Summer/Tag-ulan: Manila on my mind (Boracay too!)

Alas, my Manila days are counted. I have one more month to savor homecooked goodness, hanging out with friends, watching Pinoy TV and beach dates with chris...

I write this in the rainiest day I've seen thus far, at least in the 2 and a half months I've been here. We were supposed to go to Tagaytay today, to see Taal Volcano up close, among other adventures. But we can't even leave the house with the flooding around our area. Have you seen Taal up close? We've been so accustomed to the view from the ridge, the majestic volcano sitting atop a lake, the view peeking from the many roadside cafe's and fruit stands as we coast along to Batangas. On a trip with some foreign friends last July, we drove down from the ridge for a change to see Taal face to face. It left me speechless. It rose solidly from the still, eerie lake -- the once smallest volcano in the world becomes larger than your imagination. It seems harmless from the ridge, but here by the banks of the Taal Lake, it leaves you in awe and wonder, if not in fear.

On that same trip, we also took our friends to Intramuros. One of the stops was Fort Santiago, a place that belongs to the memory of my elementary school field trips. Honestly, the place reminded me of many a square in Europe, with the sprawling gardens leading to the moat, the wood carving of an ancient warlord crowning the old walls, the old bricks, and the dome of the Manila Cathedral peeking from the palm trees. It was beautiful. I never saw it this way in grade school; I always remembered it as so big and so far from home. Behind Rizal's cell is the bank of the Pasig River where you can see Manila's bridges, the Post Office, Manila City Hall... I know it's not perfect -- you can also see the squatters sitting beneath the bridges, the abandoned buildings -- but you can get a sense of Manila's rich and prestigious past. I walked back to the car with a sigh -- where has it all gone?

Another adventure in between my gamut of surprise summer projects was a trip to Binondo and Divisoria. My mom and I parked the car by the Binondo Church and walked through Chinatown's streets. My mom pointed out old cafes and classic Chinese restaurants of her youth. After a sumptuous authentic dimsum lunch at President's Tea House, we WALKED from Binondo to Divisoria through Quintin Paredes. The streets were peppered with shops teeming with clothes made in China and Thailand, fake bags, local sandals, fruit, flowers -- you name it. Oh what a gleeful shopping spree! On a dare, we took a pedicab back to Binondo and we ended up screaming in the carriage as the driver pedaled AGAINST the traffic of Recto.

To cap this vacance off is a wonderful trip to Beautiful Boracay. The wide wide beaches were an immensely pretty sight. And what them Bora regulars say about the powdery white sand is true! We went at a off-peak time, Habagat season, so the beaches were almost empty. We were very lucky with the weather as the locals reported that it has been raining incessantly before we arrived. Of course, how can we leave Boracay without a tan, a henna tatoo, losing an earring during snorkeling and the memory of the crashing waves and the beautiful polvoron sand on my mind...

My studies will end by summer of next year, with exams in January and my dissertation in April. I shall not be here for Christmas, so this was a precious opportunity to come home. It was great seeing and chatting with friends -- though I have not seen all of you yet! And I thoroughly enjoyed Pinoy Pop, which I've missed in the blue months I was in Brussels -- the FX songs, Wazzup, UAAP (Ateneo, Go and fight!), Pinoy slang (skongkreng!), showbiz cat fights, Ice Monster and Imelda. There's no place like home, indeed!