SIDE TRIP 42: Home is where the heart is
It’s like they transported a piece of Luneta all the way to Singapore. Lucky Plaza along Orchard Road on a Sunday is quite a sight. Teeming with OFWs on their day off, they practically take over the entire mall. Outrageous fashion sense prevails, each one trying to outdo the other.
On one side, I saw a group of women huddled on the floor, hiding behind an umbrella. When I took a peek, it was to find an enterprising Pinay peddling pancit to kababayans. At the Kabayan Fastfood on the third floor, long lines stretch all the way out the door, eager to gorge on adobo and sinigang. And lots of extra rice. 
Next door, even longer lines lead to remittance centers. Sisters, mothers, fathers, brothers, tita, tito, anak… sending hard-earned money back home. To families who may not even have a full grasp of how hard it is to work abroad, away from loved ones. But every Sunday, on Lucky Plaza, they reach out to each other, recreating a piece of home in a foreign land.
On a previous trip to Singapore, a Singaporean colleague once advised me: “Don’t go to Lucky Plaza on a Sunday; there will be too many people there!” But that’s exactly the point! That is why I would want to go there. Because there would be a lot of kababayans around.
posted by Miki at
4:28 PM
11 Comments:
I was in Singapore in August last year. I stayed in a hotel on Scotts Road but within walking distance of Lucky Plaza. I did get the chance to go into this particular mall and you're right, it's a little slice of the Philippines in Singapore.
The one thing that struck me was that the building charged people to use the restrooms. :) There was also a "House of C__d_ms" nearby.
But anyway, it is places like Lucky Plaza that help relieve us of our homesickness. They provide us with a much welcome reminder of home whenever we're in some foreign land. Like you, I won't hesitate to go there simply because I know I'll also enjoy having many kababayans around me every once in a while. :)
hmmm.. like some other malls in manila and cebu actually -- they charge people for the use of the restrooms.
more strange was the idea of a Malate or Timog gimik place all in one building! there was this Tower also along Orchard Road where several floors are occupied by bars and clubs.
and i hear that strip of Orchard is where Pinay GROs walk the street hehehe
naks. singapore trip si kuya. haha. when ka balik seybuuh? :p
nyak! second week of May pa tong trip ko to Singapore and Hanoi. late lang ko ka-blog about it, hehehehe.
i will be in cebu next week. kitakits! ;p
haha... lahi na akong numero kuya miks. nag sun na mi ni "gang" haha.
bantog ra
unlimited kol
wahehehe
hi mik, hehehehe i have been here, im actually tempted to pass my resume to the job agency there :D
dan
sigbin.com
hiya Dan!
i suppose with your talent and credentials, it will be fairly easy for you to get a job in singapore. some pinoys may not be as lucky. i have two bisdak friends there, but one has just gone home to cebu.
miki
singapore? hmmm. would love to go there and explore the place pero wa pakoy wawarts. Siguro soon, pag iipunan. trip with candy. :)
hahaha! funny how i really felt at home at lucky plaza. amazing! in tokyo, we have the same thing at most churches; it transforms into a virtual palengke on sundays ;-)
same thing when i went to a chuch in HK --> it had tagalog signs and bulletin boards :)
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