Hugas Plato Queen: Laughter in the Kitchen

If you grew up in a Filipino household, you know there’s always a title to be claimed. There’s Ate, Kuya, Tita, and then—somewhere between the karaoke mic hog and the lumpia rolling expert—there’s the Hugas Plato Queen.

👑 For the uninitiated, that’s the one who rules over the sink like it’s her kingdom, armed with dish soap, a sponge, and the eternal question: “Sino’ng kakain ulit? I just washed these!”

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From Chaos to Crown

When I was a kid in the Philippines, I grew up with a small army of helpers — someone to cook, someone to clean, even kuyas and drivers. Life was cushy… until it wasn’t. Fast forward to being a single mom of five, and suddenly the dishwasher was me. And let me tell you, dishes multiply like rabbits. Breakfast mugs become lunch plates, which somehow evolve into a full barangay’s worth of pots and pans.

Now the kids are grown, and life looks different. I have an amazing partner (a.k.a. Chuckles), who just so happens to be a chef extraordinaire. The house smells incredible when he’s in the kitchen — sauces simmering, spices sizzling — but the aftermath? Let’s just say: Gordon Ramsay-level meals come with Gordon Ramsay-level cleanup.

So even with just the two of us at home, the sink is never empty. He cooks, and I end up with the crown: Hugas Plato Queen. 👑

But here’s the truth: being Hugas Plato Queen isn’t only about scrubbing plates. It’s about resilience, survival, and maybe a little passive-aggressive humming while you work. (Bonus points if you blast OPM or 90s divas while the suds fly.)

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Why I Turned It Into a Design

Some people knit. Some people do yoga. Me? I cope by turning my chaos into merch. 😅 That’s how the Hugas Plato Queen design was born. A wink to every Filipina who’s ever stared at a mountain of dishes and thought: “Wala bang fairy godmother ng sponge?” (Isn't there a fairy godmother of the sponge?).

 Now, it’s more than a joke. It’s a badge of honor. Because if laughter is the best medicine, then humor printed on an apron, tote, or tea towel is the reminder you didn’t know you needed: you’re the queen, even if your throne is a wobbly kitchen stool.

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Shop the Collection

For every Hugas Plato Queen out there:
🛒 See the collection on Etsy →

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Final Rinse

At the end of the day, being the Hugas Plato Queen isn’t about chores. It’s about resilience. About showing up for family (even when they can’t rinse their own plates). And about finding humor in the mess, one sudsy laugh at a time.

So, cheers to you, fellow Queens. May your dish soap never run out, your playlists always slap, and your crown never slip. 👑✨

 

🍚 Rice to Meet You

Rice to meet you. Sounds corny, right? (Or maybe grainy humor? 😂) But if you grew up Asian (Filipino-Chinese) like me, you know rice isn’t just food — it’s life itself. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner all begin with, “Where’s the rice?” It’s steady, it’s always there, and somehow it makes the chaos of life taste better. Which is why it felt like the perfect way to kick off this blog.

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From Chaos to Creativity

Chuckles & Dagger wasn’t born out of calm afternoons sipping lattes and journaling in a pretty notebook. Nope. It came out of family drama that could rival any telenovela (or K-drama), a city girl moving to the Sierra Nevada, bosses who confused “leadership” with toxic micromanaging (or no managing at all), and those life curveballs that make you wonder: am I the joke, or is life just this funny sometimes?

I’ve reinvented myself more times than I can count. And after stepping away from a promising retail career, I looked at the mess around me and thought: Okay, what now (for the nth time)? The answer, somehow, was this: a mix of laughter and grit, humor and healing, wit and resilience.

Chuckles & Dagger.

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Why “Chuckles & Dagger”?

Chuckles → my partner in crime (the bringer of morning coffee — first of his name, Game of Thrones fan here LOL), the guy who makes me laugh when life feels too heavy.
Dagger → me. Humor is my armor. Sharp enough to cut through the noise, strong enough to keep moving forward.

And then there’s our not-so-little blended family of six (our Brady Bunch), plus two grandsons who bring a different kind of chaos — the joyful, exhausting kind that only grandkids can bring. Together, we’re one big, messy, noisy, inspiring crew that hands me fresh material daily to laugh about… or rant about. Somehow, all that chaos turned into a creative journal and a shop.

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Coffee, Chaos, and “Magandang Umaga, Ganda”

My husband and I live on opposite time zones — him asleep by 8pm and up at 4am; me, a nocturnal creature who thinks life should start at noon. His favorite way to drag me out of bed (with bed hair and possible drool hahaha)? Walking in with coffee and saying, “Magandang Umaga, Ganda.”

It’s Tagalog for “Good morning, beautiful” — sweet, a little funny, and a reminder that love sometimes looks like a warm mug of coffee before you’re ready to face the day.

That little inside joke became one of my favorite designs — the “Magandang Umaga, Ganda” collection (mugs, totes, sweatshirts). A mix of Filipino culture, everyday love, and the humor that keeps us going.

🛒 Explore the full Tatak Pinoy collection here → https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChucklesandDagger?ref=dashboard-header&section_id=55167950

So… Rice to Meet You

This blog will be messy, funny, and a little sharp around the edges — but always rooted in laughter and resilience. Expect recipes that double as therapy, travel tales that carry both nostalgia and chaos, family stories that make you nod and laugh, and design posts that show how the strangest moments turn into merch.

Thanks for being here. Rice to meet you — and welcome to Chuckles & Dagger.

P.S. If you’d like to see more of the wit and chaos that inspired this blog, you can explore my full shop here: 
🛒 Chuckles & Dagger on Etsy →https://chucklesanddagger.etsy.com