I might have already mentioned before that a Korean mart (Sing Sing Mart 싱싱마트) lies on the ground floor of the condominium I’m living in (Cityland Pioneer). That’s one of the major reasons why I love staying in Manila.

After school, I immediately rushed to the Korean mart to buy a couple of Shin Ramen 신라면 cups and my ever-favorite addictive MyChew 마이쮸.

I remember asking my Korean classmate back in high school how to get copies of Korean newspapers as I’ll be having the need to practice my Korean comprehension skills. He told me that they just get it free from the Korean mart. I barely believed. I mean, being used to the Filipino culture, anything free is almost a miracle.

So just to make sure, I asked the storekeeper in the Korean mart if they had Korean newspapers. The storekeeper gave me a bulky copy of the ManilaSeoul 마닐라서울. So that I would not have to sacrifice my dignity, I asked how much it costs. Asking if it is free is too risky. The Korean storekeeper, having some difficulty speaking English, just shook her head and said, “No. No.”  I couldn’t help but smile. Finally, I get to have some learning resources for free. ^_^

It’s just amazing how they would provide these for free. Being a writer of my high school paper, I learned that it takes effort to be able to produce a newspaper. And those behind ManilaSeoul don’t even get anything in return, as far as I know. Maybe they’re funded by some sponsor, but still, the fact that they’re providing this for free really amazes me. They even offer online e-books so that people could view each page of the newspaper online.

I just wish we had this kind of service in the Philippines. It would be really amazing if at least one quality newspaper brand here in the Philippines would be circulated for free. Besides, everyone has the right to information.