MEGAMALL REDUX

I'm sitting here in Megamall food court. It's been a long time since I've been here and the first few things that come to mind are all the obvious changes, the way things have been redecorated. No longer the white Formica tables, now they're with a steel motiff with faux walling. The same people though: middle class types, students, office drones, and the erstwhile poor guy who made a little enough to take the kids to Megamall for dinner. The skating rink is still there with it's Zamboni ice shaver, the plastic walls yellowed with age, scarred by the multitude of strikes from newbie skaters. Jollibee is still there, in what seems to be the last hold over from the nineties in this place that was erected when I was just in college. It was very nice then, now it's just filled with people--a real "mega" mall.

I'm just sitting here after walking around for nearly three hours it seems, looking for Hahn. By sheer luck I found a place that sells Buck Knives, one of them looks really cool, and I might go back for it when I get my money. I promised myself I'll only keep 10% of what I get from NPC, give the rest to Alma with 10% kept for emergency purposes and about a thousand for the kids and the retrieval of the cellphone.

I've been feeling nostalgic about this place for the longer I'm here, all I can think of is how this place used to be the hang-out of the Miriam guys, and guess who texted me while I was going around...Arnold Caranay. I mean, how weird is that? The other guy who hung out with me a lot here in Megamall long ago. Kulang na lang makita ko si Daddy Noah, kumpleto na. If anything, Mega still had that sane appeal...beautiful things floating amidst the muck.

One of these days I have to definitely come back here and reminisce with the guys. More so now that the place has once again gone under renovation. One of these days, if I don't take my family here to tell them of my history when I hung out in this place when I was younger. It will be too different to show what was. Not that Megamall is going anywhere. - 0811.12