I've been sleeping raggedly for the past week. The other day, I had a weird daytime dream.

Opening scene: I was in a taxi while Manila was experiencing weird weather. Outside it looked like Gotham rain and dusk and smog and fog. Taxi went under a tunnel. I was seated directly behind the driver and then suddenly, a guy appeared on the front passenger seat. I was threatened but kept my cool. He said he was just hitching a ride and it seemed as though he and the driver had some discreet transaction. The driver had two right hands. The other one sprung out from the outer right part of his right forearm. Then the passenger got down and I discovered he was a police officer. He made some chit chat with the taxi driver from the street. When the taxi moved, I let out a sign of relief.

I was supposed to go to suburban Cubao to see Toni although she called me to wait for her at home. (In real life, Toni was at Gateway and I napped waiting for her at home). I had the address where I would supposedly catch her but I was not familiar with the place. Instead of dropping me off in front of the address, the taxi driver told me to get off a few meters from it. But he accompanied me and we walked towards the place. It was a compound of around 12 small detached and semi-detached apartments divided in two rows. The front of the 6 houses faced the other front of the other 6. There was a narrow paved road in between rows but for pedestrians, not cars. There were no cars. It was a commune of some sort. People were hanging out outdoors, having dinner, talking, etc. There were stoops, or actually, azoteas of old. The number of people would have been 5 per house, on average. In the middle of a row was a clump of restaurants that looked high end. It was maybe where I was supposed to meet Toni, but these were all closed. I tried to text her but I ran out of load.  The taxi deiver had already left through the back exit. I followed him only to discover the back exit led to a barbed wire fence. Where did the taxi driver pass? The weirdest part of this was that I felt paralyzed. I stood there at one corner and waited for Toni to call. I'd rarely felt this lost in my life, I am usually comfortable in unfamiliar places and know what to do to get to where I should be. In this dream, I did not. I did not feel worried though, just disoriented and baffled.

Then I sat on one of the outdoor dining tables, talked with the people, but did not ask them help about getting out of the place. It seemed I was resigned to my fate. I had no plan, I was not trying anything at all. (When I woke up, I realized that was the weirdest part). Suddenly someone I know arrived with a group of guys -- Neil, photographer friend who is now a real estate broker. He just passed the most recent exam and is now posting weird stuff on Facebook, articles on economics, and personal finance, and business, never about photography. So Neil came up to me and greeted me in a joking manner, "Huy nasan na yung glasses ko, winala mo. Nasan na?" To which I said, "Huh? Sayo ba yun? Akala ko kay LJ (this other photorgapher)." We were thrilled to see each other there. Neil said, "Hindi. Sa akin yon. Anong ginagawa mo dito?" So I say, "Ewan ko nga e. Di ko nga alam paano lumabas dito e." He says, "Sige, may meeting lang ako. Sabay na tayo mamaya lumabas." So he invites me to this house where he was supposed to have a meeting with four other guys. At this point I was confused whether Neil was really Neil or Benedick, a high school friend who is now an architect. They look alike. Anyway, the guys were watching a film through a contraption which they had to fill in with tape -- yes, tape. It was an Al Pacino thing and I laughed because I'd already seen that movie and I liked it. I had the urge of spewing out spoilers. So I just sat on the floor and did some crafts (huh) while waiting and tried to behave.

The end.