a lesson in geography (a not so musical post) [by jing]

ever since i was young, i've always enjoyed looking at maps -- painstakingly deciphering them and imagining myself navigating through not-so-imagined territory ("not-so-imagined" because i know those places exist although i've never been to such places). i enjoyed reading road maps even more than i enjoyed reading telephone directories (yes, very peculiar reading fare, i know hahaha). one of my treasured books then was this dog-eared copy of "ins and outs of metro manila" which i found in my late grandfather's library. eventually my copy of "ins and outs" turned outside-in and fell to the insatiable mercies of termites and silverfish.

nevertheless, my likewise insatiable quest for the road obtained its wish fulfillment when i finally learned how to drive. finally, no more imagined navigating, i thought to myself. to further equip myself, i got myself a new road map book of metro manila (see first photo). this book also proved very useful when i had hearings and consultations to attend in places like caloocan, malabon, and navotas.

when i joined shirley in early 2006 (or was it late 2005? it escapes me), i found myself blessed with such diverse bandmates -- diverse not only in the musical-personality sense, but also in geographical terms. in getting to know people, the question i'm most wont to ask is "where do you live?" or "where are you from?" i guess asking such questions stemmed from my childhood love for reading road maps. whenever i'd hear people answer my questions with "i live at so-and-so...", my mind immediately visualizes the maps i've read and i ask rejoinder questions like, "so is that near this-and-that street?". most times they'd answer yes, not knowing that i've never actually been to those places -- only theoretically.

so when i discovered that my shirleymates lived kilometers apart from each other, i got excited to say the least. in the second picture i posted, i plotted the respective locations of each shirley member and traced the distances that set us apart. glancing at the map, you can say we practically span metro manila in its entirety. despite this jaw-dropping realization, i can proudly say that i've travelled to each and every shirley point plotted on this map. much more so, i'm also quite proud to say that the kilometers which set us apart only bring us much closer to each other. i told you this was a not so musical post.