The late habit

I was told that last night's get-together with high-school was at 8pm at a local restaurant. I was anxious to be there on time and in fact arrived there just before 8pm. To my dismay, I found that I was the first one there. And no one arrived until nearly half an hour later! Then the rest started arriving after 9pm. I have to say that I'm totally fed up with this so-called Filipino time.