Sunday Morning

Here in the Philippines, a Sunday is usually a "family day", a day reserved for spending time with your family. Most of the time, the pattern is predictable: attend mass in the morning then dine out afterwards. If you visit the malls at around noon you'll see them everywhere, which is why most malls also hold mass before their regular opening hours. Why go to a proper place of worship like a church when you can go to mass inside a mall? You'll be going there later anyway. It's the same thing, right?

Sure it is.

Anyway, Sunday morning I went out to go to the mall. Being the people-person that I am, I usually go out early on Sundays to avoid the crowds. If I leave the house at around 1PM-2PM, I'm going to have to have a hard time looking for a parking slot.

So I was on the road by around noon. I immediately noticed the lack of cars on the highway. It felt like my 5AM Sunday drives when we have to to go somewhere South. I made a comment about it and my SO, who was with me, said that maybe it was because of Pacquiao. Of course, her theory made sense. Manny Pacquiao was scheduled to fight Erik Morales that day.

Our trip to the mall only supported her theory even further. When we got there, there was a giant TV set up on the stage showcasing the fight. It made me wonder if they held mass that day, because they usually did, and it occurred on the same stage. That stage is where the mall holds its events and they usually set up plastic chairs around it whenever they do so. There were no chairs this time, so people sat on the floor, waiting for the main event. Still, for a Sunday, there wasn't enough of a crowd in the mall. Everyone must be really at home watching the fight.

Manny didn't disappoint. He dropped Morales in Round Three after a near-melee in Round Two. I caught a replay of the fight when I got home. It was brief and painful (painfully brief?). It's a good thing I didn't wait for it like the others did, going through all the earlier matches before the main event. I don't think I would've thought the wait was worth it.