Manila

Beautiful shopping area Greenhills

I've heard about the huge slums when talking about Manila in the beautiful tropical country of Philippines. But this time I didn't felt like dwelling in those moods but instead enjoyed the other side of the city. Our crew hotel was located in the business and shopping area and I spent those 30 hours we had in this charming shopping and restaurant area enjoying the perfect weather and quiet tranquility of the weekend.

Greenhills malls are actually several different buildings connected through bridges and in the center there is a lush green park area with all the restaurants and cafes. And what kind of restaurants they have! Amazing, trendy and modern architecture with an excellent food with reasonable prices! I had a dinner in a restaurant called Mango Tree and 2 course dinner costed me about 600 peso which is 10 euro. And this is one of the most expensive restaurant areas in the city, next to Burberry, Chanel and Gucci boutiques.

Greenbelt Chapel

What strike me on sunday afternoon when I went back to the area was that there was people gathered in the center of the park and they were listening something. When I got closer I realized there was a catholic mass going on. The church is in the middle of the expensive shopping area in a beautiful garden and they were having 8 masses during the day! And it was full with people inside, outside, families sitting on the grass and children playing.. 

What a wonderful feeling, this is how the church should act in the society I think. To go there where the people are, in the middle of the life and not to hide themselves and force people to enter the doorstep where for most of the people it's too much struggle. But when it's so easy to stop and listen and feel free it's easier to take part and the church will reach more people. This is where the Catholic church is doing so much better than my home church Lutheran at least in Finland.

Streets of Manila

Some facts about our customer profiles on these flights. My colleague told me this story that happened on her flight a while ago. There was this filipino girl flying back home to Manila and she was crying the whole time. This crew went to her and asked what is wrong. She told her she's coming back home after 2 years, she has been on a contract in Saudi Arabia. And she was pregnant. She was so happy to get back to home to meet her family but terrified that they would find out about her pregnancy. If they would she would be kicked out and left alone with nothing. What would she do then, where to go, how to provide herself and the unborn baby? 

Many of the girls are been molested and sexually insulted when they are working as maids abroad. They are very humble and some people take advantage of their situations for their own purposes. Sometimes I feel how cruel and selfish man can be to do something like that for a fellow human being who has nothing and can't defend herself in any way. How different our lives are who are born in a country where you don't need to do these sacrifices to provide your family. How lucky we are and how we should be grateful and always remember to help those who needs us.