After trying marriage in the 1960’s I found that being single worked best for me. I’ll admit I was spoiled growing up. My mother would let us five boys eat pretty much anything we wanted after we became teenagers. My father and her and any younger siblings had a menu for supper every night but after age 13 it ended, unless we wanted what she was fixing. I’ll admit it was an unorthodox way of growing up but it worked for us. Breakfast like any place was catch as catch can, with different cereals toast and peculated coffee.
Lunch was bagged until High School because in Boston elementary (Grade 1-6) and Junior High (Grade 7-9) we did not have lunch rooms that served free food like today I guess we weren’t poor yet.. Also I’ll wager that 90% of us had Peanut butter and Jelly (PB & J) sandwiches, and none of our fellow students died of peanut allergies as no one had thought it up to complain to the school board about. Hell we didn’t even have that great failed social experiment of bussing as most of the people in charge of everything were WW-II and Korea Veterans and were from the Greatest Generation and still had common sense.
Then I went off to boot camp (Company 628) October 26th 1964 and this was a shock to me, you had to eat what they served or go hungry, which was fine with me as I normally only eat twice a day anyway. Breakfast (Breaking the fast) is the meal I’ll seldom miss, but with a big lunch I don’t really need supper, or vice versa (Read the menu for the day at breakfast and plan your meals)
There is a theory that if you eat like a non domesticated carnivore you’ll never become over weight. What the hell is Paul babbling about? An animal in the wild has no meal times, they eat when hungry. Unlike Pavlov’s dog who is trained to eat by humans when the bell rings. (Or some odd thing likes that)
So that is pretty much how I’ve lived most of my life, I joined the Navy in 1964 with a 27 inch waist, after boot camp I was a 29 inch waist, in my 20’s I became 30 inch waist until my 50’s where it became 32 inches and at age 69 it still is. But that might be from my metabolism and not my eating habits.
Single life caused me to know women from all over the planet, and the one thing I quickly noticed is that most of them were on some form of eating schedule. What a shock, but I adjusted since I was single I was not with them 24-7 and could go back to my place or the ship at the end of the date.
Then I married Maria Adobo (Mayang), the love of my life and found that I had to adjust my eating habits to conform with hers or I would hear about it. But in the beginning even that wasn’t so tough because I was still sailing and was home for a few months and out to sea again, back on my own eating schedule.
Of course our two girls were on the same feeding clock as their mother so I was in triple jeopardy at meal time. Then I retired and a compromise had to be met, Mayang my love, please thump me when you are hungry, and I promise that food will instantly become the most important thing on my mind. For the last 17 years this has work with great success, which is a boon for me because I noticed that when hungry, her temper would shorten to a point where I did not want it to be.
I will mention that my observations within any article I write mostly are my point of view. But for anyone who is thinking about marrying a lady from the Philippine Archipelagos, may want to heed my advice on the “The Care and Feeding of the person you’re with”. buon appetito (Italy), con provecho (Spain), bon appétit (France) Tayo’y magsikain (Tagalog) or enjoy your meal (English I think?)
With the advent of malls and this new millennium food has ceased to be a problem, we can now be in the same restaurant and all can find a food item that pleases us.
I still have rules; if its leftovers, then please refrigerate it if you really expect me to even think about eating it again. If bringing home food from the local street Carinderia (Or carenderya the proper spelling) that has sat out all morning with people one after another lifting the lid and staring at it, sneezing and breathing into it, you can be sure I’ll give that chow a quick pass, and make a PB & J for myself.
But for me, I have adjusted and know the look I get when my love has hunger pangs, the look is similar to the one my friends and I get when our ladies have decided our day out has ended and the old Kano’s must put their toys away and go home until another day.
Of all that I have learned here in the Philippines, the number one thing still is; “The Care and Feeding of my wife!” What with all the care she gives to me every day, I wisely return this favor back onto her.
Yep, can’t be late for meal time. Mine gets dizzy if she gets too hungry.
Nick;
Dizzy I could live with, angry scares me! (LOL) I was driving up to 100 Islands with my wife and the girls. At the hotel that morning I killed a huge breakfast before we got on the road while they drank coffee and pandesal and of course 1.5 hours later I’m getting the skunk eye from all three as now they were hungry!
Hi Paul
I too will not eat anything that hasn’t been refrigerated over night but the locals seem to survive. I get looked at very strangely when I pick up the fried chicken and deposit it in the fridge but I’ve also learned that if it does get put there it gets forgotten about!
Another scenario is keeping things free from ants. I recently purchased a lot of plastic containers which seemed to work. This morning I saw that yes the lids were on top but no-one bothers pushing the lid in place to create the seal. Why do I bother?
Happy Monday!
AJ UK
PS – Nick, I discovered the “dizzy” bit usually means shaking and not head spinning as we believe it to be.
AJ/UK;
That overnight table food would put us in the hospital if we tried to eat it, but then we never purchased a raw chicken at the market that was covered in flies when we were a kid. It’s what we’re used to that decides if we’ll survive those airborne pathogens or not.. (LOL) One burning question we have in the West is where all those extra Tupperware lids you find in the dishwasher come from? No one burps the bowl here in the Philippines, but a “plato” will be placed over the top of the bowl to keep it fresh!
Perhaps you have our lids Paul as we can always fid the container but not the lids! Perhaps your dishwasher is a teleporter?
AJ/UK
Boxes and boxes of lids, where in hell do the bowls go to? Is it the same as socks in a dryer?
Paul,
Food is very important to Anne, so i always make sure she has the food she likes and wants in the house.
Randy;
And so you will survive life in the Philippine Islands! (LOL)
Yep, mine has chicken and rice for lunch 7 days. Always the same.
Hi Nick;
Every day after the housework my wife and her twin sister discuss what the lunch meal will be today. Chicken and Rice does come up quite often but fish is in there too.
Many years back my wife and I spent a few days at Villa Lorenzo on Boracay. One evening we left our second story room to go down to the restaurant on the first floor. We hadn’t got very far and Lani said she needed to return to the room. We went back and she picked up a packet of crackers and put them in her purse. I ask “why the crackers?”, she replied, “In case I get hungry on the way to dinner.” The message has not changed in all these years: “Hungry now, feed me now!!!”
Mike;
That was funny but believable as my wife and daughters always have some form of food stuffs in their purse. My wife Mayang will allow nothing to be consumed within her car, so if you see it parked on the shoulder of the road, you can guess what they are doing. I remind them every day to remove the uneaten food from the trunk of the car. I guess it why her car still smells new.
In case I get hungry on the way to diner! Classic!!!!
So you went from 27″ inch waist to 32″ inch waist in 50 years.
That’s trully remarkable.
Only 5″ in 50 years!
Palawan Bob;
Here is the kicker, after these operations I’m back to size 30 once more! I’ll assume it was never my destiny to be plus sized! (LOL)
I know several women (my self included) and kids who gets a bit angry when hungry. I call it HANGRY! I always have crackers and a bar of chocolates in my bag to avoid the state of being HANGRY.
Janet;
Hangry, I like that, but am afraid to mention that to my wife. But as long as she gets to eat when she wants, my like is great! (LOL)
Omg Paul you may have lost some intestines but you retained your sense of humor! Luckily for me, my gf (read future wife) eats like a cat. She on the other hand has to put up with the likes of a 245 lb beast that is always hungry, it’s just a matter of degrees lol. Thanks for posting despite the medical setbacks sir! God bless, Paul.
Hi Phil;
Since my daughters got married and moved out, the cat analogy escapes me. The cat they left behind is now 20 years of age and weights 52 LBS. So eating like a cat confuses me (LOL)
But at one time I thought my wife was a picky eater as I never saw her eat a lot until I was living here full time, and the Hunger Games kicked it. But since I’m not the dashing sailor she fell for years ago, we’ve worked it out as to where love is the most important part of our relationship. But I feed her when she’s hungry, and this is my last word on this subject!!! (LOL)
My wonderful asawa still scowls at me because I turn Dow the day old rice that sat on the stovetop all night.
Tony;
Day old rice, as I watch her every morning mix that old rice up with old food, dog food (Wet and Dry) and watch the dog Army chow down. And I’m supposed to eat it? I won’t eat fresh rice in the morning as it gets all over my toast and hash browns. I eat rice when I’m in the mood to eat thousands of just one thing.(LOL)
When you ask them if they are ready to eat yet?, it’s whenever you are, which really means you should have had me to a restaurant by now and if you don’t get there pretty dam quick you are in for a cranky dinner partner. Blows my mind we will be three minutes from the restaurant and out comes the snacks.
Loren;
I’ve been in the dumper while parking the car at the restaurant. I’m long past trying to win, survival will do nicely!
Hi Paul,
Two things made me realize Filipinos eat by the clock. On my earlier visits all of a sudden out of nowhere friends that were with me said we had to stop everything because they ” Had To ” eat their lunch. First time I was in a Mall I saw a long line spilling out of Jollibee into the walkway of the mall. I looked at my watch and sure enough exactly 12 Noon.
I don’t care going to restaurants etc. at peak times. If I am going to have lunch it will be 11 AM or 2 PM to avoid the crowds and have what I consider to be a more peaceful meal. Having food to nibble on ? I can understand that if you have to wait in the long lines at Jollibee or any other popular place at a peak meal time. When I am visiting there, the excitement and pleasure of being in The Philippines overrides any possible feeling of hunger or must eat now routine.
Speaking of Jollibee, I recently read they are going into the shopping mall business, that is building shopping malls. The business name is Double Dragon and I have already purchased some stock in it.
Bob NY;
My Kano friends also eat lunch late to beat the crowds. Our ladies will eat (On time) and then go shopping or to a parlor for their nails or hair. But the food is non-negotiable, eating on time is what they do no matter how long the line. But except for the chicken at Jollibee’s I’m not fond of fast food.
My waist is the same size as it was when I was twenty although eight inches lower and I now have to roll up my pants. Joking aside I know too well the Jekyll and Hyde transformation my lovely wife goes through as hunger pains take over her body. At eighty-four pounds she just doesn’t have the reserves that I have amassed to carry me through a day or two without eating.
I spent the first eleven years of my life growing up in Holland eating sauerkraut, blood sausage and smoked eel with potatoes so I suppose from an early age I was training for my future life. Later my years in the service gave me a cast iron stomach that accepts any sustenance I can get past my nose and mouth. Copious amounts of beer open the possibilities even further and I can be dared to eat almost anything if enough Tanduay is involved.
My wife likes to keep the fridge full and it was impossible for me to explain that if nobody will ever eat it then it does not belong in the fridge. I got so tired of clearing old containers of obviously expired food from the fridge that I now fill over half with beer. Instead of having to constantly throw out old food I now get in trouble for having too much beer in the fridge. Beer replacing random unlabeled containers of moldy food is acceptable in my opinion.
Kuya Jim;
Why is it that they use the ref to mold out their old food, the table system is so much faster, but maybe it’s that they can see and smell it that makes the ref so appealing. But the quest for old food in the ref adds adventure to my life too. One never knows what will be found, especially in the vegetable crisper.
My brother-in-law was born and grew up in Holland, when he comes to visit, the beer has a short lifespan, and our wives have a shorted temper. I keep a private ref for beer only, so what happens in the other one, I can sleep through!