I left my house at 8:30 pm last night to meet a friend in Chocolate Kiss in UP and I realized that pretty soon I won't be able to just up and leave for a quick bite in one of my favorite place. I will be relocating near a 24-hour Starbucks branch, but that's little consolation seeing as how I don't drink coffee. I really will miss my little trips to that tree haven. Where I'm going won't have as many trees. Just really tall concrete structures that soak up the sun's heat and radiate it to bake people alive. Fun fun fun.

Yesterday, I sampled the kind of strain that I'll have to get used to when I move. I got to the condo around 2pm and I worked on getting the books on the shelves up until 4pm. I felt really enclosed, and I lost track of time. It felt like it was already 7pm, because the light doesn't reach my windows much. When my cousin and I stepped out of the building, it surprised me to see that the day was still pretty light. I felt such relief being out.

No more waking up to the sound of the birds that hang out on the ledge above my window. No more watching the sky above my neightbor's roof change color from blue to purple to orange -- and on a freaky day, fiery red -- as I'm sitting at my computer at sundown. No more mornings listening to my violinist neighbor practice while drinking a cold glass of milk.

My mom treats my move as an upgrade. I hear it in how she speaks. I don't think she really liked where I live now. I guess in a way it is an upgrade -- the security, the convenience, and the yes, the condo is a much better unit even if it's old. My apartment is kinda dilapidated. And of course, there's the fact that it'll be rent-free.

But, I really liked it here. I liked living so close to UP. I liked the small village eateries. No Starbucks, just Brothers Kebab or Nanette's puto bumbong and bibingka. Fishballs at the College of Music. Palitaw at the Sunken Garden. Taho from the street vendor in the morning.

I guess I can't get the middle-class, village-living kid out of me.

I know Makati has its charms, but they're so different. But, since I am the type to always try to find and enjoy the best in things, I'm sure I'll enjoy living in Makati, too.

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NO SPOILERS

My first time to read Harry Potter was when a 5 and Up colleague of mine lent us a paperback copy of the book "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Her brother, an airline pilot, had picked it up in the US having heard some kind of buzz about it. "It's all the rage daw," she had said. Around that time, HP-mania had not reached us full force just yet. And we passed the book from producer to producer, agreeing that yes, it was quite an enjoyable read!

After that, I eagerly read volume after volume of Harry's adventures -- some living up to the magic of that first reading. Some not quite. But, even with all my complaints about JK Rowling's style of writing -- especially her mandatory story-ending dialogue between characters that explains everything -- I must say that I loved this series.

I found thrills, adventures, and magic in those books. I found romance -- not the lovey dovey idea of romance, but high romantic ideals such as valour and honor and honesty. I found wizardry and witchcraft wrapped around a very human heart.

And I've always maintained, whenever critics put down Harry Potter as mere pop literature undeserving of such hoopla, that if it got kids to read, to imagine, to dream, and to stay kids just a little longer, then it has cast a powerful magic indeed. And if only for that, J.K. Rowling deserves all the success she has received.

Photo: A young Hogwarts witch chooses the right broomstick (HP7 book launch, Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street, 21 July 2007)

Labels: books, home