Trivial Trivia.

Photo courtesy of laguna.net

I bet you guys love trivia as much as I do. So for those who are totally unfamiliar with the Philippines, I hope these bits of information will shed light  on our existence. Here it goes.

1.      1. Don’t ask us about distance. When asked how far one place is to another, say from northernmost part of Metro Manila to the south, our standard answer will be, ‘1.5 hours without traffic or 2.5 hours with traffic ‘.  If you press us to state it in kilometer or miles, we’ll give you a blank stare.

2. We  use both systems (metric and non-metric) when we measure things. Example: a fabric can be  4 yards or 4 meters. Coke is 1.5 liters while water can be measured in  gallons. When baking, 100 ml of vanilla powder or half cup of sugar .  Height is in inches while weight is in lbs.

3.  If other nations have  winter, spring, summer or fall, and neighboring countries have wet  and dry season, Philippines  has  2 seasons as well –  Christmas and after Christmas.  Christmas season starts as early as September, when the BER months commence (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER).  In January after the Three Kings,  signals the beginning of the after Christmas season.

4. We have our own Einsteins and gifted children. Abelardo Aguilar,  Filipino scientist created the antibiotic erythromycin, the moon buggy inventor Eduardo San Juan.  Jose Rizal, our national hero can read and write at the age of 2 and he was known to speak 20 languages.

5. One out of 10 Filipinos are working abroad. That’s why you bump into us everywhere, even in Gaza Strip.

6. We’re a country of entertainers and understated global celebrities. Most five star hotels all over the world employ Filipino bands. What do the Britney Spears’ wedding gown designer (Monique Lhuiller), Jennifer Lopez’s make-up artist (Mally Roncal)  and Nick Lachey’s girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo have in common? You’re right, they’re all Filipinos.

7. The British invaders not the Americans introduced the English language in 1762. Philippines is the world’s 3^rd largest English-speaking nation next to the USA and the UK.

8. The Philippines is the biggest community of Catholics in Asia. The other one is  East Timor.

9. Our flora and fauna are very diverse. We have the smallest monkey called tarsier measuring 3-6 inches in length and  3-6 oz in weight. Of the 500 known coral species in the world, 488 can be found here as well as  7 out of 8 known giant clams.

10. Filipinos love shoes! Oh, I bet you already know that.

-r-