#RPintheRP: A Travelogue

Day 18: Divisoria!

My aunt and uncle from Bicol just arrived. I thought I was going to meet them in the morning but I was to find out later that they weren’t free until much later in the evening so I decided to make some last minute plans since I had the day free.

I had a quick breakfast at Rodic’s Maginhawa — this is, in my opinion, the Rodic’s that serves the best bang for your buck. It has the most meat, it’s relatively cheaper, and the ambience is just better. The one in UP Town Centre is expensive and the one in UP Shopping Centre does not have a lot of meat. This is perfect!

I hang out a bit at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. It’s so interesting that for six years I lived very close to this place and I’ve only been here exactly once. It’s such a regret that a park like this exists and I’ve never really explored it.

There were too many kids for my pleasure (Doumeki would later text me to tell me that it’s because it’s Teacher’s Day and kids don’t have school). Given that I had nothing to do, I decided to finally visit the place I’ve always wanted — Divisoria.

***

I have no idea why my friends kept telling me to take care or to watch my phone when I told them I was going to Divi. Like, I get it, it’s not the safest place, but I’m a Divi kid. As a student, I loved going to Divisoria to shop; it’s cheap, there’s a lot of choices. This is my place, y’all.

(With that said, this is the most bourgeois thing ever but I did take an Uber to Divi and took an Uber to get home.)

***

Metro Manila is such a diverse region. I’ve explored a lot over the past three weeks. When I was a student, my idea of “Metro Manila” was mostly limited to Quezon City, but now, I’ve seen quite a good deal:

From the suburban Quezon City, to the high-rises of Makati, to the dingy streets of Manila, the rich highways of Taguig, the bustle of Paranaque, the wide avenues of Pasay — I saw them all. I saw them all.

I saw poverty and I saw excess. I saw luxury and I saw grit. In every street corner, in almost every death-defying pedestrian crossing, above the stoplights and street cameras, through the congested highways and the sketchy alleys, I saw the various hues of Philippine life.

***

There really isn’t much to say about Divisoria — it’s Divisoria — I bought a few things and then headed to SM North to meet my uncle and aunt.

We had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant and then afterwards we took the MRT back. I was going to take a cab, however, like, come on, it’s the Philippines, I needed to experience what it’s like to take the MRT.

Granted, it’s not really rush hour (it was like 9pm on a Thursday), and, yes, granted that I was only going one station (North Ave to Quezon Ave), but, hey, I’m masa as fuck!

***

I ended up reconciling with Six at my place.

“I should be mad at you,” I told him when he arrived. “I should be upset. And I should not be speaking to you. But you’re so damn cute. Why can’t I resist you?”