Sungka muna: Restaurants let you play games while waiting for meals

Some restaurants have come up with a family-friendly way to keep diners occupied while they wait for their meals to be served: providing them with sungka, jacks, board games and other recreational materials any Pinoy would remember from their childhood.

As seen in a report by Lei Alviz on GMA's "Balitanghali" on Thursday, one of these places is Gerry's Jeepney in Quezon City.



"Parang bumabalik yung pagkabata mo," said one diner as he and his companions played a round of sungka.

"Bihira ka nang maka-experience nito sa panahong ngayon, lalong-lalo na masyado na tayong techie."

Restaurant owner Gerry Javier said they decided to go with Filipino games that many kids today have either forgotten or never even been exposed to.

"Hindi alam nung mga bata kung papaano maglaro ng sungka," he said. "So tinuturuan namin kun papaano yung procedure, tapos natutuwa naman sila."

Another eatery offering games before meals is Antiteasis Books & Brews, right next to Gerry's Jeepney. Board games like Scrabble and Monopoly are the go-to games for its clientele of students and young professionals.

Owner and former sociology professor Carol Añonuevo pointed to the "slow food" trend in Europe and the US, in which diners take their time during meals to savor the food and the company instead of rushing.

"[M]arami ring games sa tablet at sa phone, but what makes this different is you are dealing with other people, so it's not just yourself," she said.

As opposed to the solitary act of staring at your smartphone, said community student expert Matt Wamil of the University of the Philippines' College of Social Work and Community Development, activities like these that enable and encourage interaction with others can develop "yung ilang life skills, social skills...lalo na yung pakikisalamuha, pakikitungo, na very Filipino, pakikipagkapwa, na madalas naman na nangyayari sa isang face-to-face, physical na reality." — BM, GMA News