...SoUNDs...

Im a sound(s) person. Sounds around me. Sounds all over the place. It's my own private hide-away. I do it everywhere, anytime and in anyway. I daydream with both my eyes closed or open. Like yesterday while I was waiting for Joel in the car by the parking lot of his office, I decided to turn off the radio and engine and just kinda sat back, relaxed and stared into nothingness. The great nothingness. Trees. Green lovely trees were on my line of sight. And the gardener was just waking up. And that's when I drifted into my sounds world. Have you ever heard a certain sound that reminded you of something? Any sound...about anything, anything at all. Here are my sounds...let's start with my fave (and Joel knows this). the sound of the rubber tires of a 10-wheeler truck rushing by on a wet ...that street"whoiiiissssshhhh" sound. In fact any sound of rubber wheels whooiiiishing by on wet ground. It reminds of the house we always stay in Magallanes in Makati. Everytime we go there we stay in the room facing the street. That sound brings me back to about 5 years ago, at dawn, about 5am and news had it that a typhoon was coming in. But I didnt wanna have any of that coz at 10am my friend Gwenie and I were to meet up at Shangrila Edsa and Megamall to do some shopping and of course eat at Wendy's (the Cebu branch closed). I remember hearing that exact whooiiiiishiing sound. Heavy trucks whooiiissshing by. That exact sound always...and always reminds me of Magallanes, me staring at the clock, thinking I dont care if there's a storm today, then me on taxi, Shangrila and Megamall. Shangrila. A real Shangrila to my eyes. Good thing I didnt bring my credit card during that trip.Whoooiiiishing wet sound. Reminds me of Shangrila Edsa. Cars whoiiiishing by the rain. A storm was coming nga eh. Bahala ka dyan storm. Im going shopping!
Motorcycle engine. Far away sound. Not the one outside our window. Yung far away...malayo. Fading. Reminds me of HOme. Ormoc. Lots of people commute by motorcycles there. That sound brings me back to one particular afternoon in college during a summer vacation. My parents were at work and I was alone sitting by the dining table having "budbud" (sticky rice rolled long and wrapped in banana leaves) with sugar and native chocolati !!! My chair faces the big sliding door and mommy always opens the curtains after lunch before she heads off back to the office to let the breeze in. Good for her coz her back faces that door. And I remember I used to get irked by it coz the sun would always...and always manage to seep thru the branches of the big trees and directly hit my eyes. Motorcycle engine. Reminds me of sunny afternoon, 3pm, dining table, budbud,chocolati, and squinting my eyes coz of the afternoon sun. I was wearing my Smurf shirt.
Jeepney. Still the one running from a distance. But not the one that's just starting its engine. The one that's just passing by and turotturot the sound of the engine. Reminds me of distant past. I was 7 years old. My mom and I have been coming to Cebu since I was very little. In fact my first trip to Cebu was when I was 3 years old. there was no such thing as uptown. Everything was happening DOWNTOWN!!! It was the 'in' thing. Mommy and I come to Cebu about every month, sometimes with the usual 'go see a good doctor for a check up' excuse, sometimes to look for school supplies, sometimes naman visit some friends. Used to be regulars at hotels around the city. Particularly Sahara Hotel. It was GRAAAAAnnnnd!!! Big lobby. Used to have an aquarium. Rode an elevator for the first time there. It used to be that old building on the left of University of Visayas (UV), downtown of course. (Rajah Hotel at fuente O. came much much later). Jeepney passing by reminds me of a trip. We usually arrive at 5am at the port of Cebu. Take a cab to Sahara Hotel, check in, freshen up, be down by 7am and look for an open restaurant for breakfast. And then daming jeepneys. Running from a distance. It reminds me of my old days in Cebu. Reminds me of how I thought, "Wow, Im here. Big city, ShoeMart to buy shoes, shoes and more shoes!!!"
Waves and birds chirping. Reminds me of syempre, beach. Waking up at a beach resort. woooopssssiiii! there goes the motorcycle engine. And for a split second I was back sitting sa dining table squinting my eyes coz of that irritating 3 oclock sun and with my budbud in front of me. Waves. Reminds me of Boracay. Waking up from a drunken evening. Feeling icky, yucky and swearing never in my life would I look at a Tequila bottle ever ever again! I swear. And I think I actually never did. Birds chirping, Boracay, 7am, nobody at the beach pa. Everybody drunk from last night. Waves and chirping birds remind me of boracay and that particular morning I woke up wearing very same white sleeveless shirt (I was tanned and 102 lbs back then, hehehehe), smelling oocky and goeey. Reminds me that there was just way to many of us in one room. 13 of us to be exact in one room and there was only one bathroom. Reminds of how the night before, Joel and our friend Karen were half dragging me back to the hotel. And how I just wanted to rest and sleep right there on the sand. and how Karen panicked on what to do to me. And how a foreigner guy came up and said,"Give her some water" Karen: What? Foreigner guy:"give her some water"...And how karen ( who was probably more drunk that I was) went into the nearest restaurant, brought back a pail of water (A PAIL OF WATER !!!) and SPLAAAAASSSSSSHHHH...gave me some water. But somehow we managed to reach our hotel. Waves and chirping birds remind me of that night. And the fact that there were 13 of us in the room with one bathroom. A friend insisted she go first and me next. Me thinking the room was too crowded so I decided to wait and sit outside the patio holding my towel around me (Ive taken off the white shirt). And how my friend was taking forever in the bathroom and how I just slumped on the table and dozed off to sleep. Woke up at 7am tothe sounds of waves and birds chirping, now wearing my dirty, smelly white shirt, still sitting on the patio and still with my head slumped on the table. first thing I saw was Joel dozing by the swing. His cousin JB sleeping by the stairs and the breakfast trays on the table. Karen was now eating. Waves and chirping birds...Boracay, drunk, smelly white shirt, messy hair, sore limps, say No to Tequila ever and the BEST TIME OF MY LIFE!!!