I would do this every weekend:
- Get on a bus (or any mode of transportation).
- Spend the day somewhere I don’t usually go to, doing something fun, and preferably with good company.
Last Saturday was one of the days I got to do that, and I enjoyed it immensely. We didn’t have any plans that went beyond the date and the place — August 15, Saturday; UPLB (University of the Philippines, Los Baños). And guess what, it was all we needed.
So we had a little bit of difficulty finding out how to get there. For me, the easiest option was to take a bus from Alabang. But I found out that the buses that you could take from the terminal in Alabang were all non-airconditioned. Normally there’s nothing wrong with that, but if the trip would take at least two hours, I think it doesn’t make me hoity toity if I say that I would rather take an airconditioned bus. I was told that I could take a bus that passes Edsa, but to be safe, we decided to take the bus from the official bus terminal at Taft Ave. We had to ask around to find out exactly where the buses were, that went to Los Baños, but as soon as we found it, it was pretty easy.
We took a Green Star bus that was going to Sta. Cruz. We paid Php99.00 each, and then we got off in front of Olivares Plaza. We took a jeepney with a label “UP College” from there. We got off just before the college’s entrance, but didn’t go in yet, because first, we needed to buy some cake.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: MerNel’s Chocolate Cake is the best choclate cake in the world. And yes, the main reason I wanted to go to Los Baños was to get to eat that cake. We just walked to where it was, it’s pretty near the campus, and after buying one, and having my friend’s name written on it, we went and bought more food from the establishments that were just outside the campus–Bugong Roasted Chicken and some drinks and chips from the Mini Stop convenient store. And after we were all set with our supplies, we went off in search of the park where we would be having our “picnic”*.
*And I put “picnic” in quotation marks because we didn’t exactly have picnic food with us.
None of us were familiar with the campus grounds. We didn’t go there for college, and weren’t close to anyone who did. We had been walking for quite some time when we decided to ask a random passerby directions. He was nice enough to give us correct ones, and pretty soon, we were placing our mat, yes, we actually brought a mat, under a pretty large tree. We sat down, played some music via my cellphone, and started eating.
That’s pretty much all there was to it. We didn’t go anywhere else inside the campus, nor around the town. But actually, just sitting there, we were already able to see a lot. Oh sure, nothing really dramatic happened; there were no fights that broke out or people making big scenes, but it was interesting to see what people did on a Saturday afternoon.
A lot of people were there walking their dogs. Some were playing games like tug-of-war. Some were jogging. And there were some people (mostly couples) who were out for a walk. We saw one man who sat underneath the same tree, on the other side, and he was sketching. It was such a great break from the usual boring malls with blaring music and big crowds. I mean, I love living in the city, but I really wouldn’t mind having a place like that to retreat to whenever things got too busy. And best of all, staying there was free. I mean, we only had to pay for transportation and the food. And that was great.
I really wish I could spend more days like that. Just hanging out with friends, feeling a cool breeze, chatting about non-important fun stuff, watching a nice view, listening to happy music… If only I had all the time and money in the world…
