Friday, October 19, 2007

Extremely blessed

I didn't even want to go out today (ask Anna and Pao). My fever's gone but my cold is still bugging me, so I just really wanted to be a lazy bum at home. But I had an important meeting and was going to pick up Anissa from school at 5pm after her dance auditions.

So I got off my *ss around noon and was out of the house by 10 minutes to 1pm. My meeting was at 2pm so I decided I had time to run one errand and I wanted to do that at a bank along Shaw Blvd. But after spending a good 10-15 minutes in front of the Toyota Shaw showroom, it was detour time. Mission Impossible due to the usual Friday traffic, so I headed straight to Makati. I remembered that there's a Banco de Oro branch in SM so I thought to myself --- perfect! I'll park my car in Glorietta 4, walk to the bank then walk through Glorietta to get to my 2pm meeting in 6750. I had my route all mapped out in my head : from BDO, I would make a quick, quick pass at GoldCrest, then go to Topshop and Mango to see what's new, and finally exit Glorietta from Tower Records.

When I got to the Makati CBD, I noticed nothing unusual at all. That is, until I reached the Ayala Center area at the corner of Rustan's. There were THREE uniformed men manning that one intersection. That, to me, was highly unusual. But I still didn't think anything of it. I was right in front of the Glorietta 4 driveway, ready to take the leftmost lane to get into the basement parking area when my cellphone rang. It was Neal who was trying hard to feign calmness, but sounded like he was ready to faint nonetheless...

Where are you right now?

I'm in front of the G4 driveway, why?

There's been an explosion inside the mall so you have to get out of there. Tell your ka-meeting you're not staying in that area and she should meet you somewhere else. Get out ha, NOW NA!

After that, 3 other phonecalls came...my Dad, my Mom and then my brother. All of them freaked out after being told I had just been in the area and was about to go inside when I got Neal's call. At this point, I didn't really know what had actually happened. Not even when I saw the ambulances, news crews, patrol cars coming into the Ayala Center using the wrong lane. Duh...maybe I was just distracted and thinking of what was going to happen to my meeting. Anyway, I ended up in Power Plant (hahaha tigas ng ulo!) for that all important discussion.

On my way to pick up Anissa, I again got stuck in traffic in the Pioneer area and decided to entertain myself by tuning in to DZMM for the latest on the Glorietta incident. It was then that I realized just how lucky I was. It was a total blur at first. I heard the reporter but couldn't quite process what he was saying...4 dead (at the time), 30 plus injured and counting, Makati Med ER overflowing with bodies, some girl recounting her experience and how she got out of the mall, C4 bomb, Glorietta's roof caved in, nearby establishments outside of Glorietta also suffered damages. WHAAAAATTTTT??? It was that bad??? My knees suddenly felt like jello and I couldn't help but think --- what if I had not gotten stuck along Shaw Blvd? What if I went straight to Glorietta? I left my house before 1pm and I don't live too far away from Makati. I definitely would have been INSIDE the mall before 1:30pm. Oh my gaaaasssshhhh!!!

I feel so bad for all the victims of this tragedy. Who would think that a leisurely afternoon in a popular shopping mall could turn out this way? I'm definitely including them and their families in my evening prayers.

I AM TRULY BLESSED...God is good all the time.

7 comments:

  1. god thing nothing happened to yuo, am sorry for those people who got involved in the accident.. saw 4 of them dead in the hospital am working at

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  2. Michelle...you bet! I'm so thankful talaga!

    docchef...so you work in Makati Med? It must have been a very busy afternoon for all of you yesterday. Thanks for your concern.

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  3. you're truly blessed to miss that bombing by a few minutes. it's been almost three days and i still can't stop thinking of the victims and their families.ibey

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  4. monaco...thanks, I really am fortunate to have been just a few minutes late that day. I can totally related to how you're feeling about the victims and their families. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if it had happened on a Saturday or Sunday with all the kids there.

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  5. Oh my God!!!!! Gave me goosebumps. Im glad youre okay!

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  6. Thanks, Angel! I've been to a mall a few times since this incident and I still keep thinking to myself, "Do I really need to be here?". It's scary but how can you avoid going???

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