Because we are citizens of the United States it behooved my wife and I to get an "alien identification" card (or I-card) from the Bureau of Immigration. This piece of document would make life easier for us in getting settled here in the Philippines. With that we can transact business with the local banks, buy a car, and rent/buy a house without much hassle.
Since we are still carless, we went to the BOI via public transportation which was quite an experience in and of itself. Especially since it's been ages since either of us have done this. Walking along Ayala Blvd brought back memories. For me because the college I went to back in the 60's, Adamson University, was not far from here. Actually it was along this road that I used to wait for the bus to take me home to Pasig. In Cynthia's case, it was also memories of her college days - she went to St. Theresa's - that made her feel a little nostalgic. Imagine that, 1965-66, I was at Adamson and she was at St.Theresa's which was just across the street, and we never met. Maybe we did, but fate has not yet intervened in our lives then.
Except for the computer server which was down for about 2 hours, our experience at BOI in getting the I-card was not as exasperating as we thought it would be.
Still clueless as to how get a ride back home, I suggested that we take a long walk to Quiapo. Cynthia gasped at the idea, believing that going through downtown Manila at noon borders on outright insanity. It would be like strolling down memory lane, I told her appeasingly.
We crossed Jones Bridge (thankfully the shortest span across the Pasig River) and turned right on Escolta. We were shocked and saddened to see that the once shopping center of the elite has now become a filthy collection of so-so stores and offices. The Philippine National Bank building is now boarded up and badly deteriorating. I cannot even recognize the GenBank building where I used to work back in 1976.
We deftly evaded rushing traffic as we crossed Plaza Sta. Cruz and proceeded to what was once Echague St. (I think it is now Peralta? Paredes?). I had planned to take Cynthia to one of the fabulous Chinese restaurants there where the fried rice is unrivalled in taste. Alas, those were gone, too. Since we were already starving, we decided to have lunch at Chow King. Cynthia had a Grilled Bangus combo meal (it comes with free iced tea and halo-halo) while I had a Quarter-chicken meal. When my order finally came, I realized why it was called "quarter" chicken - the size of the meat was as big as an American quarter dollar coin! At least the halo-halo (which we shared, by the way) pretty much made up for what substance our lunch lacked.
As we approached the Quiapo bridge, I told my wife that I wanted to buy one of those trinkets that that place is famous for. In particular, I wanted a "pangil" (meaning "fang" -of what animal I don't know and quite franky, don't really want to know) necklace. The first store we went to quoted us 125 pesos, and yes, we can have it for only 100 pesos. Cynthia and I looked at each other and we both silently agreed that that piece of bone was not worth shelling out a little more than $2 worth of Philippine money. A few feet away we saw another store that sells the same kind of native stuff. When asked, the vendor (vendress?) said the necklace was 25 pesos. Cynthia haggled and got the thing for 20 pesos (about 44 cents).
It was here at Quiapo that we finally got a bus ride back home to Sta. Mesa. We got home exhausted and sweating. As we rested our weary feet, we reminisced of the times when Escolta and Sta. Cruz and Quiapo were the places our parents took us to shop and see movies and eat at restaurants. We can no longer bring back those times but it was an interesting experience to once again walk and remember the past.
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