The first quarter was about to end. I needed to use of all my leaves, but I did not have anywhere to go. For today, I took a day off to go to UP and request copies of my transcript.
It was not a chore before when I was still based in Marikina. But being from Makati on weekdays, I had to do the long traverse along EDSA just to reach Diliman.
While I love how vast UP Diliman is, it annoys me a lot why the cashier is at the far end of the Registrar. It is very counter-intuitive. There is a cashier downstairs, but it is often closed. Anyway, it was less tedious because I was with Ikle. We were done at around lunch time and had the whole afternoon to wait for the rush hour to subside. And that includes shenanigans around the campus.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
From the Registrar, we had to go to the Learning Center in Diliman. It has been more than two months since classes had started, and I still have not gotten my ID. We walked and walked, thinking we have the map at the back of our hands. To cut the story short, we got lost. Imagine, more than a decade in Diliman and we still managed to get lost!
Madame of the field
Getting lost under the heat was not cute; but we had to make fun of the situation. The vast space under the (defunct) monorail became an instant location for an impromptu craziness.
We eventually managed to get out to C.P. Garcia, which includes crossing a creek with a family washing their clothes. It was so random.
In the hallowed hallways of AS
As it was a school day, we dropped by AS to see the atmosphere considering it was election season. We sat at a corner to chat, but we were also waiting IF some of these hopefuls would approach us. We were approached twice, enough to make us feel young and pass off as undergraduate students. LOL “We still have it“, we thought.
From AS, we walked to the Main Library area, where we spent most of the time loitering. Even during graduate school, on Saturdays, Ikle will hang out with Mon and me after classes.
The Main Library before sunset
Being there was an instant excuse to reminisce our malevolent plans inside the library. In 2003, the three of us dropped by the original Oblation and snapped a photo of one of our friends with him. As urban legends say, anyone who had his picture taken with Oblé will not graduate on time.
Then in 2004, we thought of smuggling books from the restricted General Reference area. We hatched a plan of one of us waiting outside, while the other throw books from the window.
The book smuggling was all for fun though. For the record, we never did that.
While walking around the oval, I also came across my former squad who had been conditioning for the training. I suddenly recall that one night in December, we were jogging along the University Avenue where the air was so cold that it was impossible to warm up. The good ol’ days. =)
At the Academic Oval
I’m surprised that each time I visit school, a thing or two had already changed. I will always have a soft spot for Diliman. The song is indeed true. Wherever you might go, the feelings would still remain the same.
