Keeping it extra ordinary.

Relatives can be a boon or a bust. It's like the economy; there are the lean and then there are the fat years.

In Filipino families, the extension goes into second and third degree relations. You start with your own parents, their siblings and your grand parents and your grand uncles and grand aunts, and their cousins. Then you have your own siblings, and your cousins. Then there are your children, your nephews and nieces, your in-laws, and your grandchildren, and your grandchildren's children.

The fertility of members of the families no longer determine the size of extended families; today, the size of families are dictated by economics.

Two or three children per couple is more the norm today. That way, the quality of life is better. There will be more food on the table, there'd be more money for education.

In my generation, the average family numbers to about ten. You have the parents and then 7 - 8 children.

In the mid sixties and during the Martial Law years of the Marcos presidency, the migration of Filipinos as overseas workers started, and the Filipino families started to shrink in numbers.

But the population still grew, not because there were more births, but more because Pinoys started to live longer. There was better medical intervention.

My own mother died at the ripe old age of almost 91. My father died when he was 79. Three surviving aunts are in their late and early nineties.

Serafin Cuevas, the lead defense attorney of CJ Corona and presiding officer Senator J. Ponce-Enrile in the Corona impeachment trial, are in their 80's, but both are still sharp physically and mentally. Which is to say that despite the mass availability of unhealthy food products of the present generation (Starbucks, McDonalds, etc), people are still sensible enough to stay the course of healthy living.

While in the Philippines, I tend to consume more carbs and sugar, thanks to Filipino delicacies such as kalamay, puto, turon and pan de sal. I also consume more red meat and fat-rich food, such as liempo, itlog na pula, matamis na bao, bagoong, and utak ng baka and lechon.

My extra ordinary feat is limiting my rice intake to one serving a day.