So maybe you ask, how did a teddy bear ever come up with the name "Siopao"? You probably thought I was refering to siopao -- the Chinese foodstuff. Well, actually, that's where it got its name from. Read on for a short story about it...

      Way back in 1991, my dad gave me this teddy bear as a Valentine's gift. Although I appreciated it, I took it for granted then -- just left it being displayed around my room. I don't know why I didn't notice it being so cute all that time. Then in late 1996 during my internship at PGH, I thought of bringing it to our condo in Manila to sort of enliven the place a bit. True enough, anyone who saw it said it was unusually cute compared to other teddy bears. My best friend (Rina) and I were thinking of a name for it and first came up with ridiculous ones. She kept on commenting though that it looked like a siopao (when someone has a face with chubby cheeks, we say he looks like a siopao -- a Chinese foodstuff made of white dough and meat filling.) This teddy bear aside from having a siopao-like face is color white and is indeed chubby since he has this flab on his tummy when sitting. So eventually Rina dubbed it with the name "Siopao" and we came to know it as the cutest teddy bear ever. It actually developed an identity and a personality, and we've considered it as a part of our family and lives.