It was with optimism that I woke up on Friday morning, the 20th of April. The aggravations I suffered the previous day(see Chronicle No. 18) had been buried in my subconscious and were the subjects of unremembered dreams during the night.
Throughout the whole morning, I was cheerful and smiled a lot to my relatives. I was also excited since it had been eight months since I left Cebu,and I was eager to see my friends again whom I last saw during the BAR exams(It was actually the malls and the vastness of the city that I missed. Friends, were a secondary reason).
I decided that I would check my account again after lunch in Divisoria and then buy boat and plane tickets from the nearby agencies. " Surely, the money should already be in my account this afternoon. It's been four days" I confidently told my relatives who nodded their heads in agreement.
When I arrived in Divisoria, my afternoon took a sudden turn from The Amazing Race to 24.
The following takes place between 2pm and 8 pm on the day of the Cebu Exodus:
I got down the jeepney in front of the regional branch of my bank and lined up at the ATM machine. The money was still not credited to my account but I was in a good mood. I calmly sent an SMS to my mom informing her of the situation. To refresh myself, I went to Goldilock's, ate some chocolate chip cookies and eavesdropped on the conversations coming from other tables. Thirty minutes later, I made another balance inquiry.
The money was still not there.
Blood rushed to my head and then violently flowed throughout my body. My eyes throbbed and laser beams shot out of my eyes and hit a row of cars parked along the street. Shrapnel, shards of glass and metal objects flew in every direction. People were in panic and there was a mad scramble to get out of my way. My hands began to pulsate with power and as I raised them to the air, a wave of kinetic energy radiated from them and caused the buildings nearby to disintegrate and go up in flames. After my fury ebbed, I stood alone in the midst of ashes, burnt out metal structures, severed body parts and unidentifiable debris.
That didn't actually happen. All I did was send an SMS to my mom expressing my dismay. After a few minutes, she called me and instructed me to go to Limketkai Mall to meet my aunt there who was going to lend me money. I then took a jeepney and stared at the buildings and cars that the jeepney passed by.
Limketkai Mall has been recently renovated. It used to be an open-air mall and when it rained, the shoppers would scurry from one boutique to another. Now, it has been enclosed and fully airconditioned. It had also been renovated in such a way that the Big R building, owned by whoever owns the Robinson's chain of malls, could be accessed through a series of corridors from the main building. It was a wise decision because what used to be occupied by air and nesting birds has now been usurped by boutiques, shops and stalls. The skating rink had also been converted to a large auditorium, which has lately been graced by Sharon Cuneta, Apo Hiking Society, The Lettermen and other foreign and local acts. The end result of the investment of millions of pesos is a sprawling mall complex.
I entered the mall through the entrance beside Plaza Fair and traversed half of the mall to the Big R building. I was suddenly possessed by an obsessive urge to check my account again. When I reached the ATM of my bank, I had to catch my breath because of the very long walk to get there.
I was again disappointed. To dispel my anxiety, I ambled past the Barbie and Disney novelty stores.
The Disney store is the modern day equivalent of the prehistoric tar pit for parents who raised their children on Disney movies. Life-size stuffed toys would lure the children into the store with their parents who would be chasing after them. The brats would point to dolls, toys, slippers or t-shirts and demand that their adamant parents buy them one or all of the items. Tantrums, copious tears and rolling on the floor would ensue and the embarrassed parents would to go to the smiling cashier.
It was around 3:30 pm that I received an SMS informing me that my aunt and my cousins were at the entrance beside Mercury drugstore. I hastily went in that direction and saw them milling about outside the drugstore. My aunt handed me her card and the two of us headed to her bank's ATM. I quickly entered her PIN and the amount I needed to borrow, thanked her profusely and briskly walked to Rosario Arcade, the entertainment center of the mall, and took a jeepney to Gaisano Mall.
The only ticketing outlets for boats in Ketkai is for Cebu Ferries. The guard informed me that there were no ships bound for Cebu that day and suggested that I go to Gaisano because there are many ticketing outlets there.
The Gaisano stores are made up of two buildings. The older building is called Gaisano City, a department store, and the newer building is called Gaisano Mall. The two buildings are connected through a three-level overpass.
The ticketing outlets are actually in Gaisano City. To get there, I entered the ground floor of Gaisano Mall, went out at the exit at the other side, crossed the street and entered the ground floor of Gaisano City.
To my great relief, the ticketing outlets for shipping lines and airlines were in small cubicles arranged in a row. it was around 4:45 pm that I finished booking a bunk in the Tourist Accomodation on Trans Asia for that night's voyage at 8 pm and a seat on Cebu Pacific in its flight from Manila to Cebu on April 28.
As luck would have it, Butch was in Gaisano Mall . I told him to meet me at Chowking because I was planning to have an early dinner so that when I get back to the house, I would just have to put finishing touches on my luggage. Butch entered the restaurant at around 5:05 pm and I was already digging into my Lumpia Shanghai Lauriat. I just gave him some money as my treat for my passing the BAR and let him order whatever he wanted to eat. It was the shortest meal we ever had together. Within thirty minutes of hurried conversation, I had a quick update on who was sleeping with whom.
It was around 6:30 pm that I got back to the house. It took almost an hour for my ride back from the mall because of the rush hour traffic. My aunt and my cousins, who were earlier at Limketkai Mall were lounging in the living room. They helped me load my things unto the Pajero, which was offered by my cousin for my use, and some of them accompanied me to the pier.
When the boat was sailing away from the city at 8 pm, I was already ensconced in my bunk and sending SMS's to my friends, telling them that I wont be taking them to dinner because of shortage of funds. (to be continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment