(mis)Adventures to the Big World
Motel Rooms, Street Markets and a Church
Anna and Mike work on different hours. A few months after the couple got their jobs, they finally found a way to make their relationship work, amidst their conflicting schedule.
There isn’t really much to do on a Saturday night – on a late Saturday night. Boozed-out individuals refused to leave the almost-empty bar. Insomniacs and groups of boys and girls with hormonal imbalance, flock the nearby coffee shop, not really to drink coffee but to make use of the free wi-fi service or to take a few more drag of nicotine before they all finally decide to call it a night.
For Anna and Mike, bars and coffee shops serve the same purpose – A meeting place where they can let time pass while they go over their mental list of motels to spend the night. Manila, you have to love this place. There’s always a place to go, a bar to get a cold beer any time of the day and of course, an empty motel room to check in.
Anna never liked going to motels. It’s her prejudices that make her avoid going to these windowless rooms. She never really have to anyway. She has a place of her own, until a few months ago when she moved back home. Spending the night with Mike is the only way to make up for those 5 days that they don’t see each other. It’s the only way to be with him longer. A lunch or a movie date just isn’t enough to fill the empty times without mike.
Soon she learned that motel rooms aren’t made only for the sole purpose of releasing human heat. Love making isn’t the only thing people do in these rooms. Some need a quiet place to think, while others actually sleep the night away. A few more trips and her prejudices will soon be gone. She stopped flinching to the thought of going into another motel after their 3rd trip.
She thinks of it now as an adventure. Prowling the dark streets for a vacant room is like treasure hunting, only you don’t look for a case of gold coins or a box of jewels, but an empty bed. When they’re lucky, sometimes, they even get a promo price.
On one particular weekend, Anna and Mike met up at their usual coffee shop and went to their usual motel in manila. This night, though, is different. They agreed not to do the usual thing they do. They stuffed their bags with food and headed to that already familiar sanctuary. They talked, joked with each other, watched cable TV and slept. To Anna, it felt like the old days, when Mike goes to her apartment and spend the night with a bag loaded with food. It was nice, surreal even, to think about their old days.
The following morning, they both decided to go to Divisoria, a place for cheap, bootleg things. They shopped around, enduring the discomfort of the place to save a few pesos. Since both aren’t familiar with the area, they found themselves lost on their way home. One turn on the wrong street was all it took. They walked the street of Binondo in mid-afternoon and braved the heat of the sun.
A few more steps and they were at the entrance of Basilica Minor de San Lorenzo Ruiz. They lighted some candles and whispered their prayers in front of a vast, amazing altar. It was here that Anna started reflecting on her relationship with Mike, fate and cosmic powers.
Anna may believe in fate and the works of her maker, but she doesn’t believe in cosmic power. Stars, energies and chakras, all these are unknown to her. While thinking about Mike and how she got together with him, their almost -over weekend and how they found the church, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, the stars are lined up right for Mike and her, that the cosmos are in conspiracy with the gods to direct their fate. Maybe Mike and her was bound to happen. They didn’t get lost after all. They were meant to find that church. For what end? Maybe another wave of cosmic energy will show them the reason and guide them again to the place where they’re supposed t0 be.
They stood up, genuflected and walked out of the empty church. Outside, while still figuring out a way home, an empty cab stopped in front of them. Finally, a rescue from the cosmos. ” Sa Gateway po manong” Mike said. Anna leaned on Mike’s shoulder and fell asleep. The last thing she saw was a peddler selling fake DVDs; The last thing she felt was Mike’s hand, holding hers.
Motel rooms, street markets and a church – something is amiss, but to Anna, the combination is just right.
