babble mix

Random Thoughts

What is pechay in English?

Bok choy.

I discovered that last Sunday when I was buying this tiny, pechay-looking piece of vegetable in the grocery. The cashier asked me what it was called, because she had to punch the code in. “I don’t know, some green veggie thing.” Malay ko ba kasi what that was called in English. So she asked the cashier next to us and said “bok choy” that sounded more like “batchoy”. Pechay pala talaga. Nice. Finally I can cook the real nilaga. Yey!

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Inspired by my bok choy discovery, I just thought I’d share my gulay translation discoveries here in the US.

Chicharo – sweet peas
Baguio beans – green beans (bat nga ba kasi baguio beans ang tawag dito? Kala ko dati because it was grown only in baguio)
Sweet potato – kamote, pero hindi sya yung kamote that we know. Weird ng kulay ng kamote dito.
Labanos – white radish (I haven’t seen this in groceries here, though)
Melon – if you’re referring to our ordinary orange melon, it’s cantaloupe melon. Meron pa kasing "honeydew melon" at syempre, "watermelon".
Singkamas – jicama (and not turnip as I originally thought it was, dahil kasi yun sa three little pigs na picture book ko, mukhang singkamas yung tinatanim ni 2nd little pig, eh.)

Yun lang muna. Basta happy ako, my nilaga finally had pechay and not spinach (blech). Kay saya!

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Is there such thing as overwhelming peace? Because that’s the only way I can describe my birthday gift from God last week.

It felt really weird in a good way, because I’ve never felt that kind of peace before. All my worries for the future, my wants, my plans that haven’t pushed through, my homesickness -- everything that has been occupying my mind for months (even years) just didn’t matter for one full day. I was just thankful for being born 27 years ago, thankful for everything and everyone I had, thankful for everything I had to go through for 27 years.

I received a truly unique gift for my birthday – peace. Not a lot of people get to experience that, even for a day. Salamat po, Lord.

posted by meL @ 12:36 PM