10 Things Vietnamese & Filipinos CANNOT Live Without

Here are 10 things that Filipino and Vietnamese people cannot live without. Yeah, we gotta talk about it. Of course, joining us today is a very special comedian guest, Vic Tran. You're half Vietnamese and you're half Filipino. You're from H-Town. Let them know what it is. That's all there is. I'm a half Vietnamese, half Filipino comic from H-Town. Yeah, and you were number one on Ronny Chieng's up-and-coming Asian comedians to look out for. Oh no, he texted me. He said I'm off the list. Andrew, we gotta get into this because we grew up in Kent, Washington. The primary Asians we grew up around were Filipino and Vietnamese. Yeah, and I think it has only gotten even more Vietnamese and Filipino since we left. So, are we qualified to talk about it? Yeah, we gotta ask you because H-Town is also primarily Vietnamese and Filipino, right? Yeah, it's almost predominantly all Vietnamese, Filipino. I didn't know any Chinese people until I moved to New York. We are the first Chinese people you've actually ever met. You guys are the only two Chinese people I know and, yeah, and Jews. I didn't know any Jews until I moved to New York, too. Oh, well, Vic, I know a whole Bel Air av that's gonna be mad that you said that, but... Anyways, yeah, let's get into the list. All right, we're gonna start off with Filipinos. The number one thing that Filipinos... And by the way, this is in the Philippines. There may be some transfer over to the American side, though. Is chinelas, flip-flops. Yeah, yeah, chinelas. Yeah, you can't live without them. Every Lola has them. They're throwing them at your head. Andrew, I remember that Chris the Cop... Shout out to Chris the Cop, man. He used to have dunk contests with his uncles on a seven-foot hoop in their backyard, and they were all wearing chinelas. They were having dunk contests in the flip-flops. Now, I think maybe in the Philippines, they're competing in the Olympics with flip-flops, but I think in America, yeah, it's dunk contests in the backyard and stuff like that. Moving on to number two, Filipino sauces that are super unique, such as Jufran's banana ketchup. Banana ketchup, for sure. Yeah, I think that's distinctly Filipino. Do you think banana ketchup is... Do you like it better or worse than regular ketchup, or do you're like, it's just different? Yeah, I was raised in Texas. I just like regular ketchup. Oh my God, Vic, you're turning your back on the Filipino side. That's your Houston side. What do you think about Jollibee's, the more ketchup, you know, Filipino spaghetti? I like it, by the way. I'm just saying. I'm just asking you. No, I don't like it. I don't like it. Shit. That's too Porto, Vic. No, that's... Sorry, that's Vic's Vietnamese side that said that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, moving on to rice. Obviously, Filipinos eat a lot of rice. A lot of Asians eat a lot of rice. However, Filipinos uniquely eat garlic rice. No other Asians have that. Yeah, I don't know what that is. I also... Maybe it helps them like... Maybe it helps them pick it up with their fingers. I don't know what the garlic is for. You mean the garlic is used as an adhesive? You know what's interesting about... It's good. Yo, Filipino rice is delicious. You know what's interesting, Andrew? I heard that Filipinos do not cook garlic rice at home. It's more of a restaurant thing. It's a little bit like dim sum. You know how a lot of Cantonese people eat dim sum, but they would never make it at home. It's like a specialty. Is that true? I've never made garlic rice. Number four, we got lumpia. Yeah, love lumpia. I make it with my Lola all the time. But we make it like predominantly with pork. I know there's another one with like mainly veggies. I think there's like five or six or seven different types of lumpia you can get in the Philippines. When you wrap it, Vic, do you leave it on the ends open so the ends can get crispy on the meat? Or is it like enclosed? I leave the ends open. I leave the ends open and you serve it with that sweet chili sauce. I would write the sweet chili sauce over the banana ketchup. Andrew, is the lumpia the best egg roll inspired dish? Because apparently, guys, and don't get mad at me, they were inspired by the egg rolls from Fujian like a couple years ago. Yeah, for sure. But I mean, I would say maybe there's like a little bit of the taquito, like Spanish influence because the ends are open. Because you know, Chinese egg rolls, they're usually all enclosed. Are you taking the jazo or the chagio? I'm sorry, guys, for the pronunciation from the Vietnamese side, the double fried egg roll. Or are you taking the lumpia? Lumpia all day. Like none of my black friends come over and ask for Vietnamese egg rolls. They're asking for lumpia. I think a lot more Western appeal, to be honest. I do agree with you. Moving on to number five, the Philippine mangoes. Andrew, remember growing up the bag that just says Philippine mangoes on it? And it's like super sugary. But those are the best ones. Yeah, I don't know if there's like ever a dried fruit bag that just says like Vietnam or Vietnam. The jackfruit chips, the Vietnamese jackfruit chips. Oh, yeah. But nothing would say just Chinese. Yeah. What do you think about the Philippine mangoes? What insight can you offer us? H-Town Filipino VIP. I know Filipinos, they love their mangoes. My Lola used to cut them in half and make the flower. You know, guys do that. Oh, yeah. Cut the cubes and flip it inside out. If your grandma didn't do that, they didn't love you. You got to get the traction pattern. Moving on to number six, Filipinos in the Philippines love the karaoke machine. Some people are saying specifically Magic Mike. Obviously, you could go with higher end versions as well. What's your memories with karaoke? I mean, I definitely got my singing voice from the Vietnamese side. I'm not much of a singer. But yeah, I don't know what it is about karaoke. But apparently, it turns you into a fantastic nurse. So you were saying instead of like America's Got Talent, like Charisse, you ended up more like Paris by Night or not? Oh, Paris by Night. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Andrew, some great American Filipino singers. The first Asian artist to break America was Charisse. Yeah. She had the song with Ayaz, Pyramids. Moving on to number seven, the wildest tombo. It is a broom made of palm leaves. Oh, yeah, we have that for sure. Yeah, yeah. I like those because when you get hit by them, it doesn't really hurt. I like it. You can buy this in Queens at one of those Filipino markets over in Woodside. Yeah. Does it sweep well? No, no, no, no. They're outdated, but, you know, they look good. I don't have it for identity reasons. I don't know if it touches like the ground hard enough. You know, it doesn't have enough like surface tension to like push the dust. I got something that is gonna jeopardize my Chinese car too, Andrew. I prefer Biotherm over Tiger Balm. Oh, Biofreeze? Biofreeze is more modern. I don't know, guys. You know, there's still Tiger Balm. Tiger Balm, David. Tiger Balm. No, those brooms are dirtier than the floor most times. Moving on to number eight. We've got Filipino honorifics. Bowing and touching the head of the hand. Touching the forehead to the top of the hand of an elder. Yeah, yeah, I would do that. Did you used to do this, Vic? Yeah, whenever my Tio would walk in, they're like, bless, bless. And you put your, you know, you put your forehead to the back of their hand. That's a pretty cool ritual, honestly. I like that. I think it's pretty cool. It's very like, it's very like mob, like very mafia-like. Yo, that's pretty funny. It is, it is. Somebody said number nine, Filipino family. All Asians are generally very close to their families, but Filipinos actually love their families in a conventional hug and kiss, more effusive way. Yo, Vic, how did you move to New York away from your family? Like, both your Viet and Filipino side must have been heartbroken by this. Uh, no, yeah, that was very tough. That was very tough. But now I don't even think of them. I mean, what do you think? Like, obviously you've observed other Asians through movies like Shang-Chi and all these like farewell where it seems so cold. You don't like the way the Chinese parents and the Chinese kids are. And then you're from two cultures. But I'd say probably more the Filipino side than the Viet side, more effusive and a more Disney style of love. Like, oh, come over here. Yeah, it definitely felt more warm on my mom's side, the Filipino side. But my dad's side is also very fun. Like, my cousins were all like very fun. We're close. And speaking of coming to New York, the last thing I did with my dad before we went to New York or before I moved to New York is we all went to a strip club together in Houston. Oh. So, yeah, there's literally no boundaries. Right. Somebody said number 10, the tabo, the handheld bidet. What is what is the handheld bidet? Oh, well, the way that I've always seen, it's like a little bucket. And after you, you know, take a number two, you fill it up and then you crouch over the toilet and you just pour it over your bowl. Right. To make it extra clean and fresh. It works better than toilet paper. Right. Yeah. I mean, still a wipe, but it works. It's extra. It's extra clean. Number 11, Filipino channels like TFC. Obviously, in the Philippines, all the channels are Filipino. But in America, there's more like SBC or TFC. Yeah. Is your mom watching TFC or anybody back in Houston? Um, my mom didn't. But my grandma, that was like that was a necessity for her to stay at our house. We had the Filipino channel. She would watch Wawa Wee every day. Oh, Wawa Wee. Y'all remember that? It was a talent show, right? Like America's Got Talent type thing, right? Shout out to Wawa Wee. Moving on to the Viet side, guys. Number one. Wait, so this is 10 things that Viets can't live without. Yeah, the Viets in Vietnam cannot live without. All right. So we're switching. Vic, you got to speak on your Viet side now. Switch brains. All right. Number one, eat outside on the sidewalk. Oh, yeah. My parents, they make me eat outside. Andrew, there's this place called Mom in the LES with the really small, short plastic stools. Moving on to number two, riding a moped with tons of things on it. Yeah, I feel like that's just an Asian thing because Indians do that too, right? Yeah. I think in Vietnam, they're famous for their moped culture. Andrew, I would say- I think that's just a not rich thing to do. Do you think it contributes to Viet's love of vehicles, Andrew? Because our Viet friends be loving whips. They love cars. Oh, no. I think they love cars. I think they- Well, I also think this is another thing that probably should be on the list of luxury items, luxury brands. Moving on to number three, going to the markets every day for a fresh meal or ingredients and just like repeating it the next day. Yeah, my dad would do that. We used to work together and every day on the way home, we would stop by in Houston. It's called Hong Kong Market. And then, yeah, get ingredients just for that night. Cook that night and then do it all over again the next day. No, I will say this. Viet's and Chinese, they have huge markets. Now, Koreans kind of have theirs like H Marts. But I would say traditionally, the bigger markets were like Viet and Chinese. You're talking about the outside markets too, right? Yeah, yeah. They don't believe in- Yeah, obviously, you know, to be honest, I think it matters like hotter climates have more outside markets. In colder climates, they're more, I guess, moving towards that supermarket style obviously in 2023. Moving to number four, using chopsticks for anything noodles or rice related, but also using their hands with anything lettuce related. Or is it true that Viet's are really good at wrapping things in leaves and various things? They love wrapping. They wrap their egg rolls in leaves. It's like it's already wrapped. Yo, that's actually pretty funny. Yeah, the Vietnamese egg roll wrapped in the lettuce. I love that. That's like one of my favorite things. But I think it's funny that Viet's are one of the only Asians that use chopsticks and also their hands a lot. Because other people like Thai people or Indonesian people using chopsticks, unless you're eating the noodle dishes, which are a little bit more of like from the Chinese influence, you're not really using chopsticks as much as using spoons and hands. I think it really speaks to Vietnam's unique position being part East Asian and part Southeast Asian, having like a lot of mixed culture. Number five, Viet's are not afraid to ask you personal questions. Yeah, this one's funny. Who said, where'd you get this from, David? Did someone leave a comment? There's a pretty accurate list, to be honest, based on my experience. What's going on with that? Because Viet's will ask you, Hey man, how much money do you make? Hey, how did you, how did that date go with that girl, man? Did you have sex? That's pretty much, they'll ask you, did you have sex, how you had it, you know, did you? It goes back to the thing about not having boundaries. It goes back to me and my dad at the strip club together. Right, right, right. How come there's no boundaries? Is it because they, because there's no boundary between North and South Vietnam right now? That's really funny. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I thought that was, I thought that was just an Asian thing, but I guess it's a Vietnamese thing. No, there's a lot of boundaries if you're more East Asian. Oh no, Chinese love the boundaries. Point number six, Viet's have a great sense of humor about everything in Vietnam except the war. You can make fun of how fat somebody is, how ugly somebody is, but you cannot talk about the war. Yeah, that is really funny. My dad does have like a brutal sense of humor and his, all of his siblings do too. Maybe that's where I got it from. But yeah, I guess, I guess we don't sit around and joke about the war a lot. I mean, it makes sense. I would say there's probably not a lot to joke about. I mean, especially for people who went through it, I guess. Yeah, yeah. But me and my cousins make fun of it a lot. We didn't have the, we weren't anywhere around it. Number seven, Andrew, Viet's love believing in ghosts. Yo, they're super superstitious, man. Like you can make, you can't make fun of the war, but you super can't make fun of the ghosts from the war. Yo, growing up in camp, man, I'll tell you this. I don't want to say anything, but I heard a lot of ghost stories, man, where people camping, see ghosts at home. I definitely heard a lot of ghost stories from my Viet friends. Filipinos are afraid of ghosts too. Oh. Yeah, they're very afraid of ghosts. Point number eight, being relentlessly optimistic. I have to agree with this myself. I'm not saying, Vic, you got an interesting point about this. Andrew, our Vietnamese friends are very optimistic. Yeah, so this is what I noticed is like a lot of Viet people, like when they're entering situations or like maybe going to a party or you're going on a trip, they're just like, yeah, man, I think it might be fun. Like, why not? And then I'm just going to try this thing. Like, I'll just do it. Or like approaching women. Go get them attitude when it comes to fun things. Yeah, and I think it does lend themselves to be very adventurous when they're just like, yo, I'm going to go talk to that girl. Viets are adventurous, man. And then you're like, yo, yo, I don't know if she's, you think she's going to like, I don't know, I just, I'm going. Man, I don't know if she's going to respond the way I want, but I'm not afraid, man. Yeah, yeah, not afraid. I don't know if they're optimistic or if they just love to gamble. I think they just love a good gamble. You mean in their brains, they're actually more like, yeah, man, you know, I just did the math, though. I got a 50-50 chance of her like, so I'll take the probability. And compare that to blackjack. Probability is still pretty good. Number nine, Vietnamese love having a Buddhist shrine in the house, even if their family has converted to Christianity or Catholicism. That's super true. Yeah, when we walk into our house, we have this big Buddha figure on the right side. And then he's literally staring down a portrait of Jesus. Like they're having like a face-off. Who usually? What if it's like, man, one is for salvation, but the other side, that's just to get money, man. I think it's really interesting. Chinese and Vietnamese, they believe in the same type of Buddhism. It's called Mahayana. It's particularly prosperity and fortune centric. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Versus Tibetan, Shinto. There's an Indian style of Buddhism. Yeah. Moving on to number 10, 24 gold carat chains, 24 carat gold chains and Jay Buddha necklaces. Yeah, the chain. I got my dad's chain on right now. On a raining day. And we do have to note that 24 carats, it is shinier and brighter than like 14 carat, which is what a lot of people are getting nowadays. But I feel like traditionally, you know. But you gotta take care of it. It's very soft, right? 24 carat gold is very soft. When the old school, they want the gold chain. They want it shining. Oh, yeah, yeah. We got a whole collection of like gold chains at my dad's house. And I wear this when I lie to girls on dates. I tell them that when my parents fled the war, they had to melt all their gold and reassemble it into jewelry. That's like my story. Well, that's not true. My dad just bought this. A real quick H-Town. Do you want to shout out to Jimmy Boy, Johnny Dang, everybody? Oh, yeah. Johnny Dang, you made my friend Zahid a grill. I would love a grill. Let's get into the Filipino-Americans and Viet-Americans list real quick. I mean, because obviously some of those had transfer over, but they were more for the older generation, more of the people from Asia. What about Filipino-Americans themselves, man? I would say this. One thing that's unique about Filipino-Americans, Andrew, is they always have a celebrity archetype. Because I remember up north where it was like richer, Andrew, the Filipinos growing up acted like Pete Wentz from Fallout Boy. And down south, we definitely was more, the Filipinos were more street with it. Oh, yeah. More like a Jordan Clarkson type thing. Filipinos definitely got the range of personalities and the subcultures they're into from emo to like more gangster to Hooper to kind of like lover boy Chris Brown to like everything in between, even white boy, you know, like the whitewash Filipino guys, like they kind of got everything. But I'm saying that they shoot extreme in all directions, right? Oh, man. Yeah, I guess so. I guess they got representation in like every corner of like pop culture, which is cool. But they love to make a celebrity Filipino. Like, I don't know if Bruno Mars is Filipino, but if you ask one of my aunts, that guy's full Filipino. Right. I think he's actually half. But to be honest, Bruno Mars, he doesn't talk about it often. I think he more claims Hawaii. Filipinos love R&B, turntablism, 90s hip hop, the Jabbawockeez world. These are all separate sects of the umbrella of hip hop or urban culture. Yeah, I also think it's why there's a lot of Filipino DJs, you know, especially like wedding DJs and just DJs in general. Yeah, they've been at Scribble Jam. They love acapella singing. If you see an Asian looking guy in a barbershop quartet, it's a Filipino. Yeah, they love to sing. It goes back to the karaoke. They love Glee, Disney, and also you said the emotion of Glee. Just the happy people. Empanadas and menudo. Yeah, very Latin-based foods. I've actually never had Filipino menudo or I think I had it once. What do you think of the raisins in the Filipino empanadas? Because I noticed that Filipino empanadas from Red Ribbon have raisins in it. Yeah, I'm just not a big raisin guy. And then last but not least, Andrew, under Filipino Americans, we have passing as other races. Oh man, Filipinos obviously can look like everybody. So they're very like racially ambiguous. What is the most common race that Filipinos get mistaken for? Being full Filipino. Filipinos love to be a quarter Filipino. That's true, that's true. But I guess what, do they also get mistaken for Latin? Well, yeah, I mean, yeah, that would be the closest one they get mistaken for being. What percentage of Filipinos could pass in a pinch as Mexican or Latin or some type of? I think maybe like 40 to 60 percent could pass. Right, like even you have passed before, possibly. From like an angle, you know, from far away, you know. Somebody say, que hondo, guey. I think Andrew, 10 percent might be able to pass as white or black too. Yeah, as part white and part black. Yeah, we have a friend and I'm not gonna say his name. He has lived his whole life in Seattle being half black and half Samoan. And he's full Filipino. Are you talking about Black Kenneth? But it made him a lot cooler though, too. Moving on to Viet-Americans. We got a list of funny things, guys. By the way, this is all jokes. Do not be offended. You had, Vic, the number one thing you wrote that is unique to Viet-Americans is loving Trump. Yeah, I mean, Vietnamese people love Trump. Statistically, this is true. But not, it's in the same way that like Cubans love Trump, you know, because it's like it's anti-socialism. It comes from their PTSD. Okay, I love Trump. We love Trump. Rose used to say that. All right, moving on to number two. We got ratchet versions of wholesome Asian venues, such as throwing down fights at the boba shop. So I think Viet, I think Viets are actually into a lot of like, kind of like Chinese food or like maybe like boba shop culture, but they kind of have their own version and their own versions, or at least like at the boba shops in the Viet areas, they can get, you know, more. Are you talking about sip, cha tu o, maybe seven leaves? I'm just saying the OC boba shops, you know, they're a little bit more active, I think, than the 626 ones. Yeah, yeah. I think they go to those shops just to fight. I don't think they want boba at all. Hey man, I like the honeydew taro, but man, it just needs a little bit more fun injected into it. Moving on to Heineken, Hennessy, Remy, a lot of French liquors. And obviously Heineken is just the green bottle beer. Yeah, I know. I know for sure. Hennessy and Cognac, you know, they're going to be big in Vietnam. Is that from the French influence? Because those are French. I think for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they talked about it in the Sympathizer. But like Heineken, Vietnamese people love Heineken. Yeah, that's more, that is a street drink of choice of all AZNs. Um, Dragon Tats. My dad is 56, I think. He's still thinking about getting a Dragon Tattoo. Oh, he doesn't have one yet? He doesn't want, not yet, but he might get one. Hey man, he's still out in the field. Um, tennis, Vic, you got to explain this one. Yeah, I don't know, growing up in Houston, there were a ton of Vietnamese people playing tennis. And I was one of them. But like, uh, yeah, Dovi High School, like the Vietnamese school, like close to where I went to high school. The whole team is like just Vietnamese people. And last but not least, Andrew, I know you're going to like this one. Running small businesses. Yo man, Viets are so entrepreneurial, bro. Like, I feel like as many small businesses as like Chinese people run and Koreans run. Now, Viets are like, yo man, I'm about to do my own thing. Like, that's what they, they're like entrepreneurs to the, to the max. Yeah, to almost a 10 out of 10 level. My family owns a small boutique hair salon. And in that hair salon is a massage station, a pedicure station, and also an eyeglass repair station. Whoa, no, and is there, they're like a bun me shop in the back. You can get a cafe suit on and buy some numbers. Yo, that's what I like. I mean, I think that that's, they're just, they're just packing all the businesses in there that they know that people need. So they're just like, oh, you just go from here to here to here to here. And then your whole day is done. Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, guys, these are all just jokes. There obviously is some truth behind these jokes. They're really funny. I'll say this. I'm going to Vegas with my Viet and Filipino friends all day over Chinese people. A hundred percent. It's going to be a better trip. Yeah, as long as it's not a business trip. That's good. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for watching. Check out Vic Tran's comedy down below. Guys, let us know in the comments down below what you think about this list. Which of these applied? What are some things that we left off? Which apply more to Vietnamese and Filipinos from the motherland? And then which apply specifically to Vietnamese and Filipino Americans? Anyway, let us know what you think in the comments section below. Until next time, we're the Hop Out Boys. Check out Vic Tran. We out. Peace.