Easter – Where all the Eggs gone?

Back in Australia, I’m always well aware Easter is on the way when the colourful supermarket displays start cropping up. Easter Eggs! Melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey goodness of all types, brands, and flavours. Gooey caramel centres? Solid chocolate? Milk, white, dark, marble? It’s all there.

And who can forget delicious freshly-baked ‘Hot Cross Buns’? Piping hot from the oven, with butter melting on top. Oh, the calories!

This was my first Easter in Manila and to be honest I didn’t even know it was Easter until someone said they were on holiday for Holy Week. What?

Being a country with almost 80% of the population professing the Catholic faith, it’s not surprising the focus is on Jesus and his death and resurrection. There’s different ways people choose to approach this as well. There are places where people follow strict rituals, including being whipped and carrying heavy crosses down their local streets. In other places it means feasting, pageants and celebration.

Down in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), they had an artistic and interactive version of the stations of the cross, where people were able to read information about each stage of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, had the opportunity to carry their own wooden crosses along a footpath and back, listen to live Christian music, and have their own mini-pilgrimage down the length of High Street.

All in all the focus is on Jesus Christ and not the trimmings surrounding it, although they’re nice as well (kinda like Christmas and presents). They focus on the reason why there is a Holy Week for so many people worldwide.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the Jesus focus, but I still can’t help but feel like I missed out on something here. Maybe it would’ve been nice to have one little bunny to nibble the ears off – to get lost in the world of colourful foil wrappings, and post-calorie regret after reflecting and gaining the revelation that it is indeed finished.

Baby Showers – Is there such a thing in Manila?

Having your first baby is daunting. Having your first baby in a new country? Talk about upping the ante.

Outside of finding the right hospital and obstetrician, there are many little snippets of knowledge and experience we take for granted back home. It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing how things work here to what’s familiar, but the right attitude can keep the experience positive. It’s all part of the adventure and learning curve of being an expat right?

I was a little apprehensive about having a baby shower here, even though it was my first baby. At home, my friends would’ve sat me in the corner, and while I twiddled my thumbs, they’d sort it out. I had no idea how it worked here and when the question cropped up in the form of, “Are you having a baby shower?” the questions followed:

1. Did they even have baby showers?
2. Who organised it?
3. Who paid for it?
4. Who got invited?
5. Was it just an all female thing or did guys/husbands come too?
6. Do I have friends?
7. What’s with the blue and pink?

I’ve had a few discussions about it with different people here from various backgrounds and came up with the following answers (which is personal opinions, so forgive me if this is generalised or incorrect).

1. Do they have such a thing?
   • Baby Showers are more common in the middle to upper classes. I put this down to the fact that a large percentage of the population is struggling to make ends meet in the day to day.
2. Who organises it?
   • In my case, my church friends are organising it as a joint baby-shower with another girl due around the same time – and they have me sitting in a corner twiddling my thumbs. Love it!
3. Who pays?
   • This is a case by case basis where you can host a giant bash – wedding style with a buffet (because buffets are the thing here), or your friends enjoy the opportunity to host you.
4. Who’s invited?
   • Anyone and everyone really. It’s up to you. I kept mine within the group of church friends hosting it since I’m not doing anything other than showing up, and it is a joint one.
5. Do the guys join in?
   • This was up to the organisers. They didn’t mind either, but in my case since we’re all couples, the husbands will be there.
6. Friends? What friends?
   • This might sound funny, but hey…expat, new country, new culture, language barrier, adjustments and finding new social circles…I rest my case!
7. Pink anyone?
   • When baby shopping, I noticed pretty quick the blues for boys and pinks for girls here. I had a hard time finding neutrals that looked as nice or as a cute. Not to say I’m not loving the cuteness overload, but I’d love some options in cyan, mint green, yellow, orange or purple that didn’t look like someone’s afterthought (just incase there were weird people like me).