Sunday, July 27, 2008 Mercado: Survival kit By Juan L. Mercado Sidebar
IN his essay “The Power of Laughter,” Jose Javier Reyes asks: Is humor for us, Filipinos, just a diversion? Or a survival kit?...Humor in all its guises and uses, binds Filipinos together, transforming an experience into an event that can be shared.
Want to “test” this thesis? Below are texts from billboards, food stalls to laundromats that dribbled in thru Internet. Surf–and chuckle.
A wholesaler, in Batangas, sells balut as: "Starduck." In Nueva Ecija, there’s an eatery named: "Violybee." “Miki Mao” is a noodle shop. “Let’s Goat Together” is a kambingan in Sorsogon. A panciteria, on Boni Ave. is titled: “Pansit ng Taga-Malaboni.” Not wishing to be outdone, this restaurant in Pampanga boasts of: "Mekeni Rogers."
Guess where Cainta-ky Fried Chicken operates? Want a burger? In Naga City, try “Mang Donalds.” “Doris Night and Day” is a 24-hour eatery. And for those who want a second serving, go to “Babalik Karinderia.”
Seafood lovers should visit "Pusit to the Limit." The shrimp store, however, is known as: "Hipon Coming Back." Fishball carts unfurl streamers urging: "Eat My Balls." "Fish Be With You" is an aquatic pet shop next door.
Look at the food section of malls. Chicharon store: "Chicha Hut." And the pasta store is known as: "Pizza Hot." Tripe is served with steaming porridge at “Goto Heaven.” "Anak ng Tinapay" is the next door bakery’s leit motif. Cebu has “Pan Ta Bai.”
For those who prefer lechon, pork chop or steak, the place to head is: “ Meating Place.” Prices here are competitive with those in “Meat-tropolis.”
Signs vary with the goods – or services –offered. The snappy humor is patent throughout though.
Thus "Asian Mobile Massage Service” offers: “Massage only, God is watching." In Antipolo, a tombstone maker nailed this sign up: "Lito Lapida." A copy center in Sikatuna Village opted for "Pakopya ni Edgar." But a Cavite beerhouse is called, "Chickpoint."
Was it Tagbilaran that had a dry cleaner operations named: "Summa Cum Laundry." That is not to be confused with the laundromat in Davao: " Star Wash: Attack of the Clothes." But "Wash Your Problem" laundryshop is in Bacolod.
“Petal Attraction,” we recall, was in Diliman. So, was the flower shop "Susan's Roses" in Zamboanga. “Pinoy Big Barber” is a Cagayan de Oro barbershop.
Cyberspace has come to town. In Taguig, there’ an Internet cafe named: "n@kopi@." And this salon sports the billboard: "Hair Dot Comb." "Cafe Pindot" is how a squatters’ colony calls their portal to Internet.
A beauty parlor in San Juan, in any case, is named "Cut & Face." A stone’s throw away is "Saudia Hairlines” saloon. And was that a Tacloban salon called: "Curl Up and Dye"? “Alabank" is, of course, in Alabang. The mall there had “Robocock” -- a store selling feeds for chickens. A second hand watch store there is known as: "2nd Time Around." But where did ceiling installer " Kisame Street” open for business?
The Russian author Boris Pasternak never dropped by this shoe repair in Marikina named after his prize-winning novel: "Dr. Shoe-Bago." Nor did comic strip Clark Kent ever hear of the shoe repair store along Commonwealth emblazoned: “Shoe-perman.” It pledges: “We will heel you. Save your sole and even dye for you.” Customers will find, in front of these two stores, a taxi stand named: "Income Taxi."
“Filipino humor is rarely mean,” Reyes writes. “Because of their strong sense of hiya (shame), Filipinos go to great lengths to be polite, often self-deprecating…When Filipinos laugh at something unique to them, their laughter becomes an assertion of their unity as a people.”
