“I’m named for both of my parents. ‘Ar’ is from my father’s name, Arnel, and ‘mily’ is from my mother’s name, Emily.”
“我的名字取自于父母的名字。‘阿’取自父姓，阿内尔；而‘米莉’则来自母亲的名字，艾米莉。”
“The Philippines is a beautiful country. It is famous for its wonderful beaches and islands.”
“菲律宾是一个美丽的国家。她以迷人的海滩和岛屿闻名。”
Family
“I have two sisters: Razel is nine and Janell Vane is four. My mom is a housewife, and my dad is an electronics and computer technician.”
“I call my mom and dad‘Mama’ and ‘Papa,’ but kids here have many pet names for their parents:‘nanay,’‘inay,’or‘mamang’ for mothers and‘tatay,’‘itay,’, ‘papang’ for fathers.”
“When I grow up, I want to be a famous actress, singer, and dancer, because I want my family to have the best things in life someday.”
“Filipino1 children face many of the same problems as American children because we experience the same physical and emotional changes. The difference is our economic status. The Philippines is a third world country, so we do not have as much as American children.”
Friends
“Here’s a picture of me with my classmates and friends—Karla, Hanna, Danica, and Ana—in our school uniforms.”
Music and TV
“My favorite singers are South Border (a Filipino boy band), Britney, Avril, and the Black Eyed Peas.”
“My favorite TV channel is MYX, which is like MTV. I also like Nickelodeon2, the Cartoon Network, and the Disney Channel.”
“Many American celebrities are famous here, like Drew Barrymore, Tom Cruise, and Keanu Reeves, and they influence many Filipinos. Many Filipinos want to go to other countries, because they are lands of greater opportunities.”
Fashion
“Girls our age like to wear clothes that are hip3. Since it’s so hot, the most popular styles right now are capris4 or low-waist pants, backless or sleeveless blouses, and miniskirts.”
Food
“We eat rice three times a day. Children usually eat fried rice, cooked eggs, and hot dogs for breakfast. For lunch and dinner, we eat rice and a main dish, like soup.”
Filipinos love Spam (the food, that is!). The restaurant in Manila serves Spam nuggets5, Spam spaghetti6, Caesar salad with Spam and, of course, Spam and eggs!
When you reach for ketchup7 in the Philippines, you may be surprised to find it’s made from bananas! It tastes a lot like the tomato variety, but sweeter.
Tradition
“Traditional dress is still worn by Filipino people, especially during celebrations. But it is hard to wear a long saya8 (a dress) with a kimona (a top knitted from pineapple fiber) in a hot climate. You’ll sweat to death!”
School
“At my school, boys and girls study together. We wear uniforms and a school ID. The official language here is Pilipino, but we study almost all of our subjects in English, the language used for business and politics.”
Curiosities & Facts
Of the 7,000 islands of the Philippines, only 880 are inhabited and at least 2,000 do not even have names!
Some Filipino kids enjoy spider wrestling. They put two spiders on a long stick and let them fight to the death. The sport has been banned in some areas, partly because it distracts kids from their schoolwork.
The isolated Tasaday tribe lives in caves—much like Stone Age people—in a protected area of the Philippines. They were discovered in 1971.
Filipina actress/singer Lea Salonga was the singing voice of Jasmine in Aladdin and the voice of Mulan in The Legend of Mulan.
The Philippines’ Tarsier9 monkey is the smallest monkey in the world. Its big eyes let it see at night.
The Pearl of Allah, the world’s largest natural pearl, measures nine inches across and weighs almost 14 pounds. It was found in a giant clam10 in the Philippines and is worth around $40 million!
Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, became famous worldwide for her collection of shoes—she had thousands!
If you want to get someone’s attention in the Philippines, you give them a “passsst.” The farther away you are from the person, the longer your passsssssssst!
家庭
“我有两个妹妹：芮扎尔9岁，简妮·维恩4岁。妈妈是个家庭主妇，爸爸是个电脑技术员。”
“我称母亲‘妈妈’，喊父亲‘爸爸’。但是这里的孩子对自己的父母有很多昵称。比如，称妈妈：‘娜纳依、’‘依娜依、’或‘玛芒’；叫爸爸：‘塔塔依、’‘依塔依、’‘帕旁’。”
“长大后，我想成为一位著名演员、歌手或舞蹈家，因为我希望有一天，我的家庭能享受世间最好的东西。”
“菲律宾孩子和美国孩子一样，面临同样的问题，因为我们经历着相同的身体和感情上的变化。不同的是我们的经济地位。菲律宾属于第三世界国家，所以我们不像美国孩子那样能享有更多东西。”
朋友
“这是一张我和同学、朋友在一起的照片——卡拉、汉娜、丹尼卡和安娜——我们都穿着校服。”
音乐和电视
“我最喜爱的歌手有南界（一个菲律宾男孩乐队）、布兰妮、艾薇儿和黑眼豆豆。”
“我最喜爱的电视频道是MYX，就像MTV一样。我也喜欢Nickelodeon儿童频道、卡通电视网和迪斯尼频道。”
“很多美国名人在这里也很出名，比如德鲁·巴里摩尔、汤姆·克鲁斯和基努·李维斯，很多菲律宾人都受他们的影响。许多菲律宾人想去其它国家，因为那里有着更大的机遇。”
时尚
“像我这个年龄的女孩喜欢穿时髦的衣服。因为天气炎热，所以现在最流行的款式是紧身裤或低腰裤，露背或无袖上衣和超短裙。”
食物
“我们一天三餐吃米饭。孩子们早饭通常是炒饭、煮鸡蛋、热狗。中饭和晚饭是米饭加一道主菜，比如汤。”
菲律宾人爱吃罐头午餐肉（Spam可是食物的意思哦！）。马尼拉的餐馆里通常出售午餐肉块，午餐肉意大利面，凯撒沙拉配午餐肉，当然还有午餐肉和鸡蛋！
当你在菲律宾用调味番茄酱时，你会吃惊地发现它是用香蕉作的！它尝起来很像番茄做的，但是更甜些。
传统
“菲律宾人仍穿着传统服饰，尤其在节日庆典时。但是在炎热的天气穿赛亚裙和可莫纳（一种用菠萝纤维织成的上衣）是一件很痛苦的事，简直会把人热死！”
学校
“我们学校里，男孩和女孩一起学习。我们穿校服，佩戴学生证。这里的官方语言是菲律宾语，但是我们几乎用英语学习所有课程，英语也是商业和政务语言。”
奇闻轶事
菲律宾共有7,000多个岛屿，只有880个有人居住，至少有2,000多个根本没有名字。
有些菲律宾小孩喜欢斗蜘蛛。他们把两个蜘蛛放在一根长棍子上，让它们相互残杀直到一只死去。这种游戏在一些地区被禁止，部分是因为它使孩子们不专心于学业。
与世隔绝的塔萨敦部落生活在洞穴里——和石器时代的人很相似——他们居住在菲律宾的一个保护区里。他们1971年才被外界发现。
菲律宾女演员兼歌手李·萨隆嘎在电影《阿拉丁》中为吉斯敏配音，她也在《木兰传奇》中为木兰配音。
菲律宾的眼镜猴是世界上最小的猴子。它的大眼睛让它们在夜里也能看得见。
安拉之珠，是世界上最大的天然珍珠，直径9英寸，重约14磅。它是在菲律宾一个巨大的蚌中发现的，价值约4千万美元！
伊梅尔达·马科斯是菲律宾的前第一夫人，她之所以闻名世界是因为她喜欢收藏鞋子——她收藏了数千双鞋！
在菲律宾，如果你想引起某人注意，就跟他们说英语的“past”，你可以把字母s拖得很长，你离那个人距离越远，就把s 拖得越长！
1. Filipino n. 菲律宾人
2. Nickelodeon是美国一个著名的儿童频道。
3. hip [hip] adj. 超时髦的；嬉皮的
4. capris n. 女式紧身裤
5. nugget n. 固体小块
6. spaghetti n. 意大利细面条
7. ketchup n. 调味番茄酱
8. saya n. 赛亚裙(菲律宾、和西班牙语国家穿的一种齐膝短裙)
9. tarsier n. 眼镜猴
10. clam n. 蚌