THE DREADED QUESTION: Manila-Style
*Me, sitting at Greenbelt Park enjoying my afternoon latte while Sofia, Akihiro and Morgan are shopping to death…*“Hello! Where do you come from?”
OMG! No-no-no!…not this conversation again! Am I back in Thailand? Huh!? Nope, the sign clearly says Greenbelt Park, so this is Manila. But why am I getting this dreaded question again? No, no, no…there’s gotta be a mistake. I’m not gonna fall for this again. “Excuse me? What did you say?” *oh shoots!*
“You look like a tourist. Where are you from?” the guy said smiling.
“Oh! I’m from Thailand.” I quickly replied, sipping my latte.
“You’re from Taiwan! My sister is a factory worker there. Many years already.”
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! This is a new conversation after all!
“No, no, no…Thai – land.” I studied his reaction… NOPE! It didn’t register. So I changed my statement…
“I’m from Bangkok.” There! I think he would recognize my city.
“Wow! You speak Tagalog? Anong bangko?”
*gasp!*
He meant -- “What bank?”!!!
Related Article: ”Wer You Cam Phom?”
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22 Comments:
OH EM GEE.. .LAWLZ... I can't stop laughing...
Two things:
1) The guy doesn't fully understand the English language (which I'm not sure since you didn't detailed how the guy looks); or
2) The guy is messing with you :p It is very common here in the Philippines to make... how to put it.... practical jokes.
And maybe, JUST maybe, there might even be a camera somewhere.
It's like "welcome to the Philippines... we all smile here and we all know how to take a joke".
It's one of the two above.
- XIE, Shixi / JC John SESE Cuneta
http://asean.gameshogun.ws
is he tanga(stupid) or bingi(deaf)
lol
@travel, i think both! haha, super tawa ako dun
@travelphilippines
I don't think he is stupid or deaf. If the Filipino can speak in English but fails to understand what Pisanu said, then that Filipino can "speak" but do "not" understand or grasp English fully.
You very well know there are many Filipinos who speaks English but doesn't really understand what they are saying or what the other person is saying when s/he replies back in English.
Secondly, he couldn't be deaf. Many Filipinos are not literate especially when it comes to foreign places. It may be the first time for him to hear "Bangkok" and so what he heard was "Bangko".
Third, he may have failed to understand the way Pisanu speaks or pronounces English, hence, he heard "Bangkok" as "Bangko" or "Thailand" as "Taiwan".
If you think and speak those words and put yourself in the shoes of the "common" Filipino, trying to converse in a language s/he doesn't fully understand, and add the fact that s/he is not aware of the world outside of the common "OFW" countries, you will clearly notice how "Thailand" could be mistaken as "Taiwan" and "Bangkok" as "Bangko".
Now add to that the differences in pronounciations of each people, especially for Filipinos who have a different dictum of English and as such, finds it hard to grasp what a foreigner is saying - and add to that, Pisanu's dictum as well.
You really get a confusing conversation with all those factors, factored in.
It's hard to judge that Filipino, so saying if he's stupid or deaf would be too much.
You and me are literate people, and have spoken first-hand with foreigners and conversed with people with different English dictums, and so we understand each other because we have an experience to lean on. But the majority of the Filipinos do not have those experiences.
I still will give that Filipino the benefit-of-a-doubt. Now if most of my assumptions are correct, then I commend that Filipino for trying to strike a conversation with a tourist - and again, as you and me know, majority of the Filipinos will ignore foreigners if given the chance.
Foreigners to open the conversation to a Filipino is not surprising, but for a Filipino to open a conversation with a foreigner (and stranger) is not common.
;)
My two cents of opinion.
ditto that Laibeus.. LoL.. 'Anong bangko?'..this sounds almost surreal.. funny shiz..
@Don...hello. We were trying to send you a message at your friendster but we can't. We ain't have friendster account.
@ Laibeus...there are hundreds of possibilities.We'll never know. But is was really ashocker for me than funny. LOL
@Eyron and Travel, thanks for the comments. You guys are cool!
Hey bro, yeah i knew you guys weren't in Thailand so I've only sent the stamps yesterday. :) how was the superstar fun in philly? :)
i think the guy was absent when his teacher discussed geography wehehehehe
mwahh
hahaha, hilarious!! bangko...wahahaha
@Pisanu... most Filipinos forget or don't know that Thailand is pronounced with a silent "h", maybe that is the reason why he thought you were talking about Taiwan...haha
@ Sanne, sis! You are so busy huh? Tell me what program on telly you're making so we can watch it. TV 8 Singapore, yeah?
@ Aries...hey dude! How's work? You're so busy too!
@ xanderj...yeah, it was crazy. Maybe the guys sa so shocked when I did the walkout. LOL.
@pisanu.. wow! knowing that u tried to send me a msg through friendster is already a big deal..Kop Kun! (did i get that right?)..
@ Don...I think Sofia set up a friendster account just for you. Did you get her message?
Pisanu will also probably find it difficult to understand me with my broad aussie accent. But I always tone it down when in Asia...
@ Jessekuma...the word is "probably" but no, I do understand every single word a real Aussie says. I had 2 Aussie lovers before and I hold stocks and shares of ABC Asia-Pacific (later named Australia Network)
Top that! LOL. =)
LOL!!! Hey Pisanu now I am sure you understand Aussie accent but who gives a shit if Aussies get understood or not! You should try making sense of what the Kiwis are saying!! LOL again. The point is, I think the comments on this article have missed the punch line entirely! It's supposed to be a sequel to the Wer U Cam Phom article which together with this situational article I found very witty and funny...Peace to all just in case I get into trouble again!!!
@ Jesse...LOL! Trouble is good! What the heck? Were we all born to play safe and live a boring life? Hell no! A little trouble is called for sometimes. Agree?
I'm so loving this mobile blogging thingy -- I could fuck my fone! God bless Nokia!
@Pisanu.. nope i wasn't.. but it's no biggie.. no need to go through rubbish signing-up.. knowing that you've read my posts is good enough.. =P
hmm, that's weird.. i've often thought that Filipinos are quite friendly with foreigners. Anyway, since he did strike up the conversation it did seem he was anticipating a 2-way english conversation (apparently not-too-fluent though) between the two of you. So my best bet is... that he must have heard the "Thai" part well enough but not the "land". Anyway, the whole thing was amusing though.
forgive my kababayan dude!
too hilarious for words!
LOL! That one was outrageous! Such a shame.. LOL
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