Devin Halbal, the travel and fashion influencer who made rounds on the internet for her humor and chants, is set to visit the Philippines on July 9 as part of her Asia itinerary
Ready your selfie sticks, dolls, TikToker Devin Halbal aka Hal Baddie is coming to Manila on July 9. In a TikTok video, the travel and fashion influencer announced that the next stop in her Asia trip is the Philippines. She said she is headed to the capital before going to Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
In her latest video uploaded July 8, Halbal was already asking for leads supposedly to make her signature chant “Kudasai,” which blew up this year after her trip to Japan. She is asking for a word or phrase that rhymes with “Mahal Kita” while still in Malaysia.
“I’m in Malaysia right now but Philippines, I need help,” she said in a TikTok video. “What rhymes with ‘Mahal Kita’ in Filipino because we need a new phrase specifically for the Philippines? Purr.”
@hal.baddie♬ original sound – Devin Halbal
Halbal blew up on the video-sharing app for her inspirational quotes that she films on her long selfie stick, specifically her “doll check-in” and “Met Gala behavior” videos. But a trip to Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture in Japan last January made her an even bigger star all because of one word: “Kudasai” (“May I please have”).
In March, she replied to a comment asking her to make a Filipino version of her earworm of a chant. She recited the comment that read “Mabuhay banana, mabuhay pineapple, mabuhay adobo,” adding that she might probably include “Mabuhay pancit” and “Mabuhay lumpia.” She eventually made a video expanding the chant to include halo-halo and kare-kare, with the caption “Maraming pagmamahal sa aking mga tagahanga mula sa Pilipinas.”
The New York-raised jet-setting doll has been enjoying fame for the last two years, traveling around the world for brand endorsements and personal leisure while sharing her fun and quirky videos with her thousands of fans on TikTok. As of writing, she has 970,000 TikTok followers.
Her viral fame in Japan encouraged her to extend her trip there as well as to go on an Asian tour after fans from these neighboring countries clamored for her to visit them. “I’m like, ‘I have to do an Asia tour,’” she said in a New York Times interview. “What better way to continue learning about other cultures and continue learning about languages?”
She has so far gone to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan, sightseeing and meeting adoring fans that convene wherever she goes.