Very Filipino Problems

Finally we got a face to face episode live in the Philippines! The Engineering Club was able to pull another interesting topic spontaneously. How is technology evolving to disrupt the dating culture? How creative Filipinos are in using different platform to look for a date? How do we explain to the older generation when we met someone coming from an online dating app? How can we avoid being a victim of dating abuses especially when meeting strangers online? What are some of not well known dating apps that serves specific purpose? Let us hear the Season One Ender with Arvin, Malaya, Vanessa, Chito and Cinta discussing this topic over drinks in the Very Filipino Problems podcast.

The Educators Club is back in this podcast with the second part of their episode talking about online etiquettes. Is grammar and punctuation marks really important in any messaging platform? What could be the effect on the message when there are missing punctuation marks? Or how does it feel when people shorten their words or use SMS-speak or leetspeak? How important is to keep the privacy of the people you are dealing with online? Why is it bad to just tag people in photos when you don't ask for their permissions? Why do people reveal a lot of things in social media when some private matters are supposed to be kept within themselves? Why do we need to also respect the time of other people especially when communicating, interacting and setting schedules? Why is it harder to forgive than ask for apologies? And why do we have to understand and be more forgiving to the people that do us wrong? Let us hear Arvin, Tiana and Eugenio talk about netiquette, time, respect and boundaries that rule the online world.

The Brits are back and we are going to talk about the qualities of being a good travel buddy. How important is punctuality and how can you get the perfect balance between being on time and having some flexibility? How does it affect the mood and the synergy of the group if someone is late and how bad it can be if it is an international flight that we are talking about? And how hard it could be if there are some mishaps along the way, especially being sick or unable to continue with the travel? Another quality of being a good travel buddy is being responsible but in what ways? practicality? emotionally? or financially? Why should we prepare extra funds when we travel and do due diligence especially with the practical things such as visas and entry requirements? How helpful it could be when there is someone that reminds and take care of these things? And how much pictures and videos to take and exposure to social media is enough? And how can we respect others privacy when we want to upload our shots but other people are in your photo as well? And why you should not go traveling with people when you don't feel it or are not prepared for it? And how do we avoid the dreaded FOMO? Listen to Aaron, Tiffy, Dave and Arvin talk about their travel experiences and the qualities they want (and don't want) to have in a travel buddy.

The Engineering Club is back in the podcast discussing about virtue signaling problems. What is virtue signaling and how does it affect us on how we perceive other people's motives and beliefs? Why is it bad to show a moral viewpoint just for the intent of representing good character? How is virtue signaling  demonstrated in our social media platforms? How do politicians take advantage of different situations to draw their moral compass and show them to voters without really making impact in the society? Why do celebrities tend to pretend someone that they are not just to gather support and show people that they are what they are expected to be? Why do rich people tend to do things that "looks good" to the masses even though they can really live a better life just to show that they can connect to the unreachable? And is the saying "customers are always right" always applicable and true? Let us hear how Chito, Malaya, Clint and Arvin talk about virtue signaling and how it affects individual judgement towards people.

Another episode with Tiana and Eugenio in the podcast discussing different etiquette we must follow when interacting with people online. Why do we have to follow some unwritten rules when dealing with people online? What is the difference between online and physical connections? How do we respect the time of other netizens despite the convenience that we get from using current technologies? Why we should be aware and careful with the digital information that we create and upload in the internet? Why should we try to show our best side when communicating with people online? How important is asking questions? Why do we have to read first before responding to any messages we received from different online channels? How do we make our online communication efficient, effective and correct? What is the importance of correct grammar, punctuation and spelling when messaging people around the internet. And how powerful is the element of anonymity in changing the online landscape on how people deal with each other? Let us hear the Educators Club tackle real situations involving the online world and what to do in between those situations.

After the last episode, we go back to the Philippines with the Engineering Club talking about the Filipino way of celebrating Valentines Day. What would be their plans during the VDay? How would it be celebrated if we have enough money to spend? And what if we want it to be cheaper? Why is it so hellish to go out during VDay especially in the Metro? Can VDay be celebrated with family and friends in the Philippines? Should the guy always pay for the dating expenses or should we go Dutch? Why do we have to avoid certain areas in the Metro during Vday? What are the unique Filipino ways of celebrating it? Why are some people sneaky during VDay how to avoid these kind of unexpected events? And are Filipinos naturally romantic? Let us hear Malaya, Chito, Clint, Vanessa and Arvin talk about the Filipino way of celebrating it and what are the things to avoid.

For today's episode, we have Tiffy, Aaron and Dave on the podcast for the first time live from the United Kingdom. They called the group "the walking chaos" and they discussed different things about Valentines Day. Why celebrating VDay is the worst? Is it really expensive to celebrate VDay and can you really have unnecessary expenses without noticing it?  Why are there preferences on what you would want to get for VDay and why are some things are just plain wasteful? Are businesses really jacking up the prices and getting more money out of VDay? How can you plan your VDay date when everyone else are hanging out, dining and dating in every form and places? And did you know that the VDay has some dark origins coming from Ancient Roman practices? And why is it that dating during VDay causes more harm than good to your partner and to other people who are not celebratory at all? This episode is full of realizations, laughter and real talks, brought to you by the Brits who call themselves the walking chaos of UK. Consider yourself warned!

What's up everyone? Our favorite podcast is back! 2023 has started and the Engineering Club have a lot of topics to share in this quick yearend review. What a whole year of new things post-pandemic: new administration, new travel plans and price hikes for onions. Why is it so hard when we have to cover more task than usual when our workmates are leaving the company in certain crises? How are we able to manage not to get burnout even with a lot of workload and stressful environment outside? Why is it that we feel we have to do a lot of catching ups after a very long break? How are we able to manage to do a lot of things in such a short amount of time when our hearts been broken? Is it really possible to start meaningful relationship virtually with people online even if you have not met them yet? And also connections that are not there anymore for certain reasons such as political color or different principles. Let us hear Malaya, Clint and Noel share what they feel about the past year and what they can ask for in the upcoming year. Also hear Arvin extending the gratitude for the people who became part of this podcast that reached heights during the last year. Maraming Salamat sa inyong suporta!

The Educators Club are back in the podcast with Eugenio and Tiana talking about their personal experiences regarding different problems in the education sector. How does the lack of financial capacity and infrastructure affects poor kids on how they access the schools and educational facilities around the Philippines? Why are there still problems with FIlipinos going to school despite the increasing national budget being allocated for education and the facilities being built around the country? Are Filipino educators paid enough or are they receiving just the right amount to survive daily living expenses? How much stressful it is for educators to handle a lot of tasks beyond their capacities, including additional extra-curricular works? Why do corruption affect the quality of education we get and how we provide the needs for tools for use in teaching? How are we going to address all of our issues and start small changes so that when there are emergency distant learning like the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be able to easily adjust? And how do we fare against Southeast Asian counterparts in Thailand and Singapore?  Let us hear personal stories and experiences coming from Eugenio and Tiana and how they feel about our education system in the Philippines in general.

The Engineering Club is back in this episode with Noel coming back to the Philippines and joining again our podcast after a short business trip in Armenia. We talked about some toxic family culture in the Philippines, including disagreeing with older family members and tolerating harmful people just because they are your relatives. Why do we always hesitate to have different opinions and expressing it in front of our family members? Why do Filipinos think that is so disrespectful to contradict older family member even though you have a valid point? Why are some of older Filipinos close minded and think that they are always right? Why do Filipinos tolerate harmful people especially when they are blood related to you? And why do a lot of Filipino people easily let bygones be bygones even when there are unrecoverable damages done to you by your relatives? A lot of realizations in this episode regarding how we should treat our relatives and their wrongdoings with Arvin, Malaya, Vanessa, Clint and Noel in the podcast.

Warning! Long episode ahead. But this is a very important episode regarding the hardships every Filipino jobseeker encounter in their lives with the Engineering Club discussing certain points of our jobseeker lives. Why do we feel that local companies offer lower salaries against overseas companies? Why are employers looking for certain things that are not so important with the job they are offering? What is the Filipino padrino system and why nepotism at the workplace is really bad for us? Why is that there are a lot of contractual jobs in the Philippines and how companies are exploiting the workforce with this kind of system? How are we affected with employers hiring more people from prominent universities and ignoring those that are coming from less known places? When should employees pay for the trainings they are getting to perform in the job and when they should not? Why are there a lot of Filipinos competing for the same job and a lot of jobs without applicants as well? And why is it so expensive and tiring to apply to another job where completing the requirements requires us to spend lots of money and time for the most basic documents we need? Let us hear Arvin, Chito and Malaya talk about the job seeker life and the very Filipino problems in between.

The Engineering Club is here to talk about how to answer the very intrusive Filipino question of either bearing a child or opting to become childless. Why are there growing numbers of young Filipinos considering being childless? What are the common considerations that affects this decision of upbringing a child? What should the government do to help people do family planning and make upbringing of children easier for starting up families? How do we evaluate ourselves when we are ready to bring a child financially and emotionally? Why do Filipinos always feeling the pressure of bringing grandchildren to grandparents even when we are not yet ready to take the responsibility? And to talk about the toxic Filipino culture of upbringing children to have retirement plans and support system when they get old which trap Filipinos into this endless sandwich generation. Lets hear our thoughts and opinions regarding bringing a child or being childless with Arvin, Vanessa, Malaya and Clint in the podcast.

With the World Teachers' Day that happened this month, we bring two newcomers in the podcast coming from Thailand and Singapore with Eugenio and Tiana in the podcast to share their interesting journey as educators in the neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. How are they able to come up with the decision to leave the Philippines to teach in another country? How do you convince your parents to let you go to the country of your choosing to jumpstart your career in teaching? How hard is it for Filipinos to apply for documentations and visa just to comply with the exit clearances and be able to travel and stay outside the Philippines? Where do you source the strength and determination to move to another place and start to explore life on your own as a starter? And how do you handle all the shocking changes in the airport when you just landed in the foreign country? Let us hear stories from Eugenio and Tiana their unique experiences of leaving the country to work as educators.

This episode is just the continuation of the previous one where Arvin and Lui talked about their recent trips in the Philippines. How important is planning when visiting Philippines and why every second counts while spending holidays there? What are good places in the Philippines that are really worth your time visiting? How majestic is the island of Palawan and what they can offer for those that are visiting Philippines for the first time? Why are most of tourist gaining weight coming from a bountiful holiday season in the Philippines? Why are Filipinos really splurging a lot of money when coming home during their holidays in the Philippines? And why do tourists have a lot of options with the colorful festivities Philippines has to offer? Let us hear the closer episode about Arvin and Lui's holidays and what they feel about their recent trips back home.

Let's talk about distance learning here with our political science student from Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur, Kristian. What does it feel when all your expectations transitioning into the college life became so different with the burst of the COVID-19 pandemic where everyone stayed at home? How was distance learning adopted in the Philippines and what are the implications of it moving forward now that we are slowly going back to normal? How hard is it to sacrifice your dreams of studying in a prestigious university for your own safety? And those that struggled financially or technically like the unavailability of tools and infrastructure? How does it feel when you are shortlisted in an opportunity if you competed with the best ones in the industry? And how to stay focused in achieving your goals after everything that happened during the pandemic bubble? Let us hear Kristian on his early struggles as a student, on moving forward and being resilient and doing the things he loves to do despite all the changes around him.

It is our birthday month this October. Hooray! Happy Birthday to us! But with our upcoming birthday celebration comes with our common Filipino problems where there are latecomers, gatecrashers, ego-maniac individuals, baby sitters and "marites" all around the Filipino party. Why do Filipinos always come in late in a party? Why is it so hard for Filipinos to make financial budget on their celebrations and deciding how much and how big the party is? Why are kids always been a part of Filipino parties? Why are Filipino foods being brought in a Filipino party always so greasy? Why is it a habit of Filipinos to talk and/or gossip about someone who is not in the party? And why do we need to allocate more time before leaving the Filipino party especially those that are fans of Sharon Cuneta and Regine Velasquez? Let us hear our personal experiences and struggles dealing with all the people we had encountered in a Filipino party with Arvin, Malaya, Vanessa, Clint and Noel in the podcast.

We are back in the Philippines with the Engineering Club talking about the favorite Filipino past time of singing in the karaoke/videoke. Why do most Filipinos like to sing in the karaoke? Where is your go-to karaoke place around the Metro? Which favorite songs Filipinos like to sing in the karaoke and why do Filipinos like to sing birit songs even if they can't properly sing it? Do Filipinos really able to connect to the meaning of the songs or we just like to sing the most popular song available in the karaoke? And what are the most annoying persons you can be with while singing in the karaoke? Let us hear Arvin, Malaya, Clint and Vanessa talk about their experiences and stories about singing, karaoke and annoying people around karaoke seshs.

Doc Lui is back in the podcast and we are to talk about our recent holiday trips from the Philippines. How expensive it is for Filipinos living abroad to plan a holiday back home in the Philippines? How did Arvin and Lui make a grand surprise to their families by coming home without the families and friends knowing their plan? Why is it that there are a lot of documentations and expenses needed for a Filipino planning to work abroad and even for those that are coming back home? What are the common adjustments to take the moment you landed at the airport especially during post-pandemic? And how does it feel to be back to square one where basic services such as transportation and communication still are lagging behind? Let us hear Arvin and Lui’s excitements and struggles from their recent holiday trips in the Philippines.

Lets go back to one of the most beautiful cities in Italy with our student traveler Ellie from Turin sharing her Pride March experiences in this episode. How did the month of June became the official LGBT+ Pride Month and where did this Pride March started? What does joining and representing during this Pride March mean to her? How is the LGBT+ treatment differs in Europe as compared to the Philippines and what responsibilities does the Philippine government have in protecting the rights of LGBT+ community? What is the usual discriminatory experience she had while living in the Philippines and how did she able to overcome this problem? What is this SOGIE Bill and why does this bill provide inclusivity for the benefit for everyone not just the LGBT+ community? Let us hear Ellie's experience with joining the Pride March and her thoughts and opinions with several issues surrounding the Pride Month and the LGBT+ community.

In this episode, we go back to Philippines in the city of Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur with student volunteer Kristian Rivera talking about his advocacy works during the COVID-19 pandemic. How did he started his leadership journey and why did he decided to do volunteer works within the community? What are the advocacies he is promoting for? What are the common struggles of managing and sustaining a non-profit organization and how is he able to cope up with the situation while in the middle of the pandemic? How do you set up your priorities to do things that you need to do and things that you want to do? And how does it feel being able to help people who are out of reach and struggles the most during the pandemic? Let us hear Kristian share his incredible journey towards starting his own advocacies, running a non-profit organization and carrying over during the COVID-19 pandemic with the true spirit of volunteerism.