"Tampo" explanation for westerners interested in a Filipina.

Sounds like a plan, Jim.

It is, essentially, sulking. If anyone sulks with me, I plainly ignore it. It's not cultural at all, women of all races do it - particularly ones who are used to getting their own way by being silent.

I disagree because Tampo is a sulk taken to the nth degree and only by Filipinas in my experience! I think you will find most men married to Filipinas will confirm this icy silence to be well observed.

usually it happens if i said something--or didnt say something---or did something--or didnt do something. well--something like that.

my first wife--first married 50 years ago...used to brood on something. but outwardly seemed ok..then finally she would snap--bigtime. i was fast asleep one night and she punched me full force on my nose. blood everywhere. another time she lunged at me with a long kitchen knife, i jerked sideways--and that knife went through the door ! 13 years i was with her--then she gave me my ticket out. thank god.

The pain of being subjected to a "tampo" is only fully realised when the love comes pouring out shortly after, and Filipinas do this in spades; so much so that it becomes very noticeable that all emotions seem to be magnified.

Yes, I think Tampo is a more extreme version.

Ouch!

Then it is attention seeking. My wife exhibited this sulking to me once. When her friends were around, she carried on as normal but, as soon as her friends left - back to sulking.

Now, I may be wrong, but if you can turn it on and off like a tap it is not really a real state of mind. It is a method to win an argument, usually an argument that is badly flawed. I am lucky in that my wife only displayed "tampo" once or twice early in the relationship. Well, maybe I am not lucky - because I basically ignored her during the episode too. I think she realises it will achieve little or nothing in our relationship and, because it is a controlled state of affairs, she doesn't do it at all. I feel sorry for those of you who let a tampo tantrum affect you, and would suggest that, next time, carry on as usual. Why should you miss out on a day of living just because someone cannot control their emotions?

It all seems to me to be part of living with a Filipina, taking the rough with the smooth.

If a tampo comes, I have learnt to get on with my own things!