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Through Journalism and Arts We Unleash the Animo In Us~

Hello creatures!
Welcome to the official website of Stuck in the Philippines!
Click the tabs above to explore our site. Constructive criticisms are highly appreciated.

About Us


My name is Kristian. This is my first blog and it first started out as travel blog. But then I started involving my love for the entertainment scene mainly the movies and concerts scene.

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Reunion at Alabang Town Center
written on Monday, March 14, 2011 @ 4:38 PM ?

I have to say, that when I arrived in the Philippines, I still had this Filipino Dubai mentality. Now you're asking, what is the Filipino Dubai mentality? The Filipino Dubai mentality is that in Dubai we Filipinos have the perception that everyone Filipino is your friend. Let me rephrase that. In Dubai, we Filipinos are more then friends, we're family and that's one of the reasons why I miss Dubai.

In the states and the Philippines, we just can't trust anyone we know. I have to admit that I was a bit naive and that a lot of people misused my trust, kindness and earnings. I just wanted to have fun so that they would know the real Kristian in me. Sadly, to that effect I have lost most of my earnings and in the end realize what a fool I was. I never realize that there were a lot of untrustworthy people in the Philippines. I have to say that shook my world.

Rye and I at Alabang Town Center, May 18, 2010
It was then, that I found out that one of my good friends or should I say family from Dubai was in the Philippines. It was kind of ironic since I chatted with him through Facebook and found he was having the time of his life. I was like wow! How come I'm just having a bad experience in the Philippines while he's having the time of his life? I was all set and ready to go back to Arizona on July 2010.

It was on May 18, 2010 when me and my cousin went to Alabang Town Center where I met one of my good friends from Dubai named Rye. I was kind of shocked that he still remembered me and he was the first to notice me in the crowd. I was surprised by how tall he grew.

We reminisced about the good times in Dubai and what we were doing in the Philippines. We went around the area until we ended up in Molino, Cavite. It was nice talking to someone in English! I was like wow! I felt like I was back home in Dubai! We ended at my cousin's place, poured some good old Red Horse beer into our bodies, and from that day on, it was history. Why was it history? It's just the beginning of more legendary nights to come.

Photo Credits: John Hadrian Bonoan

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Life as a call center agent? It's different.
written on @ 3:34 PM ?

I never had any experience working as a call center agent and in the call center universe we were referred to as the "Call center virgins". In my opinion, I find that a degrading remark but to be fair I did not have a clue on what the call center industry was about. I was excited because I was wondering how the people are in a call center environment. I was excited on how to mingle with real Filipinos brought up from the motherland. I did have Filipino friends but they weren't culturally Filipino.

Being in a call center environment was challenging. As any job, we all had to go undergo training. The training lasted for two months on which I passed. I guess that English as my first language and experiencing life in the states gave me an advantage. It was no late November, 2009 when we were put on to full gear and I was with my team, Team Jojo. Now first of all, Jojo is one the nicest people you'll ever meet and one of the best team leaders I ever had! He's the kind of person that would understand you and kept the team like glue.

In the beginning, I had trouble coping up because I could not blend with nobody. It was hard since I was already culture shocked and I was feeling homesick at the same time. I just wanted to go home and be with my real family and friends. I was happy in the states and I did not understand why I had to visit the Philippines. But as time flew by, I started getting along with my team and started to get to know the people around me. They weren't bad at all! I have to say that I do miss my team, Jen, Ate Sol, Ate May to name a few. I had some great times there, and  joined the HSBC Dance crew as Hypnotics.

The call center industry has it's pro's and con's. Pro's is that your earning more and in the process have a lot of benefits with a good company. The con's would be the night-shift hours that can make you sick often and it's unhealthy for the human body. It can get quite boring and to deal irate customers can be a pain. In either case, I was happy, and I did enjoy my time at HSBC, Alabang.

In Laguna, with Team Jojo
It was July 16, 2010  that I unexpectedly left Team Jojo and HSBC. I decided that I did not want to stay in a call industry forever and there was something special destined for me. It was hard at first but after a few days to myself, I decided it was time to leave HSBC. It's now or never. I never really had the time to say goodbye but I will cherish the memories that I had with Team Jojo. I wonder how they are? I hope they are doing well. I closed my final chapter with HSBC and opened up a new chapter in my life in the Philippines.

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Culture shocked, rocked and locked!
written on @ 2:26 PM ?

As I said from my earlier blog post that I am a Filipino. Physically I am a Filipino, culturally there's nothing Filipino about me. I had to adjust and get use to a lot of things that I was not use to. It was back to the drawing board for me and was I culture shocked to the bone!

I should say that the first thing that surprises me the most is being in a bathroom with no toilet seat. On top of that, there wasn't any toilet paper and I had to wash myself with a bar of soap called Safeguard and a bucket of water. I'm still not use to doing this! I wasn't use to the fact of not having a refreshing hot shower. I am still adjusting to  using a pale of water to take a bath in and which I might add is very cold. In the Philippines, Filipinos have a mentality that cold water is clean but in the West, a person needs a hot shower to kill the germs in the body.

Eating Balut at Shell Gas Station, Moonwalk
No point in complaining because I am facing a culture clash within. I am in the Philippines so I have to learn and do it the Filipino way. I did try some Filipino cuisines from the street vendors. They do have some funky names for the food. One of them was called Adidas (Not the shoe brand). I did have my first experience eating Balut. It was one of the experiences that I would never forget. I just thought it tasted unique. But when I was told that I was eating a raw baby chick, it just made me want to throw up! I just could not do that since I was in a public place and it would seem rude. I just smiled and complimented on good it tasted. I managed to survive that scenario. I did lose a log weight in the Philippines. I guess being in Philippines does have it's advantages. If you want to lose weight, then the Philippines is the place to be.

Transportation was a huge issue for me since I wanted to travel the Filipino way. In Dubai and Tempe, people had their own cars but if not we have subways, buses and a cab. In the Philippines, our main transportation was the tricycles, jeepneys, MRT, LRT, cabs and buses.

At the terminal in Market Market
If a person wants to save money, I would recommend the transportation that I mentioned above. However, if it was up to me, I would use my own transportation. Why? They say if you could drive in the Philippines, you could drive anywhere in the world.

 However, there is a downside to it. I personally recommend that you should get a driver. Why? The obstacles that I face while driving here is pollution, parking and  traffic. I experienced driving through Manila with no signboards or decent street lights to assist me. I was wondering how could anyone ever drive in a place like this? My family and my friends just had one answer for moi. They said, "Kristian, Welcome to the Philippines."

Photo Credits: Annalou Vergara

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Job hunting in the Philippines? Horrible!
written on @ 12:50 PM ?

Since I was stuck in the Philippines, I figured I have to do something worthwhile. If your a Filipino who grew up abroad, I guess we all have this mentality that we need to be our own person. I figured since I am a U.S graduate, I thought that being in a western university would give me an advantage and that means a good job with a high pay!. Boy! Was I excited!

Unfortunately it didn't turn the way I expected. Filipinos here are so patriotic and prefer to hire someone who has been to local universities like University of the Philippines and La Salle. I thought this was unfair but this is the reality that I am facing. I took it as a challenge and it sure was a challenge!

I applied through newspapers Manila Bulletin, Tabloids, Star newspaper to name a few. I also signed up at job hunting websites like Jobstreet.com and JobsDB.com. I have to say it was a horrible experience and I have to admit that I was frustrated. Soon all my frustrations came on to me and I thought that my credentials were never good enough for anyone. My own country wouldn't accept me!

My training days - in front of HSBC Alabang
I decided job hunt on foot. I soon ended up at Northgate, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. I started looking for a job and I got accepted by Convergy's and HSBC, Alabang. I had the difficult decision of choosing the right job for me. It was a difficult decision since I have to decide a good career path which would lead me to success. In the end, I took the job as a call center agent as a Process Credit Executive at HSBC on September 22, 2009. Not bad for a person who has only been in the Philippines for a week! =D

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A new beginning
written on @ 11:52 AM ?

Welcome to my first blog post! I figured that since I am in the Philippines then I should write about my experiences in my motherland. I would like to start out first that my name is Kristian and I am a Filipino. I was born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I was raised there until I went to Arizona, U.S.A. I have been to many places or countries because I like to learn about different cultures.

I usually come back to the Philippines for a holiday every five years just for couple of weeks and fly back off again. However, on September 09, 2009 at 8.30pm on Philippine soil, my life literally went upside down! I could not go back home yet as my family said I had to stay in the Philippines for a while. I thought my life was immediately over! My fun of going to different places and meeting different people is over. How I hated it!

I was still young when I first landed here and I decided that I should try to make the best out of my stay in the Philippines. I figured, how am I going to survive in a Third World country? Do I go to a regular fast food restaurant for food or do I have to hunt a boar with a spear? I would say I was a bit naive. It is typical of a person like me to be ignorant who has been living out of the country for so long. I figured that I should try to look at the positive in a negative situation.

Me driving through the Coastal Highway
To my surprise, I learned a lot of things in the Philippines where I would have never have learned in countries like the U.S.A and U.A.E. It's been a rocky road so far but I am enjoying every moment of it! So join me and watch my life spins out of control in a country which I am now proud to call home. =)

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