Yesterday, October 19 started out like any usual Friday would. I had breakfast with Juk and Ric at Starbucks, went about with work then had lunch in Glorietta. I went with my usual lunch buddies, Juk, Ric and Trish; Chino and Sir Cels also went with us. We went there via the usual Landmark FX. Since Juk, Trish and Sir Cels still had to withdraw money, Chino, Ric and I decided to go ahead to look for a restaurant. We let Chino decide where we’re going to eat and he suggested that we go for some Thai. The nearest Thai restaurant that we saw was Oody’s at the 2nd Floor of Glorietta 2. After a few minutes, Juk, Trish and Sir Cels already arrived. Hazel, Ia, She and Darvs also followed us there. I ordered for the usual bagoong rice. After about 30 minutes of enjoying our Thai fare, we already asked for our bill. After giving our payment to the waiter, we suddenly heard a loud explosion. The impact of the explosion was felt from where we were as we were seated near the entrance of the restaurant. I felt a slight push at my back and my hair was a bit blown away. When we turned around to see what it was, we saw a cloud of white smoke and people running and screaming. We immediately got up from our seats and went to the back portion of Oody’s. All the people looked puzzled and confused, not knowing what just happened. The Oody’s management asked us to calm down and not to panic. The waiters started closing down the restaurant. My heart was racing so fast at that point. I uttered a short prayer and psyched myself not to panic and have presence of my mind. I thought that what we’re currently experiencing may already be a life and death situation. I held Juk’s hand and told her that we should not leave each other. I also constantly surveyed the area to see if all our friends were in sight. Then the manager asked all the people to exit the place through the kitchen. The people were all calm but proceeded with urgency. We had to wait until all the other guests got out. There was even a kid on a wheelchair; his parents decided to just leave his wheelchair and just carry him out. When it was our turn to exit the place, we went through the back portion of the restaurant strip. Ganun pala ang itsura nun sa likod. When we reached a familiar portion of the mall, -I think it was Glorietta 1- I felt relieved. We immediately ran to the escalator and went out of the mall. Outside, there were already throngs of people with panic-stricken faces. We saw a girl with a wound on her forehead and shattered glass bits on her hair and back. An old lady was also seen sitting and rubbing her chest, as if having a difficult time to breathe. Grabe, nakakatakot talaga. We decided to immediately leave the area and to just look for a way to go back to the office. We were lucky to find a Davis taxi pass by; we immediately hopped on it and asked the driver to bring us to the Smart Tower. We can’t stop talking about what just happened on our way back. We were discussing about what may have caused the explosion. In my mind, whatever occurred, the only thing that mattered was none of us got hurt.
That terrifying experience made me think about the little things that would have easily go unnoticed. Like, had we gone to the mall earlier, had we paid for our bill earlier, we may have gone to the shops situated in the Glorietta 2 area and God knows what could have happened to us. It also made me think about how a life can be taken away just like that. You can never be truly prepared for it. Who would have thought that an unusual episode would occur on a usual Friday lunchout?! In a life and death situation, you would no longer have the time think about the things that you haven’t done yet, words that you haven’t had the chance to say, feelings that were left unshown, make amends for your wrongdoings, etc. It’s a good thing that the Lord kept us safe and allowed us another opportunity to fulfill the things that we ought to do with our lives. Thank you God for another chance at life and a chance to make it a whole lot better!
Just want to share how close we were to the explosion site and how our location was luckily spared.
