GETTING MUGGED AT TOMAS MORATO AVENUE

As soon as we stepped off the cab, a swarm of street-kids selling cigarettes and Sampaguita flowers hovered around us as we tried to inch our way through the alley to hit Dolce Club on Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City.

Fifteen seconds later, there was quick exchange of hands, and my bag felt lighter.

I looked inside and my wallet and Blackberry were gone.

In a panic zone, scenes flashed across my eyes…

As we were standing in front of the Starbucks, a man yelled out and pointed at one of the kids….

Startled, the wide-eyed kid escaped and ran frantically across the rotunda and next thing you know, Elliot* was after him…

Twenty minutes later, a string of Barangay patrols (Community patrol officers) on their mini motorcycles were combing through the area.  And in another ten, or maybe another 40 minutes (I think I lost track of time) my credit and debit card was back in my hands. 

A wave of relief crashed over me.  For some reason, I was surprisingly both amused and upset because here we were, our first night out in Manila, and we’re dealing with more than 12 patrol officers ganging up together to recover the stolen items…

The rest of my stuff was gone, as it was passed from one mugger to another.  Tracing the culprit was next to impossible.

Alas, in my head, Andrew Plunkett’s voice echoed something he mentioned during the pre-departure session… “We can replace your stuff but we can’t replace you”

*another intern.  Irem was also with us that night.