Tag Archives: UP

Missing this

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UP Sunken Garden. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Rode our bikes again today but this time we went straight to UP and we stopped for a bit at the academic oval to listen to the birds whistling, chirping, calling to each other. People are still not allowed here but we bikers could, only for a bit, when we pass by School of Economics and College of Educ and turn right at Asian Center to go to the old Shopping Center and then to the old tennis court.

It was so eerie and yet beautiful. The absence of humans is unnerving but mesmerizing.

After a sip of water from our bottles, my daughter and I went straight to buy our veggies at the old tennis court. Because we are running low on veggies. I can’t seem to stock up on a lot of it that would last us a week because I have a small refrigerator. And since I was able to fix the clogged tubes in my fridge, it is now perfectly working and really cold, hence, I no longer have an excuse to buy me the Hitachi or Panasonic fridge. So I must shop frequently for veggies.

I have another bag of veggies at my pannier rack at the back. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Hmm I wonder if I can fit a tent, sleeping bag, and pannier for food and camping stove on my pannier rack 🤔 Then cooking utensils in my bag at the handlebars. 🤔🤔🤔 Minimal clothes and toiletries on my backpack.

The question is, can I bike to my camping destination? 😂

Back again

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National Science Complex. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I was writing this piece that has been in writing purgatory for weeks… and glanced at the watch above my speaker that said it was already 4:00 pm but I still haven’t had lunch.

Then daughter asked if we could go biking. I glanced at my flabby tummy and as much as I want to lie down and rest my exploding head, I acquiesced that I needed the exercise.

By past 5 pm we were already on our saddles. We first cycled our way through almost all the streets in our village. By 6 pm-ish (I think), we biked our way into UP through one of the side gates and went to the National Science Complex.

Taking a water break. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I missed this place. There’s still this twitch inside my gut, somewhere deep down, as this place holds bittersweet memories. But I’m better now, I think. For now. When we stopped by the benches, I took in the view and I felt… I don’t know, probably a mix of nostalgia and wistfulness. There’s a perfect word that embodies those feelings but it escapes me now.

I’ve come to love this place since it’s secluded and peaceful. And it’s where we found our kitties.

Free to run. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

There was also a family there with little kids with their bikes but that was it. We had the place to ourselves. I laid on one of the concrete benches there and stared at the sky that was already turning orange grey. I listened to the chirping birds flitting from one branch to another. Then the cicadas took over, signalling to us that we should be heading back home.

We had a good exercise; we got home at 7 pm. ✅ calories burned ✅ fresh air ✅ a way to get out of the house without having to be near another human being.

We’re going back there on weekend and we may bring snacks and we’ll see if we can lay down on the grass or the benches and stare up at the clear sky.

Plod along

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Sunken Garden viewed from School of Economics. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I biked the other day from the house to UP and around UP then came back home. I wanted to stay here longer to listen to music while I catch my breath. But no, UP Police is guarding the entire academic oval, making sure people don’t linger. The UP admin’s reason for closing the oval was that COVID-19 cases are rising so they’re getting people off the campus for two weeks.

Photo by Callmecreation.com

They still kept College of Science closed. Well, understandable since the Philippine Genome Center is there.

This is the first time I’ve been here without him. Well, as my friend said, there will be a lot of firsts like this in the coming days…until I stop noticing.

A colleague told me to have a completely new hobby. “Time and energy are best spent on yourself and your girls and not something unworthy.”

He is unworthy. Better spend the effort of harboring this anger into something more productive.

Because I can

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UP Lagoon. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I rode my very old purple, single speed Japanese-style bike to buy vegetables in UP this afternoon. Because I can.

Now I’m sore, not as much as when I played football for a whole day 22 years ago. Bought fruit shake from that fruit and vegetable shop, like we used to do. Now I’m creating memories of my own. Because I can.

I offer thee

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Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Pahinungod (Cebuano) {pa-hi-nu-ngud}– dedication (n), offering (n), dedicate (v)

When I was a college freshman, I joined the UP Pahinungod, the volunteer arm of the university. During the summer break I was sent on a mission to Mindoro Oriental to teach English and History to incoming fourth year high school students in a sort of bridge program to prepare them for the UP College Admission Test. My time and experience there was a rude awakening, prompting me to write a scathing article about the sorry state of education in this country, especially in the rural areas.

In high school (also under UP) I was already an activist. I didn’t take things sitting down; I had to fight for what I believed was right and just. I was always pushing the envelope. I used theater and writing as instruments for my activism.

I knew at some point I would end up teaching or writing or both. Which I did in 2013 until 2014. It was my payback to the university that employed my family and that gave me free education.

I’ve stayed in this country because I wanted to use my pen to change things for the better when I could just have packed my bags and sought a better future elsewhere. Messiah syndrome. But aren’t all journalists like that? I had been dedicating my life to this cause and it brought me joy and grief.

I wonder if this love is worth fighting for. This love of country that has been tested over and over the last five years. I was almost giving up.

Because you can only fight so much.

Now that I don’t have anything, except my children (plus I am already emotionally bankrupt), I’m thinking of throwing myself at it again, one last time. I’m going to use my pen and voice (podcast?) again to fight. I don’t have anything to lose now.

And if I end up giving up, because loving this country is madness, I would have to pack my bags and lick my wounds somewhere. Heal.

Carve another road.

ODE TO THE OLD BEACH HOUSE

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Old Beach House location, UP Diliman

If there is one fond memory I have of my graduate student days in UP Diliman (yupielbi girl forever here), it’s this: eating outside the small canteen called Beach House adjacent to the UP Diliman Main Library. Brought my classmate (whose undergraduate school was Letran, hence, her ignorance of the place) here to eat after our Anthropology class (something that I regretted taking because it was just an utter waste of time). Two barbeque sticks, veggies, rice and soup for less than PHP 200. After that I usually went to the library to do my thesis (when I finally buckled down to work on it after leaving it to stew underneath my aspirations to become the best business reporter my newspaper had–but failed on that front, i guess). Or sometimes pretended to do my thesis. I have slept with my head on the table among the musty copies of theses that I painfully had to read. Then I would go out here again at the Beach House, by that time it would have already been closed for the day, to sit and ponder my future.

I haven’t been to this spot for a long time. Probably time to visit.