To be genuinely honest, I skip my Saturday review classes since my Building Technology lecturer took over a few weeks ago. I feel like I could cover more topic if I hang out at a semi-busy Starbucks and read the reviewers I purchased. I swear, if ever I fail my board exams on June, these Saturday skips aren't the reason. Truth is I can't handle the way my lecturer presents his lessons, okay? That's why I skip some of his classes.

Anyway, let's talk about what transpired that certain Saturday I was absent. I went to Starbucks, grabbed the usual drink which was their non-fat Green Tea Latte and sat at a corner table for a few minutes. I was about to setup my reviewing gears when I suddenly had the urge to 'take a walk and discover something new today,' which I hesitantly did. After a few minutes of walking and debating whether I ought to go back to my safe Starbucks bubble or continue walking and spending some more cash, I saw The Halal Guys food chain which I will write about in a separate post. Unfortunately though, The Halal Guys does not accept card payments so I was forced to withdraw in an available ATM a few meters away. While waiting for my turn, I saw the most amazing thing that made my heart leap! SOMETHING will happen that night at SM North Edsa's Sky Garden.

I just knew I had to come to the event! People closest to me know how much I adore stars! It is the defining symbol of me living here in the Philippines. Where I grew up, stars were always visible at night, shining and blinking brightly. In Manila however, due to often cloudy skies and pollution, stars are only seldom visible. 

I was amused at the setup of the event! Initially, I thought plastic chairs were to be placed on the open spot of the Sky Garden so I had some second thoughts about staying at the event for a long period. I was mistaken- the organizers knew their audience. Kids were there, laying on bean bags placed on top of a carpet covering so they don't smell like wet grass after (yuck!). I wanted to jump in at the bean bag pit to be honest, but the presenter's demonstration took my attention away. These guys at Manila Street Astronomers know their thing! You might think that talking about astronomy is too "NASA" for you, but I find these guys to be charismatic teachers of the subject. They are able to wholly converse in a certain subject without being too technical- a very suitable way of making younger ones more interested in the universe.

When I was a young 17 year-old, I told myself I would buy a telescope before I hit 25. I actually forgot about that self-promise and was just reminded when I saw the telescope they had brought along. Viewing it is free, and you can get tutorials from the awesome guys manning these stations. There were three telescopes available for use, though I do not know if they were the same models because they had different colors. The guy in-charge of the white telescope (the other 2 were black) was awesome! He was saying something like we could see Jupiter that night and he would help us see it along with other constellation! Sadly though, people needed to wait for the skies to clear up because it rained earlier that day.

These kinds of things are what I live for! To feel that we are just a speck in this universe makes me feel like my problems are irrelevant and that thought certainly has a way of making me feel better. I felt devastated that the skies weren't clear. Aside from my personal concern, I felt like these people from Manila Street Astronomers prepared something valuable for the public and yet it was haltered by an act of nature. Luckily, the speaker of the event was absolutely engaging and took some questions about astronomy while waiting for the stars to show. Questions like: "If Pluto isn't a planet then what is the planet after it?", "How do we use the stars in navigation", and finally my favorite question, "How did humans think about the constellation in the first place?". The event was very educational, fun, and amusing! Plus- the bean bags.