Sorry, I don’t have the figures on how many Koreans are there right now in the Philippines. All I know is that they are everywhere!! (and am not exactly complaining because after all, we are supposed to exercise tolerance towards other races). They are omnipresent, especially where I live and work. Manila may as well be christened Koreatown. Is it good or bad? You tell me. I can just give you the signs on why Koreans are invading our world:
1. You begin to greet your cellphone callers with “Yo-bo-se-yo!” (and you’re not even a rapper :P)
2. Your good morning/good afternoon has been replaced by “Anyong haseyo!”
3. You now pair your adobo, crispy pata and pork bbq with kimchi.
4. yet, you stand within six meters of that Korean trying to talk to you whose breath reeks of kimchi
5. you can’t imagine how those tourists eat kimchi with gusto, for breakfast
6. You go to Boracay and Pagsanjan falls and you wonder why there are more Koreans than Filipinos there.
7. You go to some remote tourist spot like the Banaue Rice Terraces and sigh with relief that there’s no Korean there
8. You can make sense of a text message from a Korean customer that reads: “sorry before I need room but now is I have I call next time.”
9. You pinch yourself in the arm for speaking broken English like a Korean. “Okay next time reserve because maybe fully-booked.” huh!
9. There’s now a Korean grocery on every block competing with 7-11 and Ministop
10. Same with those Korean spas, and restaurants which have sprouted like mushrooms from nowhere.
11. You now have a strong liking for chap chae and cha jang myun instead of Italian pasta and Chinese noodles
12. Likewise, you develop a taste for bulgogi instead of the usual bistek
13. You are utterly convinced that these Koreans only have three surnames: Kim, Park and Lee
14. Your favorite salon is Tony and Jackey.
15. Your favorite TV show is a Korean telenovela.
16. Your cellphone is a Samsung
17. You wonder why Koreans love to wear Burberry and Louis Vuitton from head to foot (never mind if it’s a triple Class A faux)
18. You wonder why those Korean ladies love to wear skirts all the time
19. Koreans love golf so much they are already filling up the golf courses
20. Most of the Filipinos you have so far talked to have strong opinions about Koreans
21. A woman wearing bathing suit and heels in a beach is most likely Korean.
Hihihi…
i have this experienced in enchanted kingdom that there are group of koreans following me and accusing me that I stole the wallet of their friend hate it… but I do have a korean classmate here in manila si Tak that is his lastname.
This post reminds me of this discussion we were having at the TMB
Bathing suit with heels? LOL. Am sure you see a lot of them in Cebu Linnor. Regards 😛
I had a lot of Korean classmates in UST when I was in college. Here in Cambodia, Korean tourists come by the busloads. Oh, and BTW, I drive a Korean car. 🙂
SAM GYUP SAL!
SAM GYUP SAL!!
SAM GYUP SAL!!!
Here also Toe, they come by the busloads. And let me guess, your car is a Hyundai?
OMG! I forgot the som gyup sal Spanx 😛
here in San Francisco you can tell a korean lady from a japanese lady. the korean lady dress more sexier and love to party alot more than a japanese, chinese, and pinay lady.
Another good insight there. Mandy. Korean girls are really “kikay” if you know what I mean (though I heard they don’t like to shave)
Yo-bo-se-yo!!!!
ako, labs na labs ko ang korean movies!!
Ate Sienna, I watched only a few Korean movies, like “My Wife is a Gangster.” Jinojombag nya asawa nya, hahaha. Am planning to watch more:)
aha! sa mindanao kaya, may mga koreano din?
Basta may golf, may Koreano din Vina. For example, Davao 😛
Hei Ju,
I had some students from Korea while I was a consultant at Speechpower in the 90\’s. They were really friendly and nice.
… I just hope that they would treat filipinos with respect while they are in the Philippines. (Some foreigners in the Philippines unfortunately do not treat us very well. I had some bad experiences when I was working at the airport.)
Have a great weekend.
PS. I am in contact with Gigi Samson (remember her?— you can visit her multiply site: http://vgsamson.multiply.com
There were a lot of Koreans in Baguio when I was there last month. It’s not necessarily a bad thing considering that they do provide revenue for the tourism industry. 🙂 Oh, btw, my roommate here in the states is Korea n and his last name is Kim. 😀
hmm.. in cavite, mostly Korean teens are here to study. i’ve also heard that college here costs cheaper than studying in Korea.
Hi AL. Well it’s true with all races..some are good and some not so good. We can’t really judge one in its entirety. I visited Gigi’s site already..thanks for the link:)
@ Wil… Koreans are the number one tourists in the Philippines now in terms of numbers, beating the Japanese and Americans. The one in Baguio should be a language school.
@fionixe..in Cavite too? guess it’s true, they’re everywhere.Wouldn’t it be great if we can go to Korea too?
If Manila is Koreatown, you should go to Baguio. You will feel like you’re in Seoul! Our village here in QC also has a big number of Korean families. It’s good for the economy though, so it’s okay.. Except for a few rowdy teens i’ve encountered in Baguio…
Hi Chateau. Whew! The last time I was in Baguio, I still didn’t see hordes of them there. They must be enjoying it. And yes, it’s good for the economy (and their economy, since obviously it’s much cheaper to study in the Philippines)
Anyong Haseyo!!
akala ko ako lang talaga naka pansin nito.
when i was in Cebu during Sinulog, nandun din sila. nung nasa Dinagyang Festival ako sa Iloilo nandun din sila. Nung nag out of town ako sa miag ao iloilo nandun din sila.
Nung nasa Gas Station ako sa SLEX, meron din dun.
minsan napapaisip ako kung nasa pilipinas pa rin ako.
neways tolerate lng, they bring in PRECIOIU$$$$ DOLARSSS to our economy. hihihi
Eric, lol. Yes I agree, they boost tourism and bring $$$, aside from teaching us about their culture. We should go korean and eat kimchi some time;)
#s 6,10 & 19 are oh so true.
sa bora, ang dami nila. there’s this guy who owns the diving shop there.
Yo Mari! They also own a couple of hotels and Bora. They are soo business-minded (or just loaded with capital?) y’know..
One thing about Koreans, they may not speak English very well but they are way ahead of the Philippines in terms of technology and economic development. To think that 50 years ago, they were merely struggling to rebuild their nation from the ashes of the Korean War.
If you come to Seoul, you’ll forever hear from taxi drivers stories of how Koreans used to envy Filipinos in the ’70s because of how rich we were. They usually end conversations with a question of what happened to us.
Tsk, tsk…
So true Pinoymoneytalk. And what happened to us is truly pathetic. Hope there’s still room for recovery in our generation..
hi!
I finally posted an entry on my favorite Korean restaurant: Dong Won Garden here.
[#7]I just came back from Banaue. Well, there were Koreans. Matatanda nga lang. Plus yung classmates and schoolmates ko. Haha!
[#19] My dad hate Koreans. So much! Why? Well, ininvade din nila yung mga golf course! Sabi nya na bastos daw silang lahat.
korean invasion!!OMG!!i even saw an ukay ukay store somewhere sa streets thats all korean stuff. from garments to even computers!and filipino suckers wearing korean shirts or pants that dont even understand the print on it!lol!and what’s up with these koreans talking so loud sa malls.theyre like, so what if we have big voices, you cant understand us anyways.and check out there fashion statement!youll know a korean (well mostly ladies) from behind even youre like 10 meters away.its so irritating kasi everywhere you look there are koreans.and i don’t why im irritated by them, i just feel that way.next thing we’ll know we’ll be eating on the palm of there hands.lol