Filipina Bride Survival Kit

[Ray]

With all of the recent visa approvals, I thought it would be a good time to re-post the survival kit.

Considering the culture shock and homesickness that often affects your Filipina bride when she arrives in the States, here is a list of items that you can try to have on hand ahead of time to help her feel more at home. This list is based on my own personal experiences and recommendations from other PL readers. Please feel free to add your own suggestions, especially if you are a Filipina immigrant to the U.S. You may have to find an Asian market in your area for some of these items, but the additional effort will be well worth it.

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Required Items:
 Rice, 20lb min, Calrose or Thai Jasmine
 Electric Rice Cooker
 Cooking oil, 1 gallon
 Soy sauce, 1gallon
 Vinegar
 Banana sauce
 Dried fish
 Dried squid
 Pork chops
 Ground beef
 Spam
 Vienna Sausage
 Coned beef, canned
 Sardines, canned, X-large
 Garlic
 Onions
 Celery
 Carrots
 Cabbage
 Potatoes
 Ginger
 Tomatoes
 Eggs
 Bananas
 Lumpia wrappers, frozen
 Pancit noodles (Canton, Bihon)
 Sinigang mix
 Coke
 Sprite
 Lactose-free milk
 Tabo (or 1-qt plastic pitcher)
 Step stool
 Nipa broom w/ 18” handle
 Flip-flops, size 6, 2-3 pair
 Warm jacket, small
 Warm fuzzy slippers
 Electric blanket
 Woolite detergent
 Clothes pins
 Vick’s Vapor Rub
 Electric fry pan for outdoor cooking
 Prepaid phone cards

Optional Items:  
 Beer
 Rum
 Tabasco sauce
 Bagoong
 Patis
 Ground pork
 Hot dogs
 Fish, whole, with heads (Tilapia or Bangus)
 Nescafe instant coffee
 Pineapple juice
 Green mangos
 Fresh Papayas
 Squid, whole, frozen
 Mung beans
 Sunflower seeds
 Spinach, fresh (or ampalaya leaves)
 Eggplant, Japanese long
 Yellow squash
 Rice dispenser
 Karaoke machine with Filipino love songs
 Large framed picture of Last Supper
 Arnold Schwarzenegger movies
 Bucket, 5 gal
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Ray

[Peter Lee]

... in response to Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Ray on Apr 17, 2004

Ray,

I sent ur list of items to Maricel on the yahoo chat.   There was silence for a few minutes while she read and studied your post.  

maricelbandiana (12:01:55 AM): hbah ah ah ah aha ha whjat a terrific'
maricelbandiana (12:02:06 AM): i must be so proud of that man''
maricelbandiana (12:02:28 AM): he really know a filipina then''' i congratulate him'''
maricelbandiana (12:02:32 AM): he is so good'
maricelbandiana (12:02:34 AM): wow'
peterlee7772000 (12:02:34 AM): Ya well he is married to a Filipina so he must know hahaa
maricelbandiana (12:03:16 AM): h aha ha ha ha ha unbelievable greatohh wow'

So u have a new secret admirer Ray and I may have lost a wife LOL.

[Humabdos]

... in response to Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Ray on Apr 17, 2004

Ray you forgot K-Y and B C pills!
Hum

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Humabdos on Apr 18, 2004

No, I didn't forget. I did include K-Y (Karaoke-Yellow Squash).

I also listed B C (Bihon & Canton noodles), but I didn't know they came in pill form now. Cool! Where can I buy some of those pancit pills?

Ray

[Humabdos]

... in response to Re: Re: Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Ray on Apr 18, 2004

Damn Ray you really are a pervert!lol
Hum

[andrew99]

... in response to Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Ray on Apr 17, 2004

Hi Ray,

I saw no mention of an Air Supply CD in there.  Isn't it true that many Filipinas still love those early-mid 80's romantic songs?  That is if a person can find early 80's Air Supply CD someplace.  Or maybe get some early 80's music CD's, songs that I remember but names of songs I don't know.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by andrew99 on Apr 18, 2004

Good idea Andrew! But my wife prefers the older stuff: Beetles, Carpenters, Platters, etc.

It's also a great idea to have her bring her favorite music and karaoke CD's with her. She shouldn't have any problems with customs.

Ray

[senior citizen]

... in response to Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Ray on Apr 17, 2004

Not bad, LOL. I have not seen that as i am pretty new here.

My Honey still cooks some traditional dishes that I love, but she decided to do the American thing to the hilt when we arrived. She took cooking classes to learn what and how to cook American. She does add her own special touches to American foods. I can say that her classes were a big success. I now have Filipino-American food and have had for many years. With the exception of pizza, she does not like to order out food. I take her to a restaurant for a "special" occasion. She looks at a price list and almost has a stroke. I have to admit, eating at home beats eating out, at least with her doing the cooking it does.

Make that step-stool one of the kinds with a metal handle that only goes up two or three steps. If not your lady will be found tip-toe on the top step wobbling back and forth. Make sure it has the metal carry handle that rises above the upper step, and that it is solid and stable. Filipinas don't weigh squat, but they have no sense when it comes to standing on things they shouldn't. Have several step-stools, in fact. Unless your lady is tall, she'll need one to get up on to reach to the bottom of the washing machine. One in the laundry room, one in the kitchen, and one in the basement if you have one.

Another thing to consider is one of those grabby-handle things that allow you to reach high and low while standing on the floor. Get the good one with the handle that locks in place and that can handle good-sized boxes. These are also good for you when things get dropped behind or between washers and dryers and behind heavy furniture.

Flashlights, one in every room. While I like a power outage as an excuse to cuddle on the sofa, Honey has a thing about total darkness, especially during a storm. And she does not care for the ghostly green illumination of a chemlight stick, either. Get her one of those LED flashlights that will run for 6 days continuous on a set of batteries. Trust me on this one if your lady has a thing about power outages.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by senior citizen on Apr 17, 2004

Hi Señor,

That sounds like the step-stool we have. It has two steps and the top one is padded so it doubles as an extra seat. But she usually just grabs the nearest chair and hops up on that and then stands on the kitchen counter to reach the upper cabinets (LOL).

Yes, flashlights are always good. Night lights are helpful also.

I have found that most Filipinos like a lot of our favorite foods also, including roast turkey, roast beef (well done), lasagna, spaghetti, burgers, fries, baked potatoes, etc.  They can even make Spam taste good. Ever try Spam fried rice?

Ray

[senior citizen]

... in response to Re: Re: Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Ray on Apr 18, 2004

Honey is a Spam artist. She even puts Spam in salads and makes it taste good. We have regular Spam, lite Spam, Hickory smoked Spam and Tabasco Spam on the shelf. We even have the little round cans of spreadable Spam. She pan fries it, deep fries it, bakes it, shake and bakes it, barbecues it, steams it, poaches it, and grinds it up with eggs, cheese, and sweet pickles (add Marzetti slaw dressing) and makes Spam salad. She makes Spam hors d'urves (never could spell than darned word) that people love (when they don't know it is Spam). She grinds it up and puts it in spaghetti sauce, makes soup and chili with it, and even stuffs homemade sausages with it. We have Spam-stuffed bell peppers, Spam and eggs, cubed Spam, Spam paste stuffing. She puts Spam in the stuffing and dressing at Thanksgiving. She slices Spam into long cubes, shoves a stick into it, deep fries it in batter and we have Spam corn dogs. We have Spam lumpia, Spam gravy, corned Spam, pickled Spam and raw Spam. When I make venison sausages of all sorts, she has me use Spam in them instead of ground pork sausage (venison is too lean by itself to make good sausage). She even grinds it up and makes Spam patties with onions and cheese mixed in. Funny, though, I am not overweight and my cholesterol is just fine. Believe it or not, Spam is better for you than bacon or sausage. Less fat and less cholesterol. And yes, she makes Spam fried rice, too.

American foods she loves besides those you mentioned are french fries, fried chicken (southern-style), broasted chicken, candied yams, hash browns, tater tots, pork 'n beans, saurkraut, rabbit, wild game of all sorts and of course, pulled pork bar-b-q with coleslaw. She loves cornbread dressing (with Spam, of course) poached oysters, augratin and scalloped potatoes, and she absolutely loves farm-raised catfish.

She weighs about fifteen or so pounds more than when we married but I find her much more attractive this way. When we married she was far too skinny, weighing in at about 88 pounds or so. For 5'3" that is unhealthy. Now she has curves! Her legs filled out and became quite shapely along with the rest of her. She exercises (we both do), and she looks like she is not yet 30. Her hips and bust grew but her waistline stayed the same (gained a measely inch), even after two kids. Yummy! As I said before people are amazed to learn that we are husband and wife, and that we will soon be celebrating our silver anniversary.

[NOX1967]

... in response to Filipina Bride Survival Kit, posted by Ray on Apr 17, 2004

What is it with the Coke in the Philippines?
Why is it so good?

I recently heard about Kosher Coke, approved by a Jewish group. Non-Jewish people were talking about how good it tastes. Turns out it's because it's made with more sugar and no high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, so it tastes more like Coke did 30 years ago.

Is Coke in the Philippines made this way too?
Maybe it just tasted so good because it was so damn hot.

Ron

[Ray]

... in response to Coke in the Philippines, posted by NOX1967 on Apr 17, 2004

I don't know how they make coke over there, but they do grow a lot of sugar cane, so maybe that's the main ingredient(?). I only drink coke with Tanduay Rum and calamansi in it so it isn't so sweet. If you want Diet Coke over there, you still need to look around for it.

Sugar is the key to many Filipino recipes. Try getting your lady to eat Italian spaghetti sauce. Theirs is full of sugar and banana sauce and VERY sweet. I have heard that Jolibee took away most of McDonald's business because they mix sugar in with their beef(?)

Ray

[shadow]

... in response to Re: Coke in the Philippines, posted by Ray on Apr 18, 2004

Jollibee mixes massive amounts of sugar in everything. Sickening stuff. Cannot eat anything Jollibee.

Larry.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: Coke in the Philippines, posted by shadow on Apr 19, 2004

How about mixing sugar into your tortillas? Might just take off...

Sweet Mexican food and loud videoke. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em (LOL)

Jollibee junk IS gross but I must confess that I like their Peach-Mango and Banana-Langka Pies :-)

Ray

[shadow]

... in response to Idea..., posted by Ray on Apr 20, 2004

My strategy was to do something completely non-filipino. NO sugar in ANYTHING! The expats are loving it.

Larry.