drinking in the Philippines
Having a party in the Philippines means drinking, aside from dancing, singing karaoke, and eating. Mostly men are drinking. I haven’t seen women drinking often. If they do: just moderately. Men like to drink untill they got drunk or even beyond.
The procedure and ingredients:
A bottle of gin, brandy or other drinks is placed on the table. There are two glasses, a smaller one for the liquor and a larger one for water. There is a pitcher with water and ice. And (very important) a bowl with Pulutan (some food what is eaten by the drinkers while drinking). This can be chicken, fish, pork or any other food available.
The session begins with opening the bottle and spill some of the drink for the ‘spirits’.
The first drinker pours some of the liquor in the small glass and pours water in the big glass. The liquor is taken in and washed away with some cold water (also called: chaser). Then he passes the glasses to the person right from him who will perform the same ritual. And after him the next, and the next…..
When the liquor bottle is empty, a new one should be taken care for, and another one, and another one….. Untill everybody is drunk.
Beer is expensive compared to hard drinks like the local gin and brandy. A 330ML bottle os San Miguel costs around 20 pesos. A whole liter of gin or brandy is around 60 pesos ( 1 euro or US$ 1.20). This is one reason that often hard drinks are consumed in get-togethers.
Filipinos try to drink on every possible occasion, actually they do not need an occasion to find a reason for a drinking session.
During and after a drinking session all empty bottles are lying under the tables.
After our bithday party some of the assembled empty bottles are put together to be collected by the bottle collector for recycling.
Filipino time:
And of course they will find any wall, bush, or tree to pee on.
Yes, That’s part of the ritual !!
Hi Jan,
Yes, that’s true in most parts of the Philippines.
People don’t need an occasion in order to get really drunk. Just, well, they need to drink and those thousand of stories that go along with it!
The water in that glass is called the chaser. It “chases away” the after-taste of the gin after taking it in. And of course, the “pulutan”, which is shared by everyone. Never start the session without one!
Dexter
Dexter,
That’s why I made this post, to let others know how a drinking session works here.
You should see the drinking sessions on pay-day, they do not stop !!
Hey…
I’m missing something…
What about dog caldereta (dog stew) or cat adobo as pulutan?
I guess you never been drinking with the real guys ….
Henk,
You are right. Sometimes they eat cats and dogs as pulutan.
I am not a heavy drinker and join them only occasionly. I only drink beer (SM pale pilsen) and never take any pulutan (for safety reason).
I would prefer toasted peanuts with crunchy garlic and ginger chips with that bottle of gin. Here’s a pic of a friend last christmas, too much partying and drinking…lol.