To be honest, I've been in the Philippines for two years now. When I boarded the plane, I was full of ambition, hoping to make three to five million and return home in glory. I had high expectations, but it seems like the timing wasn't right; it was too late.

In my first year in the Philippines, I spent all my money on drinking and prostitution, only to realize later that it was all for nothing. Moreover, the market situation is now severe, not as easy to make money as before. My fighting spirit has been worn down, and I don't know what the point of staying in the Philippines is anymore; I feel like I've lost my direction.

Another new year is approaching. My family needs money and they keep asking when I will come home for the New Year. I can only send a little money back and then make excuses that I'm too busy with work to return. I haven't dared to tell them I'm in the Philippines because I don't want them to worry, but I too wish I could go home for the New Year.

The Philippines is full of temptations. If you indulge, you can't keep your money; if you don't, every day is unbearably dull. I remember before boarding the plane, I told myself that as long as I had food and accommodation covered, and a basic salary, I could make over a hundred thousand a year and wouldn't have to worry about money. But after arriving in the Philippines, am I still the same person? And what kind of person have I become?