you remember that at all?

[00:12:04]>> Yes. Yeah, I remember it. I did some French Rosetta Stone when I was a kid.

[00:12:08]>> Okay. Yeah. So, I bought the Talib one and I never I tried it for like a couple weeks and then >> then it sat in the box. He's like that was an expensive language program. I I it is on my bucket list that I need to learn it because um actually what one of our goals is on our bucket list is to actually move to the Philippines maybe just for a year. Like I feel like that'll be a good opportunity to really learn the language and especially for the kids, right? Like my daughter's been to the Philippines once. She went for her grandma's funeral, but my son and I stayed back. Uh so he's never been, but she loved it so much she did not want to come back to Canada. So, I thought, wouldn't it be cool if we just took a year and just go there and whether either put like the education system in the Philippines is unreal. It's so much better than Canada. I would love to either put the kids in school, although it might put them two years back cuz that's how far ahead they are in their education education system or homeschool or do or get a tutor or something, but just really live the culture. Especially like my son has never seen it. So, like my like I said, my daughter did not want to come back to Canada. She's like, I want to move to the Philippines. I'm like, I know like maybe one day we'll live there for a year and just see how it goes. And >> how many times have you been to the Philippines?

[00:13:20]>> Uh, I went twice. So, the first first time was 4 years after we started dating and I went with his parents and his brother and that was that was fun. So, that was my very first time there. And what I really like going with the family is I'm going to places that tourists don't go. So it was really nice to really like be a part of it and not be like going like we went to Barack Eye and of course that's like huge tourist but but it was really it was really a cool experience. And then I went again in um 2012 to get married. So we got married in uh Fernwood Gardens. It's this venue that I a lot of celebrities get married in. And they told me at the time that I was the first female foreigner to get married there. So it was a big deal. But like the wedding was phenomenal. We spent probably a fraction of what we would spend in Canada for that wedding.

[00:14:07]>> Yeah. It's interesting you say that you were the first female foreigner cuz in the Philippines you see a lot of kind of international couples, maybe someone from the US or Canada, but they tend to be guys that are the foreigners and Filipinos are are the the counterpart.

[00:14:20]Uh you see less couples where it's a girl from another country. Why do you think that is?

[00:14:25]>> I noticed that though too. Even even in Canada, it's more Canadian male and the Filipina. I don't really know why it is like that, but when I do see like a foreign female with a Filipino, I'm like, "Yay."

[00:14:40]>> Uh I mean, when you went to the Philippines the first time, you said that you guys had been dating for 4 years, right?

[00:14:44]>> Mhm.

[00:14:45]>> So, like you had some quite a bit of exposure to the culture, you know, through through Nico and through his family. But how was it going to the Philippines for the first time? like did did you feel like you understood culture the Filipino culture before you went there or were there things that stood out to you as like new that first trip?

[00:15:02]>> It helped living with his family to kind of get a feel of of the culture itself.

[00:15:07]But yeah, there was some things that stood out. Yeah, I didn't like Manila.

[00:15:12]It was it's too busy, too loud. I don't know. I like I like the province. So, when we went out to the province, it was really it was really nice. especially the his family had a farm and they had water buffalo. So the water buffalo's out in the field and we drank the water buffalo milk. We'd go to the market and all the vegetables are like on the ground and you you know go shopping for your vegetables and picking fruit right off the tree. I was like whoa like this is life you know you want a coconut someone's going to go up there and get you a coconut. Then we went to Barakai and what was really cool was we went to a seafood market got fresh seafood they caught that morning. took the seafood to the restaurant and they cooked you whatever. I was like, "Oh, this is amazing."

[00:15:55]>> Like, you can't get more fresh than that, right? Like just fresh caught seafood in the morning.

[00:16:00]>> Mhm. And being so connected to like where your food comes from as well, I think is an important thing.

[00:16:05]>> Oh, yeah. That was amazing. It was funny, too, because um when we were in Manila, his ta had a has a house in Quesin City. So, we'd that be our hub when we were there, right? But it'd be so cold in the inside because of the air conditioning that I'm like, I'm going outside. And my husband's like, you're nuts. Like, I need to warm up. And I love heat, right? So, I'd be out there getting heat and talking to the locals and they're inside in the air conditioning.

[00:16:30]>> I mean, I suppose that we kind of have an element of that in Canada where in the winter months, it's like extremely cold outside and then we have like heated cars and heated houses and heated offices and so the difference in temperature is like so drastic. And in the Philippines, it's it's like the complete opposite. Like inside the house, it's like 10° with the AC on and then you walk outside and it's like 40° and it's like, >> oh my gosh. In Canada, we deal with that but only in the winter months, right? Uh where in the Philippines that's it's like that 12 months of the year, right?

[00:17:00]It's always hot. So like looking at Philippine culture and Canadian culture kind of generally speaking, what do you think are like the main differences between them? Well, definitely the the Philippine culture, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. They always got a smile on their face. They always want to help you out. There's no agenda, you know, where I find with Canadian culture, you can be a little hesitant, like, "Oh, they're going to help me.

[00:17:25]What do they want?" They're more um reserved and guarded. Even like sometimes like when I was living in Vancouver, like no one made eye contact.

[00:17:34]Like you'd walk down the street and everyone's on their phone or looking down. And and with Filipinos, there's that connection right there. Right away, there's a smile and there's like, "How are you?" And they're so welcoming. Like our neighbor Thelma, she's so sweet.

[00:17:48]She's always bringing us food and we're like, "Oh, thank you." Then we'd obviously reciprocate and bring something back for her. And I find like with Filipinos, they do that. There's always that strong knit community and they never judge. I don't find them judgy people at all. I just find uh them just amazing people. my kids too, like all their friends, all Filipinos pretty much. And it's like, yeah, it's like this is all meant to be like where we are in life. Like we're living in Calgary, but you know, still immersed in the Filipino culture, even though we don't have Nico's family here with us.

[00:18:20]>> I was talking to a guy the other day here in Vancouver who uh just a few months ago moved to the city. He moved from uh the States, actually. And I asked him like, "Oh, what do you think of Vancouver? Do you like living here?"

[00:18:30]And he was like, "Yeah, it's okay, but what I don't like is that no one talks to each other. like I don't know no neighbors, know each other, like it's kind of hard to meet people. It's not like super friendly. You know, internationally there's kind of a stereotype about Canadians that we are friendly. And I think on like a one-to-one interaction, I think people are courteous and polite, but in terms of like the Filipino friendliness or maybe hospitality is a better term, uh it doesn't really compare. Like we're not really open to people that we don't know. Like, and obviously it's a sliding scale. You can go to places that are much more reserved than Canada, right?

[00:19:03]Germany or the Netherlands for example, uh the Nordic countries, you know, Sweden or something. We're probably friendly in comparison to some of those groups with people we don't know. But Filipinos, they take it to another level. Like everyone is their friend like automatically. It's crazy.

[00:19:19]>> Yeah. Automatically. And and that's one of the things too that I learned very quickly when uh I moved in with Nico's family was that everyone was their ta and Tito even though they weren't related. Like cuz everyone's that close of a family. And I was like getting all confused. I'm like, "You said that's Tito." I was like, "Well, not really, but family friend, but we call her T."

[00:19:37]And I'm like, "Oh, >> I mean, yeah, even baked into the language, right? You have those kind of, you know, polite titles that you give people. Huya and ae, like it means brother and sister, but it doesn't literally mean brother and sister. You would use that with anyone, like someone that you don't even know." And it's like a very polite way of interacting with people, but it also shows like we're all just kind of one big family at the end of the day, right? I don't know you, but you could you could be my older sister or my older brother. It's it's very beautiful. I love that aspect of it.

[00:20:08]>> Yeah. So do I. It's just amazing.

[00:20:10]>> Do you have like a favorite Filipino dish?

[00:20:13]>> There is one. I don't know if it's fully Filipino, but his dad makes it and now Nico makes it, but it's chicken curry and it's made with coconut milk.

[00:20:20]>> Is it like a kadic type of deal? That's like a curry.

[00:20:23]>> Well, not really. It's like more like yellow curry. Okay.

[00:20:26]>> Um but it has potatoes, carrots, ginger, we like using chicken thighs cuz it has more flavor. This doesn't taste dried out. And then Yeah. You put it on rice.

[00:20:35]Oh, it's so good. That's my >> Of course you have to put it on rice. Of course you have to.

[00:20:40]>> Of course. Everything's on rice. And then like when we first started dating, the first dish I remember trying was adobo. Chicken adobo. But now because I ate that so much when we first started dating that I'm kind of tired of it. We wanted to make uh curry curry, but my daughter has a peanut allergy. So we tried it once with almond butter and it actually turned out okay, but we haven't made it since. So pretty much it's like we do uh peanut bit peanut uh tanola sinnag. The kids love sinag.

[00:21:08]Uh that's one of their favorites. And then when we go to seafood to city it's either I'm getting fresh lubia or bonus bonus. I love bonus bonus with achara. I want some of the stuff I actually want to make at home. Like I want to make a try it out and you know and then uh we're going to do like some Filipino desserts. We're going to try experimenting with making and yeah, we want to do like way more cooking. I I don't want to leave it all for Nico all the time. It's fun, especially like teaching my kids too, like how to make Filipino dishes and so then they have that knowledge when they're older as well, right?

[00:21:39]>> Yeah. Filipino food is like super underrated, I think, as well. Especially like in other countries. Obviously, Filipinos know that it's good, but I think it's lost on a lot of people because it's not quite as popular internationally. Like you might find Filipino restaurants. Especially here in Canada, you'll see Filipino restaurants, but a lot of the people that go there are just Filipino people, right? They're not Canadians. And so like if you ask a Canadian like what sinigang is, I don't think they would know. But if you but they'll know what like pad thai is or something or you know fa or you know they would be familiar with those dishes, >> right? Well, the one thing that I've noticed with Canadians is when they find out I'm married to a Filipino and it's like, "Oh, adobo." Yeah.

[00:22:17]>> I'm like, "Oh, I'm way past adobo.

[00:22:20]>> Too basic. Too basic."

[00:22:22]>> Yeah. No, no. Bring on bring on some other dishes.

[00:22:25]>> You're like, "I'm 22 years in." You know, adobo was the first year. Now >> that was the first year was all adobo.

[00:22:31]Yeah. And punet. Yeah.

[00:22:34]>> Uh you said that the chicken thighs, you prefer using those cuz there's more flavor. I think that I feel like that's also like almost a cultural thing like using chicken breast in dishes. I feel like it's like a North American thing that I didn't realize was a North American thing, but you see that in all kinds of Filipino dishes. It's like always a chicken like a drumstick or a thigh or something like that. I noticed that with my wife and her family as well making Colombian dishes. They never want to use chicken breast. It's always like bone in. And I and I always thought like chicken breast was easier because then when you're eating it, you don't have to remove any bones, right? And so I actually kind of prefer chicken breast.

[00:23:12]And so sometimes my wife will she'll make like two dishes and she'll do like chicken thighs or drumsticks for her and like chicken breast for me. But yeah, I thought everyone did that until I started meeting people from other countries and then I was like maybe chicken breast is like a super white thing.

[00:23:27]>> Yeah. Recently actually I we made something with chicken breast because we didn't have thighs and my daughter's like, "Oh, I can't eat this. It's too dry." It's like whoa.

[00:23:37]>> Right. It's the same with like eating turkey. Turkey is like a super white thing to do. And people will say that that I don't like it because it's too dry. You can't keep like that you can't cook it in a way where the meat stays moist because you have to cook it for like hours and hours and hours. My family also didn't eat a lot of pork growing up. And so we ate lots of turkey for like holidays, but uh I remember when I was going out with a girl from the Philippines, I brought up turkey and she was like, "Turkey? Nah, no.

[00:24:06]Filipinos don't eat turkey. We like chicken. Turkey? No. I mean, like 22 years exposed to Filipino culture. I mean, like, and it's like your life.

[00:24:15]It's not just you've been exposed to it, but it's the life that you that you live every day, right? How do you feel like that's changed you over time? Have you taken on any Filipino characteristics?

[00:24:24]>> Well, yeah, I guess sometimes. So, if I'm trying to get Nico's attention and order at the supermarket and I'm like doing the P instead of calling him. And yeah, it's like rice. Before I said rice, I would always eat it in cabbage rolls and now I eat it all the time.

[00:24:40]Obviously, we don't want to go overboard with the rice. But like some people make comments on some of our videos that we show like what we eat. It's like, oh, your cholesterol or you know, like that's that's not good. It's like it's this is not something we eat every day.

[00:24:53]Like if we're eating longa like I love longa for breakfast and they're like, "Oh, that's high in cholesterol." I'm like, "Yeah, but if you're eating it once every two weeks, it's not going to hurt you." Yeah. Before I used to be like cereal and you know toast like bread's a big thing, right? Well, now if we eat bread, it's pandisol.

[00:25:10]>> So it's like we're just we're just going to buy pandisal because you can make the little sandwiches, you know, spam sandwiches or you know even if the kids want something like Oh, peanut butter and jam on pandasol.

[00:25:20]>> Mhm. Or Spanish bread.

[00:25:21]>> Oh, Spanish bread. Yeah. Yeah, >> that's a good breakfast one too with coffee.

[00:25:25]>> Yeah. Yes, exactly. Yeah, with coffee.

[00:25:28]Yeah, it's just part of uh I don't know any other mannerisms or anything I picked up other than like certain words like you know I'll say like certain words all the time like ba like always like oh what's your bon for tomorrow or whatever right so but if I'm with someone that's not Filipino they'd be like what I'm like oh yeah sorry it's what I always say right like that's my vocabulary now >> what other Filipino words do you like to use >> I work in the service industry so if I know I'm serving uh Filipinos I'm always like salamad or salam and >> you know and they're always like woo like that's all I know >> but I would love one day to start having a conversation but you know like uh we always say chanellas instead of slippers >> even slippers is like kind of a Filipino English thing >> they say that too they say slippers and chanellas in >> cuz we would say like flip-flops right >> yeah so yeah that's those are like the very common words that we're always saying in our house >> I mean ba is like super versatile I've made videos talking about like Filipino words that don't exist in English and ba I feel like is kind of one of those. Not that there isn't a way to translate it like you could say like what like a bag lunch maybe or what what would be another noun. I was going to say pack a lunch but that would be the verb. Um but that's the thing with ba is you can also use it as a verb. Like you can say like you know take that as as your lunch.

[00:26:48]Yeah. And then it could also be a noun.

[00:26:50]What is your whatever lunch? Uh, but all of the ways that we say it in English are they require more words to describe it where ba is just like straight to the point. You know exactly what you mean >> and you know you know right away, right?

[00:27:03]Especially like when everyone's, you know, at an event and you're taking your like everyone takes food home. You don't leave food there. Everyone gets their bon and they go and they eat it the next day. Right.

[00:27:13]>> In a plastic bag always for some reason.

[00:27:16]>> Yeah. Exactly. So now it's funny because now that we started exchanging meals with our neighbor, it's like we're saving all our plastic containers cuz before I used to always recycle them and it's like no, we need to save it so we, you know, bring food over.

[00:27:29]>> That's right.

[00:27:30]>> But I love it, you know? It's just it's such an important part of my life now.

[00:27:33]And before it wasn't like that. Like growing up it was just just me, my family. There was no like like you said mentioned, right? Like you you have an aunt and an uncle, but you might not be very close. And that's exactly it. But with Nico's family, everyone is close.

[00:27:49]Everyone like you, he talks to his siblings every day, his dad every day.

[00:27:53]And you know, that's so valuable and important and and that's what we want to make sure we instill in our kids, right?

[00:27:59]Like that they're growing up and like everyone's important. They're not allowed electronic devices during the week um when it's school days. So, but on the weekend they can call their cousins and so they FaceTime and yeah, it's one of those things too like where they feel really sad that they're not living close to them because we did live close to them and now we moved. So, you know, like that's one of the reasons why we want to move to the Philippines too is just to give them that experience of playing with the local kids. There is the kids are always outside playing.

[00:28:29]People are going to your door wanting to play. It's like that's how I grew up.

[00:28:33]That was my childhood growing up in Saskatoon and seeing that when I visited the Philippines, I'm like, "Oh, like this would be so cool to raise our kids like this, even for a while. But then also giving them the reality check that you can't order Amazon. Amazon's not going to come to your door overnight because they're so used to those luxuries here." But it's one of those things of just missing that simple life of living off the land and having that connection with people is what I feel like is getting lost right now. I would love for for us to just even just take a year and just experience that.

[00:29:08]>> Yeah. The idea of community I think is something that a lot of people here kind of long for. I I mean in in the culture that we have, you know, we're very good at being independent and not necessarily, you know, needing to rely on other people and we have all of the modern conveniences that allow us to do that as well. We don't need to interact with other people and and that's nice and that's convenient, but I think for a lot of people it's also kind of lonely, you know, because we, you know, maybe don't have the same idea of togetherness that they share in the Philippines. And so, >> yeah, that's definitely like what I'm longing for big time these days, especially is that, you know, like I don't I don't like seeing everyone stuck to their screens and not having conversations and and making that human connection, you know, it's so important.

[00:29:52]And I feel like too like it's things are getting lost with skill set, you know, like uh living off the land and getting your food right from the source. That's one of the other valuable things that I would love to have for our family >> is that idea of community. Would you say that that is your your favorite aspect of Philippine culture or is there something else that stands out?

[00:30:12]>> No, I feel like that that's the biggest thing is definitely the the sense of community and and people just being so welcoming and caring, just making sure like you're okay and here's there's always food. And one of the things that we like to do too is we always mail boxes back to the Philippines. Any like Nico will look for deals. He'll shop at the auction and get a bunch of stuff.

[00:30:32]He's like, "Oh, I'm going to send this home to the Philippines." And the kids toys and the kids clothes like, "We're going to send that to the Philippines because that could help so many people in the community." One of the things that his mom was, it was just really um endearing what she did, which she would really collect a whole lot of boxes. And then when she went down to the Philippines and the one time that the first time that I went down, I got to experience this is we went to the schools and we gave the kids all like t-shirts and the teachers got umbrellas and then we gave them candy. It they were just genuinely happy. Like it was so nice to see. And I told Nico, I'm like, "We have to keep doing this." And then I know like when we go down like they're going to know who we are and we're going to know them and you know everyone's going to be together and it's just an amazing feeling that is missing here in Canada. We're trying hard to to keep that connection especially if we you know have an event that we go to and there's lots of family or Filipinos and and there will be that that connection but it's not an ongoing thing. Like when I lived with his family and there was nine people in the house, right? like there was a lot of us, but we always met up for dinner and everyone ate together and we all prayed together and that's the one thing that really is so important that stands out to me in the Filipino culture that has made a difference in my life.

[00:31:50]>> Yeah, absolutely. Well said. I have some kind of rapidfire questions. These are questions that I like to ask at the end of the interview just for some fun. They kind of I give you two options. It's all related to Philippine culture stuff and then you just choose one. Is that okay?

[00:32:04]Can we do that?

[00:32:04]>> Yeah, go for it.

[00:32:05]>> Okay, sweet. Uh, what do you prefer?

[00:32:07]Halo halo or leche flan?

[00:32:09]>> I like halo halo.

[00:32:10]>> Beach or mountains?

[00:32:11]>> Beach.

[00:32:12]>> Rainy season or summer?

[00:32:13]>> Summer.

[00:32:14]>> OPM original Pinoy music or K-pop?

[00:32:17]>> M I've grown to OPM. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz now that I'm listening to it all the time, I actually quite like it.

[00:32:24]>> OPM gives like kind of old school vibes.

[00:32:27]I feel like >> Yes.

[00:32:28]>> Sounds like old Canadian pop or American pop. Adobo or Sinigan?

[00:32:32]>> Sinigan.

[00:32:33]>> Pansit or Lubia?

[00:32:34]>> Lubia. Jollibee or McDonald's?

[00:32:37]>> Jollibee.

[00:32:37]>> Western food or Filipino food?

[00:32:39]>> Filipino food, but sometimes western. It depends how much Filipino food I've had.

[00:32:44]>> It's all about balance. You got to have a little bit of both.

[00:32:46]>> It's about balance. Sometimes I crave that burger.

[00:32:48]>> Borakai or Pawan?

[00:32:49]>> I haven't been to Palawan. We were we were supposed to go, but the the caves were um they were flooded or something.

[00:32:56]So, we we ended up not going. So, I have to say Barakai.

[00:32:59]>> Jeepy or trike?

[00:33:01]>> Trike.

[00:33:01]>> City or province?

[00:33:03]>> Province. Beer or gin?

[00:33:05]>> Jin.

[00:33:06]>> Karaoke or basketball?

[00:33:07]>> Karaoke.

[00:33:08]>> Excellent. Okay, those are all the questions I had.

[00:33:12]>> Thank you.

[00:33:13]>> Yeah, thank you so much.