One can never say that shopping in divisoria is such a breeze. I have been buying stuff in divisoria since I was a kid. Hell, my dad's family even lived a few blocks away from tutuban for more than 20 years and I always slept over and visited DM (Divisoria Mall). Even if I'm used to the locale and used to carrying heavy plastic bags amidst jampacked meter-length hallways, I always always get tired after.
Today was no exception. For the fifth time, my Tita Nitz called me and my Tita Rosa to purchase more stuffed toys and children's dresses for her store in Tugugarao. Again, Tita Rosa and I stifled our groans as the nightmare of having to squeeze ourselves through hoardes of people to buy goods from three different outlets and one bangketa stall began. Putek, wala pa nga kaming kick back dito noh! At the end of the day, we bought three sacks of merchandise and man were they heavy! Why am I even doing this, I kept thinking.
The highlight of the day I must say was when we rode a pedicab from divisoria to a sampaloc bus station to ship all these to the province. There was no cab in sight and the binatilyo of a padyak driver offered his services for PhP 150. We had to agree. Pero tangina, pedicab ba naman nang ganun kalayo! In hindsight though, the ride was fun. We counterflowed twice and rode through sidewalks. Surprisingly, everybody was helpful. I discovered that there's this exclusive secret code of honor among padyak drivers. All is fair in love, war, and pedicab driving it seems. Walang nagagalit kahit na nagsasalpukan sa daan. Tinutulak ang mahihina, hinihila ang nadidisbalanse. When you're in a car, pedicabs always are a nuisance. When you're riding one, your perspective changes. All of the sudden, you see the honesty in the driver's work. All of a sudden he's your hero.
In the bus station, my tita and I even had to haggle for a place in the bus for our goods. During holiday season, they prioritized passenger cargo. Naghanap lang kami sa kakilala para makisuyo. We finished everything by 10 pm exhausted and hungry.
As I ask myself again why I'm doing this, I realize that divisoria has really been part of my life. I love the noise of busy trade. I love the excited murmurs of frantic shoppers. I love a pretty good bargain. Hell, I even love the acrid smell of rotting vegetables and horse dung. And always, there is a sense of achievement after you've traversed the cobblestone streets of divisoria unscathed...that is if you've also managed to get yourself a ride home.
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