Travel Journal: Finding love in China

GMA News Online news producer Kimberly Jane Tan recently visited China where she met many overseas Filipino workers. In this article, she shares the stories of Filipinos who have fallen in love with the place, with their work, or with that special someone. During a recent trip to China, I met Rhio Zablan, a 33-year-old Filipino who now works as a foreign expert for China Radio International (CRI), whose main office is in Beijing. Although work was what initially brought the Tarlac-born Zablan to China, love made him stay in that country. In October 2009, Zablan was sent by the Office of the Press Secretary (now the Presidential Communications Operations Office) to China for a seminar for journalists in ASEAN countries. A month after, he said the seminar organizers - State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) - brought them to the offices of state-owned stations China Central Television (CCTV) and CRI. It was at the CRI building where Zablan first met his wife Liang Shuang (english name Mary), who is now a 28-year-old broadcasting director at CRI. "Daglian akong nabighani sa kanyang kagandahan.... para akong nagayuma at mula sa sandaling iyon, hindi na siya naalis sa aking isipan," he told GMA News Online in an interview. He added that even though Mary could not speak too much English, she was very kind and made him feel welcome. "Siguro, love at first sight din siya sa akin, bagamat hindi niya ito inaamin hanggang ngayon," he said. After that, Zablan said he got Mary's number, which led regular text messages, phone calls and e-mails. And even after he went back to the Philippines, he said they continued communicating with each other. "Sa panahong iyon, alam kong napakahirap ng isang long-distance relationship, at malaki ang posibilidad na hindi umubra ang aming relasyon, pero, nahulog na ang loob ko sa kanya," he said. "Laking pasasalamat ko na nahulog na rin pala ang loob niya sa akin. Ito ang naging daan para magdesisyon akong magbitiw sa aking tungkulin sa Pilipinas at pumunta sa Tsina para makasama siya," he added. Unlike the typical Chinese families portrayed in local dramas, Mary's family did not object to her getting married to a Filipino. Zablan also said that language is not a problem for the two of them. "Hindi problema sa aming dalawa ang wika at bansang pinagmulan. Lagi nga niyang sinasabi sa akin na "ang importante ay mahal namin ang isa't-isa," lahat ng iba pa ay pumapangalawa na lamang. Nag-uusap kami sa Wikang Ingles, tinuturuan niya ako ng wikang Tsino at tinuturuan ko rin siya ng wikang Filipino," he said. Zablan likewise said he is adjusting well to life in China. In fact, he said he and his wife plan to have a baby next year. "Noong unang ilang buwan ko rito sa Beijing ay medyo nahirapan ako. Kakaiba ang wika, kakaiba ang kultura, at kakaiba ang pagkain. Pero pagkatapos ng ilang buwan, masasabi ko na masaya ako sa desisyon kong magtungo rito sa Tsina, dahil makakasama ko ang aking asawa at dito na rin ako gagawa ng sarili kong pamilya," he said. Love for music Unlike Zablan, it wasn't that kind of love that brought the 58-year-old Ramon Escanillas Jr. to Beijing back in 1991. Escanillas, a Manila-born broadcaster at CRI, said he came to China after members of a Chinese delegation who came to the Philippines suggested that he apply for a foreign expert position in a state-owned station in Beijing. "Nag-try lang ako... pinilit kong mag-survive kasi walang choice," he told GMA News Online in a separate interview. Escanillas taught undergraduate Philosophy subjects at the Ateneo de Manila University before he went to Beijing. But what saved him from being homesick, he said, were some Japanese musicians in Beijing who convinced him to take on music. He said he even performed as a folk singer in one of the hotels in Beijing for a year in the 1990s. Without a family to support him during his time abroad, he said music was what kept him going in the foreign country. "Nung nadiscover ko yung music, parang nakakalimutan ko yung lungkot. Parang nakakalimutan ko rin ang Pilipinas," he said, "Talagang mahilig ako sa music, halos karamihan ng mga banda dito kakilala ko, kaibigan ko," he added. In fact, Escanillas was the one who introduced me to the all-Filipino band "The Hurricane," which performs at the Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing. The band is composed of six members, Roland Tacag (47), Noel San Pedro (31), Saul Barquilla (42), Ritchie Azul (39), Roldan Nakpil (39), and Allan Jalinato (43). Jalinato, the band leader, said they have been playing at Hard Rock for about two years. He said they usually play songs of Queen, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin. "Rocker talaga kami, mahilig kami sa rock talaga," he said. In separate interviews with GMA News Online, the band members detailed how they worked both in the government and private companies but that they couldn't stand it because they wanted to pursue music. "Ang hinahanap ng katawan ko music," said Barquilla, who previously worked for Philippine Airline's aviation security. "Talagang gusto ko yung music... pangarap din namin makapag-abroad," added Tacag, who used to be an examiner's assistant at the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Even though they're away from their families and are in an unfamiliar place with a different language and culture, the Filipino musicians said that music is still the thing that keeps them going. "Love ko na music bata palang ako," said San Pedro. "Masaya talaga ako sa pagbabanda, masaya ako kahit nakakapagod, parang di ka tumatanda," added Azul. Filipinos working in China have different reasons for coming and staying in the foreign country but it's nice to know that they all have positive things to keep them going. - VVP, GMA News