Magsaysay Avenue

This is how I walk at night. I walk these streets between 10PM to 2AM, most of the time after climbing at Tandang Sora, and several times when I was still working at Libis three years ago, I'd get lucky when the office shuttle decided to pass by Katipunan Avenue instead of EDSA. I love this facet of the campus. Just when the streets are quiet from the hustle and bustle of students, teachers, residents and people passing through, this is when the roads become truly themselves… even during their sleep. The orange-tinted lamp posts illuminate every strong facet of the road, and at the same time, hide their secrets with their ominous shadows. It's thrilling to walk the streets knowing you're alone and not a soul in sight. But somehow, ironically, I know I'm safe. As long as I stay on the path, never swaying, I'm on safe grounds. I feel like the girl following the yellow-bricked road, which is actually what it looks like with the amber lights reflecting the rough pavement. There’s no place like home.

It's also my way of zen, so to speak, and walking this road in the middle of the night gives me a moment of peace that seldom comes. It's my in-between, the transition from the hectic fast-paced on-goings during the day to the mellow slow-moving repose of the night. I'll miss it when the time comes that I need to find another route to go through when the C-5 is finally finished, or (here's to hoping) when I can finally drive my own car (but I still have a long way to go compared to the C-5 road). But I know it's something that I can get back to again and again when I need to find that peace along Magsaysay Avenue. There’s no stopping me from following that yellow-bricked road.