American vlogger Thomas “Tom” Kuegler, the man behind the viral videos defending Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray’s answer and the one who called tabo as the “coolest” household item, is deeply fascinated with Filipinos and Philippine culture.
The 25-year-old has been going back and forth to the country since he established his travel blog. He proudly said that the Philippines is the only country he would keep revisiting.
“A lot of Filipinos I meet have so much energy. They have so much kindness and warmth to them,” Kuegler shared in an exclusive interview with Interaksyon.
He added that Filipinos, compared to Americans, are much more “energetic and kind on another level.”
While Kuegler has visited other countries like Germany, Canada, Vietnam and Indonesia, Philippines is the only country he considers his “favorite.”
“It’s really the energy, I would say. It’s probably the main thing,” the travel blogger, referring to Filipinos.
He cited how Filipinos have a strong sense of community spirit and claimed that he finds their supportiveness with each other on “another level.”
Kuegler shared that he witnessed this in how Filipinos would group together and watch Manny Pacquiao fight or jointly cheer on Catriona Gray as she competes in an international beauty pageant.
“In America, we’re supportive but Filipinos are another level and that’s awesome. Like they are super, super supportive,” he said.
First Filipino Encounter
Kuegler shared that the first time he knew about Filipino culture was when his father, who works as an airconditioning installation and maintenance contractor, had a Filipino client.
His father shared a lot of fun and wonderful experiences with the Filipino family which gave him a positive perspective about Filipinos.
Kuegler would later have a Filipina mentor during his college internship in Disney World. His mentor played a major role in his fascination with the Philippines because it was how he learned a lot about the people and its culture.
During the time when he was looking for a full-time job, his mentor helped him by offering him a place to stay in their house with the rest of the family. Kuegler ended up staying with them for over a year because he was having difficulties in finding a job.
Eventually, he got into freelance writing and then travel vlogging.
He said that he intends to meet them when they come back to the Philippines for their vacation.
