5000 pairs of sandals

It looked as if all the residents of Koronadal had trooped to the center of the city.

More than five thousand people, majority of them wearing sandals, came last night to witness the last part of Hinugyaw Festival. Alunan Avenue was closed for vehicles and opened for hoi polloi.

The hinugyaw (Ilonggo for shouting and merry-making) got louder and merrier at 10 pm, during the fireworks display at the roundball.

Map of Koronadal's Hub

At 8:30 pm, some dormmates and I went to Alunan to have dinner, which turned out to be a not-so-good idea. The food was bad. (The best way to enjoy the place, as I’ve tried in an Octoberfest before, is to have San Mig Light and Chippy, while listening to the band on stage.)

After eating, we walked back to our dorm. From the kiosks to the roundball, it took us more than half-hour to pass through the multitude.

I’ve never been to a Disco sa Kalye (street disco) before, so I was amused with the small discoveries I made. The street wasn’t packed with teenage punks—as I expected—but with people of all ages and from different walks of life.

One crazy couple had their five-month-old baby with them. And though I did not see a graybeard with a cane, I saw a woman in her fifties in lavender spaghettis.

In every fifteen meters or so, a sound system was in full blast. One had Sean Kingston (“You’re way too beautiful, girl…”). Another had a Cebuano copy-cat (You’re way too beautiful, gay…”).

Huddled in front of the large music boxes, dancing to their hearts' content, were elementary-school pupils and a few teenage drag queens.

We passed along General Santos Drive and headed straight to our dorm, reaching it by 10 pm, just in time for the fireworks display. We rushed to the rooftop and watched.

I was amazed with the fireworks--and appalled by the smoke it generated. In 12 minutes, the sky above the roundball was covered in a mass of gray cloud.

Before going to sleep, I was thinking about global warming.