Friday, March 25, 2005
Thank God we got out of the house for the better part of the day. My aunt and uncle from California are here for a visit and my mom and dad it would be good to take them around the city to relieve them of their boredom. The plan to get out of the house was met with derisions at first. My brother was arguing that an earlier announcement about these plans would have been nice. Our sister sided with him and refused to get off the couch pouting her lips while watching episodes of Meteor Garden on DVD. I have no problem with the announcement. Although I still have lots of strips to work on, going out of the house with two relatives would be good. My brother finally relents and agrees to drive us.
Our first stop was the old water filtering place in Quezon City. The place dates back to the early forties or maybe earlier and while there are still some remnants from that period scattered here and there the whole place was really non-descript. Meanwhile our parents and relatives reminisce on the time when they used to go and swim in this place when they were kids. We ate some of the Japanese sweet corn my brother bought from the vendors lining up in front of Ateneo University. After finishing our snack we went around UP for a short tour before heading out to Baywalk in Manila but not before stopping to eat our lunch at NorthPark along Macapagal Avenue. Lots of families in that place with grandfathers and grandmothers in tow. Now the lot of us not being Roman Catholics and all, we had no problem ordering meat laden dishes. We stayed there for a good hour or so trying to cram everything we ordered down the hatch. Afterwards my dad suggested we go out for coffee somewhere, we agreed with the suggestion but not after making a couple more stops to my brother's new office and around what's reputedly going to be the biggest mall in the whole of Asia. Then we went straight to Baywalk and watched some fishermen diligently cast their line on the not-exactly-clean, Manila Bay. While the others wondered how they could think of catching any fish in that area, my aunt, mom and dad talked about my dad's condition and his need to discipline himself so as not to have any repeat episodes of his stroke. I was sitted on the breakwater watching these different sized insect-like creatures slide in and out of the rocks when I caught a glimpse of the fishes jumping out of the water in the distance. So these fishes can survive in these parts. After that we drove off to the nearest Starbucks to continue our conversations and talk about other mundane things. Chinese-filipino families comprised the majority of the place, thankful that there are open establishments today. I'm thinking that those others left in the metro will making a mad dash to the malls tomorrow to relieve their boredom. I just hope it won't be too crowded.
Our first stop was the old water filtering place in Quezon City. The place dates back to the early forties or maybe earlier and while there are still some remnants from that period scattered here and there the whole place was really non-descript. Meanwhile our parents and relatives reminisce on the time when they used to go and swim in this place when they were kids. We ate some of the Japanese sweet corn my brother bought from the vendors lining up in front of Ateneo University. After finishing our snack we went around UP for a short tour before heading out to Baywalk in Manila but not before stopping to eat our lunch at NorthPark along Macapagal Avenue. Lots of families in that place with grandfathers and grandmothers in tow. Now the lot of us not being Roman Catholics and all, we had no problem ordering meat laden dishes. We stayed there for a good hour or so trying to cram everything we ordered down the hatch. Afterwards my dad suggested we go out for coffee somewhere, we agreed with the suggestion but not after making a couple more stops to my brother's new office and around what's reputedly going to be the biggest mall in the whole of Asia. Then we went straight to Baywalk and watched some fishermen diligently cast their line on the not-exactly-clean, Manila Bay. While the others wondered how they could think of catching any fish in that area, my aunt, mom and dad talked about my dad's condition and his need to discipline himself so as not to have any repeat episodes of his stroke. I was sitted on the breakwater watching these different sized insect-like creatures slide in and out of the rocks when I caught a glimpse of the fishes jumping out of the water in the distance. So these fishes can survive in these parts. After that we drove off to the nearest Starbucks to continue our conversations and talk about other mundane things. Chinese-filipino families comprised the majority of the place, thankful that there are open establishments today. I'm thinking that those others left in the metro will making a mad dash to the malls tomorrow to relieve their boredom. I just hope it won't be too crowded.
@ 5:28 PM ---> 
