DUGONG PINOY

According to this website
www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/D/De/Demographics_of_the_Philippines.htm, Filipino blood is generally made up of the following elements:

70% Malay
10% Chinese
5% Indian
5% Non-Malay tribal
3% Spanish
3% Arab
1% American
1% Negrito
1% Japanese
1% All others

Fascinating, I must say. In my case, there's more Chinese and Spanish blood mixed in, the former from my father's side, the latter from my mother's. I wonder how they came up with these figures? There's an amazing race-typing thing that geneticists are using now to help people trace their genealogical lineages. I wonder what my blood can tell me about that?

According to my paternal family folklore, there were 3 brothers who came from China to the Philippines and each settled on the 3 main island groups. It would probably be fascinating to find out what the real story is. Too bad I can't interview my grandparents' generation anymore, since they're back home.

NOT ANOTHER RECIPE !

One of the hassles of moving, aside from the packing, is trying to use up your food. I had a box of quick barley that once upon a time I had intended to use to make soup, but since I also had three cans of corn, two cans of tuna, a can of minced clams, I decided to use those up as well. I followed the instructions to cook the barley, except instead of 4 cups of water, I used the liquid from the corn, tuna and clams, adding a little water. After the barley was cooked, I added 3 tbsp of chopped parsley and dumped a can of corn into the pan. Since the saucepan was too small for me to put in the rest of the ingredients, I just mixed the remaining corn, tuna and clams in a plastic bowl and spooned the barleycorn mixture into a bowl, then just added the tuna et.al. It was good, the barley looked a bit like fat rice.

I'll have to admit, I'm not half the cook my father was (before he "retired" from cooking our meals and baon in school or at work), but I'm coming into my own. I just wish I could have a chance to have my parents over for dinner, which isn't the easiest thing in the world, given that they're half the world away and US visas are hard to come by.