katipunan

I had nothing to do the whole day. I didn’t want to stay indoors. It wasn’t exactly the best time to be cooped up especially after getting the unfortunate news of non-acceptance in my hospital of choice. So after the midday rain I ventured to my old college grounds in Katipunan.

I started walking at the corner of Rosa Alvero. During my last two years in college I had stayed in an apartment building on the same street. I used to satisfy my sweet tooth with Twix and Coke from the convenience store, had mudpies at DQ and coffee at Mister Donut – all of which have now been replaced by different shops. The McDonald’s at the corner was undergoing renovations and was a very sorry sight to behold. The take out van was deserted and only a young couple was inside the small area for dine-in customers.

I walked past Starbucks, still empty at that time, and went straight to National Bookstore. I had spent many afternoons at that NBS branch but I don’t remember it ever looking as festive as it did today. The Christmas trees were up and the lights gave out an orange glow that warmed my insides. It almost made me feel happy.

Next door the Subway where I used to have a bag of Doritos and Tuna on wheat bread was now replaced by Greenwich. Walking further along I noted that Seattle’s Best Coffee now stood where Burger King used to be. I used to have endless refills of grape juice with my breakfast at BK.

Seven years is a long time. I remember late nights sitting by the fire escape in my old apartment. I could see Katipunan from there. I was a terrible insomniac and would stay up the whole night watching as cars drove by. On weekends I could watch kids play soccer over at Ateneo.

I expected a lot of changes in the area but I had not expected an almost entirely different landscape. The shops are different. The restaurants are different. I didn’t even notice what was standing over the spot where the 24 hour Goodah used to be. At two in the morning I used to swap stories with my sister over a hot bowl there.

A whole strip of shops had been torn down. The Filbar’s where I used to buy comic books and Ken Afford with its orange walls were also gone.

I would’ve continued walking straight on to UP (following my usual route back in college) if the sky didn’t show signs of rain again. With my nostalgic trip cut short I took a cab instead and went straight to a bookshop in UP Village. I'll just have to take a rain check.