The Urban and Rural Night Sky; My Trip to Batangas

The idea of buying a house in Batangas used to strike me as impractical. Heck, even knowing the idea that there are beach condos in Batangas that are up for sale kind of makes me wonder how filthy stinking rich do I have to be to not only afford that condo but spend time away from work to stay there?

I work in Makati. I do graveyard shift for some call center and go home to an apartment, rented solely by my. I seldom see neighbors as most of them have day jobs. I wake up around 6pm, eat, dress for work, work, go home and that’s about it for me every day for the past 15 months. It wasn’t until recently that I realized I needed a break—monotony kind of got to me and I really wanted to quit a well-paying job.

One morning, before going to work, I stopped to take in the city’s skyline.

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I set out for Matabungkay on my next off days. Matabungkay is a little town in Lian, Batangas I remember going to as a kid in the 90s. It’s a small beach community with quaint accommodations and very shallow waters. I remember wallowing in the wave-less shores there and fall into a nap.

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As usual, and as I excitedly expected, I was met with the familiar rural vibe that made me feel at home, safe, comfortable and so in touch with myself. I even rented out one of the floating cottages all to myself. I spent 3 days just eating, reading, talking to people, and napping. It was a lazy weekend and I found it to be just what I needed. Looking at all of it, I could make a living here and probably only spend some 600 pesos a week; it wouldn’t be the most luxurious life, but it would be a very simple and happy one.

The thing that almost got me to stay longer was the night sky. It was unlike any night sky that I was used to seeing in Makati. Not only were there stars, there were TONS of them! And there were ever meteor showers. There was so much I wasn’t seeing because I was blinded by city lights. I would call it a moment of epiphany.

So yeah, I guess from then on, I realized how much value living in a house or beach condo in Batangas has—on any other rurality for that matter. The urban life is definitely a good life but that doesn’t mean that the rural life isn’t. The city lights are just as promising as the night sky of the province.

I got back to work after the weekend with a better outlook on work, a bigger dream for myself, and plans of going back to Batangas—anywhere—and staying.