Is this a Scam OR a Social Experiment by a Psych Student?

I was just minding my own business this afternoon, walking along the road between CBAA and Oval as I waited for a passing tricycle (in vain) when I happened to look over my shoulder and saw a boy wearing a yellow shirt. *shrugs* No big deal. I continued walking until I reached the corner of CAS and CEN so I just decided to turn left and proceed to the second gate instead of waiting for a trike to take me to the main gate. When I turned that corner, I saw the yellow-shirt boy (who's a bit far from me, afaik) broke into a run. Hmm, must be trying to catch up to someone/something. When I was almost in front of the IGS office though, I heard someone calling my attention and when I looked behind, it was that boy.

He looked like he must be in junior/senior high and kind of lost so I thought he'd ask for directions. However, the first question he asked me was: 

"May kasama po ba kayo?"  (Uh, that was a totally strange ice-breaking question, especially as he can see that I was by myself. Oh well, I got a full load of patience today so I humored him.)

ME: "Wala, bakit?"

"Dito po ba kayo nag-aaral?" (Again, with the weird question.)

ME: "Oo, dati. Incoming student ka ba?"

He was quite hesitant in answering and just gave a noncommital nod.

Up to this point I was still waiting for him to ask for directions to somewhere but instead he put on this problematic/shy/paawa expression and said he's going to tell me something. I immediately thought maybe he has a problem he wanted to share so I gave him the go-ahead and then braced myself for a lot of drama and the eventual counseling. 

"Pwede po bang makahiram ng pera, pang-pasahe lang po pauwi."

ME: "San ka ba uuwi?"

"Sa Cabanatuan po."

ME: "Anu nangyari sau?" (Well, he doesn't have any bag or anything with him and it struck me as a strange thing so I casually asked him what happened to him. *shrugs* )

"E naubos ko po kasi ung pera ko."

ME: (Dude, can you be more vague? Let's try another question...) "Asan yung bag mo?"

"Nasa dorm po." (Oookay...)

ME: "Hindi mo ba muna kukunin ung gamit mo sa dorm?" (You know, because you're gonna go home right?)

 

"Hindi po, kukuha lang po ako ng damit sa bahay namin; hindi rin po ako magtatagal."

All the while we were talking, I just continued walking towards the second gate so I naturally thought he's going to ride the jeepney with me -- because he's walking beside me, and he needs to go to Cabanatuan right? So my plan was to just pay for his fare once we're in the jeepney. Easy. In the meantime, I want to know what is up with him so I was going to continue asking him questions when he suddenly said "Sige po" and bade me goodbye.  

ME: Huh? 

"May pupuntahan lang po ako dito" (pointing to CAS). 

Oh. Okay, that was weird. I seriously thought that was the end of it -- that some kid just misunderstood me and took my numerous questions as a sign of rejection -- so I shrugged it off and credited it as yet another strange experience with strangers. Believe me, I've had lots of weird encounters with strangers. (There was even a time when two guys on a motorcycle stopped by the sidewalk and insisted I watch their magic trick... but that's a different story.)

Anyway...

Imagine my surprise then when a friend shared something eerily similar over dinner. He was just at the part where "a kid wearing a yellow shirt suddenly called his attention earlier today as he was around the Old Market area" when I blurted out, "Parang kilala ko yang sinsabi mo!"

And as he went on with his story, it became clear: Yep, we had a similar encounter. Needless to say, he was also surprised. Apparently, he was approached by the kid using the same MO, only this time, my friend said he gave him a hundred bucks for his fare because he's genuinely concerned for him.

But that's not the end of it -- turns out, another of our friends who was listening was also approached by the kid A FEW DAYS AGO. Well, after the standard questions, this other friend finally gave the kid all the change he has with him. Seems pretty obvious that this yellow-shirt kid has been busy, no?

I really hope we're just jumping to conclusions here but I just can't help but think what a "coincidence" it is that the same person (worse, they could be different kids, just with the same MO) approached us within a span of several days.

OR, for all we know, the whole thing was being recorded and we just became part of a social experiment by a Psych student.  Great  -_-    (Perhaps next time I'd pretend to be a foreign student to make it more interesting for them.)

Back to Baguio (after 8 years)!

I was still on my way back from Masinloc, Zambales when I thought I kinda wanted to travel by myself again, perhaps somewhere north this time. But I couldn't decide on a certain place to visit so I was planning to do this random backpacking thing where I'd get on a bus and see where it takes me.

Well, it turns out I don't have to do that because within that bus trip, I got a message from my friend Lady (Indonesian MS student) that her two siblings will be coming over to visit the Philippines and she'd like me to come with them to Baguio. Wow. That was quick.

Thank God I'm free on the day they scheduled the trip so I agreed. We rode a UV Express van from Munoz (Php 220) but the first trip would not leave until 8am so we had a perfect chance to chat.

Lady's older sister Rimsa (right) works at a BPO in Indonesia while their younger brother Ricky (left) is still studying.

The trip to Baguio took us around 3 hours but I couldn't sleep because I was on the lookout for cool views. Plus, I realized that the last time I was in Baguio was during a school convention -- 8 years ago.

Anyway, it was just like how I remembered it. We got off in front of the Burnham Park where the van's terminal is also located and then proceeded to search for jeepneys going to Camp John Hay. But after walking around for a bit, we decided to just get on a cab. (Also because the jeepney drivers told us no jeepneys go inside the Camp and they'd just take us up to the main gate, from where we'd have to walk all the way up.) Cab it is.

Good thing we were there during a weekday because there's no traffic at all and going to CJH was a breeze. The meter only reached Php 71. Not bad. I asked the cab driver to drop us off at Mile Hi Center inside the CJH where there are numerous shops and restaurants. It's not as lively/crowded as one might expect but I was thankful for that.

Camp John Hay

I was looking for the small resto that I read about (it's called Little John's, if I'm not mistaken) but I couldn't seem to find it so we just settled for Tapa King, which turned out for the best. For one, their meals are not as expensive as the other restaurants there and for another, I've missed eating their Tapa King meal! When I was working in Manila, the only time I could eat meat was whenever I'd be in TK. Anyway, I was glad to discover that their signature dish still tasted as savory as before. ^_^


After the filling brunch, we passed by the numerous clothing stores and browsed leisurely for some time. Then we headed to the Historical Core, guided by Google Maps. Well, I only know that its general direction is in the right side so we turned right and proceeded to walk up the hill which looked so refreshing and, er, green. There were lots of picnic tables and benches which could be perfect if we have more time to hang out.

We're still halfway up but we were already catching our breaths. I did not expect I'd have a hard time climbing up the hill but you know, it's Baguio so maybe it's elevation has something to do with it as well.

When we finally reached the top, we were met by yet another open nature park and a road. Consulting our semi-reliable Google Maps, we decided to turn left and soon enough we saw a sign that says Historical Core. Hooray for technology!

Bell Amphitheater.

The entrance fee costs Php 60 (regular) but only Php 30 for student/senior. I think that's cheap since you can take all the time you want roaming around its areas that include the Bell House, Bell Amphitheater, Historical Trail and the Cemetery of Negativism. 

Going inside the Bell House was like being transported back in time. "Quaint" was a perfect adjective to describe it -- old-fashioned but charming. It's just too bad we couldn't visit the kitchen/dining area and the other room at the back because people were conducting meetings and seminars. Plus, the security guard warned us to stay out of those areas so pretending to "accidentally" walk in on them was out of the question.

Inside the Bell House, Camp John Hay

The little Statue of Liberty.

After sitting down for a bit in the little Statue of Liberty park, we headed down to get a cab to Minesview Park which turned out also to be a quick ride. We even passed by the Wright Park (where you can ride horses) and The Mansion (official summer residence of the Pres).

Minesview Park was just like how I remembered it: Chock-full of souvenir stalls and flower shops. We stopped by for the obligatory photo against the awesome mountain backdrop then headed for the souvenir shops where they bought shirts, trinkets and keychains. As for me, I just bought Php 50 worth of sweets. That should do it.

When we got outside, there was a strawberry taho vendor (just what I was looking for!) so we quickly tried it.They also bought some street food (fish balls, etc) then it's time for us to ride a jeepney (Php 10) to Burnham Park which would be our last stop.

This time though, we got in a bit of a traffic jam, perhaps because it was when students were heading home. It's still cool though as it started to drizzle and we felt the nice climate the City of Pines is known for. (Seeing all the students outside reminded me of what could have happened had I accepted the scholarship that was offered to me when I was in college. It was a pretty sweet deal, too, but during that time I was so done with studying so I turned it down. XD No regrets.)

From where we got off the jeepney, we stepped right onto the side of the park where vendors were selling fresh flower bouquets and colored roses. Each rose only costs Php 10 while pre-arranged bouquets go for Php 100. So inexpensive.

Inside Burnham were the usual boat rides, bicycle rental shops and food vendors (who also sell, for some reason, fancy hats). I was already entertaining the thought of buying a fedora so I walked away.

After buying some more street food, we sat down beside the lake and watched people on rented boats and smiled at the antics of students playing loudly on the grass. You know, even though Baguio appeared to be crowded and so urban, it's still a far cry from the headaches of Manila.

Had early dinner at Chowking where I discovered that their fried chicken actually tastes better than Jollibee's or McDo's! To think that we only decided to eat there because the van terminal (in front of the Orchidarium) is just a few steps away, haha. Thankfully, we were just in time for the last trip which left at around 7.00pm, though it's already full of passengers by 6.30pm. Oh well, it was still a great day.

*A special shout-out to Rimsa for sponsoring the whole trip ^^ and to Lady for inviting me.

Hey, I have a picture.