Until Next Time, My Darling Manila!

“I choose not the suffocating anesthetic of the suburbs but the violent jolt of the capital. That is my choice.” - Virginia Woolf (played by Nicole Kidman), The Hours.

Listening to: Cold Heart by Elton John and Dua Lipa (PNAU Remix)

In TikTok, I saw a clip that described the concept of a "Thrive City." The search in Google is totally different; you don't need to do that because I've already done that for you. But a Thrive City is a concept wherein if you move to a particular city, you're going to become successful there, live your best life, learn of the lessons life can give... Basically, be the best person you can be and contribute and serve others in the city in which you like.

I think mine is either Bangkok or Manila City. Focusing on Manila, out of all the cities in this Metropolitan, I think for me it has the perfect mix of expensive and cheap. Being raised poor, I learned the value of cheap items and a bargain. I do not think I can thrive in, say, Makati where the imbalance is palpable. The balance for me lies in Manila City. Should I want anything cheap, I can just about find anything in Binondo, Divisoria, or Quiapo. Robinsons Manila and Ermita/Malate can usually satisfy my taste for expensive things. 

In a few hours, I'll be going back to Small Town, where things are irritatingly and begrudgingly slower. It does have its lessons one can treasure. But every lesson it can share, I believe Manila can give better. Everything is better here. 

More importantly, even though I do not know them or may never talk to them, the simple fact that there are queers living their full lives here strengthens me. Small Town will take decades before it will even reach what Manila has reached a decade ago. But I'm also a believer in hibernation and slowness. And to that, Small Town possesses in abundance. 

In just a course of a week, I have made multiple drafts, read a book, learned many of the current events happening in the country and abroad, and even got offered three job opportunities! And to be in the vicinity of likeminded people makes everything feel better. 

Just the other night, I went out at 9:30 PM. I found a cafe congested with students. There were law books and medicine books piled so high that I could not see their readers's faces. There were young people pointing lessons in the air, silently mouthing concepts I'm pretty sure will come up for today's recitation in class. And the Spanish Lattes and Cappuccinos they ordered had long become dregs with melted ice. I heard a student suddenly say, “Ay 10 pa lang pala?!” In Small Town, most of us would have been ready to sleep at 7PM.

I'm amazed too, over the fact that I'm writing this. In Small Town, it would have taken me weeks to even conceive of writing a draft. Everything is just pouring out of me now. 

I dearly hope that this new energy Manila has given me will sustain me. I hope it won’t be too overly long before I come back here again. But life is long. A lot could happen.

Thank you for reading.

P.S.

And to all my friends I wasn’t able to meet. I’m still in survival mode money. I hope to come here with a little bit more money to hang wahahahaha