The beauty about travelling is to be able to see the place you visit either with a local or to me the next best thing to do is to join a tour group where they will take you round to the places of interest. I guess nothing beats going with a local. On my 2nd trip to Manila, July 2011, I get to know a local who is a Marano Muslim, Nadjarah who was willing to take me n friends to the Muslim area Quiapo (Ki a po). We took the Jeepney for 8 pesos each, shopped for souveniers there, visited their mosques in the area and had dinner at a muslim restaurant called Jurairah.We spent like 3 and a half hours together and realized that we had many common words that we use. Counting from one to ten... sa, dua,..,ampat, lima, anam, tujo, , , saploh. Not sure if that is Tagalog or dialect the Maranos used. The word mahal,,is expensive, the same in my language. Also mata, muka, bibir, payung and basah. There were more words but can't remember now. The Marano's cooking are also very similar to ours, 'ikan masak lemak kuning', 'rendang hati', ;daging singgang' and 'tandoori chicken... Nadjarah has a cousin who is a Al-Hafidz working at a University in my country and her dream for her eldest son who is only 5 years old is for him to be a Al-Hafidz. What noble plans and as I mentioned in my earlier blog that was my failure to plan a noble future for my children. Insyallah with her duas her son might become one. My prayer for her and son too. A very sweet young lady with a vision....
It brings me back to my first visit to Manila in 2008. In the conference I attended, there was an Indonesian lady, Besty that I got to know and by the second day we were breaking fast/dinner together with the food we brought. Where we were staying, it was so difficult to get halal food. This is one of the downside about travelling where muslims are a minority. Like Nadjarah she is a good muslim and she too sent her only son to a religious school. She also taught me how easy it is to do good on earth especially when the opportunity is laid out for you by Allah. Sometimes the opportunity never comes. It is not just by chance that these things happen in our lives.
However this time around, the group I work with was very accomodating and they prepared halal (non-meat) food for us. Besides the Fillipinos, there were also the Koreans, the Australian and the English guy who now live and work in Australia. We all meet in Manila on accomplishing a project. More good people in my life..
In my travels, at the end of the day it is not just the beauty of the place, the creations of Allah that will remind us of his Greatness but the people we meet along the way were sent to us for a reason... though most are forgotten but some remained etched in our lives forever .......
It brings me back to my first visit to Manila in 2008. In the conference I attended, there was an Indonesian lady, Besty that I got to know and by the second day we were breaking fast/dinner together with the food we brought. Where we were staying, it was so difficult to get halal food. This is one of the downside about travelling where muslims are a minority. Like Nadjarah she is a good muslim and she too sent her only son to a religious school. She also taught me how easy it is to do good on earth especially when the opportunity is laid out for you by Allah. Sometimes the opportunity never comes. It is not just by chance that these things happen in our lives.
However this time around, the group I work with was very accomodating and they prepared halal (non-meat) food for us. Besides the Fillipinos, there were also the Koreans, the Australian and the English guy who now live and work in Australia. We all meet in Manila on accomplishing a project. More good people in my life..
In my travels, at the end of the day it is not just the beauty of the place, the creations of Allah that will remind us of his Greatness but the people we meet along the way were sent to us for a reason... though most are forgotten but some remained etched in our lives forever .......
Travels in Asia
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