Part Diz

There’s no better analogy the way Mike has aptly put it - if New York city is a fun guy to be with, San Francisco is a beautiful lady. And my what a beautiful lady, San Francisco turned to be.

The last leg of my journey before I head back home.

Although I was still booked in an airport hotel, the trip this time to downtown was much faster and convenient. Save for a pathetic name – The BART ( Bay Area Rapid Transit) proved to be an efficient ride.

I was not set to meet my two batchmates in the area until the next day so I spent the early part of the evening roaming around the Fisherman’s wharf. The Cable car ride was not to be missed. I really enjoyed the ride since the streets in the area were very steep. I passed by the Ghirardelli square- VJ told me that the chocolates there were heavenly – so I bought several bars for the folks back home.

The following morning I left my stuff first at the stock room after checking out. I roamed once again the streets surrounding the Fisherman’s wharf. This time I walked from the train station to the wharf and casually took photos along the way. Had a glimpse of Alcatraz and a quick tour of the city on a double deck bus.

At 5 pm my Pisay batchmates Jand and Pat came by to pick me up at the hotel. We went to a nearby village and had a sumptuous treat of Japanese food.

Jand was the most religious guy I’ve met during my freshman year- always praying intently before and after his meals. He moved to the US after high school. I always thought he would make a brilliant priest. The next time I saw him (which was in college when he bunked in with my roommate Daj, another batchmate), Jand was casually flipping the pages of Penthouse.

Pat still had the devil-may-care attitude when it comes to expressing herself. The only vivid thing I remember about her was a Pinoy group practice held in Biology room. We were groupmates for a radio play of Arriverderci, during our sophomore year; she pushed the wrong button of the cassette player and shouted “Ay p*keng malaki”. I used to be shocked back then.

We were never really close in High school –each one had his own clique- but somehow having been exposed to the stress of the science high school environment we realized we had a lot in common. We had a bond that cannot be denied.

Our topics, ranging from the cerebral to down right kababawan, revolved on the very thing that bound us - our 4-year stay in Pisay.

I found it amusing how a single line from an obscure play – “Them’s not spiders dearie, them’s people, little people, hexed people” - can quite suddenly zoom us back in time. We talked as if we haven’t aged a bit. The conversation was very fruitful that Jand even got a thesis topic from the discussion – “why girls always fall for bad guys”

And then before we knew it was time for me to go.

On the way to the airport, Jand and Pat tempted with the idea of making a crazy move – stay there as “TNT”. Well I can’t say I did not consider the thought….

But then again I said to myself there’s always a proper time for everything.

Maybe next time around, I would stay there for good.

But right now, my heart lies where my home is.