from Mystic Diversions

One of my favorite days of the week is Saturday morning when I usually cross over Edsa to flag a bus on the way home to our quaint town to spend the weekend. It takes me about 4 minutes to walk from my dormitory to the pedestrian overpass, sometimes more if there are a lot of pedestrians or beggars sleeping on the pavement. I usually carry with me a small bag of dirty laundry and whatever pasalubong I can bring home to my mom and sister - chocolate chip cookies, Japanese crackers, apricot scrub.. Then I brave sun, wind, stink, and smoke while I wait for a bus in a stop I designated for myself. Sometimes I stand there for a long time with nothing but my luggage, my wristwatch, and my umbrella to keep me company. Batches of passengers would come and go easily around me, while the candy vendor at the corner wataches me suspiciously, and maybe pitifully. Sometimes the bus will come into view, only to overtake another bus (bound for somehwere else) which has come to stop in front of me. Then I wait for another 20 minutes for the next bus headed my way. That's the grueling part. But inevitably, my bus comes to take me home. En route to North Edsa, I zone out to Mystic Diversion's Beneath Another Sky, or Gwen Stefani's Luxurious. My favorite part of the trip comes after 30 more minutes of Manila traffic, when the bus exits to the expressway. This is when the countryside flashes gaily as I sit comfortably in my seat beside the window, taking picture after picture of the lunchtime sky.