Living Batangueño: Driving to Batangas City

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Driving from Manila to Batangas

I have been driving between Manila and Batangas City weekly since April 2005 and one of my frustrations about it is the wasted time - imagine around 5 to 7 hours a week (depending on how bad the traffic is) is unproductive time, just sitting on my butt, going from point A to point B. There was even one time I traveled from Batangas to Manila for 5 and a half hours!

Batangas - STAR Tollway

It was even worse during the episode when the "Bridge of Promise" was out of service. That bridge collapsed during the typhoon season of 2009, it was Typhoon Santi that destroyed it, taking the life of Romulo Soriano and his 3-year old son, Nicolo. His wife Malou who was also in the car when it crashed into the water, survived...

Living Batangueño: Palaspas (Palm Sunday)

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Here is a back post I should have published a month ago but wasn't able to. It is part of my Living Batangueño series.

I was in Batangas during the Palm Sunday weekend this year and attended the 6AM mass at the Santissima Trinidad Parish (the one beside the SM Batangas Mall).

Here are some of my favorite photographs from that day. You can click on the photos to see them full sized.

The early Palm Sunday morning

I'm not used to waking up early, but I did that day. I'm not sure why. My whole life I've only been to a Palm Sunday mass maybe less than 5 times - or at least that's how many I remember....

Homework: English to Batangueño translations

Translating from English to Tagalog to Batangueno. Wow. I'm such an expert. Not! Why not give it a go yourself?

Kids, do your own Homework

Humor me, I say.

Laiya Beach, Batangas

Several weeks ago, I found a comment on my CBox from Jasmin, a student from Davao, and she was asking if I could translate some English sentences into Batangueno for her. She obviously did not read my profile page. Heh heh heh.

Friends, I am not Batangueno (although at this rate, I may very well become one lol). No offense to my kabareks - I think Batanguenos are a great people. Very strong and solid, a brave and assertive bunch. I love kapeng Barako, but I'm still looking for a genuine local place around here where I can buy some - recommend a place to me!

In the interest of nationalism, I prefer to refer to Batangueños as "Filipinos in Batangas" and say "Batangueño" to mean the dialect they speak around here. And for the record, I have, not once, heard anyone here say "Ala-eh!"

Living Batangueño: My new vocabulary

I'm a city born boy living and working in Batangas City for the last 4 years. This post is part of a series about adjusting to life in Batangas - Living Batangueño. Please subscribe!
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Don't call the ladies "manang"

In Manila, it is common to refer to anyone older than you as "manang / manong", or "ate / kuya", both meaning elder sister or brother. In Batangas, the proper term for respect is "Ka". For example, you would call an elder who is not your relative "Ka -insert_name_here-", say for example, Ka Roger or Ka Pedring or Ka Linda.

When I was newly transplanted, some colleagues and I would have lunch at this nearby "bangihan" (bbq) place. One time, I was wanting something spicy for my sauce, so I called out to the serving lady, "Manang, pahingi ho ng sili (can I have some chili)". The lady just smiled at me and asked for some chili from another serving lady. The other lady then brought her some chili teasing, "O, Ka Manang, eto na yung sili! (here's the chili!)". Hehehehe. Pwnd! :p

Call me "Utoy" (not tutoy!)

On the other end of the geriatric spectrum, while elders are called "Ka", young Batangueño boys are referred to as "utoy" and young Batangueño girls are called "ineng". Being baby-faced and short (ouch!), I'm often called "utoy" here. That actually took some getting used to for my ears as "utoy" sounds very similar to "tutoy" which is in Manila, a short name for a kid's penis. Lol!

 

It's pronounced "gah"

One of the very first Batangueño things I learned was how to properly pronounce "ga". I had always thought it was pronounced with a shortened guttural "a" sound, pronouncing the "g" then closing your throat as if you choking. I was wrong! :p It's pronounced with a bit more sustained "a" (like "gaa" or "gah").

Now go practice!


"Ano, ga?"