About Me

My photo
Mabuhay! I'm an Asian American writer (Back Kicks And Broken Promises, Abbott Press, 2012), martial artist and teacher who was born in The Philippines, raised in Hong Kong and ended up in New Jersey.

10 July, 2016

My Daddy



No, this isn’t a sentimental recollection of things I’ve done with my father. Although, I could and should probably write a post about that. This post is about my son’s impressions of his father–me.

This just happened two days ago but I can’t even recall how it came about; what prompted me to ask him what he would say if someone said, “Tell me ten things you know about your dad.” He took a few minutes to complete his list and I let him take his time doing so. After all, I wanted it to be his list, without my coaxing, so I worked on a post for my food blog, Panlasa, as he thought it out.  As he gave me something, I wrote it down.

So, for fun and entertainment, here’s what he said in order (although I’m not entirely sure if the order means anything to him).

My Daddy…

1. Is a 5th and 6th degree black belt (I have 5th dan certification from The Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul, Korea, and 6th dan certification from USA Taekwondo, the governing body of Taekwondo in the US)

2. Wears glasses

3. Plays FIFA on the PS3 and it’s his favourite video game, just like me, and he likes playing it with me



4. Is a little bit fat  (I corrected him on this that ‘little but’ is way too kind)

5. Used to be skinny

6. Does not like it when I joke around using ‘locker room’ humour (Boys will be boys, I guess. His favourite words apparently are fart and butt and words in that realm and he likes to say them with a giggle and a smile just to get a rise out of me)

7. Is a good drawer

8. Likes writing

9. Likes doing things with me

10. Is a thoughtful daddy.

After he finished his list, I told him I was surprised that he didn’t say anything about me be being a runner, a squash player or enjoying cooking; all things he’s done with me, likes to do and asks if we can do together. His response was that those things are “minus” meaning their places on the list are negative numbers so they’re more important than number one. So, perhaps, the order does mean something to him.

So, there it is, an eight-year-old boy’s impression of his father. What will be interesting is to ask him the question in another eight years.

Thanks for stopping by.