After spending around two weeks in Manila where the weather was nice and warm and there were people to cater to you since you are visitors, I am in my hometown, Baguio City. It's a small city located around five hours north of Manila. You drive through the highway and then as you approach the city, you swerve through endless roads that wrap around the mountains for more than an hour until you start to see the city lights. To be honest, I'm not as excited to be back here. It's just the same as it was the last time I was here. Barely anything has changed except for more buildings being constructed in areas where you thought it was already impossible to build one anyway. As usual, there are more people than ever, with the inclusion of a lot more Korean students staying here temporarily to learn English for a few months. Then there are the new road rules, which are a pain to know. The only big shopping mall, SM Baguio City, is always crowded from opening to closing time. But, it's the only place to go so there is no choice but to go there.
Being back here, you get that nostalgic feeling and reminisce on those years that you spent living here. Back then, you think to yourself, "Was it this bad before? Why didn't I see it?" The lifestyle of living here is so draining and even depressing. It's surprising to oneself that you could have lived here for so long. But I guess the reason why was because I was busy studying then. But now that I'm here to just visit my old classmates, it seems such a bother to be back here where you are greeted in the face by a big black smog of smoke from the back of big buses or cars driving past you or the pungent smell of mold inside your house.
At this very moment, I have climb up endless stairs to my grandparents residences where there is a hotel located right next to it, and fortunately supplying free wi-fi access. This is where I have to be in order to gain access to the web, sit on the cold marble floor as close to the doorway as possible so that the wi-fi is reachable.
My boyfriend, Maxwell, is currenlty in Laos on a volunteer abroad program. Out of all the applicants at his university who signed up for it, only 18 people were selected, including Maxwell. I'm really proud of him. However, the small city where is right now does not or has very limited internet access. Basically, I will be without contact with him for two weeks when he goes back to Korea. I was, initially, very sad and depressed to know this since we have been chatting every day ever since we left Seattle. But now, I'm slowly coming to terms with it. The great thing is that it heightens my excitement and anticipation of when he gets back to Korea and tells me all about his travel and experience in Laos. Before going to Laos, he had a stopover in Bangkok and had ample time to go downtown and tour there. I'm so jealous! In the future if time and money allows, I would like to go Bangkok with him. It would be a great experience!
Being in the same kind of country with similar climate and topography, I guess me and him are more or less in the same kind of bubble. Infrastructure is lacking or is just too poor. People flock only to big names such as Starbucks where they want to look like they're in the scene. The only shopping mall here has become the hub of all of the northern part of Luzon. It's crazy and stressful and not to mention hazardous to my health, but I have no choice but to put up with it until I go back to Manila which is in around ten days' time. Wish me luck!
