Jay Stainback

Filipino Heroes: Historical

By Jay Stainback | March 22, 2018 | 20

I have always believed that having heroes is beneficial especially for young people. In the USA, I feel that I was blessed with many historical heroes starting with the American Revolution which the USA won over England. How would heroes like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson have been remembered had the rebelling colonies lost the war and the USA given its independence 50 years later? How would General George Washington been remembered if…

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Are Filipinos Asian?

By Jay Stainback | March 2, 2018 | 60

My wife is Filipino. She says she is Asian. Is she correct? There comes a need when accomplishing government forms to state one’s race. I have seen some forms that actually list Filipino, but most don’t and have two categories that I think a Filipino might feel are correct: Asian or Pacific Islander. My wife does not think of herself as a Pacific Islander just like Japanese people mostly do not consider themselves Pacific Islanders…

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Filipino vs. USA: Spaghetti

By Jay Stainback | February 14, 2018 | 80

“I want Spaghetti and Meatballs for my birthday!” I exclaimed to my mother when asked what I wanted for dinner. When I was a young’un my favorite food to eat was Mom’s Spaghetti and Meatballs. As my palate developed Spaghetti and Meatballs grew old to me and I would order Fettucine Alfredo with grilled chicken strips, sweet green peas, and mushrooms when at Americanized Italian restaurants. As an adult, I had pretty much-crossed spaghetti of…

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How to be seen as a human target in the Philippines

By Jay Stainback | December 29, 2017 | 16

Some people like to live “La Vida Loco” that Ricky Martin sings about. I like to think I write pretty interesting articles, but in real life, I am kind of boring. One way I could add some spice to my life would be to travel to the Philippines and be seen as a human target. I have heard and read about people who feel they are seen as human targets, but I have yet to…

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Five fabulous Filipino foods foreigners find foul flavored

By Jay Stainback | December 13, 2017 | 38

The fabulous five Filipino foods I am writing about are fish heads, spiky fruits, house plant vegetable soup, bitter melon and pork blood stew. When writing an interesting blog article, I find it necessary to sometimes overgeneralize. Some foreigners may agree with me that some or most or all of these foods are delicious. We all have our own taste. The beauty of the comment section is opinions can be expressed and information added. Anyway,…

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Have gun will travel… just not to the Philippines

By Jay Stainback | November 22, 2017 | 41

“Grandpa, can we shoot your guns today?”, pleaded my bored 9-year old son as we visited my father. Dad is a lifelong sportsman, who grew up on a farm hunting and fishing for recreation. I grew up in a house with 10 to 12 guns visible in cases. I shot bb guns and occasionally hunted rabbit and quail with Dad. Dad and I took my two boys at the time 13 and 9 years of…

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