Kumusta Episode 6

Very Filipino of the Korean celebrity guests

1. Sudden temporary helper Seo In Guk

I don't know if he was in-character or was half-disappointed with his friend JCW, but that was very Filipino. 🤣🤣🤣 I was laughing so hard!

Like reminding everyone you're a customer and was suddenly pulled to help. That's how we generally (not always) act. It's like a friendly banter, half-complaint. You're happy to help but qt the same time, you can't let go of it and reminds everyone about it. And it's all for free, no payment.

I don't know how it is in other cultures, but InGuk was really channelling the Filipino culture there. 🤣🤣🤣

Also, the way he sang Happy Birthday and then seddenly left after finishing, or not smiling at the customers, yep, really Filipino there. 🤣🤣🤣 I really can't help but laugh endlessly. You want to be 100% angry but your dear friend asked you for a favor.

Lastly, when Inguk still paid. That's not Korean-only, that's the Filipino culture as well. However, the reason is different. In Filipino culture, you agreed to voluntary help, if the business makis the bill free, then it wasn't a "help" at all. So why did the Filipino staff/celebrities still said it's on the house? Not because JCW said so but because InGuk's a celebrity. If a celebrity or personality ended up volunteering randomly, we do feel the need to offer them something. It's more of a social exchange so us not to be rude. The celebrity/personality will refuse and still pay. It's simply a social politeness dance.

2. JCW's frankness.

I was laughing at those, and that's good. Is it a Filipino culture to be frank? Oh yes, definitely.

A. When he said, "oh I'll be mixing drinks the whole night". Yeah, we do that frank side comments. We call it "parinig", like whispering but loud enough that they'll hear. 🤣🤣🤣 Or, thinking-out-loud and pretending you didn't realize you did. 😅😅

That's a culture ow character that is shared between Koreans and Filipinos.

B. When he said, "wait, isn't the reply 'thank you first'?"

Same in the Philippines actually. The only difference is that the sequence can be reversed in Filipino culture. If JCW simply answerd "maybe one or two", she would reply, "thank you". It looks like in Korean culture, you say "thank you" first before you ask the follow up question.

Was it cultural clash? Not really. Again, it just can be reversed in Filipino culture. In fact, we also do it the JCW's way, we suddenly say, "Wow! No 'thank you' first?" Or in Filipino, "Agad, agad? Walang 'thank you' muna?" Jodi wasn't wrong nor being rude, again, the sequence was just reversed. That's why she laughed and said sorry, because it's how we do it in the Filipino culture as well.

3. The restaurant really did went viral in Korea during filming. JCW saw it and volunteered.

And I think that explains why there are suddenly so many people eating, especially Koreans. I for one did not expect the Koreans will genuinely like Filipino food. Less spicy, more salty and sweet or sour. The Filipino food that Korean tourists try in Boracay and similar tourist spots? Those were made specially for tourists. It's authentic but still special. The ones in "Kumusta" were more home-made style. Even the Filipinos said, "tastes like home" or "this is truly Filipino".

So, for Koreans to like home-made style Filipino food, that's something. Huge something.

4. Palabok

I was very surprised almost all Koreans liked it. There was one that didn't. I was actually thankful that they showed a short clip of the Korean who didn't like Palabok. Why? Not every Filipino likes Palabok! There are many different types of Palabok, and there are Filipinos who don't like all of it.

So, showing a Korean who didn't like it made me believe that everyone else who tried it were authentic, and weren't just saying good things because they're being polite in front of a camera.

I hope they show more of those other feedback or reactions. We Filipinos are not expecting foreigners to like our food when we know there are Filipinos who also don't, and we ourselves don't like some foreign food. It's the beauty of food, there's a diverse taste out there.

***

Overall, a very good E06.

Read More