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On Makati


I have been probably trumpeting this ever since, but I really treasure the moments working for iWeb during my first few months after graduating from college. Sure, the people were spiffy and the work was... really something, but I just realized now that the pleasure brought by working at iWeb had a lot to do with the surrounding where the office was originally situated.

Although the city is relatively far from where I currently live, traveling from home to Makati and back is like a walk in a park, only the park is an hour-long ride inside crammed buses, and I'm not even going to mention the waiting period. 'Exhausting' is pretty much the word that sums it all up. However, I wouldn't want it any other way because, strangely enough, I enjoy this quaint suffering. In fact, I'll probably live in Makati despite its inherent shortcomings (traffic, people, pollution, etc.) given the chance just for a single reason. Just so you know, it has nothing to do with living in the center of professional activity in the Philipines, but more of the nothingness of it all.

I would like to believe that Makati is the country's version of New York. Tall buildings, hot nightspots, and bright lights aside, it is a place where lots of lemmings wear their finest looking clothes and slick appearances as they walk along the sidewalk in varying paces, but crowding it regadless.

I enjoy the fact that despite their honed looks, folks in Makati look dead. Everybody tries to impress with their appearances but ultimately ends up looking like everybody else. Cold and lifeless, I would say.

I have this perverted fascination for obscurity. (My motto during college: Excellence in obscurity.) I never was the one to stand out. During school, I like to take the backseat of the class. Well, perhaps I few seats away from the back because I don't want to sit near the jocks. From that vantage point, you get a clear view of what's happening around you. People sleeping. People writing down notes. People flirting with each other. Lifeless, I might add.

After class, I was the first one to escape. Like I was not even there.

Getting accepted at my part-time job in Makati, I was once again acquainted with the comely city after two years. A rush of emotions enveloped me, as there was a strange feeling during the time when I was estranged from Makati and the office moved to Ortigas. Back then, I felt an elusive emptiness that can never be pinpointed because there was nothing to point at in the first place. I only realized it now that the luster of working for iWeb somewhat wore off after the relocation period. The luster was Makati.

Now, I'm walking alone the crammed street filled with empty drones. The place is like a lifeless party in a jungle filled with busy animals listening to their music players, trapped in their own party. A lifeless one, at that.

I have never felt alive.

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