Here, There and Everywhere

Sometimes I have to pause for a second to assess where I am exactly. If not, I would really think that I am still in the Philippines!

Take this afternoon, for example. I was sitting at the bench at the bus stop, waiting for the next bus #9. Not more than 5 minutes later, the guy sitting next to me started talking to someone on his phone, “Ay wala na, paalis na ako,” he said.

Who would have thought that he is Pinoy?

When I met Ate at the tiangge in front of East Point Mall, around three other customers we bumped into were Pinoys. Two were absorbed in a conversation; one was talking to herself out loud.

Last weekend inside the supermarket, two ladies were blocking our way with their big shopping cart. They were chatting in Filipino. We excused ourselves and went passed them. I murmured, “makikiraan po.” I wonder if they heard me.

Yesterday while inside the bus, I could hear this lady sitting three to four rows in front of me talking on the phone in Cebuano then in Filipino. All the while I thought she was speaking Malay and the few bits I am overhearing, those that I understand where some overlapping words we have. As it turned out, they are the Cebuano words I do understand.

In Lucky Plaza, everyone is Pinoy! OK, I’m exaggerating. But when you’re in there, you somehow feel like you were just taking a stroll around Shoppesville Arcade in Greenhills.

Looks like Pinoys are all around.

By heavens, we are dominating this land!