Thank you, les and Michael. Maybe my standards are a bit high. It's just that lack hygiene and sanitation kills millions of people around the world, including Filipinos. Wasting food is also something that people in most countries can't afford to do. It's almost physically painful to me to see people with so many resources just wasting things left and right, and taking their health or sanitation for granted. When I used to volunteer at one of the slums in Manila, many of the families I worked with had to scrounge in garbage just to find scraps they could feed their kids. They knew the food was dirty and they knew the risk they took with each meal, but they had no choice. Growing up, I also knew people who couldn't afford soap. They washed with water whenever they could, but soap was too precious a commodity to use every day. I think the social issues I was exposed to growing up may be a big factor in my response to the cultural differences.

With all due respect to Fred, Ric, and tiger, you're all way too old for me and the chances of us getting married had we all still been single are as close to null as you can imagine. But go ahead and keep patting yourselves on the back for being so lucky. To each his/her own, eh?