Exploring and Featuring the Unknown Manila Since

Donelle Vant’s Choice Publisher

February 2015 * Vol 1 No. 1

Red Light

Realization By Anferny Vanta

What is to be the True Light in

the Darkness By Hyemin Choi

Literally Ol 4 1 By Alyssa agustin

Makati Nightlife Photos and article from: Francois. Burgos Street Makati. Digital image. Burgos Street. Tourist - Evo Factory, n.d. Web. <http://www.burgosstreet.net/>.

Royal Bellagio Hotel Photos from: "Royal Bellagio Hotel, Rooms and Dining." Royal Bellagio Ma-kati. Royal Bellago, n.d. Web. <http://royalbellagio.com>.

http://www.hungryjuan.com/

“Red Light Realization” -Photos and article by Anferny Vanta-

Occasionally, we find ourselves troublesome-ly searching for things that were there all along. We unfortunately experience feelings that we’re not entitled for us to feel. Silver lining is, struggles are necessary in making us better people. Ironically, it’s the price for the glory of finishing one. I have learned that in seemingly hopeless situations, we just have to let go, give it time, and step back from the smothering cloud of the predicament. Recently having been in a say, hopeless psy-chospiritual predicament, wisdom was gained by me. I usually hear mass at malls due to its convenience. In addition, I am a choosy lis-tener and I have favoritism with the priests I listen to intently. If the priest sounds typical with the dull tone and the boring hackneyed statements, I do not give sufficient effort to listen intently. I just pray on my own. I may be classified as a nominal Christian and the reason for the uncertainty of the classification is my apathy towards its criteria on whether or not I am. The past few years, I’ve been spiritually indifferent. My knowledge about Christian Catholicism have been vastly di-minished considering the basic ones were last thought in grade school. Simultaneous with the apathy was the surges of regret, anger, and sorrow I felt upon my -

bloodstream. I was feeling bad for not listen-ing to the readings and just the homily and it’s not even every time; yet, my apathy once again functioned and in a very short moment it was as if my negative feelings towards myself was buried and forgotten. Like how change is the only perma-nent thing in the world, an occurence of such fortunately induced a loss in the emotional weight I’m carrying. It was the Thursday before Christmas, my classmate Ice and I ought to hear an evening ‘dawn mass’ in the ‘Makati United Methodist Church’, a church located at P. Burgos street Makati surrounded by bars containing night life . Given its loca-tion, I presumed that the church and masses there were frequently affected by external forms of disturbances, only to lead me off beam. The room was very spacious since very few were present during the mass. Ranging around 30 – 35 people. Comprising of 40% children, 50% old people and 10% others. No foreigners were present. The sanc-tuary was highly elevated and wood fenced making it look like a stage. It was different yet pleasing to my eyes for a change. There was an efficient auditory distribution consid-ering the speakers were well diffusely placed.

Due to that, understanding the speakers words were with ease. Initially, the Tagalog mass was fast flowing. It was different from the typical Catholic mass. There was a different set of events. Give love on Christmas day was even sung by a family. Come homily time (Pagbasa ng banal na salita at mensahe), the speech was deliv-ered by Mrs. Elizabeth Angeles with her light nyenyo-ish voice. After 30 minutes, the strug-gle beneath my system began to arise. Dis-comfort was being felt and the desire for an end was becoming gradually stronger. The speaker was telling stories probably relevant to the Gospel. “Thank you lord” she says. Meanwhile, a pre-adolescent girl was playing with her hair. A little boy was noisily com-plaining, “Hindi ako binili ng lego!” People infront were still while not at the back. A young kid was even walking around in front in the stage-looking sanctuary. Some lady was even spoon feeding two children. At this point was the line drew, and to illustrate how I felt, there was like a red light sign that buzzed in my system signaling that it was really wrong considering the norms of social conduct inside churches.

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https://www.facebook.com/Infiniteaburgos

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>>> She told stories such as her being a teacher and not allowing cheating to occur probably relating to the moral of the gospel. She also said, “God bless Alzheimer’s nakalimutan ko nagsala sa akin” as the crowd awoke and ap-plause was heard for the first time. The two stories led me skeptical about the accuracy of her stories and testimonials and somehow it led me to feel irritated at how I’m there. On the other hand, the fact that I’m feeling bad for hearing mass is sufficient for a part of me to be angry at myself. The children were getting rowdy. Going, running, and palying around with each other with shrill baby laughter. Babies were giggling and baby talking “wayawayawawaya”. “Yung shoes mo oh” a woman uttered to her alaga. The shallowly hostile environment did not help my cause. They were as a matter of fact a factor to my apathy considering it hurts to attempt focus-ing only to be interrupted. Our attention was caught comically when we heard the unseemly complete sen-tence “May cancer siya sa facebook” with reiteration. It was getting hot due to our loca-tion being at the farthest seat in the back, not being hit by the electric fan. I was getting impatient. It was getting harder to breath. Part of me however, was thinking that the struggle that I’m feeling due to my mass presence that entails listening wasn’t supposed to exist. “Bibilisan ko na” probably noticing the dull atmosphere and faces the long speech has brought. Anthony Diomangay, the president of the Church choir and our contact, even asked us, “okay lang kayo?”, aware of the dull on-going speech and lengthy speaker. Eventually, “Introduction pa lang” uttered by the Mrs. Angeles. Her long pauses and repeti-tions were leading to dullness. I was feeling bad due to boredom. In addition, I was feel-ing bad due to feeling bad about the mass. In the hope of feeling better about myself, I ex-erted mental effort in the hope that my train of thoughts would cross paths with a happy thought to avoid annoyance with the holy speaker. “Hindi po ba?” rhetorically asked by the speaker in the hope of getting the audi-ence’ attention. I was beginning the activity of tapping my pen and shaking my feet to release the negative vibes brought by the dull atmosphere the speech has brought. Even the young student pastor’s head was down, call-ing noisy children’s attention from time to time.

“Malapit na po ako matapos pero hindi pa po.” Time wasn’t moving. It was agonizing. It seemed more tiring listening and sitting than talking and standing. I was feeling con-strained. “inorasan ko po to 45 minutes pero pasensya na.” Immediately, cheers and ap-plause were heard from the crowd. Fortunate-ly, after a long time of struggle which felt like sluggishly pedaling the wheels of my train of thoughts, a ‘Eureka moment’ oc-curred. A part of me asked me frankly why I was feeling bad. I answered because I was annoyed and uncomfortable due to the impa-tience induced by the situation in which it shouldn’t. Then a part of me recalled about the principle of religious freedom where reli-gion should be an individual choice and not the contrary. In a snap of a finger, the long and hopeless search for peace beneath the

unwanted warfare between my conscience and indifference was over. Surges of ease were rushing into my bloodstream as the homily finally ended. “Salamat po, napagtiyagaan niyo" said by Mrs. Angeles as she ended her speech that brought us a sense of relief. Like all typi-cal masses, the length of the mass was indeed dependent on the homily speaker. “Thank you sa kapayapaan! Meryenda na tayo! Kain na!” shouted by the last commentator. Sopas was immediately given to us for free after the mass came to an end. With Anthony telling us further details about the Church and its regular practices, we then knew that free meryendas and lunches were being given often after services. After the mass, we headed out to talk to An-thony Diomangay. Out of curiosity we sought to know the answer to which was built first. “Have there been cases of disturb-ances from the outside?” We asked. “Wala naman. Mga sasakyan lang.” Anthony re-plied. But as he got what we were trying to ask considering our context, his answers be-fitted the essential. It turned out I was right with the thought that there were external forces of disturbances affecting the Church; yet, they take it differently. “Yes, there have been in fact several incidents associated with distractions; but, we don’t let it bother us. We even take it as a challenge” “Syempre meron pa rin yung mga dumadaldal, yung may edad na na naka-on yung cellphone.” Anthony even articulated about the foreign visitors. “Yung mga foreigners nga eh, hindi naman namin masaway.

Liberated yung clothing nila. Different culture eh. There was even this time when a foreign women was kneeling, praying, crying while everyone else is standing and going with flow of the mass.” Furthermore, “Pag Sunday morning, bago mag-misa, naglilinis kami sa tapat. Kasi yung mga Badjao, lasing, at mga bading, nasa tapat, peeing, sleeping, and litter-ing.” One time the women in front of the club in front of the church was shouting “wow, wow, wow!” Humorously, the Church people responded with their own cheer. “UMC! UMC!” Concerning security, there have been a lot of cases of the theft of bags and laptop. Since then they got aware of the goers and enterers. Answering our questions regarding drunk people or people coming in and disturbing the peace, Anthony said “minsan yung mga pulubi, pumapasok, nama-malimos. Yung mga lasing, kunwari pang hindi, pumapasok lang para matulog. Meron pa nga isang beses eh, ewan ko kung lasing o baliw. Pumunta sa harap, sumigaw. ‘AKO SI SATANAS!” Despite various cases, they still follow their mantra “Bawal Magtaboy.” “Methodist is OPEN, everyone is invited. We even invite clubbers.” Anthony reiterated. Somehow I knew it was just right; yet, I was still touched by the care shown by the Church people. Along with that thought, I realize the possibility that how they treat people with mercy and compassion despite the hardship is corresponding to the whole point of religion and if I’m treating people with mercy and compassion despite my indifference in listen-ing to holy readings, I’m not doing anything wrong for I’m not apparently harming anyone. Occasionally, we are in conflict with our-selves. We sometimes feel weak and incapable due to the barrage of negative ideas present in our minds; nonetheless, we should believe in ourselves. We should fight back to the nega-tive thoughts being thrown upon us by our-selves. It takes very immense effort to do so but it’s all worth it in the end. To sum it up and recall, I was feeling bad for my spiritual indifference. Guilt, sor-row, and shame were raging from me towards myself frequently. So I took a step back and reevaluated the what’s, the how’s, and the why’s of my predicament, and then it came to me that I do believe in an omnipotent and om-niscient being to whom I am grateful for my good life concerning my normal physiological system and functions, above average econom-ic standing, and a very laborious; yet, pres-tigous education, that I am remorseful for my wrong doings (that I do accept as wrong), and that I mentally conversate daily with that be-ing despite the absence of scientific proof for that being’s existence. The solution to my predicament was there all along. In an ironic sence, there was no problem at all. It just takes immense time and effort to dig deeper inside the mind or anywhere else to find the truth, and the truth, taking the hackneyed quote into consideration, set me free.

“The solution to

my predicament

was there all

along.”

©2015 by Tourist • Contact • Blog skin design by François / Evo Factory • Credits: blogsoft | LAMP hosting | blog ads

Makati's Burgos street bars have a fine reputation for nightly entertainment

and it's reach is going international as Wanchai district in Hong Kong shows. Bars

like New Makati Inn, Waikiki Night Club andMakati Pub and Disco offer amuse-

ment and dating places with Filipinas for guys who appreciate meeting women

from the Philippines in China.

The concept of ladydrinks while providing ground for consentual meetings

proves to be a commonly accepted form of hospitality business.

Contents directly taken from http://www.burgosstreet.net/

Is it Safe? Generally speaking P. Burgos Street in Makati is very safe. Police

patrols are constantly on the road controling traffic. Each bar and

hotel have armed security guerads who turn away people who ap-

pear shady. Crime rate is very low compared to other parts of Metro

Manila and to red-light districts around the globe. There are beg-

gars, street walkers and some scam artists, but they take a hike

once they see a police patrol, usually. It's safe to ignore them and

move on.

However, there is one very dangerous day on Burgos Street that

requires attention: New Years Eve. Local Filipinos enjoy handmade

fireworks that are lit up with large torches on the street. It's proba-

bly best to stay inside the bars or avoid this quarter during the hey

Massage Girls While walking along Makati's Burgos Street it's not uncom-

mon to be approached by attractive ladies. Most of the

times they are doorgirls who want to solicit new customers

for their employing establishments. Sometimes they are

streetwalkers (and many of them are not female if you know

what I mean) who are provinind pleasures in short time ho-

tels on Durban Street, Makati Avenue, Buendia or some-

where in Poblacion village. However, some of the street flirt-

ers are massage therapists or promo girls handing out busi-

ness cards for legitimate massage shops. While massages in

the Philippines lack quality compared to Indonesia and Thai-

Stardust Bar Not far from the corner of Kalayaan Avenue budget patrons

find a happy hour treasure inside Stardust bar. This club pre-

sents an extended Happy Hour with discounted drink for

customers and ladies. Stardust bar is known for it's dance

shows since it was just the second bar after Jools to present

performances aside from regular bargirl agogo dance. There

is lots of space in the bar to play pool and don't forget all

the dark corners .

Say you were trapped in P. Burgos

Street, Makati, famous for its Korean shops, clothes shops, bars, churches

and hotels, where will you go first and what'll you do?

-Alyssa Agustin

“hmm .. i don't like shop-

ping ... i don't drink either xD

hotel hmm maybe if i have a gf

jk just kidding hmm i guess

church or an arcade xDD wait

korean shops does that mean

there are korean girls ? xDD”

Yap!

“then korean shops it is xD”

-Shiftrix, Mapua.

“Shops I guess.. Though

tingin tingin lng..but in reali-

ty ill go to church”

-Mocchi Kobubayashi

“why ask meeeeee? maybe I'll go

in clothes shops and have a drink

there. HAHAHAHA. or in the

church and have a party inside

(lol)”

-Flytz

“I dunno that place doe but

from the things you said, I'll eat

haha” -Sabawman

“If i were trapped there, first I'd go to the korean

shops first and eat. Next get checked in a hotel. Tas go

to the clothes store to buy crap there. I'd skip the bar

cuz i dont like going bars. Then I'd end by going to

church.”

-Suaps

“Bar, to get drunk, then kore-

an shop to make racist remarks

and regrets, church to beg for

forgiveness then clothes shop

to buy decent new clothes then

hotel to serve as the trash guy”

-Kuya

There is an infamous area in Makati, knows as P. Burgos street. At daylight, it seems like a normal busy city, full of cars, people walking back and fourth, busy restaurants, shops, foreigners all over the place. But at night, it becomes a huge wild party, where the bards come alive, where women lurk the streets. Search it up, and you’ll see how iinfamously infamous this place is. But there are other shops to go to. Which one would you visit?

“Let’s see…

Get the hell out of

there??!”

Hyemin Choi

Theme Rooms

Dining

Contact Us Address:

5010 P. Burgos Street,

Poblacion 1210 Makati City, Philippines Tel No.: (632) 899-5555 Tel No.: (632) 890-8395 Tel No.: (632) 897-0714 Tel No.: (632) 895-2495

Fax No.: (632) 659-4887

Email Address: inquire@royalbellagio.com

And many more…..

Literally

“1 4 Ol” It is ironic how I adore Koreans and fear them at the same

time. Korean girls have that body and porcelain face that a girl would look for, and Korean men have always looked so sophisticated and manly on TV, which is why they are so intimidating. But that is not my only basis, from my friends who have gone to Korea, I would hear how a random Korean in a café would stand up and shout “Would everyone, please, shut up! This is a public area for pete’s sake!” and would add as if he just left the twilight zone, “I’m sorry, okay? It’s just that everyone is so noisy!”

My fear ends when the time came that I had to personally

speak with, not just a Korean, but a Korean pastor – one who speaks a different language, lives by different traditions, and has different be-liefs, Mr. Kim Nak Kyeong.

Locating Mr. Kim was difficult; he lives everything but near my

place, Antipolo, Rizal, and commuting by train to his church cost me [some] money – LRT fare is pretty cheap – and a lot of time and sweat. I’m not very familiar with the twists of Makati, so when I arrived, I was in full shock. There were prostitutes all over the streets, many of them having the appearance that perfectly fits the streets, dressed in rags, and if not, overly provocative clothes that could almost reveal body and soul. He doesn’t live there, however; he only needs to endure this envi-ronment from 6 AM to 5 PM on a regular weekday, and enjoy the rest of his time in Mandaluyong.

The first time I saw him personally, my knees were trembling in fear that he

might not understand my English, that we might end up saying “Sorry, Huh? What? Pardon?”. When we text, he has a habit of leaving out punctuation marks and omitting words such as “is”, “are” etc, which I thought would be slightly different from talking to him face to face. But he spoke to me in awkward Eng-lish, and I remember counting the times he said “uhhh”. I reached 34.

Despite the awkward English, I felt his authority and professionalism

for he presented himself well, his hands always joined at his front and tucked at his very neatly worn suit. His body followed his movements gracefully, and eve-ry time he made gestures from demonstrating a story to pointing out an object, his eyes followed as if he were a ballerina. I couldn’t resist admiring such grace someone I barely know.

The more I knew about his life as a pastor, the more I admired him.

He gave the aura of a scholarly person, yet he chose this life out of

hundreds of possible careers he could’ve gotten. Out of curiosity, I asked what made him choose to become a pastor of the Korean Methodist Church. Mr. Kim is inspired by a tragic accident. “I was enjoying the motorcycle, somebody, riding a truck, was behind me and hit me, and I broke my legs”, he said. He was smiling while telling the story, but I felt very awkward as I listened. On he way to the hospital, in the ambulance, he prayed to God and have thanks that he is still alive. “I said, ‘God, I promise to live my life for You’ haha”. However, even be-fore that accident, he was already on the path to the kind of life he has now. He had a close friend, one of his favorite persons, who was a pastor, whom, in turn, inspired him to become a pastor as well.

Written by:

Alyssa

Donelle

Agutin

All photos taken by: Alyssa Agustin except below: taken by Park In-suk

FOR THE YOUTH

His church merely served as a physical manifestation of how he

shifts his focus to caring for the youth.

Firstly, he designates areas in his church exclusively for young

church members. He provides rooms especially for children. The Korean Methodist Church is like an open home for every church member. The church has six floors and found in the second floor is a room large enough to hold at least 15 people and still provide lying space. Scattered on the floor are countless toys and kiddie magazines; they are found all over the place but didn't seem out of place, for even the walls and windows resem-ble a kiddie playroom. Here, he allows children to play as the adult church members gather at the top floor for meetings.

The top floor, according to the pastor, is a special room exclusively

for the teenagers. A drum set is found at the left corner of the room, along with large speakers and other acoustic instruments, placed cleverly against foam-paneled walls to enhance the reverberation of the music. You may not place your shoe anywhere beyond the door of this room, and when asked why, “It is like a bed. You will not put your shoe on your bed so that it is clean. This room is also like a bed, so that the teens can roll around, do whatever they want, and remain clean”, he said in awkward English.

And just when I thought I’ve already seen the entire child-loving

side of Mr. Kim, I found myself staring at a set of drums in front of the altar, which according to him, is occasionally played by teens during mass.

Secondly, Mr. Kim Nak Kyeong has several displays of his projects

for his church members, where most of them are for children.

On the first landing, I saw a bunch of leaf-shaped papers glued

onto the wall that took the shape of an autumn tree. Written on these pa-pers are the letters that children in his Church have made, letter that show gratitude to God. When I asked about what they were for, he answered, with pride as he gracefully points out the entire tree, “I let children,, uhh, write to God. It is their message to God, and I paste them all here, in this ‘Thanks Tree’, for everybody to see.”

But what’s more different about him is that he encourages youth

to try to put themselves in the shoes of God, enact His kindness and think in His goodness by having them write “Letters FROM God” and displaying them on the wall. During certain sessions, children are made to choose a “personal space” within the church and imagine God talking to them (not imagine them as God, of course) and write down everything they think God will say to them.

He and his Church members have also found a way to instill initia-

tive among the young members, by having a specific date where they would think of a donation, whether it be a material or service, which they may offer whole-heartedly – and this is on their birthdays. Also pasted on a wall, right next to the main church, is a cartolina decorated with an orange heart sketched n oil pastel. The Names are neatly written on the cartolina and next to them are the birthdays of the owner of the name. I wonder what I would do if I has do donate something each year, I might think it is too much to ask, but it seems that the church members think otherwise.

FOR THE OUTSIDE COMMUNITY

At first impression, you may think, since he is the pastor of

“Korean” Methodist Church, that his job is concerned of only the Koreans in their church community. However, Mr. Kim has a wide scope of responsibilities, and I knew this simply by looking at his small, simple, yet emotionally loud clippings on the walls of his church. His responsibilities extend beyond his church, simply put, he is a pastor of non- Methodists as well.

I was surprised when he showed me a framed flier of their

trip to Tacloban, him and his feeding ministry. It was clipped onto a cork board and showed a photo of Tacloban victims of the recent storm Yolanda.

“They were very good kids, very happy and optimistic,” he said, “I pity them. The feeding ministry holds programs for victims of calamities. The other photo is, uhh, other kids, also Yolanda victims, but it Leyte”, he added, as he sanguinely pointed the other clipped photos.

If you’ve met a pastor who has built public establishments

all named for his church, then you’ve met the rare. I am lucky. When I found out that he, along with his church members, have built differ-ent kinds of businesses all over P. Burgos, I realized that I was talking to a clever, business-oriented man. It was clever such that a percent-age of all earning in each establishment goes to the church and church donations. Pay a visit to P. Burgos Makati, and you will see that almost the entire street is swarming with Korean establish-ments, many of which are clothes shops and boutiques, effective businesses that draw attention from the fashion-lovers and their lov-ers. I came to realize that the Php 300 I spent earlier for this sleeve-

FOR THE NON-BELIEVERS AND EVERYONE ELSE

Mr. Kim Nak Kyeong is also a pastor for non-

believers.

One thing I dislike about some people is that when they believe in something, they’ll stick to it and won’t give others a chance, as if everything but what they think is wrong. How happy I was when pope Francis came along and introduced to people the sense of sensitivity and acceptance. He was the one who justified that one’s being an atheist doesn’t exclude him from the “good peo-ple”. He was the one to rebuke criticism against the gays.

However, how happier I was when I found al-

most the same attitude in the very person I was interview-ing. Talking about other religion is one of the most sensi-tive topics to discuss, especially with a religious person such as a pastor. However, taming my curiosity was never a capability of mine, so I ended up asking about such matter anyway. His answers amazed me.

Think of it as a consultation session, and I was there, asking him about the conundrums of religion. He pointed out certain

differences, such as them thinking that Mother Mary is a mere human, a non-religious icon which must not be worshipped. I felt a lump on my throat, but I managed to let out a giggle and smile, “Oh, so it’s almost the same?” I said. Almost.

But only then did I realize what binds Christians together (I never really considered that we share almost the same context

with other religions.) when he said “Pizza, or spaghetti, it’s okay. It’s the same, they’re both good.”

Being a spiritual counselor as well, Mr. Kim has already encountered several people who are struggling about religion. “I

pour them with my opinion ‘follow me. Only what I said,, follow me’ hahaha!”. In the end, however, he allows the person to make his/her own choice of belief. “Okay it’s up to you. It’s up to you, haha!”

Soon, the awkwardness I felt, the wall between being a catholic and a Methodist faded. I sensed the sensitivity in his tone, almost

too gentle for our delicate topic. His openness to other religion is obvious; however, when it comes to having a different God, he be-comes strict. “Pizza, or spaghetti, it’s okay. But ,spaghetti or drug? Not allowed. He said with a serious face, brows almost meeting each other, and lips firm like an angry father, “Any kind okay, as long as it is good for your body. If it is harmful, not allowed.”

His sensitivity is enforced by the fact that he endures each day the environment of P. Burgos, a wild, almost inhumane envi-

ronment where you could see prostitutes etc.

“There is a priest, near this church, and once, I saw him crying, haha. He says he prays for their souls, the women on the streets.” He said. He also mentioned how women would sometimes attempt to lure him into the bars, not knowing that he is a pas-tor. If not, men would offer him randomly, “Sir? Viagra, Sir?” and he would be answered by a funny “How about drugs sir?” as he refuse. It was a laugh.

When I entered his church for he first time, I expected to share with him a really awkward conversation, considering that it

was my close encounter of both an adult Korean and a pastor, considering that he knew more of the world than me, considering that there might be a chance that he forcefully introduces me to his religion which I knew nothing about to defend my religion. Consider-ing that he is Korean and i am not. But all this was gone before I even stepped out the door after the interview. There are only a few things that I learned from him within that little spare time he had for me, but Mr. Kim Nak Kyeong is more than a pastor-preacher.

Photo taken by Park In-Suk

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All photos taken by: Hyemin Choi

- Hyemin Choi

P-Burgos Street, a long

curving extension connected to

Makati Avenue in a dome shape, is

the most activated mainstream of

Poblacion Makati. It ensemble the

look of a centipede, because of

the lean alleys stretching out-

ward from the thick road of P-

Burgos like that of the centi-

pede’s several legs where local

residents thrived at. Within its

vicinity are St. Paul Makati High

School and its chapel, four dif-

ferent 24-hours open convenient

stores, local bakeries, several

Korean groceries and restaurants,

local hair salons, internet café

and most popularly the adult en-

tertainment facilities like bars,

clubs, hotels, adult massage

shops and love shops.

The wide range of services that the

street is equipped with created far

contrasting view in the

morning and the evening. One un-

changing condition of this paved

road is that there are always peo-

ple, whether few or many, young or

old, poor or not, who had their own

destinations within the road and

outside the busy street, searching

for a place to belong.

The day and night of P-Burgos

is always buzzing with people of

different ages and social classes.

In the early morning, a loud cry of

a cock starts the day of the

local district. Few people disturb

themselves to quietly begin their

jobs. Insular bakery lying on the

main street spread the delicious

scent of Pan De Sal,

while the neighboring fruit stores

unmask a huge piece of cloth over

their citruses to cover up the

stinking smell of decomposed food

wastes, urine marks and feces of

dogs and cats randomly scattered.

Two to three people wait in the si-

lent desolated road, waiting for the

boisterous visitation of Jeepney

heading to the Guadalupe station.

Before five ‘o clock reach-

es, yellow buses from different pri-

vate schools create a bothering howl

of decades old engine emitting gray

dusts and smokes to alarm their un-

welcomed presence near the houses of

the students ready to go to schools.

When all the vehicles move away from

their stations, taho vendor gallops

in and out of the local streets to

sell the hot fresh tofu meat. Few

tricycles composed a screeching set

of melody against the soft and the

loud sounds of the street. Such com-

motions are the ordinaries of P-

Burgos district and its residents.

However, foreigners like

myself, unless housed in the local

district, may neither understand

nor relate to the sound that they

are not part of. However, it was

surprising to find two Korean cou-

ples going through the various

people and the busy district,

emerging from opposite directions.

They seemed to be the pastors and

the trainee-pastor’s families

heading to the church for the

morning mass. After a while, they

finally met in front of the en-

trance door then greeted each oth-

er in their own language, which I

did not know what exactly from the

distance.

However, I was sure that

their faces contained the warmth

of connection and belongingness.

They were no strangers as of that

moment in that place.

As the sun falls, the

street starts to brighten as if

awaited for the darkness. The

bars, clubs and hotels that once

were quiet like dead, worn-out

like pail star that lost shine,

revive. Different clubs and bars

emit neon light signs surprising-

ly alive and vibrant as if the

spirit of the city is awaken up

from its long deep sleep. An ab-

solutely different air of maturi-

ty and wildness wind the entire

district that is cleared of inno-

cent people.

Personally owned cars

start to crowd the unevenly

cracked pavement. Haggard-looking

ladies from a big refrigerator-

looking car mask themselves with

glitters and lipsticks that can

only be beautiful and normal in

the darkness harmonized with the

glamorous background of the en-

trance gates of their respective

working venues. The long empty

pavement, decorated with yester-

day’s leftovers of cigarette

butts and balls of tissues, are

soon bustled by several visitors.

The heat of the place is at its

highest peak on weekends.

Sadly, in the climax of

the Saturday evenings of the

street contains loud club music

and the unwelcomed invitations to

the different entertainment

sites, which target the foreign-

ers including the Korean Chris-

tians who gather from their homes

to worship. Even during one time

when I walked with my older

brother near the church, he was

invited to several girls guarding

their gates of mundane pleasures.

He felt bothered about it. Then

how much bothering would that be

for the church members who are

the constant targets of the

hosts?

Despite all these, the feeling of

security and the fruit of worship-

ping the church provided, still

served as the shelter and the ref-

uge for them to secure their

Christian identity together in

that one community from those cir-

cumstances. This was how the Kore-

an Methodist Church of Manila lo-

cated in the busiest, the noisiest

and the most spiritually abandoned

street provide a space to turn to

when there are no places to be-

long.

The Korean Methodist

church, located in the middle of

such a busy street, in between

the two strip and pole dancing

clubs, stands in an oddly harmo-

nized way with the neighboring

local Methodist church. The ce-

mented blocks of the church with

six big arch-shaped windows re-

sembled the look of an old yet

firm Roman pilar building, with

absolutely no decorations except

a huge thin metal crucifix occu-

pying the entire left wall of the

building’s front with a signal

board saying “The Korean Method-

ist Church” both in Korean and

English writings right above the

entrance doors.

Both at the right and the

left of its entrance is a huge

glass board that each covers

square tarpaulins in light green

and sky blue, where a head-sized

Korean letters bid “Welcome” to

the passengers. It was as if the

church is promising openness and

welcoming heart to receive anyone

who are interested to enter, and

indeed it did. The wooden metal-

lic door is often unlocked since

the trainee-pastor (who learns

and prepares the pastor-hood) is

working and guarding the church

everyday but Mondays. There was

one instance that I randomly

asked if I could visit the place

for some meditation and observa-

tion inside the church, and not

surprisingly, the trainee-pastor

allowed me to come in with a

smile on his round face. I was

welcomed.

Every year, the church

organizes special events and ac-

tivities to invite people who do

not have a place to develop the

Christian faith together with the

community that will help out in

the journey of their life of

faith. One of the events they

have is firstly a youth evening

concert. I once attended their

free concert around six in the

evening, where the teenagers like

myself acted, sang, and danced

not only to entertain, but also

deliver who God is to their young

audience who may have thought

that all churches were such a

boring place to spend their gold-

en Sundays.

In some special occasions

when they have church members who

would want to offer their talents

in different field of works, they

hold a seminar or a workshop on

Saturdays for anyone who would

want to learn a specialty. Hold-

ing such activities where even

the non-believers can approach

with a comfort could provide a

good start of keeping in touch

with different people, so that

they may be triggered to be part

of the community.

It is not only during

special occasions that they wel-

come the strangers to their com-

munity of belongingness, but also

during the ordinary times. The

Korean Methodist church is always

ready to receive new people. They

have organized groups within the

system depending on the age

range,

so that the first comer can

easily adjust by the help of

the people of their ages. The

church has a little organiza-

tion responsible for guiding

newly adjusting members of the

church.

They are mostly com-

posed of old members who are

known for kindness and beauti-

ful smiles. They introduce to

the different facilities, tra-

ditions and systems of the

church and how to be a part of

them.

The church also has a mini

cafeteria that opens every

Sunday after the mass in the

second floor. Its white rough

tiles support the colorless

plastic chairs and tables,

which is connected to an inte-

rior room with greased wooden

floor and some matching wooden

tables. The kitchen at the

right of the room from its en-

trance view is quite tiny to

suit only about three people

inside,

but it is still highly func-

tional to serve a good taste

of coffee extracted from an

espresso machine. This tiny

place in the second floor pro-

vides a nice venue for amenity

of the church members. Rather

than looking for another place

to stay and have a little talk

with friends, they find their

own places in the small chair-

less Korean-style cafeteria.

It was their creative and sys-

tematic preparedness that wel-

comed people in the community

to their circle of family-

ship.

A noteworthy character-

istic about The Korean Method-

ist church is that I could

feel how much the members care

about the utilities in every

part of the church. In the

middle of the stair connecting

2nd floor and the 3rd floor

was where the envelopes for

the offerings, church an-

nouncements, posters, and

“joo-bo” (a printed material

prepared every

Sunday to guide the worship-

pers with the sequence of

the mass and to be given to

others who are interested in

visiting the church) updated

every week proved the care

that the members exerted

through materials.

The members’ effort

to maintain the cleanliness

extends the worshipping room

in the third floor. A pair

of old bronze-colored wooden

doors is secured by an elec-

tronic locker.

Four digits are spelled with

a beeping sound, and they

welcome with a dark wide

room. Peaceful.

One click of a button at

the left of the door lights up

the 72 tiny bulbs at the ceiling.

In front of the door, 27 long

furnished wooden benches are ar-

ranged in a symmetric way to form

a 1-foot center aisle. At the

sides are the colored glasses in

a cross shape that fits the six

windows, which some of them are

hidden under the gray-white blin-

ders. The floor is firmly founded

by the elegant square pieces of

tiles that match with the wooden

benches. Straight along the cen-

ter aisle, the front floor where

the altars and the presiding

chairs are put was elevated a bit

from the ground. The altar made

out of glass is beautified by the

presence of the colorful flowers.

At its back was the giant cruci-

fix, where an actual person may

be able to hang, shining its sil-

ver-metal aura together with the

glittering stones of tiles. At

left corner of the elevated

stage, a Red-gold Christmas tree

brightly awaited for the 25th of

December.

All the instruments used

for the church band were all in

the front line between the altar

and the first row of benches. They

created a spaceless look, but all

were balanced and harmonious. On a

green cloth tarpaulin was a huge

printing of the theme message of

the church from Hebrews Chapter 10

Verse 22 of the holy bible. There

was one wide screen at the altar

and a wide TV screen hung at the

wall opposite to the altar, so

that the preacher could be aware

of the presentations shown on the

main screen. Projector, CCTV, Am-

plifiers, main speakers, four ac-

ridness and five electric fans

were the electronic devices that

made the worship place a more

homely venue to pray and sing. All

these utilities were the evidences

of how the church members are

careful in handling the gadgets in

the holy place.

One more staircase to walk

will lead to a small-scaled activ-

ity room. This place is where the

youth members of the church usual-

ly worship, bond and play. The

shoes keepers at the left side

alarmed that one should take off

the shoes before entering the

room. It was an absolute Korean

style of activity hall. The wooden

floor, firmly supporting my tired

feet gave the most comfortable re-

lief like at home. A set of drum,

keyboard, mixer, speaker and a

screen were organized for the

youth masses. A bulletin board at

the left wall was decorated by the

youths of the members with color-

ful pieces of papers, vivid photos

and markers, which showed how uni-

fied and participative the people

are in anything done in the place.

This was how the people from the

Korean Methodist Church form a

uniquely strong bond of Korean’s

familial relationship through

their engagement and active par-

ticipation in serving the church

in different ways.

Many city people, including the Korean people migrated to the Philippines,

search for a source of comfort and entertainment either far away from the town or

within the mundane city streets where people drink, dance, play, gamble and watch

to deviate from the busy urban life, which does an instant satisfaction to the busy

and non-enjoyable life styles. However, regardless of nationality or religion, what ex-

hausted city people look forward to was a zone of comfort, where they can be cared,

accepted and belong. With this, the haven is actually in the nearest place, just in be-

tween the most unexpected ordinaries of the city, to provide the true bliss of be-

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