paradise lost
we were outside of the then sparklingly new robinson's shopping mall waiting for a taxi, when out of the blue (maybe i was concerned that we ran out of things to talk about; or i am just like everyone else, uncomfortable of the long silences between conversations), i asked my sister why she loves living in this coastal city of tacloban, where she spent more than half of her life. she studied and graduated at the university of the philippines - visayas. when she got married, she and her husband decided to live there to raise a family. in contrast, i have always been a big city person. i love getting lost and dizzy in the labyrinthian but chaotic streets of a metropolis, as well as in maze-like giant shopping malls, in unfamiliar places inhabited by people speaking in strange tongues, in walking or traveling on well-groomed and seemingly endless roads, and in being dazzled by city creatures in their fineries with some looking straight out of a fashion magazine no matter what th...