Mabuhay! (PH Culture)
July 5
Wednesday
More Q&A HERE
ALFIE: Rice and a Viand , My favourite lunch is either yangcheow and sweet and sour pork or if im feeling extra healthy , salad stop and jamba juice
BIANCA: I usually eat meals with rice, viand and to end with a fruit as a dessert or biscuit
RAIN: Simple rice meal (depends on the available dish hahaha usually pork or chicken)
RALPH: Rice meal
XAV: Vegetables and fish
ALFIE: I love anything with coconut milk in it , like Adobo but with coconut milk
BIANCA: Typical national dishes here in Philippines is Japanese and Korean cuisine.
RAIN: Adobo
RALPH: Adobong manok
XAV: Adobo
ALFIE: It really depends , personally i love the hollywood aesthetic while most of my friend loves the kpop aesthetic, it differs from person to person.
BIANCA: Philippines is mainly influenced by different countries. It is mostly influenced by the western culture and later on was influenced by other asian countries as well like Korea and Japan. From TV shows to music, media and also fashion. Because of that most of the Filipinos love to travel to different countries to learn more about others culture and food delicacies.
RAIN: I'd say that Philippine television is heavily influenced by Western. Personally, I tend to watch English and Asian (Korean, Thai) shows, not because Filipino shows are bad, but because of the repetitive plots. However, there are still some good Filipino shows out there esp indie films.
RALPH: More influenced by Asia
XAV: Kdrama mostly for series but most of our favorite movies are from Hollywood
ALFIE: Halloween and Christmas
BIANCA: My favourite holiday is Christmas because here in Philippines, Christmas is celebrated for 4 months. Once the Ber month hits, people start decorating their homes with Christmas lights, Parols and Christmas trees.
RAIN: I like Christmas season. You can really feel everyone's excitement about this starting from September.
RALPH: New Year
XAV: Christmas
ALFIE: South Korea! Hollywood ! Antarctica ! And yes , Sweden! :D
BIANCA: I dream to travel in Japan and other countries as well
RAIN: Local: Boracay, Siargao, Baguio, Tagaytay
Intl: Korea, Thailand, Greece, Sweden
RALPH: Batanes
XAV: Maldives
ALFIE: Boracay / Palawan / BGC
BIANCA: I recommend to go to the biggest mall in Asia, which is the SM Mall of Asia.
And also Palawan, though I haven't been there yet. I recommend to go to beaches in the Philippines and try different activities.
RAIN: Beaches. Every single beach in PH hahahaha: Boracay, Palawan, Puerto Galera
RALPH: Baguio
XAV: Palawan, Boracay, Cebu, Siargao, Batanes
ALFIE: Money
BIANCA: Bring umbrella and sunscreen, Philippines is too hot.
RAIN: As a typical Pinoy who's afraid of sun: sunscreen, mini fan, umbrella, water bottle
RALPH: Money
XAV: water bottle and jisu fan
ALFIE: Camaraderie and Hospitality
BIANCA: The showing of respect by doing the "mano po" and saying "po" and "opo" as these traditions is usually being taught in all Filipino Families.
RAIN: Being hospitable. You can ask anyone in the street and every single one of them can answer you with full details.
RALPH: Bayanihan
XAV: Hospitality
ALFIE: The Goverment
BIANCA: I would like to change the system of the Philippines of being Resilient. Filipinos are known to be resilient enough to face any hardships in life which is why some of the Filipinos settle for less, having the thought of "Come what may" or in Tagalog "Bahala na", this thought is saying that once you have faced a hardship, you don't want to do anything about it as long as you can withstand the difficulties. Which is why the Government is settling for less and doesn't give the Filipinos the life they deserve after paying taxes for the country.
RAIN: The government. It's becoming more of a circus right now so...
RALPH: Corruption
XAV: Our government officials tbh -- if you have morally upright leaders in position, every good thing just follows
ALFIE: It expresses individuality
BIANCA: Filipinos love Karaoke because Filipinos love to have fun through dancing and singing. It is a tradition that during Fiesta, most of the homes of Filipinos have a rented Karaoke. Karaoke is also invented by a Filipino named Roberto del Rosario.
RAIN: As a person without any singing skills in my genes, I just want to scream my lungs out as Ariana stan hahaha
RALPH: Filipinos love signing
XAV: not all - but for the people who love it, they sing to forget their problems and its therapeutic for some of them
Click here to watch the video
ALFIE: It has a very cool and chill vibes but also very family vibes
BIANCA: Mediakonsulterna is very caring to their employees in a way that employees are being asked every month about your mental and physical state. They encourage you to have a work and life balance by giving an hour to do a physical activity and they don't encourage you to work beyond your work hours. Some of the other employers don't care about their employees. They usually have a work hours indicated yet your "on call".
RAIN: MK is generous in terms of everything.
Flexi time? Check.
Request for WFH/RTO? Check.
You need office items? Sure.
Sick/Vacation leave? Just let me know.
RALPH: Freedom to work anywhere
XAV: This is my first foreign company so I dont have much basis for comparison. But if you compare MK with PH employers, the difference goes by milesss lol. Let's just say at MK, the focus on mental health and overall well-being is topnotch, employees are treated as real people and you can be your most authentic self through the work that you do.
ALFIE: Ticket that I've done when you guys are on your vacation
BIANCA: As a newly hired jr. web designer, I just have few tickets made. But I am most proud of this website: www.dahlbackmiljoochbygg.se. Because I think I made a good job in copying the old site when converting it to CMSv2.
RAIN: It changes every year because we're developing our skills from time to time. So for now, I'd say the businesses under Interior design, Tiles, and Jewelry.
RALPH: All GA4 and Data Studio tickets
XAV: Maybe Ocean Modules [Large] since it took so much time. And every good thing takes time lol
ALFIE: Presently, it's all good
BIANCA: I would love to do interaction with Swedish teams soon to improve my skills in talking in English but I don't have the confidence yet.
RAIN: Yes, if it would help us explain the instructions better. I am not fluent in speaking English, so there are times when I prefer not to do a video call if the instructions can be written in the ticket. However, if the instructions are hard to explain/understand thru text, request for a video call is okay so we can clarify them.
RALPH: Yes
XAV: Yes. But to a healthy amount I guess. That's also what I love about MK. Meetings are strategically planned and kept to a minimum so that they don't disrupt much flow.
ALFIE: In the Philippines , there is more chaos ...so I like the Swedes as I am a peaceful person.
BIANCA: Working with Swedes encourages you to really have a work life balance. You are not being contacted during weekends unlike here in the Philippines. Work culture here in Philippines is also when you are good at your work, they tend to give you more tasks with the same compensation as your colleagues who have less work.
RAIN: Working with Swedes is bit different from the usual (PH workmates) because we start our day with chika hahaha and I'd say that's the creamer to our coffee lol. Also, I don't know if it's just me but I tend to be shy everytime I talk to you guys hahaha I guess it's just my introvert self being introvert.
RALPH: Straight to the point guys
XAV: I couldn't say for sure since we've only been working virtually ever since. But so far, in over 2 years, I have found the Swedes to be kind, compassionate, and intellectually gifted colleagues. At least for the people whom I've fostered online bonds with.
Filipino colleagues are more caring though. And more expressive. That's probably something worth pointing out. In the realm of online interactions, misinterpretations are common unless explicitly stated or expressed in a manner that we both understand. After all, we cannot read minds.
ALFIE: It's alright
BIANCA: I haven't really started working with the Sales team so I don't know what to say for now. But I have talked to Account Managers, they are very welcoming once I started my first day, they all greeted me.
RAIN: It's getting better now that we have new packs with clear lists of requirements and SLAs. During the first year, we were still getting used to the workflow, so it was a bit stressful every time we received a message asking when the ticket would be done, and such.
RALPH: Specific requirements
XAV: Like a jurassic adventure -- you will come across people who would help you in your journey and people who want to eat you alive
ALFIE: Maybe write the tickets better as it's sometimes confusing
BIANCA: Don't have anything to enhance for now.
RAIN: Better tickets.
It would help us understand the ticket faster if examples or references are also included ESPECIALLY for issues that's why we always ask for screenshot/recording if certain bugs are encountered.
It would also be helpful if the requirements and packs were properly communicated to the sales team. This would help to avoid confusion about whether certain features are paid or included, etc..
RALPH: More team building
XAV: Communication is key so communicate properly :)
ALFIE: Let us join your kick off hahahaha , or join ours :)
BIANCA: No, I don't feel excluded. All in the company talks in English in a way that all of the people could understand.
RAIN: No, because everyone is trying their best to communicate in English.
RALPH: Not really. Continuous support with Swedes team is necessary
XAV: No, its okay.
ALFIE: Culture and Food, And Party Scene
BIANCA: I'd like to know more about the food delicacies. Knowing that IKEA is also a Sweden company, what foods would people from Sweden recommend to try that are not in IKEA.
RAIN: I'd like to know about the foods/delicacies and the go-to places :)))
RALPH: Who are the superheroes made in Sweden? :p
XAV: Work culture