ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES part 2

WHAT WE USUALLY DO DURING SUMMER

Starting month of MARCH means letting go and busting loose in the 7,107 island of the Philippine archipelago. It's graduation month which means thousands of parents can breathe a huge sigh of relief now that their 20-year-old kids can finally leave school, find a job, make themselves productive, and contribute to the family expenses.

Not necessarily so for the kids. After four years of hitting the books and burning the midnight oil to make the grade, many of them believe that - at least for the first few months - they're entitled to a little R and R. And that can mean a couple of weeks bumming around in the house or another month recharging amidst the lush landscapes of our charming countryside.

Here are most common words you can expect to hear:

MALLING
Literal meaning: spending hours of the mall. "Malling: isn't really a proper english word as my expatriate friends love to point out. It's just a term that we Pinoys coined in honor of our favorite past-time.

Actual meaning: malling is almost a lifestyle in the Philippines, especially in Manila. Families, friends, or just plain individuals hand around to buy clothes, books, and other stuff that they need or window-shop. They chomp on the latest culinary delights deom, again depending on one's budget, the classiest restaurants to the less malls have videogame arcades and internet cafes, and the larger ones have skating rinks.

GIMMIK
Literal meaning: comes from "gimmick", an attention-catching trend

Actual meaning: party, hang-out cruise the bards in the evening, or just have a good old time with the gang.

INUMAN
Literal meaning: to drink with friends, from a couple of beers to a whole night guzzling the booze.

PA-LISTA
Literal meaning: to list down item

Actual meaning: the small sari-sari stores that are a familiar fixture in the neighborhoods allow customers to get items on credit. The store owner keeps a notebook of each customer's purchase and bills him every month or 15 days.

TAMBAYAN
Actual meaning: bumming around with or without the food binges in a friend's house, the old school, the park, or the mall.

BARKADA
Actual meaning: gangmates, buddies, group of friends. Summer fun wouldn't be complete them.

CURFEW
Actual meaning: same as in English, a specific designated time wherein a person is expected to come home. In the Philippines, male teens and yound adults should be home at 3 a.m.; if they sleep with their friends, they are expected to call home to say so. Girls have stricter and earlier curfews. Midnight is usually the rule of thumb and their boyfriends or barkadas have to bring them home.

OUT OF TOWN
Actual meaning: what it also means in English, although in the Philippines, most of the times it specifically means "get out of Manila and ride into the outskirt provincesa where we can swim, surf, ride horses, look at the scenery, etc. An out of town usually takes up the weeked.

BORA
Literal meaning: refers to Boracay, probably the Philippines most popular and idyllic destination area.

Actual meaning: Bora has become part of our lingo simple because it has become a must-see for every Pinoy, transcending its noun format to become a verb or an event. One visit to Bora almost confers a status symbol.

TELEBABAD
Literal meaning: burn the phone lines by engaging someone in a long phone conversation. Telebabad is a combination of two words: telehone and babad which means to soak up for a long time. This is still the most convenient form of hooking up with a friend.

No payment needed, dinner can be goobed down during phone call, and saves you time on dressing and transportation.