baguio blues

there's so much to say about my Baguio sojourn over the weekend, yet somehow, i feel like none of it really matters anymore. it was my first time there, and as cliche as it may sound, i can honestly say i had the time of my life, but for entirely different reasons than what i had intended in the first place.

the decision to go up there was one of those split-second things. i hardly thought about it, but certain events last saturday made me want to pack up and leave to experience something new, get away from the familiar. i never planned on doing anything stupid, but i suppose i WAS stupid enough to think that physically leaving one place would make me forget about all the other things occupying my mind. but hey, if i was entirely being clearheaded i wouldn't have boarded that bus at 1am at all.

the four-hour trip was surprisingly - and mercifully - hassle-free. besides, i had gavin de graw, toad the wet sprocket, elton john and of course, john mayer to keep me company. (thank god i had just enough time to jump off the bus to buy batteries for the discman and then jump back on just as the bus was pulling out of the station). i don't think i slept at all during the whole ride. i probably did though, but i can't remember.

at about a few minutes past 5am, i was in baguio; cold, alone, but exhilarated at the thought of exploring a city that i knew nothing about. (apart from the fact that it was known for its pine trees, strawberries, ukay-ukay all the recent news about meningococcemia outbreaks, that is). i bought a bottle of mineral water, sat on one of the cold plastic chairs inside the bus station and thought things through: i was miles away from everyone who knew me and everything that meant anything in my life. but i was hardly perturbed. on the contrary, all i could think about was how liberating it was to be sitting there where nobody knew you, where you could be anyone to anybody. it was a good feeling...

to be contnued...