In my hometown, on a rainy Tuesday afternoon

6:15pm, local time

Here in my hometown, Baguio City, now. It is raining (as the weather is wont to do in this part of the world). I just had my haircut, my hair is shorter now (it feels weird somehow – it feels like one year’s worth of hair I grew when I was in London – all down the drain). I bought a new watch, bought a new SIM for my mobile and some toiletries. I arrived in Manila, Sunday 4pm. Travelled to Baguio for 6 hours, stayed up late chatting with mom, self-quarantined myself for 48 hours and excitedly went downtown to check out my old city.

Wow.

It feels weird somehow. I do not know…but Baguio feels different. Like it feels old and wilted and dirty and tired. I had not noticed this before. I, of course, loved the vibrancy, the streets and roads teeming with life, but there was this sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach – like I wanted to get out of here fast. I do not know why.

Is this reverse culture shock? I do not miss London like I expected I would – but there are times, when I went into shops when I could not help but compare the service, or the products or look at the people and compare them to the ones I’ve met while I was abroad.

I am tired now. More ruminations later.