Simple Pleasures – My Bicycle

My old-fashioned bicycle hangs silently from the ceiling of my tiny apartment. I have only used it twice, I think, going to the supermarket to buy groceries. Normally, I just walk there but I wanted to ride my bicycle proudly. There were stares because it was unusual for a woman to cycle in Metro Manila in a dress. I do not like to think of Metro Manila as a whole; instead, I think of my neighbourhood that has everything that I want in it without having to go through the nightmare of traffic and long distances involved to run my errands. However, even my bicycle cannot take the potholes and battered sections of the road that lead to SM Megamall.

The bicycle was a present for my 32nd birthday; the year I left the calendar; the same year I jumped off Daegu Tower in Daegu South Korea. …so I was a 32-year old Korean drama fan who went to Korea and got a Korean bicycle! I had often seen people on television riding their own old-fashioned bicycles in parks and along beaches. Sometimes, the producers slowed down their motion making the scene seem more nostalgic. Then, I thought that some day, I would ride my own old-fashioned bicycle with someone in a park or along a beach; just my bicycle, my lover, me, and the wind. I treasure old things; things that may be worthless to others. I treasure my things; things tied to simple but happy moments.