Get Lost...and Try Finding Home

The criterion: We will ask no one about how to get to SM. We have to do it on our own.


Escape was in our hands that time. All we needed to do was wait for the organizers outside the dormitory to leave the place so that we can also get out of where we were hiding. They're gone for good and we started making our way out of the vicinity of the dormitory. We explored the corridors, expecting that we will find the right passage to the gate of the university. It took us some time to find it but at least we were able to do it without asking anyone.

We then found ourselves outside, waiting for a taxi to come our way. Imagine how confusion heated up when we did not know the exact location on where to hail for a ride. We might not be entertained by drivers or worse, be reprimanded because of our ignorance. Fortunately, a taxi came and brought us to SM, which we considered the base in looking for a nearby hotel. We paid our fare which amounted to a shocking 70 pesos for only the two of us and then decided to start asking people around, using the Tagalog language. Mas mahirap kasi mag-Hiligaynon lalo na kapag di ka comportable sa dayalekt.

We asked quite a lot of guards and commoners, some of which did not even know what we were talking about. Were we that strange? Anyway, we finally found one. But it was not an easy find, if that was what you thought. We made several walks, turns, curves, stops, queries, and hesitations before finding what we were supposed to find - a hotel.

We have to go home, we decided. It was nearing twilight and relinquishing the venue because of boredom wasn't so justifiable. Unfortunately, the taxi drivers were very choosy that time because they said that the traffic is heavy near La Salle. We came up to no choice but hail a mini-jeep. Guess how much we paid for the fare? Only one big Rizal and two small ones. That was where we realized how deceived we were. Imagine the difference of 58 pesos.

Anyway, it was fun. All the way, Ate Marga and I were laughing about how clever we were in finding a good room for the rest of our folks in the middle of a strange land filled with martians and busy thoroughfares.

That trek was well kept in my hippocampus, thanks to Maria "Mary" Margarita "Marga" Narvasa. Makadto ta sa Bacolod kag mawala na man. Nami man gali noh? :)