December Boy

This first Ian's Alphabet post talks about someone who considers himself a walking wallet (his friends began calling him that, too), and the many, many products sold along Pedro Gil Street.

The wallet describes all the familiar items that he saw along the street, all the stuff he wanted to buy and those that he already bought.

This buying-along-P. Gil Street-thing, the wallet thought, is one event in his college life that he'll never ever forget.


The walking wallet and its adventures.

Okay so maybe Arlene and Karen are the only ones who will understand what I am going to talk about. But let me just share it too.
Every after class, when the three of us are on our way home and we get to walk along Pedro Gil Street in Ermita, Manila, I transform into a wallet.
When at least one of us feels like buying something along that sidewalk, all of us end up buying something for ourselves..

Cellphone accessories

Okay, these are Class B products. So what? Buying covers, cases, straps, and the like won’t do any harm to the cellphone, right? Just be careful with one thing: cellphone batteries and chargers. Incidents of battery/charger explosion are not new here in our country (or maybe anywhere else). It is really, really possible. Worse if you set your house on fire because of these second-class chargers. Be cautious if you’re using one! (Don’t let it stay on the whole night)

Girly-girly Stuff

I’m not sure if Arlene and Karen have tried buying one of those kikay hair clips, bands, bags (?), etc. Hahahah... Oh. What I remember is them buying ‘flashy’ sets of earrings! They loved the ‘button-style’ kind (oops, maybe that was Lala)

Books and Back-Issue Magazines

Yeah, even books are now all over the streets or Ermita. I actually saw one time a hard-bound The Da Vinci Code book being sold there. I wonder how much it costs..
Magazines? Yeah I remember seeing a man selling a full FHM Philippines Magazine collection on the street! Wow. (My brother’s kind of ‘jackpot’)

Fun Lampshades

Ever since I first saw those cube-shaped lamps+alarm clock sold along the streets, I have always fancied having one of those on my room. I dunno.. they just looked cool. Hahahah (sounds cheap?). Yeah well.

Pirates

- But of course! This is the root of all evil! Hahah. Kidding. Okay. I buy some. Sometimes (although I am more comfortable in downloading DVD-ripped movies from the web). And I don’t deny the possibility that I might be buying another one again someday. Oh come on, don’t tell me you don’t have one at home?

“Manong, meron po kayong December Boys?”

- I can’t believe I actually asked this. A guy (for God’s sake).
It sounds porn-y to me.

So far, these are the items that I have bought there:
- a blue Sony Ericsson cellphone strap (it's already gone)
- Grey's Anatomy Season 3 DVD
- Heroes Season 1 DVD (lacked the last 4 episodes. Argh.)
- Cellphone silicon case (for Arls)
- House MD DVD (for Renk)
- Sony Ericsson Headset
- Sony Ericsson battery charger (I am very, very careful on this one, promise)
- 20-in-1 Movie Package DVD (for Arls and Renk)