What If High School Musical Was Set in the Philippines?

by Dyan Zarzuela   |  Jan 21, 2016
PHOTO Disney Channel
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  1. A winter wonderland NYE party wouldn't be possible here, so Troy and Gabriela would've met out of town, maybe in Subic or Tagaytay. But the karaoke and fireworks would still be part of their meet cute for sure!

    High School Musical  

  2. As much as we love Troy's floppy bangs, he'd have a Zayn-like top knot, which wouldn't be so bad because hello, this is Zac Efron. Dude can pull off anything—even a hair trend that can look like a sad siomai on the wrong head!

  3. East High School = Mataas na Paaralan ng Silangan

    High School Musical 

  4. The school grounds wouldn't be full of students happy to be back on their first day of school; instead it would be jam-packed with school service vans, private cars, Ubers, and GrabTaxis, and everyone would be late for class.

  5. Two words: School uniform.

  6. Instead of getting detention, students caught with their cellphones in class would be forced to clean the classroom after school.

    High School Musical 

  7. The cafeteria would be much smaller and messier. (Where do the students get food anyway? Is there another floor where they keep all the food?) 

    High School Musical 

  8. Also, the lockers would be vandalized beyond recognition. Sharpay's pink locker wouldn’t last a day.

  9. "Evaporate, tall person!" = "Maglaho ka, higante!"

    High School Musical 

  10. Instead of strudels and scones, Zeke would know how to bake pandesal and ensaymada.

    High School Musical 

  11. Troy would probably wear his basketball jersey and/or shorts everywhere and no one would call him out or tease him because 1) he's a really sweet guy, and 2) he's too cool to care anyway.

    High School Musical 

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  12. The view from Troy's rooftop hideout would be obstructed by the possibly dangerous tangle of wires and cables that our streets are known for. And there'd be an oh-so romantic layer of smog as well. 

  13. Troy would not have lasted more than two seconds in Gabriella's balcony because her mom would hear him, no, feel his presence the moment he started climbing his way up.

  14. Zeke wouldn't bake the decathlon team a pi cake, but a Goldilocks-like chocolate roll or Brazo de Mercedes.

  15. The jocks and geniuses wouldn’t have had to come up with an elaborate plan to get Troy out of the basketball game and Gabriella out of the decathlon because hello, Filipino time. One of those events would've started late! And with our third world Internet connection, they might not have been able to hack the school server.

    High School Musical 

  16. Sharpay and Ryan's stage mom and her DI would totally be at the audition, dancing at the sidelines, and their dad would be holding up his iPad the whole time to record their routine.

  17. Instead of a song and dance number at the gym, they would celebrate their double victory at someone's place, singing karaoke all night. (Or at least until their curfew.)

    High School Musical 

  18. Finally, Zeke would offer to make Sharpay his famous leche flan, instead of crème brulee. Yum!

Catch the High School Musical reunion special on Disney Channel. 

REAX!
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About the author
Dyan Zarzuela
Council of Cool 9, Managing Editor, Columnist
Stalks celebrities, watches TV, marathons movies, curls up with books, and flails at concerts for a living. Also: semi-hardcore Whovian.
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