It's been barely 22 hours since the Glorietta explosion and I'm still shaken from the incident.
You see, my friend invited me out for lunch yesterday, and since I was tired of eating bland cafeteria food every single day (well, except for weekends nga pala), I readily agreed. I even picked out the place, A Veneto at Glorietta 3. So, at around 12:20 in the afternoon, my friend and I were catching up on gossip over onion rings and great pasta. After having lunch, I told her I had to buy some stuff from The Face Shop. While inside, we even had to ask for directions because I forgot how to go there.
You see, my friend invited me out for lunch yesterday, and since I was tired of eating bland cafeteria food every single day (well, except for weekends nga pala), I readily agreed. I even picked out the place, A Veneto at Glorietta 3. So, at around 12:20 in the afternoon, my friend and I were catching up on gossip over onion rings and great pasta. After having lunch, I told her I had to buy some stuff from The Face Shop. While inside, we even had to ask for directions because I forgot how to go there.
After buying my things, my friend then requested if we could go a sports store since she wanted to buy a basketball. I suggested Toby's. So, at 1:15 P.M., there we were at the ground floor of Glorietta 2 near the activity center, right where the bomb was about to explode, looking up at the establishments on the 3rd Floor, trying to locate Toby's. We couldn't find Toby's. I knew it had to be visible from the ground floor. I told my friend, maybe Toby's was directly above us, on the third floor of Glorietta 2 so we couldn't see it from where we were. So, we decided to go up.
True enough, when we were on the third floor of Glorietta 2, we were able to find Toby's. I told my friend to go there and make her purchase, while I would be browsing at the tiangge stores right outside. I was looking at the latest fashionable blouses, muttering to myself that I would never be able to pull them off. I still tried on one blouse, but to no avail. Hindi talaga bagay...shucks.
I received a text message from my friend at around 1:25 P.M., telling me that she was near Timezone waiting for me, but urging me to take my time. Immediately after I got her text, I tried to locate her. Not able to find her, I decided to call her up.
Just when the phone was ringing, I heard a very loud explosion nearby coupled with a very intense shake which felt like an Intensity 10 earthquake. I almost fell to the ground because of the impact! I felt like I was in twilight zone or something, as I watched debris falling everywhere and smoke billowing from behind. Suddenly, people were screaming and shouting and pushing me. I had no choice but to follow the crowd. I began to wonder whether my friend was safe and as I was about to call her up, I heard what seemed like another explosion. I froze for a second, terrified, not knowing where to go. At that very second, I felt terror grip my body, wondering if there were still several bombs about to go off, and wondering if we were running headlong into another bomb. I don't know how my legs were able to function but before I knew it, I was walking straight into Landmark.
Thankfully, the guards removed the table and opened the doors wide in order to receive the big crowd emanating from Glorietta 2. As I stepped into what felt like safe ground, I received a call from my friend asking me where I was. I was relieved upon hearing her voice knowing that at least she was OK. I told her I was at Landmark and not to worry about me. I called up my husband to tell him what happened. Fortunately he was just nearby and that he would pick me up immediately. I couldn't contact my friend anymore since the network (Globe) was already busy. Good thing there was no traffic in sending text messages. After texting her and knowing she was ok, and that her driver was about to pick her up, it was only at that moment that I suddenly felt relieved.
Whew! Close call indeed. Had the bomb gone off earlier or later than it did, I don't know what would have happened to us. I really thank the Lord and my Angel Raphael for bringing us back to safety. It is so sad that others were not as lucky.
