Our beloved OFWs usually spend their holidays here till Febuary. That is why family celebrations and parties never seem to finish from December to Febuary. For the Filipinos, there’s always a reason to celebrate. I particularly noticed a game that is always in every party, be it a corporate party or just a simple family celebration—PINOY HENYO.

Conceptualized and made popular by the TV show Eat Bulaga, the game “Pinoy Henyo” has amused household members, office yuppies, old and young alike. For those of you who are not familiar with the game, here is how it is played. A word will be flashed on top of your head for your partner and everybody to read except you. You will then ask questions to your partner  about the word for you to be able to guess the word. Your partner or everybody else can only answer with OO (Yes), Hindi (NO), or Puwede (PEPsters, help me translate Puwede).  That means you should formulate questions that can be answerable by Oo, Hindi or Puwede. Example:

Word:  PEPster

Guesser: Tao ba ito?

Partner:  Oo

Guesser:  Babae ba ito?

Partner: Puwede

Guesser: So puwedeng babae, puwedeng lalake. Kilala ko ba ito?

Partner: Puwede

Guesser: Kasama ba ito sa trabaho ko sa PEP bilang blogger?

Partner: Oo

Guesser: Karen Pagsolingan, Jo-Ann Maglipon?

Partner: Parehong hindi

Guesser: Puwedeng babae, Puwedeng lalake, kasama sa PEP…PEPSTERS?

Guesser: OO!

Ang that’s how you play the game.

Here are some funny real-life stories while playing “Pinoy Henyo.” In the Buencamino family reunion, the father of Noni Buencamino (Emil’s dad and Noni’s dad are brothers), Lolo Diony, was chosen to be the guesser. We call him Lolo D instead of Tito because he is the favorite of the apos. The word is KALBO.

LOLO DIONY: Tao ba ito?

Everybody: OO!

Lolo D: Tungkol sa akin  ba ito?

Everybody: Oo!

Lolo D: Ah, tungkol sa akin…Hmmm… GUWAPO?

Everybody: HINDI!

Lolo D: Tungkol sa akin, di naman Guwapo…hmmm.. .ahhh! Kalbo?

Everybody: OO!

Sa isang  Catholic organization party , my former classmate in Poveda , Maita Martinez (sister of Benedict Aquino. Former actor, Bagets starrer with Aga Muhlach) was the guesser. The word to guess was “San Juan.”

Maita: Tao ba ito?

Everybody: Hindi

Maita: Lugar?

Everybody: Oo!

Maita: Dito ba ako nakatira?

Everybody: Oo!

Maita: Mental?

HAHAHA!  OKEY KA LANG, MAITA?

And last of my funny “Pinoy Henyo” stories was when we threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law MJ Buencamino, the production manager of Juday. MJ was the guesser and the topic was anything about babies and giving birth. Since I was in charge of thinking of the word, you could just imagine what the G-spot would come up with. When you say—a word about giving birth—of course, the first thing that came to my vegetated mind was PUERTA or any word similar to that, like p*kp*k or p*ke. Hehe. Birthing, e! Saan pa ba lalabas si baby? The partner was her husband Kuki.

MJ: Tao ba ito?

Husband Kuki: Hindi

MJ: Bagay?

Kuki: Oo!

Mj: Pagkain ba ito?

Kuki: Puwede…

MJ: So kinakain?

Kuki: Oo…..

MJ: Maalat?

Kuki: Puwede…

MJ: Maalat. May bagoong? Mabaho?

Kuki:  Mabaho? Puwede, pa-minsan-minsan ‘pag di nahugasan. Haaay!

MJ: Pagkain…hmmm…

Kuki: Hindi!

MJ: Sabi mo kinakain!

Kuki: Kinakain pero hindi pagkain! Tungkol sa birthing, di ba!

MJ: Ahhhh! Flower!

CUTE NI MJ!  Flower was accepted!  Sabagay mukha talaga siya flower kapag nanganak ka. Bukang-buka ang bulaklak!

Just for history purposes, “Pinoy Henyo” is a spin-off from the game “Kayang-Kaya Mo Ba Ito?”—also from Eat Bulaga. I saw a hilarious game played by Vic Sotto and bombshell Alyssa Alano that I would like to share with you. Enjoy!