If there was a place I’d call heaven — it would be Baguio City.
I have never been in a place such as therapeutic as Baguio City. Every corner is much more than beautiful has ever been defined.
The cold breeze hitting every leaf of every pine tree in sight, the sharp turns every now and then, the so called “walking distance”, and the joy in not being able to grab a taxi shapes the whole trip into paradise.
As much as I had enjoyed the City itself, I can’t help but bring up one significant person in the image — Kuya Karl.
Never have I been more hooked up onto someone to the point that I never wanna leave their side even if it means home. Cause somehow maybe I found home in the warmth of his drive.
“Drive?”
Kuya Karl may just have been a mere tour driver to anyone in my family, but the two days worth of his driving and guide had lead me to a euphoria I never want to leave.
Have you ever seen stars in someone’s eyes and never being able to unsee it?
Cause I have.
May 1st. The day I first saw you. In a black Nike windbreaker with its matching bottoms perfectly reflecting your form, eyes with stars and obvious tiredness deep within, and pure dedication to your studies and diskarte.
You yourself may have already had me hooked up, but with your desire in becoming a Pilot shook and woke something deep inside me I never knew existed.
Your amazing charisma and future profession alone may have been enough to have me wrapped around your thumb, but little did I know one single drop of your kindness and purity would have me wrapped, hooked, and glued to your whole arm.
A funny view of me being pale as the van’s exterior, seeing heavens, and almost puking around your van probably riled you up and thought of me as crazy and disgusting, but funny change of events — you actually helped me get over my motion sickness.
Rushing to buy me biogesic and a couple of cellophane probably was just your act of kindness, but it woke something in me I never knew existed.
You see, after that one single drop of kindness you’ve done for me might’ve had me hooked up on your fingers, but your calmness and professionalism added much more to that.
If you were to accidentally crash into a jeepney whilst backing near the cliff, would you panic?
He didn’t.
Boom. A sound of the van hitting something from behind riling everyone in the van.
“Ano yun?” My father hysterically asked — tossing and turning to every window of the van, looking for the answer to his question.
“Nabangga po ata natin yung jeep sa likod..” You sounded worried. But calm.
I looked at him through the mirror upfront, trying to read your face — worried he might be scared and ashamed.
However, lo and behold he wasn’t either of the two.
Dedication, focus, and professionalism mixed up in his eyes — enough to make me scream on the inside.
How is he not fighting with his worry and anxiety?
As a victim of intensive anxiety, I can tell you the shock and impress I felt that time was ineffable.
After being able to successfully do a U-turn, he eventually went out of the vehicle to check the damages between the two cars.
I was shackled in my seat, getting eaten by the words of worry in my mind. “Bro what if the owner of the jeepney is around? What if he has a gun? What if he gets violent?”
Hah! He snuck five-thousand-pesos on an envelope and put it near the damage, enough for the owner to see. What the fuck.
Call me matapobre or what, but that five-thousand-pesos was probably his monthly allowance given by his parents.
