Samuel Joshua Pe's Travel Notes

Started on September 17, 2025 Unless indicated otherwise using the term "real-time", these notes are retrospective for the purpose of digestibility, so they are written some time after the events. The "Written On" dates shown do reflect that.

- [#9 Cafe Visit] Written on September 17, 2025 I walked through the streets, hunting down my mother. Where was she? She said she was coming. She's at — —, so I'll head there as fast as I can. I hung around outside — —, and it took longer. The guards were looking at me, and I was frustrated and nervous. This was the big city. I texted the group chat, saying that she wasn't communicative. Some 30 minutes later, she met me, scared because she actually went to the cafe I was staying at. She explained that she probably went the other way, so that's why we didn't encounter each other on the way.

- [Conference] Written on September 17, 2025 This is where I became infatuated with one of the singers on stage. In previous events held by the — — — —, I did not sit in the court, but in the bleachers. Having sat in the court for this event likely impacted my visibility of the singer.

- [#26 Cafe Visit] Written on September 24, 2025 As usual, I stayed at the long table. I mostly had no one sit beside me until it was late afternoon and evening. I stayed there until around — to — —. I got there early probably around — to — —. They went to bring me first before heading to the — —. I wrote then about my experience of the staff forgetting that I ordered, but that is not what I'm here to talk about. Since I have never really written about my experiences in cafes, I will sound very meta at first. But here we are. The interior design is unique. Structurally, all — places are different, but this one involved interesting wood interior designs. Coupled with its open spaces and partial partitions, it never felt scratchy or dull on the eyes. Interest is not always good for deep focus of course, but that's not my concern here.

- [Main Road] Written real-time on September 25, 2025

No loading, No unloading, violators will be apprehended.
upside-down U shaped columns
curving, bulking elevated highways
rippling ceilings of elevated highways
orange traffic blocks
grafittee
multi-floor informal concrete block housing beside the ground highway
plants growing in surprising places
a line of cut grass refuse littered beside the ground highway
creeping/crawling/climbijg plants and banana tree crowns/heads peeking over the highway walls
trash strewn along the stretch of gray sand beside the highway
diagonal grooves pointing upward in one stretch of highway wall
one stretfh of highway wall: barb wires and climbing plants. gray white and crocodile green from top to botton
connected vertical and horizontal grooves in one stretch of highwall, imitating stacked rectangular blocks.
light-brown-mottled brown trees stretching up to the height of the elevated highway overhead
metal of unused ad space
large concrete gray stark simple building shapes: brutalist?
green corrugated panels for construction, green nets on top.
on ridge, yellow-flecked green leaves behind green corrugated panel, towering above elevated highway to the right
small bus stop with green cotrugated metal gable and metal net(?) forming its wallls
cylindrical columns supporting elevated highway
three coconut palm trees in front of building with red-tiled gables(?)
two white gigantic condominium buildings, rippled texture, more than twice the size of yellow-coated small mall below
rundown, pink-painted building, facade composed of regular balconies/windows(?), fraying into gray concrete at the edges
square columns with white-coated bottom half and unpainted gray concrete upper half
gridded streets below elevated highway bus is on, long stretches with proprietary quasi-alleyways
bright yellow circular bike sign post
tree with ascendant thin branches but relatively medium-sized trunk
shiny metal-plated stout cylindrical column
lower income residential buildings and tall informal apartment housing, facade with windows, some with plants on hanging black metal fenced(?) case(?)
elevated highway with motorcycle and informal ground-level housing under down sloping ramp exit stretch
four informal housing apartments with mostly white towels in regular balconies in facade
stacks of metal construction parts hemmed in by arc of black-and-yellow panel(?) beside road
rippled horizontally dragged corrugated(?) metal door (gate?)
corrugated metal walls, blue and white, worn paint
ROADWORK Ahead A-frame-like stand
mint green, white, and (mint-like) orange paint on buildings beside road
mercury drug, motolite,
stone rubble and trash beside green corrugated metal construction panels
blaxck modern-ish building divided into rows(?) beside classic conrete wall behind which is a traditional Filipino house
cream yellow red-lined and red-roofed, building, Spanish/colonial style? University of Women
shadowed mang inasal beside and under footbridge two-flight staircase