A New Friend

I have heard that Jollibee is a popular fast food chain in the Philippines but I did not have the chance to ask eyewitnesses how popular it was, until now. Today is my first day in the Phillipines, and I was really shocked to see that the Jollibee signboards actually outnumbered those of McDs. Our bus passed by a few Jollibee restaurants and they were literally packed.

While we (the travellers) were on our bus to Baguio, I sat beside a guy who was holding a Jollibee cup. I started off my conversation by asking him if Jollibee was as popular as McDs, and his answer was that Jollibee is actually the most preferred fast food brand in the Philippines. So what is so special about Jollibee? According to this guy, it is because Jollibee understands the Filipino market better. The company always comes up with food or promotions that generate Filipino's interests. I guess, the other reason Jollibee is so well-accepted is because it is a local brand, and people generally feel proud of products by their local companies. (Ed: Maya the student guide mentioned that, Jollibee made sweet spaghetti and that suited the Filipino market a whole lot more)

We talked a lot, from 'How freedom of speech became a buzzword amongst Filipinos in the 1980s', to 'how the Malaysian government controls the mass media'. People in the Philippines are allowed to voice out their opinions as newspapers (and other forms of media) in the Philippines are not owned by the government. A lot of parks can be found in the Philippines and Filipinos are allowed to hold non-violent demonstration in these parks if they are unhappy with certain governmental policies.

Being a car fanatic, I noticed that most of the sedan cars & MPVs in the Philippines are imported from Japan and Korea. I was wondering if the mass-production of foreign car models would threaten the local car industry, but it turned out that Filipino car makers are professionals in producing a special vehicle called 'jeepneys'. Jeepneys look like jeeps, but they are unusually long, and can easily accommodate as much as eighteen passengers.

This Filipino guy that I met on the bus told me that many Koreans are coming into the Philippines to learn English. He knows this because he is a lecturer in Tarlac State University, Philippines. When this guy was about to disembark the bus in Tarlac town, we introduced ourselves and I gave him my email address. Yes, I know it sounds weird to introduce myself at the end of a conversation but I see this conversation as a very good start for my post-graduate life. The reason is simply because I was shy to speak to people until I realized that communicating with other people is a good way of increasing my general knowledge.

It's only Day One, and I have had lots of fun. :-)


by Max Tan