Becoming Filipino: A Journey of Food, Friendship, and Cultural Transformation in Arriga, Dubai

Filipinos, don’t come close to them. They did something crazy to me. But to really show you what they did to me, I had to first come back where it all started, here in Arriga, Dubai. See, I lived in Arriga for two years, where almost everything is Filipino, from the food to the restaurants and the people. And the very first people that I met in Dubai were Filipinos, who instantly became my friends. But what did they do to me? First, meet my Filipino friends. I’m Adrian. I’m Ella. See, I live in Dubai, and in the entire United Arab Emirates, there are more than 700,000 Filipinos. The first time I met them, they introduced me to their food. Adobo is one of the famous Filipino dishes. They showed me their kindness. We share kindness and generosity within our community. And even taught me their language. You have to say, Magandang Hapot. For the first time in my life, I completely adopted to a new culture that was different and thousands of kilometers away from mine. Check this out. Pabilipo. What will you buy? Halo-halo. How many halo-halo will you buy? Just one. Just one? Thank you. You’re welcome. I came close to Filipinos, and I became Filipino by heart. But if there’s one thing that I can tell you from my own personal experience, it’s that if you ever come close to them, you’re guaranteed to fall in love with their food, their culture, and their kindness, making it almost impossible to ever let them go.