Philippines: A Country to Remember (2)

May 18, 2012

I stared at two slices of cucumber in my plate. I wished it was Cah Kangkung or Capcay. I was craving for vegetables in my second day in Philippines. Since the day before, fried chicken had been my choice for lunch and dinner. That morning, Beef Tapa became my breakfast in Fersal. It tastes like semur here in Indonesia, only it’s sweeter.

That day, Annisa and I had a plan to go to Intramuros. I went there in my previous trip, but Annisa was never been there. We took LRT to Central. Lucky for us, the train was not crowded. We even took pictures in the train, ignored people staring at us.

This trip by train was a bit sentimental for me. I never thought that six months after my first visit, I would have been there again. From Central, we took a pedicab to Fort Santiago as it’s the icon of Intramuros. We took photos almost every inch in Fort Santiago, typical tourist.

 

And oh, we went to Rizal Museum, too. In my first visit, it was closed for a reason I forgot. Now I had a chance to go inside the museum. One thing attracted me most was Jose Rizal’s poems written on the wall. His poems were beautiful! He called Philippines ‘her’ and I could feel his love for his nation. I could sense that he was a romantic person too.

Our next destination was Rizal Park. Well, I’ve just realized that Jose Rizal is everywhere in Philippines. Go to Kultura and you’d find Jose Rizal on a mug, pin, bag, you name it. He was the national hero and had Philippines’ heart. Anyway, it was very hot when we arrived in Rizal Park. There were some interesting places there, such us National Museum, National Library, Japanese Garden, and Chinese Garden but we were to tired to walk there. Sweated, we sat under the trees instead.

Rizal Park is also known as Luneta Park. It has fountains in the center of the park. It’s better to go there in the morning when the air is fresh and the sunshine won’t hurt your skin.

 "I'm not moving. I'm not moviiiing.."

I looked at my watch. Time to have lunch! I almost threw a tantrum and changed myself into Hungry Hulk before I saw Wendy’s in the distance. Heaven!

Suddenly I forgot about vegetables I was longing for.

We rode the same LRT to go back to Araneta Cubao Station. Everything was fine until I lost my ticket. Annisa was outside while I groggily looked for my ticket. I couldn’t go out without the ticket! I was afraid I’d be arrested. Hopeless, I asked the security guard.

“Excuse me. I’m Indonesian and I lost my ticket.”

That was my actual words. I’m sorry for letting you down, Indonesia.

The security guard showed me a booth where I should pay the fine. Fine! No problem, as long as I could join Annisa outside.

It felt good to be back at hotel. That night, I read One More Day by Mitch Albom. Chloe gave it to Annisa. That night, I knew Mitch Albom for the first time. I couldn’t stop reading the book. Mitch Albom is one of few writers who can make me want to turn to page 3 when I’m still in page 1. That night, I officially became his fan.