Tagalog-English Dictionary

We're slowly building a Tagalog-English dictionary based on frequently searched terms on our TagalogLang site. Since 2007 when we started keeping track, the site has logged 110,000 unique searches. Many of the words are not even Tagalog, but of other Philippine languages such as Cebuano and Ilocano!

The search statistics have provided great insight into what our visitors are interested in. The dictionary is not an academic project, so we're not listing every possible definition or conjugation of a word. Instead, we present the most common meaning used in Tagalog conversation with examples and mention alternate spellings, misspellings and slang.

 Tagalog-English dictionary 

Our short url is http://tagaloglang.com/dictio

Tagalog Poems

Mga Tula!!! (Poems!) Tulang Pilipino:Recently started a new section on Tagalog Lang for students interested in learning Tagalog poems. Now working on a list of famous Filipino poets and a glossary of poetry terms with English-Tagalog translations.

Visit tagaloglang.com/poems for more on Philippine literature in Tagalog!

I love prime rib.

Me and ten of my friends got together on New Years Eve at my place in San Francisco for a great dinner party. The main attraction: an 11 pound 18-day dry-aged prime standing rib roast, accompanied by an incredible array of creamy sides. Think House of Prime Rib, but way more high quality because you can control the ingredients 100%. Many thanks to my friends Sushmita, Theo, Molly and Grace for cooking, and for everyone coming out to hang out and celebrate the new year in style.

Here are the recipes, courtesy of Tyler Florence's Ultimate cooking show on Food Network. I saw this on Christmas day and was absolutely inspired -- I just had to make it right away!

• Creamed Spinach
• Creamed Pearl Onions
• Crispy and Creamy New Potato Pie
• Candied Carrots
• Horseradish And Garlic Prime Rib

I highly recommend these recipes, and I also highly recommend having great friends come over to help cook, especially if cooking for 11.

Happy New Year!

Chungking Express -- a lush masterpiece and an HK film classic

Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong and Tony Leung are masterful in this classic Wong Kar-wai movie.

Wong made the film during a two month break from the editing of his wuxia film Ashes of Time. He has said, "While I had nothing to do, I decided to make Chungking Express following my instincts."[1], and that "After the very heavy stuff, heavily emphasized in Ashes of Time, I wanted to make a very light, contemporary movie, but where the characters had the same problems." Originally, Wong envisioned the two stories as similar but with contrasting settings: "One would be located in Hong Kong [that is, Hong Kong Island] and the other in Kowloon; the action of the first would happen in daylight, the other at night. And despite the difference, they are the same stories."

-- Chungking Express via Wikipedia

On the steps of Rome

"steps of Rome" restaurant in north beach. The first stop on this day of fun. Italian new year in 12 minutes. Happy new year!

Sent from my iPhone

Tagalog for 'Happy New Year'

Media Noche is the midnight meal that Filipinos have as part of the celebrations welcoming the New Year. Do give your Filipino friends a New Year's greeting in Tagalog!

How to Say 'Happy New Year' in Tagalog

Filipino New Year

One of the hazards  in the Philippines on New Year's Eve is stray bullets. That's because of a certain Filipino tradition during the year-end holiday festivities to welcome the new year. Clue: It's somehow related to the American celebration of Independence Day on the Fourth of July.

Filipino Customs on New Year's Eve

By the way, have you already learned how to say 'Happy New Year' in Tagalog? You have just a few days left before 2009!

How to Say 'Happy New Year' in Tagalog

 

My Resolutions for 2009

Time's a flyin away, and I think it's that time of the year to reflect and think about goals for the new year. Next year, we'll go back and see how well I did. =)

Leisure goals

• Spend at least ONE afternoon (Saturday or Sunday afternoon) every other week exploring a part of the San Francisco Bay Area that I haven't been to before. Blog about it.
  
  • Napa / Sonoma
  • Big Sur
  • Lake Tahoe
• Take the train someplace cool. Really enjoy seeing the countryside and traveling, but without all the driving.
• Go overnight camping / backpacking somewhere. Maybe in the spring, when it's not so dang cold.
• Watch more movies in the theater. Indie, foreign films that deserve our support.

 

Health goals

• Actually use the gym in my apartment complex twice a week. It's nice, and as close as could be. It's got everything too. Run. Lift weights. Makes food taste better. Might even live longer.
• Protein shakes with workouts. Work on those guns. LOL
• Sleep at least 7 hours a night. While five is the physical minimum per night, it sure doesn't help with critical and logical thinking. Sleep deprivation takes a toll.
• Sleep by 4 AM every night. Sleeping when the sun comes up sucks, and has become an all too common habit.
• Eat green leafy vegetables at least once every day. Seems easy, and hard, all at the same time.

 

Culinary goals

• Learn how to make:
  • Roasts, including prime rib, in the oven with great marinades and to precisely the right doneness (medium rare)
  • Beef rendang, curry chicken, and other southeast asian dishes
  • Indian food favorites, including butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, dal bhat, and naan
  • Sauces and reductions that have perfect consistency.
• Learn how to bake bread, pastries, pies, and cakes. Do not buy a Kitchenaid unless I can realistically justify the purchase because I'm baking regularly and/or enjoying it.
• Visit a farmers market every other weekend to stock up on vegetables and fruit.
• Don't buy from Safeway/Whole Foods, it's a rip off. Take the bus to Trader Joe's or the asian markets in Chinatown / Clement St.

 

Geeky/productive goals

• Write RSpec/Cucumber tests everywhere all the time. Behavior driven development works. Rails apps are so complicated that manual testing should be a thing of the past.
• Regularly measure user retention and track response to new user features. You can't improve it if you don't consistently measure it.
• Respond to email at specific times three times a day, otherwise do not go into reactive / multitasking mode.
• Log as many 50 minute hardcore nonstop coding times as possible (at least 4 solid hours per day). Take 10 minute breaks to stay fresh.
• Read Hacker News only once a day.
• Start a Rails/MySQL/Scaling/product design blog with friends. Blog at least once a week, something noteworthy and cutting edge that we're doing.
• (stretch goal) - Release an open source Rails plugin/gem that does something useful. Give back to community that has given so much to us.

 

Living Better / Giving Back

• Get a Flip Mino HD and start working on that family history documentary that you've been thinking about doing forever. Time is fleeting, and you won't be able to capture these important stories forever.
• Volunteer time doing what you do best (product design and coding) for organizations that need it (through Reddit's feedaneed.org)

Guilty pleasure of the day: Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli

I am addicted to Chef Boyardee beef ravioli. How strange is that? Ever since I was a kid, I could never get enough of the stuff. The obsession continues to adulthood. I know it's not good for me, and I know it doesn't actually taste anything like real ravioli -- indeed, it's a culinary travesty and a gourmand's worst nightmare.

But marketing to kids works, both for Chef Boyardee and McDonalds. Sometimes when I just want to connect with my childhood, it's just a 3 minute microwave timer away.

iPhone Wallpaper Set 1

Here are a few iPhone wallpaper images I've made. You can download them all in a zip file here.
Some of these images are from my previous twitter background designs.
Let me know what you think.

Check out my other iPhone wallpaper sets

@nicholaspatten