GREAT evening

TGIF. that must've been the parting thought as we wrapped up the go negosyo-pma 1st strategic marketing conference at AIM center. it was around 7pm, as two officemates and i were on our way out the building when lo and behold, i come across an old friend at the AIM center's lobby. 

it was a rather quick but packed chat with genteel. after all i haven't seen this high school friend in YEARS. isa sa mga highlight na lang, at gents pasensya na pero kakaiba talaga yung lebel ng pagka wala mo, ay hindi man lang niya alam na kinasal na si nina at yuklid. hahaha! that particular fact, just how utterly un-updated he was with HS friends, was just one of the things we laughed about. (considering i'm not one to regularly update myself on FB!!!) it was one of those short but sweet meetings, where you're suddenly filled with nostalgia and a grateful feeling that life is is truly filled with pleasant surprises.

as genteel had to rush out, we went separate ways. i walked out to benavidez st then left to paseo de roxas, planning to try my luck at a taxi queue in greenbelt (major challenge on a friday night!) my mind was still on a high on that fun chat i just had, when a girl was rejected by a taxi driver and closed the door on his face. quickly i waved at the driver and asked if he was willing to take me to power plant mall, to which he instantly agreed.

as i settled in the passenger's seat, i chatted the driver up and asked why he rejected the girl before me, and the reason was she needed to go somewhere in C5 which he said was a very dangerous place. checking to see if he was just some paranoid freak, i asked where exactly in C5, and he mentioned an unknown name. hmm. fair enough. 

we sat silent for a while as we cruised along paseo. i smiled looking at the christmas lights already installed on the islands, and my eyes immediately went wide seeing the revamped ayala triangle garden (is that what they call it?) syempre na-senti din naman ako kahit papaano as i used to walk paseo de roxas everyday...so i let the emotions sink in as the lights blurred by.

by the intersection of paseo and makati ave, i asked manong driver to turn on the radio so i could catch up on some news. that request prompted a lively kwetuhan between the driver and myself all the way from makati ave all the way to rockwell. it began with him answering that his radio wasn't working because it got flooded by ondoy. of course i had to ask "saan kayo gumagarahe?", to which he answered cainta. he first asked me where i lived. after finding out i wasn't affected by the typhoon, he went on to relay his amazing adventure on marcos highway: how he and a passenger got stuck on the road; how he called his boss to report that traffic wasn't moving and how his boss instructed him to leave the taxi there, tie it to a street light, and just go home to his family; how the water level reached as high as a highway overpass; how people were stranded on top of mall roofs; how he had to swim all the way masinag with students, office workers -- people of different social classes. 

He spoke of Filipinos' resiliency in times of crises (how some people managed to laugh amidst their long swim to masinag), of some positive outcome of the storm (he has a relative who was relocated in Laguna for a very good deal, being a resident of Tumana), of people being able to survive if they only had courage. We ended the chat when he dropped me off in Powerplant, him saying, "Ay ang kwentuhan natin...God bless!", and me, "Ingat po kayo!"

I arrived at Power Plant ahead of my friends, so I decided to walk around the mall. And though I didn't get to buy anything, I was satisfied by the sheer ability to have TIME to actually stroll around, spot some some possible christmas gifts, eye and feel some fabrics, and try on some shoes. By the end of 15 minutes I was able to list some items in my head to match my Excel matrix of christmas shopping list. :D

Dinner with friends was at Pepper Lunch. afterwards, in true pasyal style, we leisurely walked through the Baker's Fair and got a free taste of Ange's Frozen Brazo (my second one for the night!), did photo poses by the giant yellow christmas tree, and settled into a Starbucks. just chit chat, Lightning Tap, BlowFish, youtube, Toffee Nut Latte, honey glazed donut.

hay. TGIF indeed.

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*Photo by Edwin Martinez, spotted here