Staying connected in Pinas

Well, I was surprised today that *someone* from my family members in Pinas signed in her YM account. It was my elder sister. I was surprised because it's very unusual that they sign in without a scheduled chatting time. Before, we just usually schedule a weekly chat time. And also before, we don't own a PC at home...I'm the only one in the family then who has a laptop...so when I left, there's no more laptop left at home. They just usually rent on a nearby computer shop to stay connected with me (aside from my weekly or every other day phone call to them) -- yes, you can just imagine na buong pamilya ko eh nasa computer shop minsan para lang magkakita kaming lahat sa webcam.

But since they have just bought a new PC at home, this is the first time that I would be able to chat with them while they are sitting inside our home. But what surprised me most is this first line I received from my "ate"'s account -- "Te, si papa 2." (My nick for my family and relatives is "Ite" which is short for "puti"). And my only response was -- "Ows? Di nga? Marunong ka nang mag YM?"

Then, I just found out that my elder sister dropped by our house with my father solely at our home (My father just recently suffered from stroke so he was forced to stop working). My father then asked my "ate" to assist him with this YM thingy... and voila! Nakapag sign in na si fuffy! I was laughing when we were chatting... lam mo yon, nakakatawa yung mga tawag ng matatanda sa teknolohiya ngayon...Examples:

(1) Bakit hindi na gumagalaw litrato mo? (Translation: Bakit nagpause ang webcam mo?)

(2) Ang galing ano...ikaw ba yan ngayon o video lang yan? (Translation: Recorded ba to o real-time?)

(3) Ang bagal mo naman sumagot. (Translation: Fuffy (this is how I call my father), talagang ganyan, pag libreng tawag over the net, lalo na at YM, may gap talaga ang receiving time ng voice calls -- medyo mabagal talaga...)

(4) Bakit ang itim mo sa picture? (Translation: Bakit ang dilim ng webcam mo?)

(5) Ang haba na pala ng balbas ko... di pako nakapag ahit (Ginagawang salamin ang webcam) --- the best to! hahaha! Just imagine, every now and then eh sinasabi ng aking fuffy eto...pasensya na mas vain pa sya sakin eh.

(6) Hello, Randy! Kumusta ka na? (Bakit hindi sumasagot si Randy?) -- nakaheadset kami pareho at pinapakita ko lang si Randy sa webcam - (Fuffy, kelangan ko munang tanggalin ang saksak ng headset ko para marinig ka ni randy. Pag nakaheadset ang 2 tao, sila lang ang nagkakarinigan, okay?)

(7) O sige na, baka mahal na tong tawag mo. (Fuffy, libre ang tawag sa YM. hahaha!)

Haayyy, minsan nakakaaliw talagang magturo sa mga thundercats and thunderbirds... I had the same experience when I was teaching my uncle in LA how to use the internet and specifically, how to use the "Friendster". hahaha!

Now, this is the proof that my father has already been introduced to the new gen's technology: