When Your Tour Guide in the Philippines is a Korean.. | TRABAHO

Hello, my name is Jessica Lee, and I'm going to be your tour guide in Intramuros for today. I'm really, really sad. Like, from the bottom of my heart, I'm sad right now. Hey guys, it's Jessica here, and welcome back to another Trabajo episode. As you can see in my background, I am at my favorite place here in Manila, Intramuros, because we're going to be a tour guide! I've tried, I got tours many times. My knowledge about Intramuros is obviously not that sufficient that I'm good enough to give a tour. So that's why I really have to learn. So that's why for the first time in Trabajo, we're actually filming two days, yeah, because I need time talaga to really memorize. Let's learn first, what to do. What do I have to know first, po, in order to be a tour guide? How long do I have to train? It depends. Sometimes, a barangay can do a community guide, like a week, intensive training with exams, and mock tours. So a few days of training before the mock tour, then the mock tour will tell the trainees what they have to adjust. Then after that, may final tour, that is with people from the Department of Tourism and Intramuros Administration. So they judge you talaga? Yeah, they judge. The last time we did it, we're around 20 plus. 20 plus. How many of them i-passado? Eight. Eight? So it's competitive? Yeah, but also it's good. Kasi even though you didn't pass, but at least you had the experience and trained how to be a guide. It more focuses on what we call the Filipino brand of service. We have seven M's for that. Makamailika. There's also makatao. Makatao? Also, makakalikasan. So, gano'ng katagal po yung tour guide? My story kasi, I was a caretaker of a horse. My dad is a kuchero. Really? Yeah. We got here 2003, so I believe that's the first time they allowed to do horse operations. My dad and I, we cannot speak great English, so in time I just developed lang yung English ko. So dati you were the horse, yung mga horse? Yeah. Actually until today, my dad. He's doing it? Yeah, he's doing it. So he's somewhere there now? What do you call that again? Kut? Kuchero. Okay, so right here, this is the actual handout given by Department of Tourism for every participant on the community guiding. Yes. Because it has, of course, history background of the Tramuros and tips on how to deliver the Filipino brand of services. Like facts about the Philippines also. Yes, of course, because you have to know. You really have to know it talaga. This is like the in-depth. This is the in-depth? Yeah, history of Tramuros. If I ask you a question on this, you can answer? Yeah. Okay. Wait, laugh. This is the age group when Koreans come, it's around 37? Yep. Oh guys, guys. Korea is the number one tourist in the Philippines. Look at this. You're going to lend me this, right? Sure. I'm going to bring this. I'm going to practice. Who's your favorite tourist group? The nationality. Nationality? Favorite nationality? Of course, Filipinos. Oh, yes. Mga Balibayanan, diba? Not really, but domestic. Many of them were unaware of our history. So, as a community guide, I think my job is to tell the history on what's the significance. Usually, the first location of the tour, which is San Agustin Church. San Agustin Church. So, usually, how many minutes do you stay here? Story is around 5 minutes, 5 to 10 minutes. 5 to 10 minutes. San Agustin Church. Church, yeah. Mga 5 minutes. Miguel Lopez. Miguel Legazpi Lopez? Miguel Lopez De Legazpi. Founding year is 1571, and it's a UNESCO heritage. Actually, it's already on the site. It automatically comes into your mind once you see it. Ay, ako hindi, ako hindi. Sino yung next location? Next location natin ito. So, this is basically a cultural commercial complex. PCC. Which was only built in 1982. 1982 lang? So, you're taking notes, right? You should know how to sew the story. Let's say, once you come to this area, they're like, oh, it's nice. Go ahead, take photos. It's nice, right? Give them time first to do everything. Oh, it's nice, right? By the way, it was only built in 1982. So, they were like, oh! Then you tell more about it. Oh, this is a typical stone house, a replica. Do you take photos of mga tourists? Yeah, of course. That's one of the jobs. That's one of the jobs? Yes, there are times na, even though we see them like more photos, you should call them out in a nice way. It's not like, hey! Let's say, a person is not listening to your stories. The technique is like, hello, ma'am, can you hear me over there? Oh, like that? Those who didn't listen, I'm gonna be like, hey, can you hear me over there? Can you hear me? Are there any Spanish tourists? Have you ever had? Some. Actually, in 2016, I toured here. The newly appointed Spain ambassador, Luis Calvo. Really? So, what's their reaction when you guys give a tour? Do they feel bad? Not really, because I think most of them, when they came here, they already know the history, but not the entire details. So, while walking, of course, you can ask things to the guests. Guests were also asking questions. You need to prepare for that as well. Once you've been asked a question by the guests that you don't know the answer, don't make up stories just to impress them. You just tell them, unfortunately, I don't know. I'll get back to you. So, here, people will ask, oh, it's a nice garden. You should tell them first what's the name of the place. So, this is Plazuela de Santa Isabel. There were stories about what happened during the Japanese occupation in the American period. That's where the massacres happened, right? But again, you won't have to say that straight when you have Japanese guests. Why? Why? Why? You have Japanese guests? Do you talk about World War II? Of course. What's their reaction? They know the history, but they don't know every detail. They don't know every detail. But it's always up to the guide if they can sense if the guests were interested to learn more about it. Is your dad here? Yes. Where? The first one. That's him? Yeah, that's him. You didn't say hi to him? He's busy. I'm busy, busy. This is relationship. Yeah. Professional, professional. Okay. So, this is our next location? Yeah, this is the Plaza Roma. This is what's considered as the Detongyang Jeep. Governor generals were actually representative of vice royalties of Mexico. It's Mexico. Yeah, so it's like an extension of Mexico. So many countries. Lopez de Legazpi's expedition, he was the leader of the sixth expedition of Spain. And the agenda at that time was also to create a trade route from Mexico to here. So, they landed on Cebu in 1965, but insufficient resources. So, they looked forward to the northern part, and that's the time they discovered this Muslim settlement. So, but again, like I've mentioned, before they question you about that, better if you're gonna tell a short history of the city. Of the city. Yeah. The presidential decree 1616 is all about ordinances. 1616. They all came together? Yeah. Actually, there's a... Oh, okay. So many, so many, so many. By the way, we're about to cross the street, right? Okay, yeah. We need to show them properly. We need to be disciplined to use pedestrian lane. Because if you just cross the street, it's like... Oh, that's how it is in the Philippines? Yeah, that's how it is in the Philippines. But that's how it is in the Philippines. Yeah. Okay, yeah, that's right. Because in Tram rules, it's really systematic. So, you know how to stop them, right? Yeah, like that, like that. So, I stop the car like that? Okay. It's like a sense of security. Yeah. When guests, you tell them, oh, here, we stop the traffic. Yeah, like that. Your hand is the power. I experienced guests that they know more about the city. So, that time, you don't need to tell that you're better than the guest. Because sometimes, they really know more things than you. So, again, we're walking and tell things about this area. Those used to be like storage of supplies during the Spanish period. Tourist shops used to be the storage. Storage of supplies. If you have proof that you read some documents, you can mention that. Some chambers were used to be a prison cell during the Japanese occupation. Really? Yeah, that's a not so rude way of telling its background. If you say, like, that's the area where Japanese... Because when you say... So, the Pinoys were imprisoned there? Again, if you say prison cell, it's kind of straightforward. It's kind of scary, okay. So, if you say, Japanese used them to detain people. For World War II? Yeah. But less harsh. Less harsh, yeah. So, there's a lot to mention about Japan, huh? And not only that, but only Spanish period. Jessica, how would you feel if the people there, they're not asking any questions? Are there people that they don't ask questions to? Like, they're not engaged? Yeah. You will adjust. I will adjust. They want photos? Okay. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Yeah, the founder of Manila. So, the founder of Manila is Spanish? That's what's written in the book. You know, Magellan, right? They say he discovered... Discovered? But there's people there. People, like historians, they say, for them, the writer means the first one who successfully made it. Ah, who made it. But what does it mean when you say he founded Manila? He founded, meaning he established. Ah, so he just formalized. Yeah, formalized. He just made it. Ciudad de Manila. City, ah. Manila, it came from the word Manila, right? The flower. Yeah. That's how we call places, what you see there. So, the Raja Sulaiman is like a leader of the people. Ah, so before the Spanish came, he's the leader of the Philippines. No, no, only Manila. Ah, only Manila. So, why is he even relevant here in Fort Santiago de Oaxaca? So, there were other leaders for different religions. By the time, it was all Islamic in Manila. So, how were they able to trace that there was a Muslim community here? So, it was the most prevalent religion in Manila, at least in Manila. It's Islam. Majority is Islamic. Spaniards, they landed in the Visayas. They went up north. They didn't went down south. They went gradually up. So, meaning, we can say, no one colonized Mindanao. That's why it stayed Islamic. They're targeting to go up north because of rice. So, Mindanao stayed Islamic. And I believe until today, probably 60% of our indigenous tribes were still in Mindanao. Because no one literally colonized Mindanao. That's why the culture is preserved there, pre-colonial. Yeah, that's the tour. And I hope you get what you have to remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I took all the notes here. I'm gonna practice now. I'm gonna memorize. Good luck to me! Day 1 of mastering Intramuros tour. I went through it, guys. And it's literally, like, very much detailed. I've been really enjoying it. You know, this is the best book. Because you don't even have to do the fact checks. See, there's even, like, a section for gender and development. As you can see, there's also, like, the other guides that Kuya Russell verbally taught me. Daily shower is a must. Daily shower is a must in the Philippines, guys. And then the reason why it's really a cheat sheet. This one is because, you know, there's even a very detailed, like, guide that you can even use. Like, they have everything. They even have, like, you know, the dash. Day 2. I came up with my own guide. Yeah, so I referred to, obviously, the handout. I also wrote it down so that I can really memorize it. Good luck to me! I have read all this. So now I have two more days to go till the tour. Wish me luck, guys! Alright, guys, so tomorrow is the D-Day. I'm going to be doing a rehearsal in front of you guys. Hi, everyone! Welcome to a guided tour of Intramurals. And I'm going to be your tour guide for the day. My name is Jessica Lee. Why are there so many tourists today? Alright, guys, so it's been a week since I had my class. And I'm back here in Intramurals, ready for the tour. It will hide. See that kind of introduction sound? Am I loud enough? Kuya, Kuya, Kuya, what do you do? Mga group tours, some people are late, right? What do you do? Join-in tours should start on time. So regardless kung late sila... Yeah, we have to start. Yeah, kasi... Hello, my name is Jessica Lee. And I'm going to be your tour guide in Intramurals for today. So today our itinerary is, we're going to start right here. So I want to ask you a question. When do you think this place was built? Your guess, just rough guesses. 300 years ago? 100 years ago. It was only constructed in 1982. In efforts to preserve the Spanish colonial architecture. So, you can take pictures. Relax. Just imagine you're just touring your family and friends. My family and friends. What time is it now? Can you remind me when it's 3.15? I need to be there at 4. Yeah, 4. At 4 p.m. So that we have 30 minutes there. So they can enjoy it. People are looking forward to 4 p.m. Okay. Can you hear me well now? This is the recreation of the Bahay Bato or Stone House. Here you can witness the lifestyle of the elite of the Philippines before. So, you can follow me. Here. Is it raining? Guys, wait. Sir, is it raining? If it rains, of course, you need to stay under the shelter. But you can contact the store also inside. But make sure that they're not blurry. Sorry, let's go in. I have to explain about how Manila was founded to get this story better. Before the Spanish colonization here in the Philippines, Manila already existed. The original name is Maynila. So, Nila is a type of flowers that was found a lot in this area. And May means there is. So, there are flowers in there. So, it's Maynila. Manila was already a Tagalog certified polity with its ruler, Muslim ruler, Raja Sulaiman. The Philippines was more or less a Muslim country with a lot of thriving Muslim communities. But then, after the defeat of Raja Sulaiman, the Muslim leader of Manila, by the Spanish conqueror, Miguel Lopez de la Gaspi, Manila became the Spanish. So, San Agustin Church is the oldest church in Intramuros that's still standing. Even after all those bombings, disasters, yeah. And it's also the final resting place of Miguel Lopez de la Gaspi himself who is the one who founded Intramuros. So, you can check his resting place in here. Yeah, so we started the tour already because we had to. Maynila? I know certain things were spelled a certain way. So, I looked it up and that's when I found out the original was about the flower and all that. Well, isn't that pretty interesting? Yeah, yeah. A lot of the words, like city names, it's based on what they see in the city. So, in fact, Tagalog, in a particular region in the Philippines, the people are called Tagalog. Which means Tagaylog, which means from the river. So, river people. And the Tagalog actually lived around the Pasig River which flows throughout Manila. Okay, so guys, unexpectedly, it's raining. Are you guys okay with moving on with umbrellas? Or do you want to stay here a bit until the rain shows down a bit? So, you guys are okay with walking in the rain? It's okay with umbrella? You need one umbrella? Let's go? Oh, no. Why is it raining? So, just follow me. One reminder, the other cars, move in one line, please. Okay, when we cross the road. Are you guys okay? Alright, guys. So, we're moving on to our next destination which is Memorare de Manila. Which translates to Memory of Manila. And it's a place that was built again by the administration of Intramuros to commemorate the victims of World War II. One of the most devastating incidents is the Battle of Manila which happened in 1945. So, that's during the World War II. Yeah, that resulted in a very disastrous bombing of Manila. 80% of the structures in Intramuros were destroyed. More than 100,000 civilians were killed. They're going to expect a lot of things and it's raining. It's fine. Is everyone okay? Is everyone surviving this rain? No. At least it's not hot, right? Yeah. Alright, let's move on to the next location. So, again, be careful of the cars and the pedestrians. This right, the plaza you see right over here in front of you is the Plaza de Uoma. But it's old name used to be Plaza Mayor. So, this is one of the three main squares in Intramuros. Palacio del Gobernador or the Palace of the Government Official. And then, there's also the City Hall right across. Here is the Manila Cathedral. Originally, it was built in 1571 as a small church. It was rebuilt for 8 times. So, this is actually the 8th version of the cathedral. Guys, I'm so sad right now. I'm really, really sad. Like, from the bottom of my heart, I'm sad right now. It's 4? I don't know. I want to explain but because of the rain, I also get distracted because I have to make sure everyone's safe. Okay, everyone. Who wants ice cream? Okay, let's have an ice cream break. Kuya, ano yung mga flavors? Mango. Cookies and cream and cheese. Okay, the good flavors. 200. Of course. Alright, guys. Can you hear me all? I'm so sorry again. Very, very bad conditions with this stormy rain. Guys, it's okay. We'll get through this together, okay? The monument in the middle is the monument of the King of Spain during the time. His monument is there in his honor for bringing smallpox vaccines here in the Philippines. And we're now going to move on to the last destination, which is the biggest one. Fort Santiago. These are the calezas, which are a mode of transportation before here in Manila. Okay, let's pass. Shelter first. Guys, let's go inside first in Fort Santiago. Is this for real? Is this a dream? Oh my God. What do you think, guys? Do you think we should stop here for a bit? Yeah? Because it's too much? So this is our last destination, Fort Santiago, which is one of the most significant places here in Intramuros. So I think we should wait a bit until the rain sets. Okay. Okay, alright guys. Can you hear me? Okay, so in an emergency situation, we probably won't be able to take a look into Fort Santiago due to the weather. But I can give you story time here. So Fort Santiago is one of the oldest, or the oldest fortifications in the Philippines made by the Spaniards. Again, it doesn't look like the rain is going to stop soon. So unfortunately, and I'm really crying inside my heart right now. We're going to have to wrap up the tour here. If the rain stops later on, I hope, or maybe next time you can visit this place to take a look. Because it's really a place where a lot of significant history took place here. Thank you guys so much. And I was Jessica Lee. Thank you. Alright guys. Let's see. What's my salary after being in the rain for how many? 3,000? 700? 3,800? But it actually depends on how much she charges. So usually it's around 800 to 1,250 per head. So if you're a fully booked tour guide, you can earn a lot. But then guys, it was too tough. Memorizing it, I had a really hard time because there was so much information. Now I feel so bad that I didn't even get to mention like half of the things I memorized. It's really, really, really tragic. But then, it's part of it. Going through this for me was really good. Yeah, so I had to go through the whole Philippine history. And I really needed to make sure that it's really true. Like I cannot make lies. So that part kind of made me really understand the Philippine history in a deeper level. Yeah, so definitely tour guides, it's a kind of job that there are people who are good at it. Those people who are good at storytelling, who enjoy storytelling. And who can really manage people from like top until the end. Really also taking care of them because they're a big group. So I have to like make sure the cars. You know there was one car that was bumping me. Yeah, they're not stopping. When I do it, they don't stop. This is really, I don't know. I can only think of the word disastrous. Multitasking. It's all about multitasking. So it's very hard. You really have to be smart. So yeah, kudos to all the tour guides out there. And yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed this video. And I'll see you guys in the next one. If they're busy taking pictures. Can you let them be? I'll take a photo of you. Can you take a picture of me please? Sure. Which is the best angle? So I know Korean. So one, two, three. One, two, three. Wow. Thank you.