So I went off to Cubao earlier because I got a lead on one of the things on the bucket list. I guess it's extremely difficult to find something - especially when there's only five hundred of it in existence (ten years ago).
Sadly, I wasn't able to find what I was looking for so, I decided to walk further into the Araneta Center side of the area past the malls and whatnot. I guess at some point I was distracted by the lights and the food stalls (or maybe I was daydreaming again), but for some reason I got a bit lost and somehow found myself in front of Cubao Expo, more popularly known as Cubao X.
According to Google, this used to be the site of the Marikina Shoe Expo (where the namesake's shoemakers sold their wares) before it was torn down and replaced by some sort of weird old world bazaar. The place was a mixture of fancy restaurants, watering holes, thrift stores, hobby shops and other things. I'm pretty sure I spent a silly amount of time looking at this anime specialty store called Genshiken as well as a store that sold vinyl records, very old magazines, postcards and other vintage items.
I was meaning to stay a bit longer but sadly, time seems to pass so quickly when I'm entertained (and the post-work crowd was starting to gather to the bars to drink their night away). I'll probably try to visit the place earlier next time, when more stores are open.
Sometimes, we look for one thing and end up finding something else altogether.
Oddly enough, that's one thing that (one circle of) my friends have in common - we walk for hours on end trying to figure things out and end up finding these hidden gems.
I guess there are awesome things in plain sight that we take for granted - and it's by pure luck that we manage to find them amidst the dirt, the smog and the throngs of tireless people scattered across this city.
No comments:
Post a Comment