Things You Don't Know About Filipinas - You WILL Be Surprised!

Pea films a candlelight chat during one of Negros's frequent power outages, covering a grab-bag of quirky Filipino habits and cultural behaviors that foreigners living in the Philippines will inevitably encounter. From motion sickness and shampoo hoarding to public urination etiquette and the Filipino obsession with double words, Pea explains not just what Filipinos do but the specific cultural and practical reasons behind each behavior — delivered with her signature mix of self-deprecating humor and blunt honesty.

Candlelight chat setup: power went out while Pea was preparing to film, so she improvised with candles ​

• She has a backup power source for phone and mic but needs studio lights for indoor filming
• Acknowledges the video may look grainy, jokes "our girl's got to do what our girl's got to do"
• Notes she doesn't want to buy a generator because she's renting and doesn't want to lug heavy equipment around

Motion sickness in Filipinos ​

• Many viewers have reported their Filipina partners get motion sickness in cars, especially with AC on
• Pea's personal example: picked up her cousin, and by the end of the street the cousin needed windows down and to pull over
• She researched it and found Asians are genetically more prone to motion sickness than Europeans — finds this ironic since Filipinos are supposed to be seafaring voyagers
• Her additional theory: Filipinos mostly use open-air transport (jeepneys, trikes), so enclosed cars with recirculating air and trapped smells (perfume, stale food) trigger nausea
• Practical tip: most Filipinos carry Vicks nasal inhalers when traveling — Pea always has two in her purse, not for motion sickness but to reset when she smells something off
• Advice to foreigners: bring a barf bag when driving your Filipina with windows closed

The "babot seat" on jeepneys ​

• Jeepney drivers have a reputation as smooth talkers who are good with women
• There's always a cute young girl sitting up front next to the driver — that's the "babot seat" (babot = cute young girl)
• You typically need an invitation to sit there
• So if you see a pretty woman riding shotgun on a jeepney, now you know why

The shampoo surprise (Filipino extreme frugality) ​

• When a shampoo bottle is nearly empty, Filipinas refill it with water and shake it up instead of throwing it away — Pea admits she did this that very morning
• Even Filipinas with wealthy foreign partners who can easily afford a $2 bottle of shampoo can't bring themselves to declare the bottle empty
• Pea compares it to homeopathy: "if we just have one drop of the original substance in the bottle then it all turns into shampoo"
• This extends to everything: dishwashing liquid, peanut butter (rubbing bread inside the jar until it's transparent), toothpaste tubes, ice cream containers — "we use them down to the last molecule, down to the last atom"
• The humor breaks when you go to make a PB&J and there's "only a skid mark of peanut butter left in the jar"
• Asks viewers to share in comments if they've ever had a fight over a shampoo bottle

Shoes piled at the doorstep ​

• Filipinos leave shoes directly in front of the door, creating a pile you step on when exiting — "you jerk your leg up in the air like you stepped on a cat," especially dangerous in the dark
• Why: stepping out of shoes directly into a clean house, and stepping into shoes directly when leaving — avoids touching dirty ground between shoe removal and house entry
• Especially common in provincial areas with dirt outside the front door
• Even in nicer apartments, the habit persists — "one more thing you're going to have to negotiate with your Filipina"

Leaving lights on all night ​

• Filipinos turn on unnecessary lights throughout the house and leave them burning all night, even in empty rooms
• Seems contradictory for a country with high electricity costs, especially from people who water down shampoo to save money
• Two reasons: genuine fear of the dark/ghosts, and practical burglar deterrence (lights on = someone's home)
• The ghost fear traces back to childhood — parents tell kids "the momo will take you away" (momo = ghost/boogeyman)
• Pea's personal experience: her adult brothers stay with her and leave lights on down the entire hall, refuse to sleep in dark rooms — she constantly yells at them about it

Leaving food out instead of refrigerating ​

• In provinces, many people don't have refrigerators, so leftovers are covered and left on the table for the next meal
• Filipino food is often designed to last without refrigeration — adobo uses vinegar and soy sauce as natural preservatives, and Filipinos believe "the older it gets, the better it tastes"
• Many things foreigners automatically refrigerate (ketchup, mayonnaise, eggs) Filipinos leave out
• Average Filipino fridge is much smaller than Western ones, so refrigerator space requires careful prioritization
• Pea adds the caveat "I'm not saying all Filipinos do this — don't crucify me" but says people she knows personally barely refrigerate anything

Bent fingers and toes ​

• Many Filipinos have fingers or toes that veer off at odd angles
• Pea compares it to Filipino cats, 95% of which have tails that look broken — three of her own cats have kinked tails
• She predicts viewers will immediately inspect their Filipina's hands after watching, and "she's going to blame me for pointing out her flaws"

Never call your Filipina "Bubaloo" ​

• To foreigners it might sound like a cute nickname or term of endearment
• To Filipinos it's an insult meaning someone with an abnormally long chin (distance from chin to mouth)
• Named after a Filipino actor called Bubaloo who has a very long chin
• Jay Leno is cited as an example of someone who'd be called bubaloo
• "Pick a different name if you want to keep the peace"

Nose pulling as a compliment ​

• Filipinos pull on noses they find attractive, including on babies
• It's a way of saying "I like your nose"
• Foreigners shouldn't be surprised if someone pays them a compliment by grabbing their nose

The "pull my finger" joke doesn't exist in the Philippines ​

• If you ask your Filipina to pull your finger, she'll have no idea what you're talking about
• Pea encourages foreigners to try it on their girlfriends for an "unpleasant surprise" and says "you can blame that one on me"

Public urination etiquette ​

• In the West it can get you in serious trouble — Pea heard from a foreigner friend that you can end up on a sex offender registry (she hopes that's not true because "that seems harsh")
• In the Philippines it's technically illegal but men do it all the time
• Rules: can't do it on a busy street or "wave it around like a loaded weapon," but a nearby wall or tree makes it socially acceptable as long as you're discreet and not aiming at anyone
• Taxi drivers commonly pull over and walk behind the cab to relieve themselves — don't panic, it's normal
• Women do it less often but it's "not unheard of" behind an umbrella — Pea confesses she may have done it "once or twice" before cutting herself off

Filipinos and video games ​

• Despite the stereotype that all Asians are gamers (driven by Japanese and Korean competitive gaming dominance), Filipinos barely play video games
• Mobile gaming (Mobile Legends) and some PC gaming exists, but console gaming is almost nonexistent
• Physical game copies, controllers, and consoles are hard to find outside decent-sized cities — nothing like GameStop
• Good news: used games and equipment can be found online, just takes a few days to ship

Taking photos at fast food restaurants ​

• Looks trivial to foreigners but is a big deal for Filipinos — it's bragging to friends about where they got to eat
• Context: average daily wage is about $10, so a trip to Burger King represents half a day's labor
• Photos get posted to Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram
• If McDonald's or Jollibee is too expensive, there's always knockoff alternatives like "McDoable" (a real McDonald's ripoff)

Filipino copycat culture ​

• Extends far beyond fast food: Ritz crackers → Fet crackers (nearly identical packaging), Nabisco → Rabisco, Panasonic → Pensonic
• Very little trademark protection and widespread plagiarism with no shame
• Pea argues this kills creativity because there's no incentive to innovate — "someone just comes along and steals it"
• If you start a successful taco business, suddenly 100 competitors open right next to you until no one makes money
• This is why many Filipinos just name stores after themselves (Lucille's Store, Robert's Store) — "why come up with a creative name when someone's just going to steal it?"

Filipino double talk / reduplication ​

• Filipinos love repeating words: halo-halo, chika-chika, suso, pika-pika
• Pea doesn't know why but finds it cute
• Signs off with a joke: "my brother John-John just got engaged to his girlfriend My-My, and that's no baba-ba" (wordplay on "baba" meaning gossip/joke)

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